ride off into the sunset

To resolve or conclude things in a neat, happy, and satisfactory fashion; to retire from work, use, or relevance, especially on a positive note or after a long and successful period of activity. An allusion to the clichéd endings of western movies, often showing the main characters riding horseback into the sunset at the conclusion of the film. Often used sarcastically, ironically, or humorously. Despite the turbulence in the first few years, the president is now riding off into the sunset with a huge approval rating and a whole host of policies enacted under his watch. I'm tired of comedies that see everyone just ride into the sunset at the end. How about showing some realistic consequences for the things these types of characters do?

A more or less happy ending or resolution. This cliché was originally a visual one—the classic final scene of the western films so popular from the 1930s on, in which the cowboy hero, having vanquished the evildoers, literally rides off into the sunset. It was transferred to other happy endings, usually with some irony, in the mid-twentieth century. “I didn’t even bother getting mad at your crack about me going off into the sunset,” wrote William Goldman (Magic, 1967).