Line #47 Main/DivorceIsTemporary


1	->''"You've got an old-fashioned idea divorce is something that lasts forever, 'til death do us part.' Why, divorce doesn't mean anything nowadays, Hildy, just a few words mumbled over you by a judge."''
2	-->-- '''Walter Burns''', ''Film/HisGirlFriday''
3
4	AliceAndBob's relationship went sour, to say the very least. Maybe they absolutely hate each others' guts, now. Maybe they bicker over custody of their kids. Maybe they [[AmicableExes separated amicably]]. Whatever the reason, the papers are signed, bam. Done. Finito.
5
6	Of course, the plotline doesn't let them stay separate for long. Anything from their meddling kids to an ApocalypseHow will force them together again -- by coincidence, happenstance, or old feelings simply being rekindled. Whatever it is, however messy the split-up was, it's all undone by the end of the story.
7
8	This trope is integral to the "Comedy of Remarriage", a subgenre of the American [[RomanticComedy romantic comedies]] that came out of the 1930s, where protagonists divorce, flirt with strangers (without running into the problems associated with adultery since they're divorced), and realize they should get back together.
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10	See also FirstFatherWins for the fate of anyone new the mom dates post-divorce. Often brought about by a [[KidsPlayMatchmaker 'Parent Trap' Plot]]. Often a result of StatusQuoIsGod. Compare RelationshipSalvagingDisaster.
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12	As this is an ending trope, '''Unmarked Spoilers Ahead!'''
13	----
14	!! Examples
15	[[foldercontrol]]
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17	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
18	* ''Manga/BananaFish'' sees the divorced Max and Jessica hook up again at the end of the series. They weren't presented as being AmicableExes, and were even fighting for custody over their son Michael when the series began. Working together to help Ash and Eiji made them realise they still had feelings for each other.
19	* A borderline example in ''Manga/CrayonShinChan''; Shin-Chan's antics leads to Misae mistaking Hiroshi in having an affair, and though the misunderstanding is cleared up, the quarrel eventually leads to Hiroshi and Misae deciding to split because "it's clear they could no longer stand each other". They even had divorce papers at ready, but eventually changes their minds when Shin-Chan starts scribbling on the back of the papers - a family portrait.
20	* In ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'', Aiko's parents divorced before the series began. They get back together at the end of the final season (four years in-series).
21	* In the penultimate episode of ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', [=MaloMyotismon=] trapped the 2nd gen Digidestined (except Davis) in their own fantasy worlds, with T.K's being a meal where his estranged family[[note]]His brother Matt lives with their father while he lives with their mother[[/note]] is together again. Needless to say, he's really furious with [=MaloMyotismon=] after realizing he's trapped in a LotusEaterMachine.
22	[[/folder]]
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24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': {{Implied\|Trope}}. Ashley and ''[[Characters/TheFlashHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon]]'''s marriage ended on the worst of terms. Hunter predicted that a suspect wouldn't have a gun, and thus urged his team to make the arrest without waiting for backup. He turned out to be wrong, and the killer shot him in the knee, crippling him, before gunning down his father-in-law; in response, Ashley filed for divorce and he was let go from the FBI. When Ashley later learns of Hunter's transformation into Zoom, she doesn't hesitate to leave her entire career at the FBI behind to come to Keystone City to take over his former spot as the local metahuman profiler to help reform him. She makes it clear that she still loves him and feels guilty for not being there for him, feeling that he would never have become Zoom had she not left him. Though not stated, it's implied that she plans to get back together with Hunter once she reforms him.
26	* ''ComicBook/TheGoldenAge'': Johnny Chambers considers retying the knot with his ex-wife Libby Lawrence near the end of the story.
27	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Peter Parker]]'s and [[Characters/MarvelComicsMaryJaneWatson Mary Jane Watson]]'s marriage was [[CosmicRetcon retconned out of existence]] in the infamous ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' storyline. Ten years later ([[ComicBookTime in real time]]), they finally got back together in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2018'', when Nick Spencer began his run on the title. [[spoiler:In issue #29 of the volume, Peter is forced to miss seeing MJ off on her flight to LA. She assures him over video chat that it's fine, but it's revealed to the audience that he was planning on re-proposing to her had he been there. He tells himself "Maybe some other day", suggesting that the two may have their marriage restored sometime in the near future.]]
