"Holy s**t, Chuck's kicking the living s**t out of those Ring operatives! Did not expect that!"
"THANKS TO TWITTER, I ********' WELL DID."
So, you're sat watching the season finale of your favourite TV show and something has come along which has completely changed everything. Maybe a character has died, (in the case of many of my shows, 'again' is a fitting suffix), maybe they've dropped some big bombshell...
s**t, maybe they've just uploaded a new Intersect into their heads and they're kicking the ever loving s**t out of some Ring agents.
Or maybe it's not even the end of the season, maybe it's mid-season and the only female character you don't hate has died. Or a character you originally believed to be someone who was a bit of fun but not especially important has been revealed as someone pretty ********' huge.
Before I go off on a tangent here about plot twists which have both depressed and delighted me, I'll get back to the original point of the post.
Now, choose your favourite twist. It can be a happy one, a sad one, a shocking one, whichever one you'd like. Got it? Okay, hold onto it. Now think about how excited/sad/shocked you were when it happened. Remember those feelings, the way it changed everything for you at the time.
Right, now imagine you haven't seen the episode/movie where this happens yet. You know nothing about it, heck, maybe you don't even know there's going to be some big crazy ending yet. You're excited about getting to watch the episode or the film then all of a sudden...
Some big mouthed fool comes out and tells you exactly what happened. You haven't seen this yet, you're just minding your own business, just absently surfing your usual haunts and someone you don't even know just blabs the big plot twist. How does that make you feel?
You're pissed, right? Or at the very least, you're annoyed.
Now, imagine this happening to you on a semi-regular basis because you don't get to see the episodes at exactly the same time as everyone else, due to living in another country.
I bring this up because as a British fan of shows like Supernatural and Chuck, both of which are very twisting and turny, I have to deal with this on a regular basis. For example, the season two finale of Chuck, that ending with the new Intersect was spoiled for me.
I know the temptation to squeal about these things at the top of your lungs is huge and that's fine. I'm not trying to stop any kind of discussion, believe me. What I'm asking for here is a little courtesy, a warning before posting the spoilers. Be it in a subject line on your forum post or - like my friends over at the Official Supernatural Thread on Ent'D - colouring the words in white, so they can only be read through highlighting. Or if you use blogging sites, throw a cut in there so we don't see anything we're not ready for when flipping through friends pages.
The only time I ask for you to say absolutely nothing is on Twitter or Facebook, where your squees can't be hidden. But hey, that's what the messaging systems are for, right?
In my case, most shows are viewed within 48 hours of their original US airdate with the aid of 'magical wings'. (It's unscrupulous but as a con-goer, I've heard enough of the actors involved approving of the practice for international fans. Zachary Levi is cool with it for example). So if you're talking to me, after that barrier has passed, you can discuss the plot points of the most recent episodes without worrying. But if you're not sure, ask the person you're talking to first or - if you're on a forum - put up a quick 'spoilers for most recent episode' before you start your excited rambling.
Come on guys, it's just common courtesy.
Chuck season two has recently ended it's run in the UK and I believe it's finished it's original airing schedules most places now. So I hopefully shouldn't be spoiling for anyone now with my mention of that.
