So, the 2010-2011 fall television season is about a month away (House, M.D., my particular obsession, premieres September 20), and the spoilers have started fast and furious. In addition to network promos and entertainment show appearances, which include some advance information about what we may expect in the season to come, little (and not so little) bits of information have begun to leak into the fan communities.
Personally, I love spoilers—to a degree. Knowing that House and Cuddy are actually going to try to make a go of it as a couple helps gear me up for the season. Knowing who’s writing this episode (or that) gives me an idea of what to expect, and knowing who’s going to be guest starring makes me (occasionally) salivate with anticipation. (Word is just out that Amy Irving will be playing an upcoming patient of the week.) “Spoilers” like these generally do not affect my enjoyment of an episode.
Then there are spoilers: leaked bits of information giving away plot points or lines of dialogue, never intended to find their way into the fan community before the episode airs. I’ll admit that I’m as much a spoiler whore as the next fan, but I’ve realized over the past couple of seasons how easily random bits of intel can not only spoil, but can poison my enjoyment of the show. When I've been aware of significant spoilers: Amber Volakis’ death at the end of season four, Kutner’s suicide in season five, the kiss between Cuddy and House at the end of season five’s “Joy,” I greatly regretted not being surprised--even stunned by them.
Also, random bits of out-of-context dialogue (whether leaked or shown in an episode promo spot) can cause a viewer to say a priori, “I will pass on this episode; I know I won’t like it.” On a series like House, random bits of dialogue are seldom what they seem, but it’s hard to be presented with a morsel of juicy dialogue in advance and not let your imagination run wild (in ways both good and bad). And thanks to the evil geniuses who concoct House promos, those random bits run rampant through the collective imagination of the fandom.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jacquelyn
I'm usually okay with spoilers. One instance from last season where I *wasn't* okay with a spoiler was when the opening sequence of "Help Me" was released before "Baggage" had been aired. I think the storyline with the book would have been a lot more interesting if we had not been privy as to why it was so important to House (and indeed, "Baggage" didn't make its importance known until the end scenes). So I missed having that "a-ha" moment there.
Another point: I'm really, REALLY glad that the end scene of "Help Me" didn't become a spoiler. I - and many others, I know - were really surprised, which made it all the more powerful (I think my mother was the only person I know who wasn't surprised, and not because she was spoiled). This has made me rethink my position on spoilers - maybe it's better to be surprised more often?
2 - barbara barnett
I thought it was brilliant for the show not to spoil even TV critics/writers (who saw all but the final four minutes of the finale). We got to be surprised with everyone else!
I agree. Sometimes it's better not to know.
3 - adieangel
here's my take on spoilers. for me, i want to know in advance if something bad is going to happen. that way i can steel myself for the inevitable. if something good is going to happen, i try to stay away from spoilers so i'll be surprised. i know this is hard to gauge, and completely subjective, but that's what i strive for. there are some shows, however, that i just can't do spoilers on. LOST was one of them. i read one spoiler for one episode and it completely ruined the episodes for me. generally, though, i like vague spoilers.
(i'd say more but there's a fire alarm going off in my office right now. lol.)
4 - mzmraz
Thank you for this article Barbara! It has actually encouraged me to be more spoiler-conscious and resistant :D For the past two seasons I've been convincing myself to stay away from spoilers, but I seem to keep failing! Hopefully I can resist them this season.
What's actually worse for me is that I live in a different country, on a different time zone, so while you guys are watching the episodes or even promos I am constantly checking Twitter for updates(bad!!!) And by the time I watch it, I already have an idea of what a particular scene would turn out - which is ,most of the time, an exaggerated version of what it really is. And it is so frustrating! OK, rant over :D
5 - missquadros
It's always better to know, in my opinion. Problem is, though, in order to rely on spoilers, you have to completely trust the source, which is something I have full knowledge of, considering I was once a spoiler source myself for the show 'Alias' and know a couple of sources for 'House'.
It is one thing for you to read a snippet or two and call it a spoiler, it's another to read a complete script of an episode beforehand. It doesn't hurt my enjoyment of the show, on the contrary; it actually helps, especially when it concerns something you do not want to see and is spoiled in advance. I have stopped watching shows in the past because I was warned about a particular storyline months in advance -- and once you trust the source, that is pretty easy to do.
I, for one, would rather know everything. To each their own, though.
6 - shpandora
thanks to the spoilers I had prepared Luddy, to see the character of Lisa E.(love), change radically. The scene of "Sex" with Lucas ... I do not take away the enthusiasm in a bet knowing what happens, also because often the visual impact is totally different from what you have read in a spoiler
7 - Flo
I watch the promos for the episodes but, usually, that's it.
