Breather Episode: Difference between revisions

One purpose of a [[Story Arc]] is to provide the necessary time to really get in there and just destroy everything. Crunch up the [[Love Interest]], alienate the friends, heap a bunch of victories on the [[Big Bad]], let all the [[Applied Phlebotinum|phlebotinum]] leak out of the superpower, maybe throw in a scorching case of herpes and a drug dependency... you know, just do everything you can to [[True Art Is Angsty|grind a protagonist into a sticky paste]].

 

 

 

It is tricky to get this just right as, improperly done, it makes the characters appear unsympathetic or in denial about the overarching plot.

 

{{examples}}

* The [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|2003 anime adaptation of]] ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' featured a comedic episode centering on the State Military members directly under Roy Mustang's command, right in the center of an intense plot arc involving a rebellion in a remote city.

* ''[[My-HiME]]'' had no less than two breather moments (the first consisting of two episodes), each directly following a [[Wham! Episode]]. Episodes 9-10 were a [[Beach Episode]] followed by a [[Cooking Duel]], but even they advanced the plot. Episode 16 turned out to be a Wham Episode by itself, thus making it two Wham Episodes in a row.

* Subverted in episode 8 of [[Another]] It's fairly light-hearted in [[Anyone Can Die|stark contrast]] to the earlier episodes {{spoiler|where people were getting killed left and right.}} Then the ending for the episode comes along...

 

* Many comic books do this between long arcs. ''[[Justice Society of America|JSA]]'', for instance, usually has an issue between arcs that follows the individual characters as they recover, and also allows for roster changes.

** After a particularly draining arc in ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'', where {{spoiler|Gwen Stacy was killed}}, the next two issues were a ''[[Freaky Friday]]''-esque romp, as the still-teenage Spider-Man changed bodies with [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Wolverine]] because of {{spoiler|Jean Grey, who picked Peter as "the person Logan would least like to be."}}

** We get another one in ''[[New X-Men]]''. After a dramatic story arc in which Jean discover's Scott's infidelity and a traitor at the mansion tries to kill Emma, Scott goes out for a nice "boy's night out" with Logan and Fantomex, which involves them battling some cyborgs and breaking into Weapon Plus' space station. Then as soon as they get back from space, the "Planet X" arc snaps us back, as Magneto comes back from the dead to destroy half of Manhattan, and he and Jean are both killed in a dramatic battle.

 

* In ''[[One Piece: Parallel Works]]'', after the [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|awesome]], [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|heartwarming]], [[Tear Jerker|sad]], and epic Baleeira Porto Arc and the [[Crazy Awesome]] Tequila Wolf Arc, we have the Restaurant Row Arc, a light-hearted (if you can get past [[Break the Cutie|Sebastian's]] [[Tear Jerker|backstory]]) and comedic arc where the Capricorn Pirates look for a chef to join their crew.

** The one-shots "Kazuma and the Magic Toaster", "Why we Can't Celebrate Spring Break", and "Blame it on Flogging Molly Songs" can be considered breather episodes to One Piece: Parallel Works, since they're comedic, [[Crack Fic]]s that have nothing to do with the main storyline.

** Something similar happens, sans [[Bottle Episode]], with "Robot's Day Out".

 

* ''[[Cars 2]]'' is more or less this among [[Pixar]] films following 3 years of ever increasing [[Tear Jerker|tear jerkage]] from ''[[WALL-E]]'', ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]'', and ''[[Toy Story 3]]''.

** And next, we have ''[[Brave]]''.

* ''[[Allegro Non Troppo]]'' (a feature film composed of animated shorts, like ''[[Fantasia]]'') has its most depressive short, ''Valse Triste'', followed by an hilarious short of a bee having her meal interrupted.

* ''[[Hercules (1997 film)|Hercules]]'' is this, sandwiched in the middle of some of Disney's [[Darker and Edgier]] Renaissance films - namely, ''[[The Lion King]]'', ''[[Pocahontas]]'', ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'', ''[[Mulan]]'', and ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]''.

 

 

== Film ==

* The costume party in ''[[Mystery Team]]''.

 

 

* Literature example: In ''[[John Dies at the End]]'', immediately after Dave reveals that the reason he was sent to a special school was that {{spoiler|he was implicitly [[Rape as Drama|gangraped in highschool]] and retaliated by cutting out the eyes of the ringleader}}, there's an entire chapter narrated by the Cloudcuckoolander sidekick and [[Unreliable Narrator]] John, which involves backflips, kung-fu fighting, and horse-theft.

** Also, after one story arc, there is a chapter that consists entirely of "Nothing happened for the next few months".

* ''[[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban|Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' could be viewed as this for the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' series, being a comparatively laid-back story (apart from the Dementors) which does not have anything directly to do with Voldemort and immediately precedes {{spoiler|his return}} in ''[[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]''. It also comes after ''[[Chamber of Secrets]]'', which is an [[Actionized Sequel]] involving students being attacked by a monster, leading to a year-long reign of terror which threatens to close the school. In comparison, Sirius Black coming after Harry in particular is rather low stakes.

** ''Half Blood Prince'' was set between the two most emotionally turbulent books in the series. After the fifth book ends with Harry [[Rage Against the Mentor|breaking down in Dumbledore's office]], Dumbledore is much more above-board and the focus is split between Harry learning about Voldemort's past and the various [[Shipping|ships]]. The drama comes back in full force in the last few chapters, but it's mostly much-needed breathing space.

