Compressed Vice: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Bender:''' ''It's just... neither of us can get up when we get knocked on our back.''

'''Fry:''' ''What? I've seen you get up off your back tons of times.''

 

The plotline has a character display some vice, flaw, prejudice, or other negative attribute/behavior, which said character has ''never before this point'' shown any signs of suffering from, but which they then [[Idiot of the Week|engage in solely as the setup]] for some sort of [[Very Special Episode|One Shot]] gag or [[An Aesop]]. (In some cases, the plot claims/suggests that they've ''always'' had this problem, even though previous episodes show otherwise.) It then vanishes totally after the end of the gag and/or plot. Sometimes this is meant to serve as [[Character Development]], but due to the entire process being constrained to that one single episode, it's not very convincing. If the creators are more consistent about the issue, it becomes a largely [[Informed Flaw]] which drives several distinct episodes, but still is never observed in a character outside them. Shows up frequently in [[Very Special Episode]], although rarely in the [[Too Smart for Strangers]] variant for [[Squick|obvious]] [[Good Flaws, Bad Flaws|reasons...]]

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Himitsu no Akko-chan]]'', the original 1969 series, manages to literally [[Be Careful What You Wish For|wish]] a Compressed Vice to the main character, just to [[Nightmare Fuel|scare her]] into her personal Aesop. In episode 32, aptly named "_____", upon meeting a deaf-mute kid, Akko-chan, out of empathy and curiosity, wishes to her magic mirror to be a deaf-mute version of herself. Upon discovering that, being speechless, she can't wish anymore, and she'll be stuck that way forever, Akko-chan literally breaks apart, feeling scared and useless until the mirror, reasoning that she got her Aesop about hasty wishes and physical ailments, and she understood the true courage of her new friend [[Long-Lost Uncle Aesop|(who, of course, will never be seen around for the rest of the series)]], lifts the wish on its own accord.

* The original Japanese version of ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'' gave [[The Heart|Hikari]] a crippling reliance on her brother in the infamous [[Non Sequitur Episode|Dark Ocean]] episode. It may have been an attempt to [[Purity Sue|keep her from looking too perfect]], but while she does freak out at the Dark Ocean in a later episode, she doesn't mention Taichi at all.

 

== Comic Books ==

* In ''[[Blackhawk]]'' #240 (which is towards the end of the [[Dork Age|New Blackhawk Era]]), [[Everyone Looks Sexier If French|André Blanc-Dumont]] has been given a crippling fear of beautiful women. He declares himself cured after punching out {{spoiler|a man disguised as a woman}}. Click [http://www.comictreadmill.com/CTMBlogarchives/2005/2005_Individual/2005_01/000675.php here] for an in-depth recap.

 

* An episode of ''[[The Golden Girls]]'' revealed that Rose has been addicted to prescription strength pain-killers for ''decades''. It also strongly implied that her perpetually sweet disposition is at least partially the result of taking these drugs. Despite the coda of the episode having her statement that she'll be fighting this addiction the rest of her life (albeit filled with hope that she can pull it off), it's never truly referred to again.

** Similar events happened to Dorothy, who had two relapses of former addictions she had beaten (smoking and gambling.) Aside from the episodes in question, they were never mentioned again.

** Wasn't it more a resistance to a friend coming out to him by revealing that he had feelings for him (Joey gets note from "Leslie," doesn't know which Leslie it is, and then his friend Les says that it was from him)? In that case, Joey being angry for a while makes sense since Les knew he was straight. I don't remember it being "Joey hates the gays."

* A particularly offensive episode of ''[[Lizzie McGuire]]'' featured her pal Miranda becoming anorexic and then getting over it within the course of a week.

** As does an episode of ''[[The Facts of Life]]'', which had Sue Ann getting, and recovering from, anorexia.

** D.J. had anorexia for fifteen minutes on ''[[Full House]]''. They literally reduced it to skipping a couple of meals before being saved by Aunt Becky.

** Lois Lane in ''[[Smallville]]'';

** Mimi Clark in ''[[Jericho]]'';

** Gia from ''[[Full House]]''

* A particularly extreme example appeared on ''[[Rome]]'', with the reveal that Octavian was deeply in love with (as in, wanted to have sex with) his own sister. Not only had nothing even hinting about this ever come up before, but the episode itself has zero hints about it until Servilia lets his sister know—which actually justifies it, as he was clearly very good at keeping it secret.

