History Main / SoWhatDoWeDoNow

* In ''The Candidate'' (1972), the titular character played by Robert Redford is a dark horse candidate for U.S. Senate. He enters the election under the basis that his party believes he will lose, but it gives him an opportunity to air his political views. As the race goes on, he sacrifices his own goals in order to gain political leverage, until he has no more platform or policies to go on. It ends Redford's character winning the election (which nobody, least of all the heroes, had expected). During the victory party in his hotel suite, he finds a quiet moment to ask his campaign manager, in a horrified tone, "[[PyrrhicVictory So. What do we do now?]]".

* ''Gilligan's Island'' first movie, "Rescue from Gilligan's Island," shows the castaways back on the mainland, finally rescued after 15 years on the island together. When they are all finished with the parades and press conferences, they start to turn away from each other, and then realize, "Wait a minute. I/We aren't going to be together anymore" and come back together for one last good-bye hug. Later, Ginger is trying to deal with the "new" Hollywood (more sex and violence), the Skipper and Gilligan have to contend with the insurance company not wanting to pay for the ''Minnow'''s replacement, the Professor constantly "inventing" things that have been around for years, and MaryAnn having to go back to the farm on Kansas. The only ones who mostly go back to their former lives are the Howells, and later, we see that they really aren't happy in the large mansion and such after spending so much time on the island. Later, [[spoiler: when they get shipwrecked again]] it's almost a relief for them. Luckily, [[spoiler: the next movie gets them rescued and the island becoming a resort.]]

* ''{{Castlevania}} Symphony of the Night'': Why did the titular castle reappear a mere 5 years after Richter Belmont banished {{Dracula}}? It seems like Richter couldn't go back to a normal life after saving the world from the Prince of Darkness and he wants {{Dracula}} back so he can be the hero again. [[spoiler:Luckily he's just been brainwashed into thinking this, although you can get a NonStandardGameOver by killing him.]]

* ''FinalFantasyX'''s sequel did this twice:
** After the ending of the first game, Spira enters the Eternal Calm. ''FinalFantasyX-2'', posits that [[spoiler: Yuna's life has settled into a routine, which is shaken up only after discovery of a sphere depicting images of "Tidus." This prompts her to become a [[ActionGirl Sphere Hunter]] to find the truth about this. While this happens, the rest of the world discover that being freed from Sin gives them the opportunity to squabble among each other, giving rise to religious and civilian factions which almost engage in civil war.]]
** The UpdatedRerelease, ''FinalFantasyX-2: Last Mission'' explicitly states that, after its own ending, the Gullwings have gone their separate ways and settled down in ordinary, domestic lives. After they receive a letter of challenge, they join up again to tackle one last dungeon, which helps them realize that [[ThePowerOfFriendship they'll always count on each other]] regardless.

* {{Disgaea 3}} reveals that, after saving Veldime in VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2}}, [[TheHero Adell]] has pretty much jack-all to do. Turns out the Demon Hunter skill set doesn't transfer to other jobs very well.

* ''DigimonAdventure'' both subverted and exemplified this.

** Played straight at the end [[spoiler: where the Chosen Children's success in fulfilling their destiny saves the Digital World and (seemingly) destroys the source of all evil. However, they're sent back home without their Digimon, and this time without any seeming way to return to the Digital World, leaving behind some of the best friends they ever had. Eventually averted by [[DigimonAdventure02 the sequel]], which didn't end like this.]]
*** ''DigimonTamers'' has a similar ending [[spoiler: although they were already in the real world (their Digimon had to return to the Digital World without them, or be destroyed by a side-effect of their method of defeating the BigBad). There is a tiny spot of hope for them to get their partners back at the very end of the last episode, turning this into the optimistic version, but later materials crush this hope.]]
** ''DigimonFrontier'' does it [[spoiler: unnecessarily - the portal is closing so the Legendary Warriors shove the kids through, not even leaving time for a real goodbye, making it almost as sudden and tragic a shock as the ''Tamers'' version. But then you realize that the Trailmon can take them back (and forth) at ''any time'' so there's really no rush]]. It's kind of a "imitate the past series, even if it doesn't make sense here and now" thing.

* Used in the first few episodes of ''BattleB-daman''. Yamato finally gets his own B-daman and his first battle is against [[TheLancer Gray]], someone who's generally considered a really tough opponent. After this, even though Yamato now has the B-daman he's been wanting all these years, he gets bored with every last thing he does. [[HotShonenMom Mie]] {{lampshade}}s this and suggests he goes out and look for Gray.

* at the end of VideoGame/KingdomHearts, [[TheHero Sora]] DonaldDuck and {{Goofy}} close the Door to Darkness, preventing the Heartless from swarming out and destroying everything. After the credits, we see they are walking down a country road. Donald asks the question, and Sora replies that they have to find MickeyMouse and [[TheLancer Riku]], who were on the other side of the door when it closed.

