History Main / CaretakerReversal

* In the Creator/AkiraKurosawa film ''RedBeard'', Dr. Yasumoto takes care of a feverish girl, abused to the point of madness, named Otayo. When the doctor himself falls ill, Otayo tends him, which helps her mental recovery. (In an amusing bit, she even tries reading his medical texts to stay awake.)

* One one episode of ''{{The Rifleman}}'' Lucas takes care of Mark who has the measles. At the end, Lucas has the measles while Mark takes care of him

* One one episode of ''{{The Rifleman}}'' Lucas takes care of Mark who has the measles. At the end, Lucas get the measles while Mark takes care of him

* One one episode of ''The Rifleman'' Lucas takes care of Mark who has the measles. At the end, Lucas get the measles while Mark takes care of him

* One one episode of "The Rifleman" Lucas takes care of Mark who has the measles. At the end, Lucas get the measles while Mark takes care of him

!!Examples

* In ''EthanFrome'', this happens three times with Zeena: Before their marriage and life together in Starkfield, Zeena was healthy and knowledgeable about medicine, taking care of Ethan's mother. During the majority of Ethan's story, Zeena spends her time claiming that she's ill and having Ethan care for her. Then, after [[spoiler:Ethan and Mattie's BungledSuicide, when they both acquire crippling injuries, Zeena takes care of them, even 20 years after the accident]].

Basically, this is when a character gets an illness (in most cases, a cold) or an injury. Another character spends most of the episode nursing him back to health. By the end of the episode, the "patient" got over his illness, but realizes TheCaretaker has caught the illness from him. He decides to take care of the now "patient".

* ''StarTrekVoyager''. The Doctor programs himself with flu symptoms because he wants to emphasize with his patients, who keep griping about their aches and pains. He's still the same DrJerk he always was, until an apparent malfunction means his symptoms don't do away when they're programmed to, throwing him into a panic. Then Kes reveals she tweaked the program so it would last another hour to teach him some proper empathy.

* "Is There An Ed In The House" of "EdEddNEddy." At the beginning, Sarah has a cold, and Double-D, Ed, and Jimmy take care of her. Near the end of the episode, Double-D comes down with Sarah's cold, which leads to Jimmy rushing up to Double-D saying: "Jeepers! You sound sick, Double-D! You shouldn't be outside; you need some TLC, mister!" He leads Double-D back into his house to take care of him, much to Double-D's objections while Eddy just stands there.

* In ''FrogAndToad'', Toad tries to cheer up Frog because he's sick. Frog gets better but then Toad gets sick and Frog takes care of him.

* In ''{{Ivanhoe}}'' Rebecca first acts as Ivanhoe's caretaker, then Ivanhoe acts as her champion.

This can be TruthInTelevision In many families with small children and a stay-at-home parent. It's not rare for the stay-at-home parent to get an infection from the kids before the parent who works outside the house.

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:Literature]]

* In ''FrogAndToad'', Toad tries to cheer up Frog because he's sick. Frog gets better but then Toad gets sick and Frog takes care of him.

* In an episode of ''HowIMetYourMother'', Robin is sick and Ted takes care of her. When he goes to kiss her, she tries to refuse, but he goes ahead anyway. Immediately after, we see Ted in bed, Robin taking care of him.

** Another episode had Leonard trying to help Sheldon get over his stage fright by playing therapist. In doesn't take long for Sheldon to become the therapist, impartially listening to Leonard rant about his [[WellDoneSonGuy issues with his mother's treatment of him as a child]].

* In the beginning of one ''DannyPhantom'' episode, Samantha Manson, the tomboy of the show, is sick and Danny and Tucker try to take care of her. This is also when the sidekick, Tucker, gets ghost powers. Guess who gets sick at the end?

** Another episode had Leonard trying to help Sheldon get over his stage fright by playing therapist. In doesn't take long for Sheldon to become the therapist, impartially listening to Leonard rant about his [[ WellDoneSonGuy mommy issues]].

* In the AkiraKurosawa film ''RedBeard'', Dr. Yasumoto takes care of a feverish girl, abused to the point of madness, named Otayo. When the doctor himself falls ill, Otayo tends him, which helps her mental recovery. (In an amusing bit, she even tries reading his medical texts to stay awake.)

* "Is There An Ed In The House" of "EdEddNEddy." At the beginning, Sarah has a cold, and Double-D, Ed, and Jimmy take care of her. Near the end of the episode, Double-D comes down with Sarah's cold, which leads to Jimmy rushing up to Double-D saying: "Oh, you poor thing! You sound sick- you shouldn't be outside!" He leads Double-D back into his house to take care of him.

* ''Series/TheAvengers'' (1998). After Steed is attacked by Mrs. Peel's clone, the real Mrs. Peel takes him to her home to recover and nurses him back to health. Later on, after Mrs. Peel is captured and brainwashed by Sir August, Steed rescues her and takes her to his home to recover.