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29
30	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
31	* ''Fanfic/EbottsWake'': It becomes clear fairly quickly that Toriel and Asgore are not going to stay apart forever.
32	--> '''Toriel:''' It would have been madness for me to hold onto my anger for decades or centuries, or even longer, but if all we have now is a few more decades, then that is even worse.
33	* In the ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' story ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8751000/1/Guardian-of-Light Guardian of Light]]'', Helen's adoptive parents, Bernadette and Lowell, split up when she and her siblings were younger. They are shown arguing at the beginning of the story, but when the kids apparently go missing, the couple put aside their differences in order to find them. This makes them realize that they can't even remember what they started fighting about in the first place, and they're back together by the end of the fic.
34	* Pieter and Kyoko were headed this way in ''Fanfic/NobodyDies'' before the reboot kicked in.
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36
37	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
38	* In both ''Film/TheParentTrap1961'' and ''Film/TheParentTrap1998'', the twins actively invoke this.
39	* In ''Film/MrPoppersPenguins'' the titular animal-owner seems to be rekindling his relationship with his ex-wife and the mother of his children as a result of the animals' humanizing influence.
40	* ''Film/WhatAGirlWants'' plays this with Libby and Henry. Apparently nearly twenty years of estrangement can be fixed with one magical evening at the ball. Justified in that the split was [[RelationshipSabotage due to a lie]] of Henry's EvilMentor rather than any actual problems between the two, and once said mentor is out of the picture they can try again without his interference.
41	* In ''Film/LiarLiar'', Fletcher and Audrey get back together in the final scene. They of course ask their son if he made another birthday wish to cause it (he denies it, but it's unclear if he was being truthful). In this example, Fletcher at least underwent a massive personality change.
42	* ''Film/TroopBeverlyHills'' ends with Fred seeing Phyllis's dedication to the scout troop, and realized she was not so "flighty" after all.
43	* Intentionally subverted with ''Film/MrsDoubtfire''. The {{executive\|meddling}}s wanted a happy ending, but the writers felt it would be a disservice to real children with divorced parents and pulled a WriterRevolt: the parents do somewhat come to terms with each other but remain divorced. The film even ends with a voiceover stating that sometimes divorced parents get back together... but sometimes divorce is really the best option for everyone involved.
44	* RomanticComedy + divorcing couple = ''Film/{{Phffft}}''! Nina (Judy Holliday) and Robert (Jack Lemmon) get divorced at the beginning of the film after eight years together, but their post-divorce relationships never really get off the ground, not least as they keep running into each other and are forced to acknowledge that they are still in love. At the end of the film, they remarry.
45	* Taken to extremes in ''Film/TheMarryingMan'' where a guy marries the same woman ''four times''.
46	* In ''Film/{{Outbreak}}'' Daniels and Robby start the film divorced but end it reconciled.
47	* In ''Film/TheDayAfterTomorrow'' Jack and Lucy Hall start the film divorced but end it moving toward reconciliation after Jack risks his life to rescue their son from frozen New York.
48	* In ''Film/IndependenceDay'', David realizes the aliens are planning to attack. He enlists his father to drive him from New York City to Washington, DC so he can warn the president. David's ex-wife Constance happens to be the president's aide. By the end of the film, David is a hero who's helped saved the world, and he and Connie are on the road to reconciliation.
49	* In ''Film/Armageddon1998'', Charles "Chick" Chapple (Will Patton) is legally barred from being around his ex-wife and son whom he hasn't seen in a really long time. After learning of his part-taking in saving the world, she seems to forgive his former grievances and give their relationship another try upon his returning home.
50	* The hero of ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'' and his wife also reconcile, due to her LoveInterest failing to survive just as they finally make it to safety.
