History Main / OffTheWagon

* When withdrawal symptoms are shown, [[GoingColdTurkey it tends to focus on short-term, acute symptoms]] (see the horrific sequence in Literature/{{Trainspotting}}). However, lower impact withdrawal symptoms can last for months, even years. Insomnia, delirium, depression... that's one reason why they're called "recovering" rather than "recovered".

** Season Five: [[spoiler:was revealed in flashbacks that she had fallen off the wagon during the time jump some time after her husband went to prison and her surrogate son was taken away. She began "having a glass of wine now and then" in private until it escalated enough for her work to suffer, leading Katherine to take notice and intervene.]]

** Season Five: It was revealed in flashbacks that she had fallen off the wagon during the time jump some time after her husband went to prison and her surrogate son was taken away. She began "having a glass of wine now and then" in private until her work suffered enough for Katherine to notice and intervene.
** Season Eight: After covering up the murder of Gabrielle's abusive stepfather, the core group turns on Bree, leaving her isolated and depressed. She falls off the wagon pretty hard, eventually attempting suicide. She is just barely stopped by Renee, but keeps drinking and falls into a spiral of one-night stands, mostly played for laughs. Her friends attempt an intervention to no avail, and she finally kicks the habit after her ex rescues her from a close call with an aggressive bar patron.
* ''Series/{{Dallas}}'': Most everyone in the Ewings' orbit was a heavy drinker, but Sue Ellen Ewing clocked the most time hopping on and off the wagon. She quit in Season Three after the "Who Shot JR" shenanigans but fell off in season six after finding JR cheating on her. This relapse culminated in getting Lucy's boyfriend killed and Sue Ellen nearly dying in a fire, which got her sober again for about a year and a half until she fell off again in season eight. This round was particularly unforgiving, in part because it left Sue Ellen drinking on the street with the homeless, but mostly because she didn't make it to rehab until season nine [[spoiler:AKA [[AllADream The Dream Season]].]] That meant she had to kick the habit all over again in season ten.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'',
** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2006-11-12 Squigley abandons his resolve as PIGZILLA!]]
** later in a LiteralMetaphor, [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2004-06-02 he's back on the wagon.]]

** Djuna, a VegetarianVampire, gives in and feeds on Paolo.

** Djuna, a VegetarianVampire, gives in and feeds on Peter.

* ''Series/FeelGood'': After visiting George in the hospital and seeing the oxycodone she's received for pain, Mae (who's a cocaine addict) takes some.

* In ''Manga/EdensZero'', [[TortureTechnician Daichi]] of the 4 Elements is such a shameless {{sadist}} he joined a therapy group to quit torturing people, and proudly shows Rebecca the commemorative coin he got for 60 days of abstinence... then he decides he had enough, crush the coin and proceed to horrorifically torture Rebecca.

* In ''Manga/SoulEater'' [[AxCrazy Franken Stein]] tries quit smoking as a way to keep Madness at bay. A couple of arcs later he's resumed smoking, claiming that abstinence from smoke actually made things worse.

* ''ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}}'': Dylan Prescott has a number of issues he's just learning to manage without alcohol so he can try to live a more fulfilling life. Unfortunately his problems are suddenly exacerbated by contact with Noctura whose drug like meta-human ability mixes very poorly with his psych meds. He grabs a bottle of alcohol instead of his pills after spending two days hallucinating.

* ''Film/SilentMovie'': Mel Funn is precariously on the wagon for the first part of the movie - everyone knows he has a problem, but he manages to keep away from the drink. Then he finds out his lady love Vilma Kaplan is a mole sent to pretend to love him and sabotage his film, and he falls off, HARD. [[spoiler: Of course, she actually is in love with him and wants to help him, so they sober him up with ThePowerOfLove and lots of coffee.]]

* In ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'', Andy hasn't had a drink for sixteen years, but returns to drinking at pub no.4 by downing five pub measures of spirits. [[ItMakesSenseInContext It helps that he had been fighting aliens minutes earlier.]]

* Averted in ''Film/RachelGettingMarried''. Despite coming straight of rehab to her dysfunctional family on the weekend of her sister's wedding, and being shown in situations that imply she's sneaking off to to drink or use, Kym stays clean and sober throughout the film.

* Creator/PeterBenchley's novel ''Rummies'', in the last chapter, Duke Bailey and Scott Preston are released after four weeks in rehab for their alcoholism. Duke immediately heads for the nearest bar, and reminds Scott that he'd never intended to really quit, just to learn what he could handle and what he couldn't. Averted with Scott, who actually learned his lesson from his time in rehab and refuses to join him in the bar.