* In ''EthanFrome'', Zeena spends a lot of the book claiming she's ill and having Ethan care for her. [[spoiler:After Ethan and Mattie's BungledSuicide, when they both acquire crippling injuries, Zeena takes care of them, even 20 years after the accident.]]

* ''KungFu'': in "Besieged: Cannon at the Gates", Caine is lying on the ground mortally wounded after he sabotages a cannon firing at the Shaolin Temple, and his GirlOfTheWeek is leaning over his body comforting him. Then a guard stabs her; she becomes limp, and Caine reverses positions with her as she dies. Suddenly he's fine. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHAQBqzPzCA#t=3m55s See it here, starting at 3:55.]]

Basically this is when a character gets an illness(in most cases a cold) or a injury. Another character spends most of the episode nursing them back to health . By the end of the episode, the "patient" got over their illness, only to realise TheCareTaker has caught the illness from them. They decide to take care of the now "patient". It doesn't have to be illness or injury.Sometimes, it's when parent used to take care of the chlid and in a few years later the child takes care of the aging parent. May also happen to the CloudcuckoolandersMinder if they take a blow to the head or visit CloudCuckooland.

This can be TruthInTelevision In many families with small children that have a stay at home parent, it's not uncommon for the stay at home parent to get an infection from the kids before the parent who works outside the house.

* Happens in one episode of ''Manga/SailorMoon R'', when Minako plays nurse to her friends, only to end up sick herself by the end of the episode, when Usagi and Chibi-usa return the favor.
* * In ''TrinityBlood'', after Ion is shot by Tres, Sister Esther ends up caring for him (including replacing his bandages); a few episodes later, Esther is knocked unconscious and wakes up to find Ion at her bedside.

* In ''MurderByDeath'' [[MissMarple Miss Marbles]] has a nurse - but Miss Marbles takes care of the nurse, rather than the other way around. (So, the actual reversal happend during the backstory.)

* In the AkiraKurosawa film ''RedBeard'', Dr. Yasumoto takes care of a feverish and abused to the point of madness girl named Otayo. When the doctor himself falls ill, Otayo tends him, which helps her mental recovery. (In an amusing bit, she even tries reading his medical texts to stay awake.)

* In ''{{Ivanhoe}}'' Rebecca first acts as Ivanhoes caretaker then Ivanhoe acts as her champion.
* In ''EthanFrome'', Zeena spends a lot of the book claiming she's ill and having Ethan care for her. [[spoiler:After Ethan and Mattie's BungledSuicide, when they both acquire crippling injuries, Zeena takes care of them, even twenty years after the accident.]]

-->'''Ted''': So worth it.
* ''TheBigBangTheory'': in season 1 Sheldon gets sick and makes Penny take care of him. In season 3 Penny gets injured and makes Sheldon take her to the hospital and take care of her afterwards. What connects these two instances most solidly is the song "Soft Kitty." Sheldon teaches the song to Penny to sing to him ('cause that's what his mother did when he was sick as a youngster). Then when Penny is injured she makes him sing it to her.
-->Penny: Sing "Soft Kitty" to me.
-->Sheldon: "Soft Kitty" is for when you're sick. You're not sick.
-->Penny: Injured and drugged is a kind of sick.

* ''KungFu'': in "Besieged: Cannon at the Gates" Caine is lying on the ground mortally wounded after he sabotages a cannon firing at the Shaolin Temple, and his GirlOfTheWeek is leaning over his body comforting him. Then a guard stabs her; she becomes limp, and Caine reverses positions with her as she dies. Suddenly he's fine. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHAQBqzPzCA#t=3m55s See it here, starting at 3:55.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': In "Storytelling" Jake gets sick and Finn takes care of him, obeying all of his requests, including the one to find a true story to tell him. At the end of the episode, Finn gets sick as well, and Jake rushes to do everything for him as well...until he realises that Finn has just fallen asleep.

* In the beginning of one ''DannyPhantom'' episode, Sam Manson, the tomboy of the show, is sick and Danny and Tucker try and take care of her. This is also when the Sidekick, Tucker gets ghost powers. Guess who gets sick at the end?

* In an episode of ''{{Futurama}}'', the crew are attacked by giant space bees. After spending days at Lela's bedside, Fry discovers that [[spoiler: he was in a coma the whole time and dreamed about caring for Lela when she was the one caring for him.]]

* In the AkiraKurosawa film ''RedBeard'', Dr. Yasumoto takes care of a feverish and abused to the point of madness girl named Otayu. When the doctor himself falls ill, Otayu tends him, which helps her mental recovery. (In an amusing bit, she even tries reading his medical texts to stay awake.)

Basically this is when a character gets an illness(in most cases a cold) or a injury. Another character spends most of the episode nursing them back to health . By the end of the episode, the "patient" got over their illness, only to realise TheCareTaker has caught the illness from them. They decide to take care of the now "patient".

It doesn't have to be illness or injury.Sometimes, it's when parent used to take care of the chlid and in a few years later the child takes care of the aging parent. May also happen to the CloudcuckoolandersMinder if they take a blow to the head or visit CloudCuckooland.