51	* Deliberately averted in ''Film/DefinitelyMaybe''. Maya clearly wants her parents to get back together. But when her father tells her the whole story of their relationship (and all of the ancillary relationships around it), she realizes that adult relationships are complicated, and seems to accept that, while both of her parents love ''her'', they don't want to be with each other. It's even implied that, by the end, she's rooting for her father to get together with April.
52	* ''Film/ShesTheMan'' has Viola's parents getting back together after the final soccer game, despite spending years apart.
53	* The ending of ''Film/CrazyStupidLove'' implies that Cal and Emily may get back together, or at least stay good friends. What makes this complicated (and is unaddressed at the end) is that Emily may or may not still be dating the guy with whom she cheated on Cal in the first place[[note]]said guy is also not a JerkAss in a notable subversion[[/note]] and Cal having [[spoiler:had nine one-night stands]].
54	* Played with in ''Film/TheOtherWoman2009''. Emilia's parents wind up together again. She and Jack might. Much to William's dismay, this doesn't happen with his birth parents when Jack and Emilia split.
55	* Zig-zagged in ''Film/{{Enchanted}}''. Robert and and his wife divorced before the movie and show no signs of hooking back up again. This is one of the reasons he worries so much about his daughter having fairy tale-esque expectations from the world and getting disappointed. Later in the movie though, Giselle runs into a couple in the middle of a divorce who hired Robert. Giselle compliments the wife's beautiful eyes, which gets the couple to remember what they loved about each other to begin with, prompting them to call off the divorce and causing Robert to realize that fairy tale things ''can'' sometimes happen in real life.
56	* In ''Film/NationalTreasure2BookOfSecrets'', apparently all Ben's parents needed after ''thirty-two years'' of divorce and hating each other was one last treasure hunt adventure to reignite their spark.
57	* ''Film/{{Midnight\|1939}}'' plays with this in true screwball form. Due to an elaborate lie, Eve pretends to be married to Tibor, but eventually needs a divorce. She gets her divorce for about 10 minutes until the judge finds out Tibor is insane (he's only pretending to be crazy), and a wife can't divorce a crazy husband.
58	* In ''Film/ThreeSmartGirls'' the titular daughters are not given a moment's pause by the thought that their father and mother have been divorced for ten years. When they hear that the father is getting remarried, they immediately spring into action to break up dad's new romance and get their parents back together.
59	* ''Film/SmartWomen'': A [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-Code film]] in which a woman comes home from a trip to Europe and finds that her husband is now engaged to another woman. She mounts an OperationJealousy campaign to get her husband back.
60	* ''Film/TheTatteredDress'': James and Diane Blane are separated and seemingly on their way to divorce when he takes on the case. By the end they’ve reunited, and it’s implied he’ll actually be faithful this time.
61	* Played straight in the 1967 satirical comedy ''Film/DivorceAmericanStyle''. [[note]]starring Creator/DickVanDyke and Creator/DebbieReynolds, script by Creator/NormanLear[[/note]] The movie follows the full divorce process of Richard and Barbara Harmon: they fight, separate, meet with lawyers, and get romantically entangled with other people. But in the grand finale, a nightclub hypnotist does his work on Barbara and tells her to kiss the man she loves, which of course means that she plants one on Richard. They immediately move back in together [[HereWeGoAgain and start arguing again]].
62	* ''Film/AnimalHouse'': The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue mentions that Boon and Katy married and divorced. The 25th anniversary reunion revealed that they married and divorced again and are currently on their third marriage together.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Literature]]
66	* In ''Literature/AllDressedInWhite'', Walter and Sandra divorced a few years ago due to [[GriefInducedSplit their grief over their daughter's disappearance]]. However, it's clear they're still in love and they struggle to get used to the idea of being each other's ''ex'' spouse. Walter is emphatic in how much he regrets being such a distant father and not supporting Sandra when Amanda went missing. A month after the mystery of what happened to Amanda has been solved, Laurie observes that they were holding hands the whole night and she believes they will get back together.
67	* ''Literature/ChocoholicMysteries'': Richard Godfrey divorced his first wife Dina, married Lee, then she divorced him. After Lee's blowup at him in ''Cat Caper'', ''Bear Burglary'' reveals that she really shook him up with her words; as a result, he ends up reconnecting with Dina, and by the end of that book they've remarried.
