History HesBack / LiveActionTV

* Jack Bauer has undergone several such occurrences during ''Series/TwentyFour''[='s=] run, including [[spoiler:moving on from the murder of his wife (at the start of Season 2), overcoming a heroin addiction (halfway into Season 3), regaining his job at CTU after being fired for said heroin addiction (start of Season 4), and then returning to his job after going into hiding from the U.S. government (at the start of Season 5 and again at the start of Season 9).]]

** Cruelly {{Subverted}} in Season 6, after Season 5’s CliffHanger of him [[spoiler:getting tortured by the Chinese government for two years]]. While he returns to the field to help CTU, he never does have a triumphant moment of getting over his trauma, and he seems just as broken at the end of the season as he did in the beginning. While Season 6 [[SeasonalRot had its share of writing problems]], this subversion is widely considered one of the better ideas as it shows that even Jack Bauer can’t get over every trauma he faces.

** In Season 1, [[spoiler:he encounters his EvilCounterpart, the Dark Archer (secretly Malcolm Merlyn), and suffers a brutal beatdown; he escapes alive, but the next episode shows him struggling to regain his confidence and focus. Eventually, his confidant John Diggle gives him a much-needed pep talk about drawing strength from his loved ones, and he recovers in time to don his costume and stop VillainOfTheWeek Firefly.]]
** In Season 2, [[spoiler:having failed to stop Malcolm from destroying the Glades and watched his best friend Tommy die in front of him, Oliver retreats to the island of Lian Yu, where Diggle and Felicity Smoak have to convince him to come back and save his family's company. Through reconnecting with his mother and sister while confronting his guilt over Tommy viewing him as a murderer, Oliver adopts a new ThouShaltNotKill approach, ultimately making a BigDamnHeroes return as the Arrow to save his sister from four murderous copycats.]]
** In Season 5, after being [[BreakTheBadass thoroughly tortured and broken]] by Prometheus, Oliver goes into withdrawal, disbanding the team and willing to [[DealWithTheDevil make a deal with the Bratva]] to have [[spoiler:Prometheus, civilian identity Adrian Chase, killed]]. John manages to get through to him with a RousingSpeech, reminding him that Oliver helped him out of a similar situation not too long ago. Oliver's spirit gets revitalized and he puts the team back together, complete with uplifting music to signify his return, though it takes several more episodes and some encouragement from Felicity for him to put the Green Arrow suit back on, and just in time to capture Prometheus, too.

* A VillainProtagonist version at the end of "[[Recap/BreakingBadS5E15GraniteState Granite State]]", the penultimate episode of ''Series/BreakingBad''. [[spoiler:After being rejected by his family and knocking on death's door from the cancer, Walter White calls the police to the bar that he's in to let them track the phone so he can turn himself in. As he orders one final drink, he sees his former friends and co-founders of the company he left, Gray Matter, disowning his contributions to the business, causing him to fill with rage. As the ''Breaking Bad'' theme kicks in, the police show up and storm the bar looking for him, with only a half-drunk glass and tip left behind. Heisenberg has returned.]]

** Subverted in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E2BargainingPart2 Bargaining, Part 2]]" when a traumatised Buffy starts kicking demon ass, causing her friends who are worried that she CameBackWrong to think the old Buffy has returned. Instead she's just acting on instinct -- Buffy runs away leaving her friends alone with the demon leader and tries to commit suicide.

* The revival of ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' has JR coming out of semi-comatose state when his son tells him Bobby is selling off the family ranch.

** Perhaps most gratuitously, this occurs in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]] however, when the Doctor has been aged almost to death, and is a shriveled, imp like creature kept by the Master in a birdcage. He doesn't just return to being the Doctor at the end of the story, [[spoiler:he turns into a floating, incandescent, godlike being (albeit briefly)]].

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]], Rory gets one [[spoiler:returning to his "Last Centurion" persona]], attacking the Cyberman fleet asking where [[spoiler:his kidnapped wife is]].
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler "Let's Kill Hitler"]]: the Doctor is [[spoiler:poisoned, Amy and Rory are stuck inside a robot which is about to execute River, and the pain of his organs shutting down one by one is too much for him to try to help. Luckily a hologram of young Amelia Pond inspires him enough to change into a top hat, coat and tails and walking cane]], along with a HeroicSecondWind.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E4NikolaTeslasNightOfTerror "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror"]]: After having spent the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E3Orphan55 previous episode]] in a darker and more aggravated state than usual as a result of something she found out at the end of the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall season premiere]], the Doctor is more cheerful and back to her old self... although the Skithra Queen asking her if she's ever seen [[spoiler:a dead planet]] clearly strikes a [[BerserkButton nerve]].