* ''Series/{{Life}}'' had an episode, "Powerless," where Dani Reese is forced at gunpoint to start downing vodka shots. Of course, Reese had spent the beginning of the episode at a bar before going to her AA meeting. She was technically going to the meetings to get over her drug addiction, not her alcoholism-- which doesn't really make it any better, but does explain why the guy holding her at gunpoint didn't have the advantage he thought he had.

* In ''Series/{{House}}'', Dr. Gregory House kicks his vicodin habit by going into rehab at the end of season 5. He manages to stay clean throughout season 6, but has a slip midway through season 7 [[spoiler:which results in the end of his relationship with Lisa Cuddy]], and that in turn pushes him completely off the wagon, apparently for good.

* Averted in ''After You're Gone'' where Jimmy is a recovering alcoholic. In one episode, he has a very important appointment, but has spilled a drink on himself. His friends, trying to protect him, lock him in an empty room. He finally gets them to release him. He tells them he left something in the room and would they get it for him. They do, and he locks them in.

** There's a interesting case when the six-year sober Pete goes through a un-intentional FreakyFridayFlip with his female partner Myka... who was at her High School Reunion and had just downed three vodka martinis. Oops.

* DefectiveDetective Jimmy [=McNulty=] from ''Series/TheWire'' spends the first 3 seasons as a self-destructive FunctionalAddict whose alcoholism and destructive behaviors are both gradually spiraling out of control. At the very end of the 3rd season he wises up by reaching out to Beadie, a potential long term LoveInterest, accepts a demotion from Homicide to a less stressful position as a beat cop, and gives up drinking. He then spends all of season 4 sober even when others are drinking around him, enjoys a loving and harmonious relationship with Beadie, and even shows how a low level cop can be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure in the neighborhood. In season 5, however, attempting to investigate the biggest and most ruthless drug dealer in Baltimore sends [=McNulty=] off the wagon, and he seems intent on making up for lost time, because he starts drinking and womanizing harder than ever and soon pushes the self-destructive behavior further than he ever had before...

* ''Series/FrontierCircus'': In "The Depths of Fear", Casey hires a washed-up drunk lion tamer as a wagon driver on the understanding that her sobers up. After he is humiliated by the circus's current lion tamer, he finds a bottle in Casey's wagon and gets drunk.

** In "The Creeper", the first VictimOfTheWeek is an alcoholic writer (played by Creator/RikMayall) who falls off the wagon when his asshole publisher (and former friend) rejects his book idea, and the hands him a bottle of 65 year old brandy. He gets drunk, and several humiliations follow, ending in his murder.

* Jim Lahey from ''Series/TrailerParkBoys'' is known to be an alcoholic and is mocked for it by most of the cast. He claims to have quit in Season 5, but Ray sees through the facade of him drinking water, when it reality, it was vodka. He claims that the alcohol made him think clearly, and it does... for a while. He finally gets sober in the sixth season, but falls off once more upon being reinstated as a police officer, which extends into the next season.

** Season Eight: After covering up the murder of Gabrielle's abusive stepfather, the core group turns on Bree, leaving her isolated and depressed. She falls off the wagon pretty hard, eventually attempting suicide. She is just barely stopped by Renee, but keeps drinking and falls into a spiral of one night stands, mostly played for laughs. Her friends attempt an intervention to no avail, and she finally kicks the habit after her ex rescues her from a close call with an aggressive bar patron.
* ''Series/{{Dallas}}'': Most everyone in the Ewings' orbit was a heavy drinker, but Sue Ellen Ewing clocked the most time hopping on and off the wagon. She quit in Season Three after the "Who Shot JR" shenanigans, but fell off in season six after finding JR cheating on her. This relapse culminated in getting Lucy's boyfriend killed and Sue Ellen nearly dying in a fire, which got her sober again for about a year and a half until she fell off again in season eight. This round was particularly unforgiving, in part because it left Sue Ellen drinking on the street with the homeless, but mostly because she didn't make it to rehab until season nine [[spoiler:AKA [[AllADream The Dream Season]].]] That meant she had to kick the habit all over again in season ten.

* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': One of the series primary focuses is Sherlock Holmes' problems with addiction. He stays sober for the first three seasons but prolonged interaction with a "[[ToxicFriendInfluence friend]]" from his using days leads to him relapsing at the end of the third season. He gets clean during the hiatus and is determined to keep his sobriety intact. In the series finale he reveals that he relapsed again during a TimeSkip where he was in hiding after faking his own death.