68	* In ''Doctor Sally'' by Creator/PGWodehouse, Lord "Squiffy" Tidmouth and his [[FirstGirlWins first wife]] Lottie get back together after each has [[SerialSpouse married one or more other people in between]].
69	* Creator/JudyBlume often subverts this in her novels. They are known for being painfully realistic, not to mention highly controversial.
70	* Averted in ''Literature/DearMrHenshaw''. Even though Leigh desperately wants his parents to get back together, and there are still feelings on both sides of the spectrum, his mom refuses, because she knows it will only end the same way -- that is, badly.
71	* In Tana French's ''Faithful Place'', Detective Frank Mackey's daughter Holly has yet to give up on the notion of her parents getting back together, despite the fact that Frank's ex-wife Olivia is seeing other people. [[spoiler:The book ends with them deciding to give it another go, though it's open-ended in that neither of them knows whether it will work. By ''The Secret Place'', a later book in the series which features Holly again, they're doing well, but don't seem to have any intention of remarrying.]]
72	* In ''[[Literature/MegLangslowMysteries Murder With Peacocks]]'' Meg's mom and dad had "[[LoveWillLeadYouBack the world's most]] {{amicable\|Exes}} [[FootDraggingDivorcee divorce]]" and, after an [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace aborted]] [[ParentWithNewParamour remarriage]] on her mom's part, her parents [[WhyWasteAWedding decided not to waste the wedding]] and [[FirstFatherWins retie the knot then and there]].
73	* ''Literature/MonsterOfTheMonthClub'': Subverted in book 4. Rilla would love to see her parents back together, but Sparrow tells her that that isn't going to happen, because they've just grown apart and because Rilla's father is already seeing someone back in Oregon.
74	[[/folder]]
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76	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
77	* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': John Diggle and Lyla Michaels were married until their relationship fell apart, since they couldn't adapt to a civilian life. They remarry in Season 3.
78	* ''Series/TheOddCouple1970'': One of the premises of the Neil Simon comedy was that both male leads -- Felix Unger and Oscar Madison -- were divorced. While Oscar continued to have a stormy relationship with his ex, for Felix (at least in the TV adaptation), his divorce from ex-wife Gloria ''was'' temporary, and the two were re-married in the series' finale, aptly titled "Felix Remarries."
79	* Walt and Skyler in ''Series/BreakingBad'', when she initially attempts to divorce Walt [[spoiler: after learning he cooks crystal meth]], she couldn't follow through it and joins Walt's criminal goings. [[spoiler: Later they permanently split up after Hank's death and Walt goes on the run, although they didn't officially divorce.]]
80	* Jake Peralta's parents Roger and Karen Peralta in ''Series/BrooklynNineNine''. Although they divorced due to Roger being ''extremely'' [[ReallyGetsAround unfaithful]], he eventually grows out of it and helps Karen when she was sick, and as Roger complies with Jake's request to leave them before he falls into his old ways, Jake relents and allows them to get together once Roger said he has changed for good.
81	* Zigzagged with Aria's parents on ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars''. They separated, got back together, divorced, then remarried. Subverted, however, with Hanna's divorced parents, who temporarily reunited before ending their relationship for good.
82	* Subverted on ''Series/TheWire''. Throughout seasons 1 and 2 Jimmy [=McNulty=] tries to reconcile with his wife while they're going through the divorce process and get them back together, and in one episode [[SexWithTheEx they do have a passionate one night stand]]. He makes the mistake of thinking they're back together but she insists that it was just a one time thing and they can never get back together because all the things that drove them apart, (especially [=McNulty's=] binge drinking, womanizing, and being MarriedToTheJob) haven't changed, and neither has the way he destroyed her trust by doing those things. They remain apart for the remainder of the series.
83	* ''Series/{{Entourage}}'' had a last season arc involving Ari and Mrs. Ari being separated, and eventually her asking for a divorce. Eventually Ari realizes that shock, it's not Ari himself that she wants the divorce from, but the fact he has become an absentee father and husband because of his career. When he finally figures it out, he ditches work and she takes him back.