I don't like spoilers. I find them unecessary and pointless. It often brings fan to take one bit of info from a less than reputable source and blow it totally out of proportion, which is dumb. Especially when the speculations show no nuanced at all (while the show has a lot of it). It also Makes some fans act like squee teen girls which I don't particulary like but have to live with on twitter.
I'm an adept of the wait and see. I like to be surprised. I didn't know Kutner would kill himself before hand and the episode was all so powerful for me because of it.
I also have too much respect for the writers to just pretend to be able to tell for sure that this or that storylines will be bad or good just based on one tiny info. I want to have a total fresh view on each episode.
As a writer myself and a "as a whole" watcher of the show, I accepted to comment on one or two tiny articles when I was asked to do so, but usually I stay away from spoilers.
8 - Eve_Venn
I can't stay away from spoilers and I'm not sure I want to stay away.
This has probably something to do with my personality.
In life I also prefer knowing what happens next.(not always possible, I know ;)
However I do not need to know in great detail what happens,an element of surprise must remain.
So I love the tiny tit bits we sometimes get but I don't need to know everything that happens scene by scene. When reading about a spoiler I don't form an opinion but stay open-minded. I hate when people start freaking out about something they heard/read. I've always kept a 'lets wait and see' approach to spoilers. Spoilers just help me cope with hiatus and breaks between seasons.
Spoilers keep the fan-fire burning while the show is off the air.
9 - SLL
I tend to subscribe to the often cited metaphor that spoilers are a bit like planning a vacation - you know where you are going, you read brochures, you look up good restaurants, etc, you can even make a minute-by-minute itinerary, and yet NOTHING compares to the real thing.
When I know something good is coming, spoilers highten my enjoyment of it and gives me a "trickle" of exitement in advance. It's a bit like Christmas - yes, we could keep the rest of December bleak and dreary and be overwhelmed with joy Dec 25, but it's so much nicer to enjoy the whole month.
Inversely, if something bad, awkward or horrifying is coming, knowing helps me prepare and diminishes my disappointment when I actually watch the episode.
10 - Orange450
I like spoilers - any and all. I never go out deliberately to look for them, but I enjoy whatever comes my way.
After all, I've been reading books back-to-front ever since I could read. I always prefer to know what happens in the end, and then I can relax and enjoy the story as it unfolds. I've never minded anyone telling me what happens in the last scenes of a movie, either.
I suspect that this is the result of a deep-seated facet of my personality, tho' :) It's an uncertain world out there; we're all tossed about by its vagaries. And as much as we try to control our destiny, we can never know exactly what's going to happen to us from one year to the next. (Hmmm, shades of High Holy Day musings coming on...)
But in my enjoyment of the realm of fiction - be it print, or moving image - I can manage the pace at which the misty unknown is revealed to me. Thus giving me an - albeit illusory - sense of control. Because, as Adrian Monk used to say: "It's a jungle out there..." :)
11 - SCLove
Interestingly enough, knowing spoilers never seems to "spoil" an episode for me. I still get just as excited! Seeing something in context, even though I know some spoilers, is always different than how I imagined; therefore, it seems "new" to me, despite already knowing the outcome.
I love spoilers--bring 'em on! :-)
12 - barbara barnett
I remember back in the X-Files day, someone had access to the satellite feed, which always ran Sunday morning at 7 a.m.-ish. He always summarized point, by point, the entire episode. I scanned and took in and anticipated the episode. Even when it didn't seem compelling in print, it always played out better onscreen. It never detracted from my enjoyment of the show.
When you come into a series midway (I came into House mid season one), you immediately want to know everything about the story thus far. I remember reading everything I could--and then watching everything I'd missed. Nothing was upset in my anticipation or enjoyment. I guess it's no different than people outside the U.S. and their ability to view House so much later.
Where I think it gets (or can get) destructive is when spoiler are taken out of context and viewing decisions are made with no other information. People can miss out on a great deal. But it's all a matter of choice. Like Orange, I like to know the end of the book well before I get there :)
Had no idea this would be such a hot topic! I wrote this on a whim this morning because it had been nudging at me all last night for some reason. Thanks for the response--keep it coming!
13 - SLL
I just wanted to add, Barbara, that I find it very hard to believe viewing decisions ARE actually made on the basis of spoilers. I've often seen people dramatically proclaim that "If this happens I will never ever ever watch the show again. Ever!" on forums and the like, but those posters always come back.
Such strong emotions are usually only expressed by very die-hard fans, who in my experience will keep watching, at least up until a point - and if they do stop, it will be because of what materializes on screen and not what they have "heard".
And even if what you were saying is true, that there are people who do make viewing decisions based on spoilers - how does that impact anyone else? I mean, ratings-wise the people who both seek out spoilers AND decide to stop watching on the basis of what they read must be completely insignificant. Those people will miss out, but that's their problem, IMHO. I don't think it's a reason to categorise spoilers as destructive, because I really don't think they are...