* In ''[[Friends]]'', in the first episode where we see Chandler smoke and the others disapprove of it, he delivers a speech about how he accepts their flaws and only expects them to accept his in return. Said flaws include Joey cracking his knuckles, Monica snorting when she laughs and Phoebe chewing her hair—none of them appeared before, or after this episode. The one about Ross overpronouncing every word applies, though.

** A ''[[Friends]]'' episode that shows less respect for continuity comes in the Season Five New Year's episode where Rachel suddenly turns into a gossip who can't shut up about her coworkers' dirty laundry. The whole thing turns out to be a plot device to launch us into a [[Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere]] plot as Rachel resolves to stop gossiping, and then immediately discovers the unkeepable secret that Chandler and Monica are doin' it.

** In the case of Charles, he was only snoring because of allergies acting up, leaving him unable to breathe normally.

* Done in ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' where the crew is forced through the air ducts of Starbug. Lister is revealed to have claustrophobia. Subverted somewhat when Cat lists a number of examples where he's been trapped in a confined space and didn't freak out, naturally this didn't help Lister.

* Similar example in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'', in an episode where the Doctor found out that Janeway had tampered with his memories to prevent him going "insane" over an old triage case, and Janeway and the entire crew suddenly seemed to develop an anti-AI prejudice which then immediately vanished again next episode.

** Made worse because another episode had them arguing the Doctor was human, not just an AI, when he was denied rights over the publishing of his holonovel for being a hologram.

** Likewise Colonel Foster in the ''[[UFO]]'' episode "Sub-Smash".

* ''[[The Professionals]]''. In "Klansmen" Bodie displays overt racist behaviour never shown previously by his character, and due to the events of the episode (in which his life is saved by a black doctor) we never see it again. Actor Lewis Collins was not pleased.

* Blair Warner in ''[[The Facts of Life]]'' develops a one-show gambling addiction in a 1986 episode. At the end, she swears it off [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51agQ6Ny-ps&NR=1 only for a woman behind her to hit the jackpot using the same machine]. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* In the Lent episode of ''[[Father Ted]]'', while Ted's smoking and Jack's drinking have been previously established, Father Dougal's addiction to roller blading only exists in this episode. However, as the whole series runs on [[Negative Continuity]] and [[Rule of Funny]], this scarcely seems to matter.

** The heroin thing was actually dealt with by Jack being given some vague other drug that would mask the withdrawal symptoms for about a day, i.e. the rest of the season, after the writers realized it was becoming more trouble than it was worth.

* On one almost-[[Very Special Episode]] of ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'', Herb Tarlek had a problem with alcohol which had not been mentioned previously and which he overcame by the end of the episode.

** Actually it had been subject to [[Foreshadowing]] in an episode a couple of weeks before, where it was mentioned that his three-martini lunches were causing him to forget things he'd said and done. And he mentioned still having his drinking problem in a couple of other episodes.

* Eri in ''[[Tensou Sentai Goseiger]]'' is revealed to be very messy and lazy in Epic 9, causing her to clash with Moune as part of their focus episode. These bad habits are never mentioned before or since.

* Stumpy's gambling addiction isn't mentioned at all in season one of ''[[Carnivale]]'', even though by the beginning of the second series he has the debt collectors after him and a $400 debt (in old-timey Great Depression-era money).

** Adjusted for inflation, $400 in 1934 would be worth about $6443.73 in 2010's dollars.

* Subverted in ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]''. Dee and Dennis spend an episode addicted to crack, but by the end they're off to a recovery program. In later episodes, no mention is made of their previous addiction... until "Frank's Pretty Woman," where they encounter crack again. Dennis immediately flees the scene, saying that it's not a safe place for him, then almost immediately afterwards convinces Mac that crack is awesome and they should go get some.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* Brenda's slovenliness was revealed in the same episode of ''[[Teamo Supremo]]'' as it was cured. (At least her desire to be a famous pop singer cropped up in more than one episode.)

* The ''[[Producing Parker]]'' episode "The Skinny on Parker" had Parker developing anorexia and immediately getting over it after being force-fed a sandwich.

* An episode of ''[[King of the Hill]]'' revolves around Hank's obsession with his guitar. Peggy claims that he pays more attention to the guitar than to her despite the fact that it's the only episode in which the guitar appears. It was eventually replaced with a similar vice: him treating the family dog Ladybird extremely well, sometimes better than he treats Bobby or Peggy. This one, however, stayed through the entire series.

** She again does this when he was spending more time with Bobby who was doing well in Home Ec. Something she herself encouraged him to do and started to feel that she was being replaced by her own son.

[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]

[[Category:An Aesop]]