84	* In ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager'', Amy's parents get back together for a while, but split up again. [[AmicableExes They're still good friends at the end of the series.]]
85	* In ''Series/TwentyFour'', Tony and Michelle are divorced between Seasons 3 and 4 due to Tony's becoming an alcoholic after being sent to prison and losing his job over betraying CTU to save Michelle. After the events of Season 4, they're back together.
86	* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' had a two-part episode where Al and Peg split up, with Al moving into an apartment near the airport. Peg manages to start dating the owner of a car dealership (played by Creator/AlanThicke), but it ends when he makes it clear he fully expects her to do housework. By the end of part two, Al and Peg are back together.
87	* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'':
88	** Played with in Niles and Maris' marriage; they break up and get back together at least twice with AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther overtones, but this is retroactively depicted as a bad idea. It's acknowledged that Niles went back to Maris because of insecurity and self-delusion, and that they ''should'' have stayed broken up. When they divorce, they again threaten to backslide several times, but in the end it's for keeps.
89	** Frasier and Lilith tend to play with this idea throughout the show, but nothing ever comes of it.
90	* Despite Ross's many divorces becoming a MemeticMutation in ''Series/{{Friends}}'', in the SeriesFinale, [[spoiler: his third divorce with Rachel, whom he drunk-wed with in Las Vegas, is undone when Rachel tries to leave for Paris and Ross realizes he loved her all along. Soon after, both reaffirm their love for each other and pledge to outgrow the stupidity due to which they split up in the first place. WordOfGod said Ross and Rachel re-married a few weeks after the SeriesFinale.]]
91	* ''Series/TheSopranos'' pulls this without even getting to the divorce. Season 4 ends with a violent confrontation between Tony and Carmella and she insists that they separate. A season later he's OutGambitted her in the divorce proceedings because he's talked to most of the major divorce attorneys in town and the others won't take Carmella's case because of Tony's reputation. Later on he wins her back and they stay together for the rest of the series.
92	* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Asylum Of the Daleks" begins with Amy and Rory signing divorce papers but getting kidnapped by Daleks before they could file them. Later in the episode, Amy admits to Rory that she only broke up with him because she learned she could no longer have children and since she couldn't make him a father she decided that she should give him up so he could find someone who could. Rory insists that he doesn't care about any of that and he still loves her as much as he ever did. By the end of the episode they're back together and the divorce papers are forgotten.
93	* In ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' [[spoiler:Gabrielle, Susan and Lynette]] divorced and remarried their husbands.
94	* ''Series/FullHouse'': The bratty son of Danny's current girlfriend admits that the reason he's made so much trouble for the Tanner family is because he believes that his parents are going to reconcile and wants to ensure this by driving Danny away. For some reason, it's Danny rather than his own mother who gently explains that this is unlikely, but given that the woman later [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappears without an explanation]], the kid may have been right.
95	* ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'': Mitch and his ex-wife Gail made several attempts at reconciling, nearly remarrying at one point.
96	* In ''Series/{{Carrusel}}'', Carmen's parents separate for a short time, but they do get back together promptly afterwards. It is never stated whether the parents had even filed for divorce or not, though.
97	* ''Series/FrontierCircus'': At the end of "The Smallest Target", Bonnie, the circus sharpshooter, leaves the circus to return to the husband and son she abandoned years before.
98	* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': "See You in Court, Baby" opens with an ex-husband stealing his beloved Ferrari off his ex-wife and deliberately wrecking it. The episode ends with the ex-wife coming to pick him up when he is released from jail with a new Ferrari with a bow on its bonnet.
99	* ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': As Jeri Hogarth's bitter divorce from Wendy drags on, she begins to suspect that Wendy is deliberately spreading it out because she hopes that the process will drive a wedge between Jeri and Pam, and that Jeri will come back to her afterwards. Jeri quickly dismisses the idea once she realizes what Wendy is up to and they never reconcile.