14 - barbara barnett
I never said they were destructive. I like them (like I said--and as I've found) to a point. It's completely a matter of personal preference. Same with movies. Most of the time it doesn't matter. I don't mind (and even like) knowing the whole plot.
I saw Inception with no clue nor any sense of what the film was about. I loved watching it that way. I took the ride along with the characters. OTOH, there are hundreds of movies I know extremely well--and it doesn't ever prevent me from watching another 1,000 times :)
15 - Edisto
As a general rule, I'm never against spoilers and don't get upset when I accidentally come across them. However it depends on the fandom whether or not I actively search for and read them.
When I got into my first fandom, The X-Files, I was living outside the US and internet streaming wasn't available yet. So I could either read spoilers and ep summaries or wait a whole year until it was shown in my country. I chose to read the spoilers and never regretted it.
With the last Harry Potter book I chose to stay away from spoilers and it was the best decision I could have made, IMHO.
And although I mostly read House spoilers for this last season I am so so very grateful that word didn't get out on how 'Help Me' ended. It was a totally unexpected ending. Not just after the episode, but after the whole season. At that point I had pretty much given up on Huddy happening for the time being and not knowing the ending made it so much better overall and not only made up for this season of House, but also for a lot of other shows which had pretty shitty endings to their season. Mainly because it gave me hope for these other shows that my OTP will one day get together like House and Cuddy finally have.
What people need to keep in mind is that every spoiler has to be taken with a grain of salt, because you never know whether that particular spoiler is true or not. I think that when you read spoilers you should be able to take a step back and remind yourself that this might be a false spoiler or that it will play out complete different in the context of the show. Getting genuinely upset over spoilers is just silly. A little angst is fine, don't get me wrong, I think it's part of the ride and of being a fan and caring for your show, but only to a certain degree.
16 - Janice
I agree with your take on Spoilers. Some advanced looks build enthusiasm and excitement and just add to your enjoyment. Other pieces of information destroy your pleasure. I trust the House promotion people to determine the difference and promote what will enhance our viewing experience.
17 - ruthinor
I love the little promos that are coming out. These lead to so much interpretation and speculation; and 50% of it is probably wrong!
18 - overrated
I am not one that cares for spoilers one way or the other. But the awful Luddy storyline that was season 6 had me craving for spoilers, and looking for when the pain and suffering would be over. Now, I am addicted to it so I need all the spoilers I can get my hands on.
19 - DebbieJ
Although I like to see/read teasers, spoilers are another matter. I hate being spoiled. I never had the desire to know the ending of a book or movie before reading/viewing it from the beginning. I believe this is due to my personality, too. If I had accidentally stumbled upon a gift that was for me before it was presented, I'd feel so bad that I ruined the surprise. I never could understand when some of my friends would search and search their house during Christmas time and snoop to find out what they'll be getting on Christmas morning. Same thing when I was expecting my children. I didn't want to know the sex of my children until the minute they were born. Some have said to me, OMG how could you NOT find out? The teaser, I'm have a baby. The spoiler would be knowing the sex beforehand! I had nine months to ponder what would it be; what name would we give him/her, etc. I loved every minute of the wondering.
I think if I would've found out about Amber's death or Kutner's suicide, it would've ruined the experience. When Kutner died, I literally was in denial until the end of the episode. He really did kill himself. I was shocked and angry and that's what the writer's were going for. Had I known beforehand, I wouldn't have experienced those emotions.
I'm am pleased to be teased by the knowledge that House and Cuddy are going to attempt a relationship. I would be spoiled if I knew the details.
20 - Jane
I don't think viewers (at least not myself) make decisions or conclusions based on spoilers alone. But I do believe that spoilers kinda set up and influence the way I watch the actual show. I mean, spoilers always hint at somethings, and then I'll try to guess what it is and during the show, I'll be distracted by looking out for the answer rather than taking in every moment of the show. What is worse is that scenes in spoilers are hardly what they seem, so when I go on this "wait and see" trip, I sometimes find myself looking out for the wrong thing and feeling disappointed at the end of the show because it didn't turn out the way I guessed or wanted to know.
Therefore, I have developed a habit of watching the spoilers or promos, etc. only after I've watched the actual episode. So instead of reading a book from back to front, I'm reading the book front to back, but only returning to read the introduction chapter after the story ended. It's weird, but it works for me.
I remember watching the promos for the episode when House and the team were in medival costumes. Although they didn't spoil the plot, I felt like I missed a big surprise experience already. Sometimes, it's not just the plot, it's also the visuals.
And finally, I hope that this site remains its zero-tolerance policy for spoilers. Or at least, spoiler-warnings should be posted before any further discussions in article or comments.
