We Are Not Going Through That Again

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The heroes just had the adventure of their lives and are finally relaxing after all perils they have faced. Suddenly, there's a knock on the door, or the phone rings or some indication of Here We Go Again as they find themselves apparently about to find themselves in more adventure.

But in this Ending Trope, the tired or alarmed heroes respond, "Forget it! We Are Not Going Through That Again!" as they slam the door on their visitor, or hang up or go back to bed or run away. They have had all the adventure they could want and now they just want some peace and quiet.

This is a variant of Refusal of the Call, but only when it is at the end of the story and the call is clearly repeating the adventure they just experienced.

For the opposite, see Here We Go Again or And the Adventure Continues....

As an Ending Trope, Spoilers ahead may be unmarked. Beware.

Examples of We Are Not Going Through That Again include:

Anime and Manga

Comic Books

  • Played with: In one Smurfs comic, one of the Smurfs dreams of travelling to outer space in a spaceship he builds. Not wanting to disappoint him, Papa Smurf concocts a convoluted plan to drug him and make him thinks he's travelled to another planet populated by Smurflike humanoids called Swoofs. So convoluted, in fact, that when Astrosmurf "returns" (after drinking a similarly drugged beverage given to him by the Swoofs), he contemplates going back someday, only to be overridden by the rest of the village, who practically yell the trope name at him.

Film

  • At the end of Kingdom of Heaven, Richard the Lion Heart rides to greet Balian and try to recruit him for another crusade. Balian simply responds: "I am the blacksmith".
  • Never Say Never Again[context?]
  • Tremors 2: Aftershocks had Earl act this way at the beginning. It didn't take.
  • In the remake of Freaky Friday, the titular Freaky Friday Flip is caused when an older Chinese woman (the mother of the owner of a Chinese restaurant) gives the characters magic fortune cookies. At the end, the same Chinese restaurant is catering the big wedding, and the restaurant owner tackles her mother to prevent her from giving the magic fortune cookies to two different characters.

Literature

  • At the end of Bored of the Rings, Frito, having returned to his digs, is visited a mysterious stranger who thinks he's the kind of person that takes quests. He slams the door, locks it and swallows the key.
  • In the final Harry Potter book, Harry gets the Elder Wand and has the opportunity to keep it (leading to a possible Here We Go Again ending), but decides to put it back in Dumbledore's grave to end the cycle of violence. Ron asks if he's sure and Harry tells him "That wand's more trouble than it's worth. And quite frankly, I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."
    • In the film he goes further; he snaps the wand in two after using it to repair his own.
  • In the short story "Chivalry" by Neil Gaiman, a little old lady finds the Holy Grail going cheap in a second-hand shop, and buys it because she thinks it'll look nice on her mantlepiece. Much excitement ensues. At the end of the story, she's back in the same shop, and finds an exotic oil lamp but decides, on reflection, to leave it where it is.

Live-Action TV

  • The Suite Life on Deck episode "Maddie On Deck" is about Maddie catching the attentions of a prince, who turns out to be an eight year old boy. The prince proceeds to attempt to force her into marriage. In the end, she has caught the attentions of the prince's brother, Timmy, and has a We Are Not Going Through That Again moment. As it turns out, Timmy was actually a hot guy around the same age as her.
  • In The Monkees episode "Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth," the band, having just finished ensuring that a horse that they were stuck with by a kid got a good home, are approached on the beach by another kid who just happened to be looking to get rid of a camel. The instant they see this, the Monkees run away as fast as they can before the kid can say anything and given that the show cuts to a music sequence with them on a dune buggy and motorcycles, they are apparently really serious about avoiding getting stuck with another beast of burden.
  • Done Repeatedly in a single episode of The Cosby Show. It's Thanksgiving and there's a huge storm raging outside. Despite that, Clair keeps sending Cliff to get stuff that she'd forgotten to get ahead of time. Each time he returns from the store, the first thing he says is "I'm not going back out there". He keeps going back out there.

Video Games

  • The ending of Telltale Games's Back to The Future game series. Upon finally arriving home, Doc and Marty are visited by Marty's future self. And then two more future Martys. They all insist they come back with them into the future to fix the timeline. Doc and Marty simply get back into their own DeLorean and drive away, leaving the three alternates to fight amongst themselves.

Web Comics

Western Animation

  • The Flintstones episode "Dr. Sinister" where Fred and Barney just come back after being shanghaied into a terrifying James Bond like adventure with Madame Yes. When Yes appears on their front door at the end, they slam the door and begin boarding it up in fright.
  • In Peanuts, Charlie Brown is returning home from the best summer camp visit of his life helping and gaining a new friend. As his bus pulls out, he sees a new crop of kids who could use some help, but he sits back with a satisfied smile and says "Let them go, I'm done my hitch."
  • In the World's Greatest Superfriends episode, "Lord Of Middle Earth," Gleek realizes his fantastic adventure was just a dream. But just as he relaxes, he sees a shadowy figure that looks like the same kind of Troll that was in his dream adventure. Rather than investigate, Gleek simply shrugs and goes back to sleep.
  • On TaleSpin, after Baloo and Louie are through helping a scavenger look for treasure, a woman on the streets shows them a map and asks if they're interested in looking for some treasure. The two exchange glances and then promptly rip the map over her head, and leave.
  • The Penguins of Madagascar, "Treasure of the Golden Squirrel". After the penguins had been involved in an exciting treasure hunt involving a cursed artifact, a pigeon gives them a silver feather and instruct them to guard it with their lives. Skipper is excited at the prospect of a second adventure, but when he turns around he finds that the others have left, wanting no part in it.