100	* ''Series/MrBelvedere'': In the third season episode "Separation", George is out of work and Marsha is busy with law school. They have been spending little time together creating tension between the two. Soon fighting begins to erupt and Mr. Belvedere suggests that they try a marriage retreat but after a failed weekend at the retreat, they decide to separate, and George moves into an apartment. They get back together at the end of the episode.
101	* ''Series/TheOrville'' looks set to play this trope like a pinball. Ed Mercer and Kelly Grayson were married, but his workaholic tendencies led to her cheating, and a ''very'' messy divorce and Mercer almost deep-sixing his career. Queue a year later when Mercer is given a captaincy due to a severe staff shortage, and the only available XO is Grayson! In the end of the pilot, they agree that working together is what's best for the ship, despite their still messy personal situation. In the first season finale they initially decide to pursue a relationship, but then after Grayson blows a mission and blames it on her being hung over from drinking with him, [[SubvertedTrope she backs out]].
102	* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' Subverted. Dr. Cox is introduced having separated from his ex-wife Jordan but still sleeping with her. After about a season and a half they get back together officially when Jordan becomes pregnant and remain together for the rest of the series. In a later episode it's revealed that a legal mix-up means they were never actually divorced. This ends up ruining their relationship until he gets on one knee at the end of the episode and asks Jordan to divorce him. She happily accepts, and they have a divorce ceremony after which they seem quite happy for the rest of the series.
103	* ''Series/UnhappilyEverAfter'': The show's original premise was that it was about Jack and Jenny getting a divorce, and this is how it was in Season One. But they got married again in Season Two, making many of the show's elements into TheArtifact, including the [[ArtifactTitle title]]. In Season Five, Jenny left the show entirely, so that this time around, Jack was also a divorcer, but one who was no longer in the position of having to see his ex-wife on a regular basis.
104	* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle marry at the end of season 9, but have separated due to work-related stress on their relationship by the beginning of season 13. In the GrandFinale, Sara (seemingly) quits CSI to join him in his work for an anti-poaching NGO.
105	* ''Series/KnotsLanding'': Eight years after their second divorce, Gary and Valene married for the third time in the 300th episode "The Last One Out".
106	* On ''Series/{{Monk}}'' this was done (off-screen) as a way to put Sharona [[PutOnABus on a bus]] back to New Jersey after Bitty Schram left the series. Her one-episode [[TheBusCameBack return]] in Season 8 reveals that it didn't last.
107	* Invoked but subverted in ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond''. After Ray [[PrimalScene walks in on Debra's parents having sex]], when Debra discovers this she is overjoyed, thinking that the two are going to remarry. As they explain to her, they've found themselves happier in their current "friends with benefits" style relationship, as it doesn't have the stress of their marriage which drove the two to divorce in the first place.
108	* ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'': Detective Elliot Stabler and his wife Kathy go through this through Seasons 6 to 8. Elliot reveals to Olivia that Kathy has moved out in the middle of Season 6, she has filed divorce papers in Season 7’s “Raw”, Elliot [[FootDraggingDivorcee drags his feet for an entire season]], but signs them in Season 8’s “Burned”, but they attempt a reconciliation at the end of “Loophole”. The divorce was never actually filed, and the two were together by the beginning of Season 9. Even though Kathy threatens divorce again in Season 10’s “Wildlife”, all is forgiven by the succeeding episode.
109	* ''Series/Lucifer2016'':
110	** Subverted with Chloe and her estranged husband Dan who become closer over the course of the first season. However, early in season 2, they both agree that they are BetterAsFriends and get a divorce.
111	** Played straighter in season 5B when [[spoiler:God Himself and his ex-wife, the Goddess of all Creation rekindle their relationship and travel together to another dimension forgiving each others of their past misdeeds (God casted her to Hell for causing plagues on humanity and she plotted to kill him in retribution). In that case, "temporary" is [[TimeAbyss a few millennia]]]].
