42-Minute Reset
Synonyms: | Reset Button |
See also: | Monster of the Week, Freak of the Week, Babe of the Week, Mytharc, Breaking the Toys |
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By which Our Heroes, having been dive-bombed by fighter planes/tortured by pirates/mindfucked by aliens or what have you, turn up for the next t.v. episode showing no signs of lingering physical or mental trauma, or even, apparently, much recollection of last week's escapades, including valuable lessons they may have learned.
When Our Heroes are permanently or long-term changed (and more especially, hurt) by what happened in one or more episode, it's called breaking the toys.
Fanfic often goes where the original source won't, exploring the reactions of characters to canon trauma in stories that may be hurt/comfort or simply attempts to fill in the blanks between traumatic events and apparent total recovery. These fics are often missing scenes or episode tags.