Do spoiler's ultimately ruin the show for us?

... 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]

To be perfectly honest, had I stayed spoiler free this time around, and then been hit with an SO storyline, I would have been even more livid and disappointed. But that is just me. For once, I'm glad I was spoiled beforehand.

I think in a lot of way the spoilers have taken away a good deal of my excitement of the show, but so has the storyline itself. I would have to say that I have been very disappointed since 100th. It would have been that way spoilers or not. I only started getting spoilers earlier this year, so towards the end of S5. I can't be sure if it was the spoilers or the storyline that have made me feel this way. I think it softened the blow to kinda know what might happen.
Happy or not, spoiler or not, I will still watch.
I just have felt from the spoilers such a build up of a great possibility of a relationship and some amusing awkward fun moments between our leads, then someone asked, someone said no, and I said holy crap I'm not so happy.
To me the spoilers so far for the upcoming season haven't really told us too much. We already knew at the end of S5 about the SO, after that most of the interviews and spoilers have been a rehash of that.
I've followed this show since day 1, so I'm gonna try to be a little more patient and see if they can dig it out of the Maluku hole that they have made for me. Maybe we'll all get surprised.
Apparently HH, SN, and DB think so, but they also loved 100th???

Ruby- Yeah, I see that side of it too.... maybe it's about the "level" of being spoiled? LOL Maybe if I limited myself to twice a week [Only admins are allowed to see this image] Cause hearing about something is one thing, but hearing about it OVER AND OVER is another thing altogether.

I know I can't "have it both ways"... but I really do wonder about it. Cause the show used to have such a bigger emotional impact for me when I didn't read all the spoilers... but maybe it is just coincidence because the writing is a little "down" from where it used to be- and maybe THAT's why the impact has been down lately. I DON'T KNOW!

Katherine- That's the same position I'm in... some of my excitement is down, and I'm not sure how much is because of the barage of interviews/spoilers or just the storyline itself. I definitely LOVE the show, and I'm sure not going anywhere. (If Bones is on TV, I'll be watching it! :-)... and you're right, it's not that the spoilers have TOLD us all that much I guess... it's more of the way hearing the same stuff over and over kinda "numbs" you to the whole thing... and takes away some of the "punch" of the episodes. I guess I could always try not reading spoilers for awhile and see if that makes a difference! (If I'm even able to do it! I have no will power, for sure!)

gordongordonfan... I think you have something there....I think that the whole, nitpicking everything to death, spoiling and obsessing and debating on blogs etc. does take away ... but it also adds something. I think sometimes, if you really look at what is being spoiled and then listen to some of the conversations, and extreme opinions or reactions...they seem so much worse. If we were just watching the show at home, not talking to others who overreact..or take an idea and run with it....we would probably take more of it in our stride.

I can't specifically name something right now..so please don't ask..but I can remember so many times, that someone suggests something, and the next things you know everyone is accepting it as fact and going off on a tangent, getting all upset, or super happy about it... When really it's just based on someone's theory or interpretation of something.

Last season I was getting really tired of the whole spoiler thing, and I decided to go spoiler free for about the middle part of the season... I must say, I did enjoy the surprise so much more.

However, It is nice to hear the writers, showrunners, actors and even many of the posters give their opinions and hear their creative voices etc..... it's also frustrating, and can be downright annoying when people can't let you have a thought without countering it every single time, restating why they don't agree with you..assumoing your every comment is about them, so they just have to come back and defend their position yet again....or better yet, why what you said was exactly what they were thinking,,,when just one post before they were arguing exactly the opposite....Yeah...It gets annoying when people have to have the last word on your every thought! There's a lot of that you have to deal with on every site...

But then again, some people are funny and glib, kind and considerate...have really good insights or ideas...and have a lot to offer... And there's also a lot of that on all the forums as well....I enjoy those, and I exercise all of my adult self control, in not allowing myself to be baited by the others.

