History Main / FlashbackBPlot

The present-day story is interspersed with flashbacks telling a linear story of a past event, often connecting in some way to the present-day story.

* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In [[Recap/WeBareBearsS1E15OccupyBears "Occupy Bears"]], the cave is in danger of being destroyed to make room for a cell phone tower. While the bears try to find a way to save their home in the present, flashbacks to their original search for a home are prompted by various objects in their home in the present.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' episode [[Recap/BojackHorsemanS4E02TheOldSugarmanPlace "The Old Sugarman Place"]] follows two stories taking place at the titular Michigan home. The A-plot has [=BoJack=], having impulsively fled Los Angeles, spend a year fixing up the abandoned house with help from his new neighbor. The B-plot flashes back to the [=1940s=], when [=BoJack=]'s mother Beatrice spent summers there with her family, and [[TroubledAbuser the trauma that her family endured when she was still a child]].

Sister trope to TwoLinesNoWaiting, of course. Subtrope of AnachronicOrder and often of FlashbackEcho, though the stories don't have to have any direct connection besides involving some of the same characters and locations. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback.

* ''Series/TheGoodPlace'': Used in the first two seasons, but eventually dropped. While the A-Story showed what was happening to the characters in the afterlife, the B-Story used flashbacks to show what the characters were like while they were still alive.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Most episodes had flashbacks as the B-story, focusing on a single character's life before they ended up on the island, usually thematically connected to the A-Story. In later seasons, the flashbacks were sometimes replaced with flashforwards, showing future events, and flash-sideways, which depicted the characters in an alternate reality.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': The episode [[Recap/MonkS4E8MrMonkAndLittleMonk "Mr. Monk And Little Monk"]] had an A-Plot where Monk is hired by a childhood friend to investigate a murder, triggering flashbacks to Monk's childhood where he had to help the same friend who's been framed for stealing bake sale money.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': In season 1, the A-Story of each episode would focus on life in the town of Storybrooke, while the B-story would take place in flashback showing life before the curse in Fairy Tale land. The flashbacks and the A-Story would focus on the same character, showing what their lives were like before and after the curse.

* Not ''entirely'' told through flashbacks, but it's heavily centered around them: One season 1 episode of ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' was focused on the students seeking treasure and having their usual drama, but involved a subplot about [[WeUsedToBeFriends Victor and Sarah]] remembering moments from their childhood, told through flashbacks, in order to give more context about their complex relationship and Victor's [[ImmortalitySeeker quest for eternal life]].

* ''Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse'': Each episode in the first season follows the Crane siblings in the present time, but the b plot of almost all episodes are flashbacks of their time as children in the titular haunted house, and slowly telling the events that led to their mother's mysterious death.

* ''Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse'': During the first season, each episode follows the Crane siblings in the present time, but the b plot of almost all episodes are flashbacks of their time as children in the titular haunted house, and slowly telling the events that led to their mother's mysterious death.

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': The episode "Mr. Monk And Little Monk" had an A-Plot where Monk is hired by a childhood friend to investigate a murder, triggering flashbacks to Monk's childhood where he had to help the same friend who's been framed for stealing bake sale money.

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}:'' [[Recap/FireflyE08OutOfGas "Out of Gas"]] mixes this with AnachronicOrder. The episode begins with Mal collapsing to the floor of the dark and deserted ''Serenity''. As he struggles to treat his injuries and repair the ship, flashbacks alternate between [[HowWeGotHere the immediate lead-up to this event]], and the backstory of how Mal first purchased the ''Serenity'' and [[EveryoneMeetsEveryone assembled his trusty crew]].

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': The series' present-day stories about detectives solving crimes are intertwined with flashbacks detailing crime itself and the people involved.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': The A-Story of each episode would focus on life in the town of Storybrooke, while the B-story would take place in flashback showing life before the curse in Fairy Tale land. The flashbacks and the A Story would focus on the same character, showing what their lives were like before and after the curse.

* ''OnceUponATime'': The A-Story of each episode would focus on life in the town of Storybrooke, while the B-story would take place in flashback showing life before the curse in Fairy Tale land. The flashbacks and the A Story would focus on the same character, showing what their lives were like before and after the curse.

* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In [[Recap/WeBareBearsS1E15OccupyBears "Occupy Bears"]], the cave is in danger of being destroyed to make room for a cell phone tower. While the bears try to find a way to save their home in the present, flashbacks to their original search for a home are prompted by various objects in the present that relate to those past events.

The present-day story is interspersed with flashbacks telling a linear story of a past event, often connecting in some way to the present-day story. Basically a time-shifted version of TwoLinesNoWaiting.

Subtrope of AnachronicOrder and often of FlashbackEcho, though the stories don't have to have any direct connection besides involving some of the same characters and locations. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' episode [[Recap/BojackHorsemanS4E02TheOldSugarmanPlace "The Old Sugarman Place"]] follows two stories taking place at the titular Michigan home. The A-plot has [=BoJack=], having impulsively fled Los Angeles, spend a year fixing up the abandoned house with help from his new neighbor. The B-plot flashes back to the [=1940s=], when [=BoJack=]'s mother Beatrice spent summers there with her family, and [[TroubledAbuser the trauma that her family endured when she was still a child.]]

* ''Film/{{Memento}}'' has a version of this, though because of the film's structure the more prominent story is told BackToFront. The main story sees Leonard interacting with people around the town, while the secondary story consists of shorter black and white scenes of him in his room mostly talking about his memory condition, either on the phone with someone or to himself in SecondPersonNarration. [[spoiler:The two stories converge at the end, making the movie one story told from both beginning and end.]]

* ''Film/{{Memento}}'' and has a version of this, though because of the film's structure the more prominent story is told BackToFront. The main story sees Leonard interacting with people around the town, while the secondary story consists of shorter black and white scenes of him in his room mostly talking about his memory condition, either on the phone with someone or to himself in SecondPersonNarration. [[spoiler:The two stories converge at the end, making the movie one story told from both beginning and end.]]

* ''Film/MammaMiaHereWeGoAgain'' is about Sophie's attempt to prepare the grand reopening of her late mother Donna's hotel when everything seems to be going wrong. Her stuggles remind Donna's friends Rosie and Tanya about the struggles Donna had when she first got to the island, so the story about Sophie is interspersed with flashbacks following younger Donna after she graduated with her friends, when she travelled around Europe, and when she met Sophie's three fathers.

* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations2'': Episode three has two flashbacks to when the originating incident happened, with the rest taking place in the present and involves finally solving the incident.

* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations2'': Episode three has two flashbacks to when the Originating Incident happened, with the rest taking place in the present and involves finally solving the incident.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'', at the exact same time that Dory, Marlin, and Nemo are traveling in search of Dory's parents, the audience also learn through flashbacks about Dory's old life with her parents at the Marine Life Institute, how she ended up accidentally getting herself separated from them, and how she spent her life wandering in the ocean before finally meeting up with Marlin for the very first time during the original Finding Nemo movie.

Subtrope of AnachronicOrder and often of FlashbackEcho, though the stories don't have to have any direct connection besides involving some of the same characters and locations. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with WholeEpisodeFlashback.

Often a subtrope of FlashbackEcho, though the stories don't have to have any direct connection besides involving some of the same characters and locations. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with WholeEpisodeFlashback.

The present-day story is interspersed with flashbacks telling a linear story of a past event, often connecting in some way to the present-day story.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZukoAlone "Zuko Alone"]] has Zuko flashing back to the story of his childhood while wandering around the Earth Kingdom.