112	* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': Whilst it's never stated if they actually divorced or not, husband and wife Michael T. Farrell and Laura have been separated for several years by the time of Michael's first appearance in Series 3 and Laura has taken to using her maiden name again. Nonetheless, when Michael goes broke in Series 4, Laura takes him back and by Series 5, they have rekindled their relationship enough that she's fallen pregnant, upon which they depart for America to raise a family together.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Religion]]
116	* From ''Literature/TheBible'': Some Bible students interpret God's "divorce" from His people Israel in [[Literature/BookOfJeremiah Jeremiah chapter 3]] (which contextually is talking about the northern kingdom of Israel, NOT Israel as a whole) as permanent, with the point-of-no-return being with their complete rejection of Jesus Christ and the destruction of the second Temple in 70 C.E. Other students, however, say that God's "divorce" of Israel is only temporary, as they point out from [[Literature/BookOfRomans Paul's letter to the Romans]] that God is able to graft them back into the "cultivated tree" that they were broken off from while the Gentiles have been grafted in for the time being; this is part of what is called "dispensationalism".
117	* Deuteronomy 24:1-4, on the other hand, specifically forbids a divorced woman to remarry her ex-husband if she married another man since the divorce.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Theatre]]
121	* At the beginning of ''Theatre/KissMeKate'', Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi are divorced, having ended their marriage a year ago, and Lilli is planning to marry another man. By the end of the play they appear to have got back together.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Visual Novel]]
125	* In ''VisualNovel/MyMagicalDivorceBureau'', the protagonist tries to bring this about. Since the marriages weren't entered into properly, they have to be broken up, but the cases can end with the divorcees [[AmicableExes on reasonably friendly terms]], and with the implication that they might eventually end up together by a better route than the first time.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Webcomics]]
129	* PlayedWith in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. Elan imagines his parents remarrying when he's stuck in a LotusEaterMachine. [[spoiler:However, he's undergone enough CharacterDevelopment to realize this is neither logical nor actually a good idea, cluing him into what's actually going on]].
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Western Animation]]
133	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
134	** Milhouse's parents get divorced, which manages to last for eleven seasons until they later get back together. [[ComicBookTime Which is within a few months at most.]]
135	** In the same episode where Milhouse's parents break up, Homer exaggerates this trope when he legally divorces Marge for the sole purpose of remarrying her in a GrandRomanticGesture. This comes back around no fewer than ''twelve'' seasons later in Season 20's "Wedding For Disaster," when they find out that [[NotReallyMarriedPlot due to some clerical red tape, the second marriage wasn't valid]]. So technically, they may have been divorced for ''longer'' than the Van Houtens ([[ComicBookTime which, again, is not very long. Don't think about it too hard]]).
136	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
137	** An early episode played out this plot with Randy and Sharon Marsh. Within a few days, they break up, Randy moves out and Sharon remarries. By the end of the episode, Randy and Sharon are back together like nothing ever happened. The speed itself is what's PlayedForLaughs, since Sharon practically tells Stan about the divorce in the same sentence when she introduces his new stepfather, while Randy has already embraced a midlife-crisis style bachelor's lifestyle.
138	** Same trope gets played with the same characters, albeit in more dramatic fashion, in season 15's "[[WhamEpisode You're Getting Old]]" which features Randy and Sharon breaking up and moving into separate residences. The next episode "Ass Burgers" sees them get back together, but this arguably deconstructs the trope as one scene has Sharon explain to Stan that sometimes people have to stick with what they know even if it makes them unhappy. It's obvious that this particular ResetButton deeply upsets Stan.
139	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' uses this trope with [[TheFairFolk Oberon and Titania]], but for immortals "temporary" can mean "1,001 years," during which time they both had relationships and children with other people. It's also implied that Titania had a lot of CharacterDevelopment over that time, since Oberon's stated reason for the divorce was her immaturity and cruelty to mortals. Yes, ''Oberon'' said this.
140	* ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' showed Tino hoping for this with was the biggest reason for rejecting [[ParentWithNewParamour his mother's new boyfriend]]. He got over it after realizing that the new guy genuinely made his mom happy.
141	* Justified in ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre''. Maria only divorced Rodolfo in the first place because she couldn't put up with the stress of him constantly being in danger as a superhero. WordOfGod says that they eventually get back together post-series when he retires.