So bottom line...I agree with what you're saying...and I totally understand how hard it is to go spoiler and discussion free. All I know is, I enjoyed the show so much more when I didn't read spoilers...but like Chocolate...I could only last a few weeks before my favorite obsession took over once more.

I think the important thing here, is that if you are going to read spoilers...remember that they usually word them in a way that sounds like something much larger than it really is...they often mislead and tease, becuase that is the whole point of spoiling in the first place...to get you curious and talking... and there are always many different ways to interpret what you're hearing...so don't go running off in a panic because something sounds like it's going to be bad, or get so excited about how we think, .++++ ,means B&B are going to get busy...and then no matter what you see, if it's not that, we're disappointed.

It's like when my kids were little,...at christmas they'd get so excited and beg to open presents, or get hints, and when I would let them guess they would come up with ideas that were so far out of my league...I would look at them and say... "does that sound reasonable that I would spend that much money...or when they were younger ... that Santa would bring you so much more than other kids?" I would encourage them to have reasonable expectations so that they wouldn't be disappointed with something that should and would thrill them if they hadn't gotten the wrong idea.

Spoilers are just that...they spoil what should be a surprise or a special moment, they get hopes up to unreasonable levels, or scare you so that you resent the spoiler after you learn it wasn't that bad after all...

mommahurley wrote:gordongordonfan... I think you have something there....I think that the whole, nitpicking everything to death, spoiling and obsessing and debating on blogs etc. does take away ... but it also adds something. I think sometimes, if you really look at what is being spoiled and then listen to some of the conversations, and extreme opinions or reactions...they seem so much worse. If we were just watching the show at home, not talking to others who overreact..or take an idea and run with it....we would probably take more of it in our stride.

I can't specifically name something right now..so please don't ask..but I can remember so many times, that someone suggests something, and the next things you know everyone is accepting it as fact and going off on a tangent, getting all upset, or super happy about it... When really it's just based on someone's theory or interpretation of something.

Last season I was getting really tired of the whole spoiler thing, and I decided to go spoiler free for about the middle part of the season... I must say, I did enjoy the surprise so much more.

However, It is nice to hear the writers, showrunners, actors and even many of the posters give their opinions and hear their creative voices etc..... it's also frustrating, and can be downright annoying when people can't let you have a thought without countering it every single time, restating why they don't agree with you..assumoing your every comment is about them, so they just have to come back and defend their position yet again....or better yet, why what you said was exactly what they were thinking,,,when just one post before they were arguing exactly the opposite....Yeah...It gets annoying when people have to have the last word on your every thought! There's a lot of that you have to deal with on every site...

But then again, some people are funny and glib, kind and considerate...have really good insights or ideas...and have a lot to offer... And there's also a lot of that on all the forums as well....I enjoy those, and I exercise all of my adult self control, in not allowing myself to be baited by the others.

So bottom line...I agree with what you're saying...and I totally understand how hard it is to go spoiler and discussion free. All I know is, I enjoyed the show so much more when I didn't read spoilers...but like Chocolate...I could only last a few weeks before my favorite obsession took over once more.

I think the important thing here, is that if you are going to read spoilers...remember that they usually word them in a way that sounds like something much larger than it really is...they often mislead and tease, becuase that is the whole point of spoiling in the first place...to get you curious and talking... and there are always many different ways to interpret what you're hearing...so don't go running off in a panic because something sounds like it's going to be bad, or get so excited about how we think, .++++ ,means B&B are going to get busy...and then no matter what you see, if it's not that, we're disappointed.

It's like when my kids were little,...at christmas they'd get so excited and beg to open presents, or get hints, and when I would let them guess they would come up with ideas that were so far out of my league...I would look at them and say... "does that sound reasonable that I would spend that much money...or when they were younger ... that Santa would bring you so much more than other kids?" I would encourage them to have reasonable expectations so that they wouldn't be disappointed with something that should and would thrill them if they hadn't gotten the wrong idea.

Spoilers are just that...they spoil what should be a surprise or a special moment, they get hopes up to unreasonable levels, or scare you so that you resent the spoiler after you learn it wasn't that bad after all...