* ''PokemonMysteryDungeon'' manages to take this to downright TearJerker levels. Seriously, it has an honest-to-God Creator/DonBluth ending.

* EmilieAutumn has a moment of this in One Foot In Front Of The Other on her Fight Like A Girl album.

Contrast SendMeBack, where the hero wants to go back to how things were because they didn't save the day, and TheJourneyContinues where the hero finds he'll always have adventures.

Contrast SendMeBack, where the hero wants to go back to how things were because they didn't save the day, and AndTheJourneyContinues where the hero finds he'll always have adventures.

Contrast SendMeBack, where the hero wants to go back to how things were because they didn't save the day.

-->'''Bedevere:''' Lancelot...Galahad...(''running out of steam'') leap out of the rabbit...(''other knights do face palm'')

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* ''LordOfTheRings'' almost ends with Frodo feeling like this. [[spoiler:So he leaves with the elves.]]
* ''TheGraduate'' could be the most famous example of this.

* ''TheProposition''. Charlie didn't enjoy his adventure, but the ending just screams of indeterminacy. It doesn't help that [[spoiler:both his brothers, including the one he'd set out to save, are dead]].

* The gangster spoof ''JohnnyDangerously'' has a FramingDevice of the title character as a pet store owner, seemingly retired from his life of crime, and telling the story of his life to a kid--complete with AnAesop of "crime doesn't pay." Then a limo pulls up, and he remarks "Well, it paid a little..."

* Kind of a central theme in ''TheHurtLocker''.
** It turns up again in Bigelow's latest picture, ''ZeroDarkThirty''; [[spoiler: Bin Laden is dead. Maya, the CIA agent who dedicated her entire adult life to finding and killing him, now has to face life without her mission. The final scene of the film sees her sitting alone in an airplane and weeping, unsure of where she wants to go.]]

* Subverted in Disney/Pixar's ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}''; Carl makes it to Paradise Falls, then seems at a loss for what to do next... until he takes [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsG2S_1PRnk another look]] at Ellie's "Adventure Book".
* TheStinger of ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' has the Tank Gang finally escape and make it to the ocean. But [[TheBigGuy Bloat]] sums it up in the last line of the film: "Now what?"
** They're also still in their plastic bags with no idea how to get out.
* ''{{Pleasantville}}'''s stinger, with Betty asking George and Bill.
* A variation in ThereWillBeBlood; [[VillainProtagonist Daniel]] is offered a deal that would let him stop all his hard work and retire at a relatively young age, and asks the man making the offer what he thinks Daniel would do with himself afterwards. [[spoiler: It's shown by the end of the film that without the challenge and the work and with more money than he knows what to do with Daniel degenerates into an unstable alcoholic.]]
* Just after the big group dance "At the Prom" number in ''NotAnotherTeenMovie'', all the main characters "freeze" in front of the school, arms raised, not knowing what to do next. Jump cut to inside the prom.

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* Kurau's human half in ''KurauPhantomMemory'' has fond memories of the time she was taken over by her Rynax entity, but comes to terms with the fact that it is all over now.

* Subverted in Disney/Pixar's ''Film/{{Up}}''; Carl makes it to Paradise Falls, then seems at a loss for what to do next ... until he takes [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsG2S_1PRnk another look]] at Ellie's "Adventure Book".

** At the end of season 2 the heroes are relieved to have finally put that behind them and are eager to resume their normal lives, clearly excited at the prospect of SoWhatDoWeDoNow... and then TheStinger shows one of the antagonists from the comics taking a position at their school, setting up [[WhatMightHaveBeen the conflict for season three]] [[TooGoodToLast that will never happen]].

* In ''PrinceCaspian'', Peter in particular is none too happy to be a young teen dealing with stupid schoolboys again, as opposed to a full-grown man and a king.

WhyWereBummedCommunismFell is this trope applied after the end of the ColdWar.

* With glasnost, and later, when the Soviet Union fell, everyone suddenly had far more freedom of speech. What do you talk about? How the Soviet Union sucks? How the 90s economy sucks? What do you do now that you have all this freedom? Do you go on with your daily lives and live the same as you always have? Do you go check out that new [=McDonald=]'s in Red Square? WhyWereBummedCommunismFell is all about this. There are people nostalgic for the days of Communism in the Eastern Bloc because they had to be creative about everything they did. Now that they didn't have the excitement that little kids do when they do something naughty, it wasn't worth it anymore. It's hard to understand for Westerners.

* Last line of AlanDeanFoster's ''[[HumanxCommonwealth Flinx Transcendent]]'' -- [[spoiler:'''Flinx:''' "I'm bored."]]

* The ending of Mark Waid's {{Empire}}. Golgoth has succeeded in conquering the world and [[spoiler: killed his daughter and his only friend]]. Now what?