142	* [[Characters/RickAndMortyBethSmith Beth Smith]] and [[Characters/RickAndMortyJerrySmith Jerry Smith]] from ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' get a divorce in the Season 3 premiere but then reconcile and call it off in the season finale.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Real Life]]
146	* Wrestling/EddieGuerrero and [[Wrestling/VickieGuerrero his wife]] never got divorced, but they did separate for several years (during which time he had a daughter with another woman), then when they got back together they renewed their vows.
147	* Happened with Wrestling/TedDiBiase's parents, Helen Hild and Ted Wills (Ted's birth name is Ted Wills Jr.). They split up and Helen got into professional wrestling, where she met "Iron" Mike [=DiBiase=]. They married, they had a son and Mike adopted Helen's two sons from her previous marriages. Mike died in 1969, and Helen was so devastated her parents asked ex-husband Ted to come see her, leading to the two remarrying.
148	* Creator/RichardPryor remarried both Flynn Belaine and Jennifer Lee, staying with Lee the second time until his death.
149	* After they got divorced, Joe [=DiMaggio=] started seeing Creator/MarilynMonroe again, and was about to ask her to marry him again, but she died before that could happen.
150	* Subverted with Creator/ElizabethTaylor and Creator/RichardBurton. They got divorced, they remarried, then they got divorced again, for good.
151	* In a somewhat extreme example, [[Film/ABeautifulMind John]] and Alicia Nash first married in 1957 but divorced 6 years later due to his battle with schizophrenia. They later resumed their relationship in TheNineties remarrying in 2001. Both were tragically killed in a car accident in 2015.
152	* Music/{{Pink}} and Carey Hart separated for several months, but never finalized the divorce and eventually got back together and now have two children.
153	* Creator/NatalieWood and Creator/RobertWagner. They got married, then divorced, both married other people, then divorced them, remarried each other and remained together until Wood's death.
154	* Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme and Gladys Portugues married in 1987, divorced in 1992 and remarried in 1999.
155	* Also [[{{Subverted}} subverted]] with Creator/GeorgeCScott and Colleen Dewhurst, who divorced after being married for five years, remarried after two years of divorce, and re-divorced after another five years of marriage.
156	* Creator/LotteLenya and Music/KurtWeill married in 1926, divorced in 1933, remarried in 1937 and remained together until his death in 1950.
157	* Music/{{Eminem}} and Kim Scott had a baby, got married, got divorced, got remarried, and got re-divorced, in that order.
158	* Marie Osmond and Steve Craig married in 1982, divorced in 1985 and remarried in 2011. She even wore the same dress for both weddings.
159	* [=NeNe=] Leakes of ''[[Series/TheRealHousewives The Real Housewives of Atlanta]]'' and husband Gregg divorced in 2011 but remarried two years later.
160	* Painter Creator/JacquesLouisDavid married Marguerite Pécoul in 1782 and they had four children together. In 1793, during the French Revolution as a member of the National Convention, David voted for the execution of King Louis XVI, causing Marguerite to divorce him. However, when David was imprisoned between 1794 and 1795, she returned to him, they remarried in 1796, and remained together until his death in 1825.
161	* Bobby Allison was married to his wife Judy from 1960-1996, when the deaths of their two sons, Clifford in 1992 from a racing accident at Michigan and Davey in 1993 from a helicopter accident at Talladega in 1993, combined with the dire financial situation of his racing team [[GriefInducedSplit took their toll on the relationship]]. Four years later, the death of Adam Petty reconnected them, and they remarried and stayed together till her death in 2015.
162	* Creator/DannyDevito and Rhea Perlman married in 1982 but in October 2012 they separated, but then reconciled in March 2013. They separated for a second time in March 2017, but said that they had no intent of filing for divorce. In 2019, Perlman said that she and Creator/DannyDevito have become closer friends after their separation.
163	* Creator/FridaKahlo and Diego Rivera married in 1929, divorced in 1939, married again in 1940 and remained together until her death in 1954.
164	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DivorceIsTemporary