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': When Sandor returns in "The Broken Man", he seems to have renounced violence and is living his life as a peaceful and humble villager. But then the Brotherhood Without Banners slaughters his new friends, and ''the Hound'' returns with a vengeance.
** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Lord Corlys Velaryon dealt with the loss of both of his children by investing himself with abandon in the seemingly neverending war of the Stepstones against the Triarchy and nearly died from a severe injury. Once he returns, now with his wife on his side, he gets out of his funk, firmly commits his house to the side of Rhaenyra against the Hightower treason, and annonces he has routed the Triarchy once and for all, and is now able to pull a NavalBlockade on King's Landing.
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': After being [[spoiler:framed by the Riddler, incarcerated, and his fiancée Lee miscarrying their unborn child and subsequently leaving him out of grief and blame]], Jim Gordon spends the latter half of Season 2 and the first few episodes of Season 3 off the force, despite being cleared of all charges. Jervis Tetch's hypnosis forces him to confront his suicidal self-loathing head on, and he realizes that he wants to lives, accepting that he -- and the GCPD -- can still be a force for good.

** Bruce Wayne spends most of mid-Season 4 in a self-loathing funk due to [[spoiler:killing Ra's al Ghul and failing to protect Alex Winthrop]], indulging in wild party behaviors and even firing Alfred when they argue about it. It takes a vision induced by one of Poison Ivy's chemicals for him to realize that he's become unrecognizable to his loved ones, and also that despite failing previously, he can still help and save people. The latter revelation, it should be noted, comes in the form of a vision of [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane his future self]] as BATMAN.
* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'': Nick loses his powers at the end of Season 3 and spends several episodes of Season 4 as a normal human, until a method is found and enacted that gives him a chance of regaining his powers. Although it initially doesn't appear to work, his abilities return just in time for him to single-handedly save multiple people from being ritually sacrificed by Phansigars. He lampshades it when reuniting with Hank by declaring "I'm back".
* At the end of Season 1 of ''Series/{{Homeland}}'', Carrie is convinced that she was wrong about Brody all along; she has also had a manic-depressive episode that has convinced her that she is insane, and in need of electric shock therapy, ''and'' she has been fired by the CIA. At the beginning of Season 2, she seems to be recovering mentally, and then gets asked by the CIA to go back into the field to deal with a source she had recruited years earlier. She does excellent work, and thinks that this might be her way back in; when she is then humiliatingly dismissed with a pat on the head, she is so depressed she attempts suicide. Then, just when she is at her lowest, Saul shows up with ironclad, smoking-gun proof that she was right all along.

* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'': When Bolander and Howard return to work after [[spoiler:being shot and nearly killed]], they both initially struggle to re-acclimate to detective work (Bolander due to memory loss and Howard due to her own neuroses). Eventually, they manage to solve the respective cases they were working on effortlessly, and the episode ends with the two sitting in the roof of the police station talking about how they've finally got back into the groove.
* When the ''Series/JonathanCreek'' episode "The Case of the Savant's Thumb" opens Jonathan has spent the three years since we last saw him getting married to a woman who doesn't hold with all this conjuring and crimesolving stuff and working as a middle-manager in her father's company. When she gets called to America shortly after a particularly baffling LockedRoomMystery takes place, he says goodbye to her, walks to the wardrobe, shoves all his nice suits out of the way, and pulls out the duffel coat.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Before Galadriel finding Sauron in the middle of the ocean, he was a powerful Maia, right hand of Morgoth. Sometime after the War of Wrath, he spent centuries trying to tap the Power of the Seen and the Unseen world by using Orcs as his lab-rats, with the goal of healing Middle-earth of the destruction he and Morgoth provoked. But he gets betrayed and killed temporary by Adar. When Galadriel find him, Sauron pretends to be a human, being at his lowest point emotionally, having given up whatever plans he had before. But Galadriel determination to hunt down "Sauron", reawakens in him his desire for power and order. He recovers his strength and confidence and tries once again to obtain the power he wants. By the end of Season 1, he is back to his sadistic and deceiving ways, and makes a SarcasticConfession to Galadriel about how she saved him when he gave up on himself and pushed him to heights that no one did before.

* Series/TheMaskedSinger: After the shocking reveal that Nick Cannon had covid-19 and that Niecy Nash would be hosting season 5. No-one saw it coming when the episode 5 wildcard bulldog was unmasked and Bulldog was revealed to be none other than Nick Cannon himself.

* ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'': After retiring in 2007, original host Creator/BobBarker occasionally returned to the program. First, in April 2009, to promote his memoir, ''Priceless Memories'', with a Showcase centered around it, also offering autographed copies to those who were attending the taping. Then, in December 2013, to celebrate his 90th birthday, and as AprilFoolsDay in 2015, announcer George Gray introduced Creator/DrewCarey, who'd succeeded Bob, but instead, Bob entered and handled the first Item Up For Bids and pricing game (Lucky Seven) of the day.

'''The Doctor:''' Yeah it is, isn't it? ''Very'' cool... [[CatchPhrase Bowties]] ''[[CatchPhrase are]]'' [[CatchPhrase cool!]]

* Richard Dawson returned to host ''Series/FamilyFeud'' in the 1994-95 season, nine years after his original version ended (Ray Combs had hosted ''Feud'' in the interim since 1988, when CBS brought it back).

* After not being seen since Series 2 of ''Series/RedDwarf'' back in 1988, with the character (post-Creator/HattieHayridge) lost and presumed destroyed, Creator/NormanLovett's version of Holly returned at the very end of Series 7 in 1997, in preparation for a full-time return in Series 8 (1999). In fact, one of Holly's first lines upon his return is, "He's back. Kicking bottom or what?"

* Oddly, ''Series/SportsNight'' attempted to do this with Casey in the very first episode. Unfortunately, this causes new viewers to think Casey is just a JerkAss until the very end of the episode.
* A team one for ''Series/StargateSG1'' occurs after their off-screen split at the end of Season 8. They're finally reunited early in Season 9, with Lt. Col. Cam Mitchell replacing Jack O'Neill, and the sort-of addition of Vala Mal Doran.
-->'''Mitchell:''' Looks like the band's back together.\\
'''Carter:''' Yeah. What's with the extra backup singer?
** Let's not forget Daniel's return from ascension at the beginning of Season 7. Granted, he doesn't know he's back at first, but still.
*** Or, basically, every single time Daniel has died or been thought dead. Of which there are several.
** A villainous one for Anubis showing back up after several thousand years of exile, all semi-ascended, and handing the rest of the System Lords their collective asses.

* After not being seen since Series 2 of ''Series/RedDwarf'' back in 1988, with the character (post-Hattie Hayridge) lost and presumed destroyed, Creator/NormanLovett's version of Holly returned at the very end of Series 7 in 1997, in preparation for a full-time return in Series 8 (1999). In fact, one of Holly's first lines upon his return is, "He's back. Kicking bottom or what?"

* After not being seen since Series 2 of ''Series/RedDwarf'' back in 1988, with the character (post-Hattie Hayridge) lost and presumed destroyed, Norman Lovett's version of Holly returned at the very end of Series 7 in 1997, in preparation for a full-time return in Series 8 (1999). In fact, one of Holly's first lines upon his return is, "He's back. Kicking bottom or what?"

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Before Galadriel finding Sauron in the middle of the ocean, he was a powerful Maia, right hand of Morgoth. Sometime after the War of Wrath, he spent centuries trying to tap the Power of the Seen and the Unseen word by using Orcs as his lab-rats, with the goal of healing Middle-earth of the destruction he and Morgoth provoked. But he gets betrayed and killed temporary by Adar. When Galadriel find him, Sauron pretends to be a human, being at his lowest point emotionally, having given up whatever plans he had before. But Galadriel determination to hunt down "Sauron", reawakens in him his desire for power and order. He recovers his strength and confidence and tries once again to obtain the power he wants. By the end of Season 1, he is back to his sadistic and deceiving ways, and makes a SarcasticConfession to Galadriel about how she saved him when he gave up on himself and pushed him to heights that no one did.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': When Sandor returns in "The Broken Man", he seems to have renounced violence and is living his life as a peaceful and humble villager. But then the Brotherhood Without Banners slaughters his friends, and ''the Hound'' returns with a vengeance.

* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'': Nick loses his powers at the end of Season 3 and spends several episodes of Season as a normal human, until a method is found and enacted that gives him a chance of regaining his powers. Although it initially doesn't appear to work, his abilities return just in time for him to single-handedly save multiple people from being ritually sacrificed by Phansigars. He lampshades it when reuniting with Hank by declaring "I'm back".

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor "Vincent and the Doctor"]]: Vincent van Gogh gets one after a scene where he's suffering from an episode of depression. Next scene? Back in effect, BadassLongcoat and [[NiceHat sweet hat]] in place, clearly ready to... [[ItMakesSenseInContext paint some monsters]].

* ''Series/{{Oz}}''. Tim [=McManus=]' return as Unit Manager of Em City (after having being fired after a series of personal and professional humiliations) is actually announced by him saying "[[Film/Poltergeist1982 I'm baaaaack!]]"