To Cutter XXIII: why would I stop watching now if the story is still good? That would be completely contrary to my point.

Incidentally, I didn’t know the twist in Walkabout, but I did see it coming, and it didn’t ruin a thing. The reason I saw it coming is because it was so well foreshadowed, in camera shots and clever dialog overlaying.

True, but it CAN make a good story into a legendary one. If you live in a cave and have never seen the Star Wars saga, stop reading now.

We all (I hope) agree that the first Star Wars and first 7/8 of Empire were TREMENDOUS film achievements on their own. It was already a great story. A modern day epic. But the twist at the end of Empire made the story from a great one into something that is still one of the greatest moments of film TO THIS DAY. Now, imagine seeing Hope or Empire for the first time and having the end of Empire spoiled for you in advance. I think it GREATLY diminishes the viewing experience leading up to that scene. Some may say it adds depth and emotion as well as context to a conflict that otherwise was just political (more or less), but I disagree.

And to the person who said “If the story is good, the ending doesn’t matter.” Well, that just doesn’t really make any sense. When someone says “story” I interpret that to mean the COMPLETE work of prose: exposition, climax, resolution, etc. So, if the story is good, the ending needs to be a part of it. Lets go back to Star Wars because I’m a geek. If as Hurley suggested, Darth and Luke hug it out at the end of Empire and become buddies, that destroys the entire movie. Why? Because everything that comes before the end is leading up to the conclusion. If you have (since this is a show) over 100 hours leading like a freight train towards a conclusion (and on this show, we know by now that everything that happens is leading to something), you can’t lay an egg in the finale. Go ask a Sopranos fan about an ending. Or like me, a Deadwood fan. Do I still enjoy Deadwood on every rewatch, yeah. But the lack of a concrete ending and much of the character resolution definitely affects how I feel about the show.

Judge not, lest ye be judged, Sparky.

Now, i’ve never claimed to be the smartest apple to fall from the tree, but doesn’t that give potential spolier merchants more than enough time to “irreparably damage”, as J.J Abrams put it, the intended story. I find myself being stuck between a rock and a hard place, greatly admiring J.J and Damon Lindelof’s work and styles of storytelling (i’ve never been a huge Star Trek fan, but can’t wait to watch the new movie). I do, however, strongly oppose their stance on spoilers, especially considering they seem more than happy to make long term, and short term fans wait three months shy of a year, to see the end of one of their most famous creations.

Fans complained that the hiatus between the first and second havles of season 3 was too long, but how is that any worse than the waits we had to endure between 3 & 4, 4 & 5, and soon, 5 & 6. I’m really hoping that they decide to amend the length of the final season of Lost, throw a few extra episodes in there and stretch it out so that they can resolve every unresolved element of the story. They should also screen the first six or seven episodes no later than October and not make fans wait so damn long to see them. I mean, I get the concept of the shorter season… It gives the makers of the show more time to fashion it’s look, ABC the chance to make more money and get more ratings, but ultimately, it’s the fans that suffer. Is it any wonder that people scour the internet for spoliers?

The problem is that now, through the Internet, that idiot who came home and told you that Darth Vader was Luke’s father before you got a chance to go out and see the flick can now ruin the movie for literally millions of people by posting on a blog, forum or chat room. Word spreads like wildfire on the web and what once was a huge incentive to tune in becomes something that can never live up to your expectations. Worse, these blabbering idiots don’t have that same incentive that the legitimate publications had to keep mum about big secrets. In fact, the opposite is often true now– spoiler sites generate millions of hits and losers like lostfan108 become celebrities just for leaking elements of a story someone else wrote. The victims of all this are the fans who do not want to be spoiled but happen to scroll down the wrong comments page to find some loser yapping that “LOCKE IS IN THE COFFIN,” and the creators who lose the opportunity to tell the story in the way they intended.

Publications used to tease little bits of info (vague hints that there would be an upcoming death on a show were common), set and production photos seemed pretty agreeable, and so forth. When that sort of thing was sanctioned by the companies who provided the creative material, you could crack open a magazine and know that you weren’t going to have anything too earth-shattering spoiled for you. Unfortunately on the Internet, with so many would-be scoop celebs trying to get a piece of the pie, there’s no way to control information like that anymore.

So it falls to us to us to do our own screening, to decide what level of spoilers we are comfortable with and do our best to keep blinders on to everything else. It’s not easy when the end of a season approaches and you know that somewhere, some jackass has intimate details about the frozen donkey wheel posted for all to see. But taking personal responsibility is never easy.

People who some how believe they can enjoy Lost being spoiled as much as people are not are insane in the membrane.

I would go far to say there not ‘true’ fans…

But if you respond differently to a twist based on knowledge of it, in that case you may need to rethink your obsession.