I so agree with EVERYTHING SAID above, I wish I could go spoiler free I beieve I'd enjoy it more but alas I can not.... it's bad enough waiting for the next tid bit let alone the episodes that I must wait for seen as I am not lucky enoguh to live in North America

I've never found the show to be less enjoyable with spoilers. It's like reading the menu at a restaurant; reading a description of the meal, what's in it, how it's prepared, doesn't make the meal less enjoyable. It also let's you know what NOT to order. Like, if you don't eat beef, you're not going to get the hamburger deluxe.

I also agree with rubyruby: if I were spoiler-free and just saw the promos - I'd give up and go find a new show.

It's not exactly the spoilers that ruin it for me. It's more the the craziness that comes with it. I love boards. I love discussing, but it's hard at times because some fans (this isn't just about bones) take it to the extreme and have temper tantrums that bring everyone else down. That's the hard part for me.

I kind of learned the lesson the hard way with grey's anatomy. Grey's fans were a million times more rabid than bones fans. There were about 5/10 million more of them too. Some of the boards (including the actual ABC board) got so intense that they had to be shut down. That's the stuff that ruins it for me.

I like spoilers to a certain extent. I'll read sides occasionally if they are juicy. But, I tend to stay away from cast interviews until after it's aired because they are just too confusing.

To be honest, this season, whether you were online or not, you knew about hannah. You'd have to be living under a rock not to. It's everywhere. My aunt read about it in some local entertainment magazine advertising the new season. Really random. None of my friends come online, but they all knew about Hannah by August. So, I don't think I would have been blindsided had I not been reading spoilers all summer long. But, I do often wonder if I wouldn't care so much because I wouldn't be obsessing over it all the time. I don't know. I'm torn.

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.

There are some people on here that I think SHOULD stay away from spoilers...because it makes them miserable and then they go off on a rant and it gets everything stirred up and for what?

And it's not really the spoilers that are spoiling everything...it's what comes afterwards...the discussions about the spoilers. Some people can discuss it objectively, but alot can't. They take a tiny little thing, and turn it into this huge deal and go off on their rants again...

And it is alot of how you personally deal with the knowledge those spoilers give and the discussions that follow. Me...I'm one where I read the spoilers first and make up my own mind, and then if I read the discussions, I let the majority of my comments just roll off my back. Sometimes someone does hit a nerve...but in the end, I still love watching the show and I am looking forward to the new season...I'm not going to let anyone take that from me...

I must start off saying that I am a complete spoiler junkie. If I see anything with the word "Bones" in it, I read it immediately, hoping for spoilers for upcoming episodes. The majority of my posts on this forum are in this section, and "Spoilers, Baby" is the first thing I check when I log in. I've read the majority of the sides and just about every online article or column I could find, as well as checking various twitter accounts and watching countless interviews with the cast.

For this season, there are some spoilers I'm glad I know. For one, I am really glad that I know about Hannah. After the season 5 finale, my dreams were filled with coffee cart reunion scenes, and each one ended with Booth and Brennan as a couple. As the spoilers about Hannah came out, I quickly realized that my dreams would not become reality, and I resigned myself to the truth that Booth would come home with a significant other. If I hadn't known this spoiler beforehand and I sat down this coming Thursday and didn't see my long awaited reunion scene, I would have been so incredibly disappointed. Now, I've accepted that I'll have to deal with this storyline, and I'm fine with that.

Other spoilers, I wish I had avoided. I'm really mad that I know Angela is going to be pregnant-- and I sincerely wish that had been a surprise. I completely agree with Michaela Conlin- why would they put something as huge as that in a promo?? I also wish I didn't know about the Jersey Shore episode. I'm not very happy with that idea, and I think I would have been more open to it if it were just sprung on me at the end of the second episode. I would have more of a "well, let's see what happens" attitude. I wish I didn't know that they were all coming back after seven months, because I think it would have been more interesting if I hadn't known.