* The most famous example is Wrestling/JakeRoberts' appearance at a 1999 pay per view titled Heroes of Wrestling. Prior to his match with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Jake cut a slurred, rambling, incoherent promo. When he came to the ring, he was so drunk he couldn't even stand up straight, engaged in lewd behavior with some fans at ringside, then got in the ring, held his snake up to his crotch and started stroking it. Needless to say the match didn't last long.
* Sadly many wrestlers never recover from substance abuse problems, leading to a shockingly long list of those who have died of unnatural causes before the age of 50 including [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Mr. Perfect]] (Acute Cocaine intoxication), Wrestling/EddieGuerrero (Heart attack caused by years of steroid and perscription drug abuse), [[Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith The British Bulldog]] (Same thing), Wrestling/RandySavage (Same thing), Crash Holly (Choked on alcohol induced vomit), Wrestling/MissElizabeth (Drug overdose), Wrestling/BamBamBigelow (Drug overdose), the list goes on and on.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/UnrealIITheAwakening''. One of the characters is a man who was once deep into the bottle, and manages to hold throughout the series - despite, as the main character points out, having numerous opportunities to smuggle in some booze.

** Earlier, Pickles' old band Snakes and Barrels went clean after breaking up, but shortly before their reunion concert they were convinced to take a hit of experimental drug Totally Awesome Sweet Alabama Liquid Snake. This comes back to bite them later (in the same episode when Dr. Rockso falls off the wagon) while they're trying to put on a show as a new straight-edge band. The combination of the drugs and lights cause them to hallucinate and glowing blue snake-like tendrils to shoot out of their orifices (yes, ''all'' of them), which so horrifies the straight edge audience that they start taking drugs to cope.

* PlayedForDrama in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', during an episode in which Sergeant Hatred runs out of medication that suppresses his pedophiliac urges. He locks himself in the Venture compound panic room for an extended period, and even considers buying a child prostitute to keep himself from being a danger. The incident is resolved when he is lured out of the panic room by Hank, disguised as Princess Tinyfeet, and is subsequently subdued and tranquilized by Henchman 24.

** The titular Horseman not only has a bad habit of falling off the wagon, but getting ''others'' to do so as well, such as in the case of accidentally getting Corduroy to fall off the EroticAsphyxiation wagon. [[spoiler:Even in the finale, where he's been sober for a year thanks to being in jail, Bojack's not confident he can stay on the wagon once he gets out.]]

* When withdrawal symptoms are shown, [[GoingColdTurkey it tends to focus on short term, acute symptoms]] (see the horrific sequence in Literature/{{Trainspotting}}). However, lower impact withdrawal symptoms can last for months, even years. Insomnia, delirium, depression... that's one reason why they're called "recovering" rather than "recovered".

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Quentin Lance spent Season 2 and most of Season 3 sober. However after learning [[spoiler: that his daughter Sara was dead, and his other daughter Laurel hid this from him for a time (both out of worry over his heart issues and this trope)]] he starts drinking again. Laurel calls him on this in the Season 3 finale, and when he protests that its "just two drinks a day", she fires back that they are both alcoholics and there is no such thing as "just two drinks". He starts drinking ''again'' in Season 5, believing that after [[spoiler: being fired from his job, Laurel being murdered (specifically to [[StuffedIntoTheFridge punish him no less]]), and his girlfriend breaking up with him]], he has no reason not to.

** Notably averted with Laurel who remains committed to her sobriety [[spoiler:until her death]] , even when her father (bitter over what she didn't tell him) quite literally [[KickTheDog shoves a bottle of liquor into her hands]]. At one point after being in a car crash, she even comments that she can't take any pain medication.

* In ''Fanfic/ATasteOfTheGoodLife'', Ebby comes close to this, after 484 days without a drink, when she believes that she has no chance of regaining her daughter's trust. Main Course stops her by telling her that the only way she'll get any alcohol from him is if she promises to sign away any rights to Scootaloo and allow him to adopt her.
* Happens to [[Manga/DeathNote Matt]] ''several'' times during the course of the ''It Matters'' series, as a result of his ongoing struggle with opioid addiction. Each time usually ends with him GoingColdTurkey, and Mello ''trying'' to support him through the withdrawal.
* Repeatedly defied by Laurel in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11694635/1/To-Heal-A-Hero To Heal A Hero]]'', who despite suffering from terminal cancer steadfastly refuses to take any pain medication for her symptoms, tests, and procedures, even on [[spoiler:her literal death bed]]
-->'''Laurel:''' I'm dying, I can't change that, but what I can choose is how I die; and I'm going to do that clean and sober. I don't care how much pain I'm in.

