Basic Trope: Bailing someone out of jail will clear things up.
- Straight: Alice is arrested for pulling the tag off her mattress. Bob comes down to Troperville County Jail, forks over $100,000, and the incident is never mentioned again.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice has actually been sent to Prison, not jail, and if not for Bob, would spend the next 20 years there.
- Alice receives a "Get Out of Jail Free" Card when Bob posts her bail.
- Alice is arrested for treason. The police have an Orgy of Evidence, and a signed confession. Bob posts a nominal bail and she is absolved of all wrongdoing.
- Downplayed:
- Alice pays a fine for a speeding ticket.
- Alice the Amateur Sleuth pays bail for a serious crime and uses that time where she's free to look for evidence exonerating her, thereby clearing her name.
- Justified:
- Alice's crime was just that petty.
- The prison system is heavily corrupt, to the point that "bail" is generally known and accepted legalized bribery.
- Inverted: Bob pays the jail to keep Alice there.
- Subverted:
- Alice is released from jail, but expected to appear in court several episodes later.
- Alice is being held without bail.
- The amount the judge sets as bail is way more money than Bob has.
- Alice and Bob are playing Monopoly
- After she misses her court appearance, a Bounty Hunter is sent to arrest Alice.
- It turns out the crime was only punishable by a fine.
- Double Subverted:
- The bail is off the table because either a) Alice is a huge flight risk b) what Alice did was extremely heinous, and/or c) Alice is a repeat offender.
- Bob gets on the phone and contacts several relatives and friends, who all pitch in to help Alice.
- Parodied:
- All that's needed is a box of donuts for the arresting officer.
- Alice is released, and gets into the tiny car of the Uncle Pennybags, waving her "Get Out of Jail Free Card" in the air.
- Zig Zagged: It depends on what the crime is: for petty crimes, the bail can be treated as a fine. For more serious crimes, all it does is let the person out temporarily...if it's even allowed at all.
- Averted:
- Alice is not facing any criminal charges.
- Alice is being held without bail.
- Bail doesn't happen in this setting.
- Alice still has to face trial.
- Enforced: Small Reference Pools, Artistic License – Law
- Lampshaded:Bob: "Shouldn't you have shown up for trial by now?"
Alice: "Ssshhh!" - Invoked: Alice is being held in jail, and is told about her bail and that she has One Phone Call.
- Exploited: Alice uses her One Phone Call to get Bob to pay her way out.
- Defied:
- The legal system still considers Alice to be in debt to society, and she's still expected to appear in court and accept whatever sentence the judge passes down.
- The legal system in this setting does not allow bail for any offense, no matter how minor.
- Bob either cannot or will not pay for Alice's freedom.
- Discussed: "Wait...so, if I go to jail, and you pay them money, I get off scot-free?"
- Conversed: "Not quite. I think someone confused "bail" with "fine."
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