Re: Do spoiler's ultimately ruin the show for us?

by gordongordonfan on Mon Sep 20, 2010 2:13 am

treble21 wrote:
gordongordonfan wrote:... I've been wondering this for a long time, and trying to decide if I'd be better off going "spoiler free". Seems like before I was as "obsessed" about reading every tiny, minute detail out there about the show, I was enjoying it 1000 times more. Maybe this is why the "regular" fans don't seem as "up in arms" as we do? Maybe spending so much time agonizing over all these details actually takes AWAY from the enjoyment of the show the way it is written and meant to be viewed? [Only admins are allowed to see this image] You know what I mean?

We spend all this time obsessing about things that haven't happened yet, and then when the episodes actually air we can't begin to have a genuine reaction to them because we've already been so biased by the spoilers... Half of what we see may not seem NEAR as bad if we were seeing it for the first time, (where there may be humor or other things in the episode to "offset" whatever angst filled issue we've been expecting, etc.) But our preconceived expectations lead us to expect the worst and even though so much of what we hear ahead of time is so out of context or misrepresented, ... is the damage already done? Have the "spoilers" already taken the emotional impact out of the show? Or made us "scan" through the episode looking only for that 1 "thing from the spoiler" that we just KNOW is coming?

Am I even making sense? I just wonder if I'm alone in thinking this way sometimes. I love spoilers, and love discussing the show, but I truly do wonder if I'd be better off sticking to the show discussion topics and leaving spoilers alone. (Even though I know it would be very tough to "quit" LOL) I wonder if it would make the show have some of it's emotional impact back, be "fresher", etc. (I know there is a definite decline in the strength of the cases lately, but I do wonder if maybe it's not ALL the writing... maybe some of that is because of my perceptions as well?) I don't know! [Only admins are allowed to see this image]

Ah great minds think alike yet again, Obviously I completely agree, I had intended to go spoiler lite this year, that unfortunately went south, due to doing the Mod thing. But yeah I think that if I didn't know it was coming, some of the things that are irritating me about the show, wouldn't even register.

I should have counted on my wonder-twin to understand! LOL (I really like the description "spoiler lite"... that's kinda what I've been aiming for as being a good "middle ground".) And it sounds like a lot of us have had these thoughts based on the responses!

I don't mind knowing about Hannah as a storyline itself, it's indeed more like some posters (mommahurley and others) have said- the constant pouring OVER and OVER and OVER the fact... Using this storyline as an example, it's like we all know she's coming, and sure, most of us don't "like" SO storylines, but in reality it's only going to be a small, minute part of the episodes (most likely) and they may even throw in lots of humor and dialogue and some good cases that make it not so bad... but since we've debated it SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much, it may turn out that no matter HOW it's done we will all have our impressions of it pre-formed, regardless. (And kinda ruined our chance to find things OTHER things we like in the episodes???)

Mommahurley- I know one perfect example of what you were talking about, (things getting built up and turned around etc... in spoilers and rumors...) Remember the whole "dancing in the street in underwear" thing last year? Many people hung their every feeling on this sentence, that (if I'm remembering correctly) was never actually uttered by HH anywhere. That's where it definitely does pay to keep the spoilers and sources in our thoughts for sure I guess! :-)

I'm gonna try to see if I can "empty" out my mind before each episode and take it at face value... and if it doesn't work I may have to go spoiler "lite" for sure! Cause I LOVE this show and want to give it a fair viewing! [Only admins are allowed to see this image]

by willgirl on Mon Sep 20, 2010 2:30 am

Great discussion!

I actually gave up on spoilers after I found out that Zach was in on it with Gormagon several weeks before the episode aired. It wasn't the greatest ep, but it made it that much worse!

I think the thing with spoilers (as everyone has noted above) is that so many things can be taken out of context and people get up in arms about it. I can't tell you how many times I've read spoilers that have made me mad until I've watched the ep and it turned out not to be a big deal!

That being said, obviously there are spoilers that are bigger than others (I haven't been reading them but even I can't escape that there's some chick named Hannah)

But I agree, there's a difference between watching it spoiler free and watching with knowing some spoilers. Spoilers just make you invested in the upcoming episodes in either a good or bad way. Smile

by tinkrella on Mon Sep 20, 2010 6:03 am

I agree. some spoilers get blown way out of proportion. Catherine? facesmack

I'm still laughing about that. if this board knew what would happen THIS season catherine would have been down right laughable.

I wasn't a part of it, because I didn't follow the show much, but I've heard the controversies when the sides came out for brennan kissing booth's brother were EPIC. Yeah, it was a pretty crazy thing in the episode but....in the grand scheme did it really matter? Eh. not so much.

by MI_Bonesgirl on Mon Sep 20, 2010 6:05 am

LMAO. Catfish who?? Cool

by tinkrella on Mon Sep 20, 2010 6:07 am

MI_Bonesgirl wrote:LMAO. Catfish who??

Exactly. GOD.....if I had only know Hannah would appear I wouldn't have been so bitter about it. I'd have embraced Catherine with open arms. lol!

by MI_Bonesgirl on Mon Sep 20, 2010 6:10 am

Yeah. It's almost like Hart is mocking us now. "you guys thought Catherine was bad?? Wait til you meet Hannah". Twisted Evil

by future_anthro on Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:13 pm

I've never thought that spoilers ruined anything for me.

by gordongordonfan on Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:34 am

One thing for me that was I really wish I HADN'T had any pre-knowledge on was the 100th episode. I really thought that was an AWESOME episode, and would have probably gotten even MORE emotional impact out of it if I would have left spoilers alone before hand. (I'm sure there are others but this is a big one for me.) But of course I couldn't subdue my desire to "click" "click" and "search" all through the internet! LOL

by Lo on Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:48 am

i think it is different for each fan. For me, I don't let the spoilers sway me much in a negative way at least. I do get excited about em' because I like knowing things in advance and having something to look forward to.

I know that for some fans however, they hear how many episodes an SO will be in or that someone is going to die off the show and suddenly they will choose not to watch some episodes which depending on their status may or may not affect the ratings. Or they get extremely upset. (In that case I would say they do damage).

But for me personally, I do not think they ruin the show. Plus half the time we get a spoiler and while it may sound unpleasant it plays out on the show much better than what we read on here or idk those bloggers blogs.