* ''Q & A'', from the [[Star Trek Expanded Universe]]. And considering the plot hinges on ''the destruction of every universe in existence EVER'', that's really saying something about the other novels, no?

* ''[[Animorphs]]'' #44 ''The Unexpected'' qualifies. It comes right before the 11 book arc that ended the series, it has nothing in the way of character or plot development, and the events (Cassie getting stranded in [[Land Down Under|the Australian outback]]) are not mentioned again.

 

 

* The second half of the second season of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' featured one of the show's darker arcs. Comedic episodes such as "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" and "Go Fish" lightened the mood.

** "Tabula Rasa," an episode of wacky mind-loss comedy before we plunge head long into darkness, and don't surface again until the end of the season. May even count as a subversion, as it is the episode where Tara leaves Willow and Giles leaves for England.

* ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'' had a couple, although it did {{spoiler|introduce the [[Sixth Ranger]] to ORE Journal}}.

* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' did this regularly in the later seasons to break up the darkest and most complex storyline in the entire franchise: the Dominion War arc. Comedic episodes featuring the Ferengi were especially prominent. It should be noted, however, that Ferengi episodes were being done before the Dominion War as well.

** Other examples that are placed in the middle of a string of arc episodes include the holosuite-centered "Badda Bing Badda Bang" (a heist caper in 1960s Las Vegas) and "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" (a baseball game versus a team of Vulcans).

** "In The Cards" provides a big change in pace to break the tension before the season finale, with Jake and Nog getting into all kinds of hijinks.

* According to [[Word of God|Stephen Colbert]], ''[[The Colbert Report|A Colbert Christmas]]'' was a breather episode for ''real life''. After the intensity of the 2008 elections, this is quite believable.

 

* "Walk of Life", by Dire Straits. "After all the violence and double talk, here's just a song in all the trouble and the strife."

* "A Warm Place" from [[Nine Inch Nails|The Downward Spiral]], a calm instrumental sandwiched between the short, violent 'Big Man With A Gun' and the death-wish clatter of 'Eraser'.

* The [[Vienna Teng]] album ''Warm Strangers'' sandwiches "Passage", a haunting high-octane [[Tear Jerker]] with a bit of eerie thrown in for good measure, in between "Anna Rose", a lullaby that is probably the closest Vienna gets to [[Tastes Like Diabetes]] territory, and ''The Atheist Christmas Carol'', a calm, soothing song (which, despite what the title suggests, is not an [[Author Tract]]).

 

* ''[[Crisis Core]]'' features a breather mission. Right after a very dramatic point, {{spoiler|where Zack has to fight and kill his mentor and best friend, then spends the rest of the cutscene crying and being comforted by Aerith,}} Zack is next seen on vacation in Costa Del Sol. He's then attacked by scuba-geared enemies, and has to fight them off with a beach umbrella in lieu of his BFS.

* The original ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' featured one as well, after [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Aeris]] [[It Was His Sled|dies]] at the end of disk one, the beginning of disk two immediately gives you a snowboarding minigame to lighten the mood.

* ''[[The Idolmaster 2|The iDOLM@STER 2]]'' - Mami's route compared to the others. In fact, depending on the answers the producer gives them during their story scenes, it can be even more amusing.

 

* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' has a breather ''arc'' of sorts; after the intense Damien arc, the next story arc involved throwing Grace her first birthday party. However, as ''that'' arc took nearly a year to resolve and was stuffed to the gills with [[Filler Strip|filler]], it may have been ''too'' much of a breather from the main plot; in fact, you may have to think for a good five minutes to recall that there was a larger plot beyond people being turned into things.

** One could also consider the "New and Old Friends" arcs to be breather episodes after the "Sister" arc and the current "Bringing Silly Back" arcs to be <s> all</s> mostly breathers following the very angst and action heavy "Sister II".

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' has a few. Funny chapters are often thrown in between more serious ones.

 

* After a long string of [[Wham! Episode|Wham Episodes]], ''[[Lonelygirl15]]'' had "Backyard Bikini Patrol", an episode devoted largely to characterization and [[Fan Service]].

* After the heavy dramatic exposition in episodes 18 and 19, ''[[Unforgotten Realms]]'' made Episode 20, [[A Day in the Limelight]] with ROAMIN the paladin, watching him solve crimes in his... [[Cloudcuckoolander|unique]] fashion.

* ''[[Warning! Readers' Advisory]]'' has had a couple--one to fill a slot on the schedule that was delayed due to some technical difficulties, and one as a regular breather after a handful of plot-heavy episodes that came before.

 

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' had the light-hearted character vignette episode "Tales of Ba Sing Se" right after a very dark and dramatic episode that changed the perception of the "[[Hidden Elf Village|haven]]" of Ba Sing Se. Then after the dark depressing "Lake Laogai" episode is "The Earth King" where the Gaang finally overthrows the Dai Li, subverted in that it is [[Too Good to Last]]. Similarly, "Nightmares & Daydreams" was (for the most part) a breather between the quite scary and grim "The Puppetmaster" and the "Day of Black Sun" two-parter.

** The second half of the third season does this again with "[[Avatar: The Last Airbender/Recap/Book 3/17 The Ember Island Players|The Ember Island Players]]", a humorous, [[Fandom Nod|fandom-related]] recap of the entire series right before the 4-part series finale.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:(Non-)Continuity Episode]]