Basic Trope: A character returns after being Put on a Bus.
- Straight: Alice and Bob had a friend named Charlie, but in the season 1 finale he moved away. By the season 2 finale, he returns and moves back to town.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice and Bob made several friends that also moved out of town, but eventually returned.
- Not only did Charlie return, but became a main character.
- The most obscure, one-note characters suddenly return.
- Charlie was seemingly Dropped After the Pilot, but is Back for the Finale in all his glory.
- Downplayed:
- Charlie stopped appearing for an episode or two, but later returned.
- Charlie makes a cameo appearance in a later episode after having previously been written out.
- Justified: Charlie had a reason to move back to town, such as getting a job there again, or simply because he missed living there.
- Inverted: Charlie was never written out, but there's an episode celebrating his return anyways.
- Subverted: The finale episode opens with a scene of Charlie messaging Alice and Bob and telling him that he'll be traveling soon. It turns out he's not actually going back to town, but instead flying to visit his relatives.
- Double Subverted: But after he visits his relatives, he moves back to Alice and Bob's town.
- Parodied: Charlie literally arrives to town on a bus labeled "Characters Who Were Written Out".
- Zig-Zagged:
- Several of Alice and Bob's friends were Put on a Bus. A few returned, a few never came back with any explanation, and a few died offscreen.
- Commuting on a Bus.
- Averted: Nobody ever gets Put on a Bus or comes back from it.
- Lampshaded: "I sure did miss Charlie."
- Invoked: Charlie enjoyed his time away, but he misses Alice and Bob and decides to move back.
- Exploited: Charlie was removed from the show in order to cause a reaction that would expose more people to the show. Then the type 2 enforcement happens.
- Defied: Charlie stays in his new town and doesn't come back.
- Discussed: "I wonder if Charlie will ever come back."
- Conversed: "Hey, they're bringing back Charlie! He last appeared in that episode last season, right?"
- Implied: Internal Affairs reports the reactivation of Badge 38492, observant viewers will recognize this as Charlie's badge. (The question now is, will he be redeployed to this precinct, or someplace else?)
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