21 - Jane
Oh. But having said so in earlier post that I'm a spoilerphobic, I still like to check out sites to see if there are articles, interviews or videos circulating (spoilers or not) even if I don't read/watch them. Seeing them around gears up the tension for the show. So I'm not just enjoying the joy of Christmas on only 25 Dec but also the whole month. =)
22 - janine
@Barbara
I also came into House late (season 3) so I too read everything I could get my hands on and then watched the episodes as they re-ran in order on USA. This gave me excitement as to which episodes would better help me understand the story.
@Edisto
I totally agree with everything you said, and I did the same thing with the Harry Potter books. It was the first time i didn't flip to the back page of a book before reading it. The fandom totally matters when looking for spoilers, and the House fandom, on a lot of other ites gets really vicious (especially on Ausiello). Although Ausiello spoilers are some of the only ones I truse, I never read the comments because they always go something like this- two people actually talk about the spoiler, war against pro and anti Huddies breaks out, other people chime in about wanting Cameron back even though the spoiler was not about her and then people argue about weater or not the show has been ruined and how they'll stop watching but they all come back the next week.
I like mild spoilers (IE promos or the brief episode descriptions, or pictures that tell us "House will be doing this" or "fill in the blank celebrity will be guest starring" but i HATE spoilers that reveal the plot, like the screencaps that were released last year. I stumbled accross on last year for baggage and it kind of ruined the episode for me. I also don't like when they release scenes ahead of time, I never watch those. They are so out of context in the episode and could ruin other things (like the opening scene in Help Me ruining the srprise of the books significance in Baggage.) I read Ausiello weeksly and I always watch the promos but the only time I actively seek out spoilers is during the long summer hiatus (whihc isprobably why I read so many spoilers last year, we had a lot of long breaks). Knowing that House and Cuddy will be definate for a while makes me really excited for teh new season, where as if I wasn't sure I might be more apprehensive that they would be broken up withing the first ten minutes of the season premier.
23 - Delia_Beatrice
Hm... Confession of a spoiler addict: it barely makes a difference.
I have watched the first four seasons of "House" without any spoilers, for the mere reason that i watched them on DVD in a continuous marathon. The experience was extremely addictive and it was like an adrenaline-filled rollercoaster ride. The hunger for the next episode, the long hours each night, incapable not to play the next one and the next one until morning, and most importantly, the comfort of knowing that the answer to my questions and expectations is just a "play" button press away.
And then, i watched season 5 desperately waiting for each new episode and without seeking for any spoilers. I saw nothing, i heard nothing. My hunger and enthusiasm were intact, the joy of watching was unspoiled, the surprises and twists were truly making a full impact on me.
During the break between seasons 5 and 6, i became a spoiler addict. The situation they had left House off in was unbearable for me to handle, emotionally, without the help of beforehand information - more accurately, without the ILLUSORY help of beforehand information. Nothing ever leaked (and trust me, i read, watch and hear everything that leaks) that has had any impact on my watching experience. The promos and sneak peaks give out only irrelevant information about the actual episode, that turns out to be nearly entirely different in the context of the episode. The spoilers (Aussiello, Kristin etc) are often naive and cheap attempts to sell minor details of the episodes as essential pieces of spoilers, that presumably give you an insight on what will go on. They don't. They give only insignificant details, often the type that are prone to making a very appealing title and to enabling really naive puns.
The essential elements of an episode, the ones that determine the most intense emotional responses, never-ever leak out. The minor details that do leak out are often hard to interpret, because the spoilery material comes out as a code that fans are supposed to speculate upon, and even when they are clearer and do provide accurate info on the real stuff in the episode, they never reveal important elements that might impact the way you experience the episode.
My watching experience was never spoiled by spoilers, and neither were my emotional responses, my hunger for it, my impatience or my pleasure of watching and decoding each scene.
However, i respect the view of the people who are determined not to be spoiled in any way and i do agree that this website should remain a spoiler-free zone, for the previously stated reason, as well as for the fact that the way spoilers are formulated and released is more often than not a silly, naive and cheap one, and that would just diminish the exceptional quality of everything that is written here, by Barbara and by the fans.
24 - Nancy
For the most part, I'm okay with spoilers. As a reviewer, they help me figure out what are points to be aware of. However, I have to wonder why in the world promos air which reveal critical plot issues. Watching the show makes little sense afterwards.
25 - RobF
I hate spoilers. I usually even hate trailers, because often the people making the trailers aren't clever enough to know how to tease you without giving away too much, or just want to make the most shocking trailer possible.
I already have a habit of making myself too remote from the story by thinking of it as a story and wondering how they are fitting it into the story arc, when I really should be enjoying it as it happens. Spoilers just make the story seem even less real, which I definitely don't need.
So, please, everyone -- if you want spoilers, go ahead and talk about them in some place where spoiler-loving fans join together. Just keep them out of your posts here.