%%* ''Series/TheWestWing'', Leo [=McGarry=] (though only in a FlashBack).

-->'''Leo:'' I went to rehab. My friends embraced me when I got out. You relapse, it's not like that. "Get away from me" - that's what it's like.

--> Well, won't this be fun to explain at the next AA meeting...

-->'''Kurtan:''' "I had no idea! I just thought he liked to party!"

--->Kurtan: "I had no idea! I just thought he liked to party!"

* In ''Film/TheOverTheHillRidesAgain'', the Baltimore Kid falls off the wagon when he learns that Katie has just been using him in an attempt to get away with the loot from the Wells-Fargo robbery.

* In ''Series/{{House}}'', Dr. Gregory House kicks his vicodin habit by going into rehab at the end of season 5. He manages to stay clean throughout season 6, but falls off the wagon midway through season 7 [[spoiler:around the time his relationship with Lisa Cuddy fell apart]].

* Sadly many wrestlers never recover from substance abuse problems, leading to a shockingly long list of those who have died of unnatural causes before the age of 50 including [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Mr. Perfect]] (Acute Cocaine intoxication), Wrestling/EddieGuerrero (Heart attack caused by years of steroid and perscription drug abuse), [[Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith The British Bulldog]] (Same thing), Crash Holly (Choked on alcohol induced vomit), Wrestling/MissElizabeth (Drug overdose), Wrestling/BamBamBigelow (Drug overdose), the list goes on and on.

* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'': Bruce the shark nearly falls off the VegetarianCarnivore wagon after he smells Dory's blood. It takes an intervention (read: [[NailedToTheWagon physically wrangling him while he's in a feeding frenzy]]) from Chum and Anchor, the two other sharks from his chapter of MonstersAnonymous, to keep him from eating Dory and Marlin.

* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'': Bruce the shark nearly falls off the VegetarianCarnivore wagon after he smells Dory's blood. It takes an intervention from Chum and Anchor (the two other sharks from his chapter of MonstersAnonymous) to keep him from eating Dory and Marlin.

In any show featuring a [[RecoveredAddict recovering]] [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] (or other such drug addict), they will inevitably return to drinking at least once during the series. This happens quite a bit to recovering alcoholics in real life as well, but it's not as inevitable as television would have us believe. In a drama, this is almost always a VerySpecialEpisode. In a comedy, it can be done either as a VerySpecialEpisode or just for laughs. The relapse can be caused by trying to [[DrowningMySorrows drown sorrows.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'': Bruce nearly falls of the fish-are-friends-not-food wagon after he smells Dory's blood. It takes an intervention from Chum and Anchor to keep him from eating Dory and Marlin.

*** Played straight in the backstory that Creator/DannFlorek and the producers worked out for the character, in which he briefly fell back into the bottle following his wife's death. This was [[AllThereInTheManual never mentioned onscreen]], but Florek used it to inform his portrayal of the character.

** Rollins is revealed in Season 14 to have a [[TheGamblingAddict gambling addiction]]; she gets help and manages to keep it together for a while, but falls off the wagon after a difficult case, which ultimately leads to a rough situation where the criminals running an illegal club she's betting at use it to blackmail her into doing [[DirtyCop "favours"]] for them. Fortunately, it ends up working out.

** Rollins is TheGamblingAddict and whenever she goes off the wagon it creates massive problems for everyone. She tends to gamble in seedy underground casinos and when the criminals in charge of the casinos find out that she is a cop, they use it to blackmail her into doing [[DirtyCop "favours"]] for them.

** In one episode of the original, Mike Logan mentions that his mother, a serious (and [[AbusiveParents violent]]) alcoholic, tried to quit drinking and went to AA after being diagnosed with cirrhosis, only to fall off the wagon a few weeks later and take her sponsor with her.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'':
** Averted (so far) with Capt. Don Cragen, who has been known to keep a bottle of vodka in his office and serve others from it.
** Played straight with SVU's Sonya Paxton, though, who apparently fell off the wagon and came to court drunk, causing a mistrial and her going to rehab. She was never on the wagon, but was playing the FunctionalAddict.
** Rollins is TheGamblingAddict and whenever she goes off the wagon it creates massive problems for everyone. She tends to gamble in seedy underground casinos and when the criminals in charge of the casinos find out that she is a cop, they use it to blackmail her into doing [[DirtyCop "favours"]] for them.