So to answer your question, I think spoilers both help and hurt the show... but I love them all the same!

For me yes they have. I don't read sides because they are just too confusing [Only admins are allowed to see this image] but I will watch video clips - I try not to but I never succeed [Only admins are allowed to see this image]

tinkrella wrote:I

To be honest, this season, whether you were online or not, you knew about hannah. You'd have to be living under a rock not to. It's everywhere. My aunt read about it in some local entertainment magazine advertising the new season. Really random. None of my friends come online, but they all knew about Hannah by August. So, I don't think I would have been blindsided had I not been reading spoilers all summer long. But, I do often wonder if I wouldn't care so much because I wouldn't be obsessing over it all the time. I don't know. I'm torn.

This is what I've been saying. Hannah has been pushed so much in the promos and press that it's strange, almost as if Fox is saying 'OK we couldn't give you B&B but we can give you Booth with someone else. Please, please watch.' Her arc has become the most important sales pitch for the entire season which just makes me wonder who exactly they are trying to appeal to.

As for spoilers, I'm one of those awful people who, except for mysteries, always checks the end of a book before I read it. I hate surprises and would rather know what is coming then be unpleasantly surprised. But I do agree that bloggers tend to get on hobbyhorses and go over and over the same material until it is chewed to death. On the other hand, I'm grateful to have a place to vent with people who feel as passionately about this show as I do. Thank-you one and all, especially Treble.

I'm not sure I'd be better or worse off if I hadn't read the spoilers ... I think of it has having two totally different experiences.

I've been a spoiler whore for a long time ... not just with Bones, and I find certain shows I follow very closely and keep up with every little piece of information I can find (Had a subscription to Showfax for years for this purpose even). And when I watch the show, I'm still going "I hope there's something here that I don't already know about." Which seems counter productive to the months I spent trying to uncover every rock. But, it's the months of speculating that I enjoy ... it's like I don't just get to enjoy an hour of watching a television show ... I get to enjoy 2 or 3 months of thinking, and dissecting what might happen in that episode before it happens.

That being said, I also think that I some ways it does take away from my actual enjoyment of that hour of television when it does air. So for me it's a conscious choice to give up some enjoyement of that hour to get enjoyment from the specualtion and guessing.

elyon wrote:

tinkrella wrote:I

To be honest, this season, whether you were online or not, you knew about hannah. You'd have to be living under a rock not to. It's everywhere. My aunt read about it in some local entertainment magazine advertising the new season. Really random. None of my friends come online, but they all knew about Hannah by August. So, I don't think I would have been blindsided had I not been reading spoilers all summer long. But, I do often wonder if I wouldn't care so much because I wouldn't be obsessing over it all the time. I don't know. I'm torn.

This is what I've been saying. Hannah has been pushed so much in the promos and press that it's strange, almost as if Fox is saying 'OK we couldn't give you B&B but we can give you Booth with someone else. Please, please watch.' Her arc has become the most important sales pitch for the entire season which just makes me wonder who exactly they are trying to appeal to.

As for spoilers, I'm one of those awful people who, except for mysteries, always checks the end of a book before I read it. I hate surprises and would rather know what is coming then be unpleasantly surprised. But I do agree that bloggers tend to get on hobbyhorses and go over and over the same material until it is chewed to death. On the other hand, I'm grateful to have a place to vent with people who feel as passionately about this show as I do. Thank-you one and all, especially Treble.

For those of us who live overseas, its different. In Australia, we get the premiere a few weeks after the premiere in the US. So, if you live here, and you aren't on the net hunting spoilers, and you don't read TV magazines (I don't) then you won't see much until they start advertising on the network. Our promotions are a little different from the US. Last year it was a collab of all of the returning shows. Also the people who hunt the spoilers, usually get the episode when it is available on DL and if they watch it on the network it airs, its only for the ratings. So yes, people OS do have the completely spoiler free option.

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]

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.

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

LMAO. Catfish who??

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.

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

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

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

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.