Look at the flowers, AMC
December 1, 2014 4:14 AM Subscribe
This past Sunday night was the mid-season finale of the popular AMC series, The Walking Dead, and there was much speculation that a character would die. Things took a bizarre turn when AMC posted a graphic to Facebook after the eastern time zone airing that confirmed what happened, effectively spoiling the storyline for viewers in other time zones.
Here's the mentioned graphic, which while beautifully done, does reveal whether a character dies on the show. Seriously, it does. Note the comments section next to it, which has a number of verbal and pictorial reactions to the spoiler.
Here's the mentioned graphic, which while beautifully done, does reveal whether a character dies on the show. Seriously, it does. Note the comments section next to it, which has a number of verbal and pictorial reactions to the spoiler.
Well, shit, I've got to tell my wife not to read Facebook for a whole week, then, because that's how long the broadcast delay is, and if she hasn't Liked the page (which I'm sure she has), Facebook probably has enough browsing data on her to put it in her Recommended Newsfeed or whatever anyway. Thanks AMC!
posted by Bugbread at 4:36 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by Bugbread at 4:36 AM on December 1, 2014
I don't watch TWD, but rule #1 in the communities of shows I do watch (Survivor, Big Brother, Mad Men,etc.) is West Coast people need to stay off the Facebook and the Twitter to avoid spoilers. Doesn't matter if it's the network doing the spoiling or not. Read a book for two hours.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:38 AM on December 1, 2014 [9 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:38 AM on December 1, 2014 [9 favorites]
Back when I watched The Shield regularly, I had the superdupermegaultra DirecTV package which meant I could watch the East Coast feed on West Coast time. Won't lie, it was awesome 1. being able to participate in TV chats without worrying about spoilers and 2. not having to stay up until 11 on a work night to watch.
Now I get to see all kinds of junk before it's theatrically released or broadcast and I just. don't. care.
And the stuff I do care about, I don't even watch trailers (unless the trailers are so abstract that they are art in themselves, like the trailer for Upstream Color, the factory teaser for T2, or the intro credits for Enter the Void).
posted by infinitewindow at 4:39 AM on December 1, 2014
Now I get to see all kinds of junk before it's theatrically released or broadcast and I just. don't. care.
And the stuff I do care about, I don't even watch trailers (unless the trailers are so abstract that they are art in themselves, like the trailer for Upstream Color, the factory teaser for T2, or the intro credits for Enter the Void).
posted by infinitewindow at 4:39 AM on December 1, 2014
Gee thanks, a post I'm interested in that I can't click at all for a week!
posted by misozaki at 4:51 AM on December 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by misozaki at 4:51 AM on December 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
The phrase, apparently uttered in total seriousness, "irresponsible social networking, guys!" made me LOL.
It's not wrong, it's just funny.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:51 AM on December 1, 2014 [15 favorites]
It's not wrong, it's just funny.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:51 AM on December 1, 2014 [15 favorites]
Didn't and won't click. But it kind of makes me happy that I gave up on TWD about halfway through the second season.
posted by trip and a half at 5:24 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by trip and a half at 5:24 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Oh. Oh, well, that's great. So in my attempt to prevent my wife from having it spoiled, I spoiled it.
Me: "If you've Liked Walking Dead on Facebook, you might want to unLike it, or I could do it for you, because they posted a big spoiler picture after the mid-season finale."
Her: "Oh...that was a spoiler? I saw the picture, so I turned off images really quickly, but I wasn't sure if it showed what I thought it did, or if I was reading too much into it...but since you say it was a spoiler, then I guess I know what it means."
posted by Bugbread at 5:27 AM on December 1, 2014 [14 favorites]
Me: "If you've Liked Walking Dead on Facebook, you might want to unLike it, or I could do it for you, because they posted a big spoiler picture after the mid-season finale."
Her: "Oh...that was a spoiler? I saw the picture, so I turned off images really quickly, but I wasn't sure if it showed what I thought it did, or if I was reading too much into it...but since you say it was a spoiler, then I guess I know what it means."
posted by Bugbread at 5:27 AM on December 1, 2014 [14 favorites]
Meh. I routinely skip to the last five minutes of tension-ridden shows like TWD. Then I can go back and actually enjoy the show because the big reveal is over.
It's the journey not the destination, yes?
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 5:31 AM on December 1, 2014
It's the journey not the destination, yes?
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 5:31 AM on December 1, 2014
I swear, the biggest Facebook fight I've gotten into--bigger than Ferguson, the expansion of marriage equality, or health care--was about other East Coast people spoiling Game of Thrones and other shows for West Coast viewers. And it turns out, assholes gonna asshole, and thought the answer was that West Coast viewers basically had to abandon all social media on tv days. So... AMC's blunder isn't that much of a surprise.
Given that a bunch of West Coast people watch East Coast feeds for precisely this reason, I wonder if AMC just wanted to get out ahead of its own fans spoiling everyone?
posted by TwoStride at 5:33 AM on December 1, 2014
Given that a bunch of West Coast people watch East Coast feeds for precisely this reason, I wonder if AMC just wanted to get out ahead of its own fans spoiling everyone?
posted by TwoStride at 5:33 AM on December 1, 2014
Meh. I routinely skip to the last five minutes of tension-ridden shows like TWD. Then I can go back and actually enjoy the show because the big reveal is over.
I do this with books sometimes. Usually mysteries or thrillers. It sucks to read one of those all the way to the end only to find out the ending is terrible, and that I'd have been better off with another book.
posted by dortmunder at 5:36 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
If your country wasn't so damn wide you wouldn't have this problem.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 5:37 AM on December 1, 2014 [28 favorites]
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 5:37 AM on December 1, 2014 [28 favorites]
Oh. Oh, well, that's great. So in my attempt to prevent my wife from having it spoiled, I spoiled it.
It's like a curse in a fantasy/horror story. If you ignore it, it gets you. If you try to avoid it, that gets you. If you fight it, you end up dooming yourself. If you don't play, even that ruins your life.
Curses are basically the Author being a huge jerk being amused all the while by how clever it all is. Whom the Gods would destroy, they first induce to watch TV series.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:41 AM on December 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
It's like a curse in a fantasy/horror story. If you ignore it, it gets you. If you try to avoid it, that gets you. If you fight it, you end up dooming yourself. If you don't play, even that ruins your life.
Curses are basically the Author being a huge jerk being amused all the while by how clever it all is. Whom the Gods would destroy, they first induce to watch TV series.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:41 AM on December 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
Isn't "mid-season finale" kind of a contradiction in terms too
posted by clockzero at 5:46 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by clockzero at 5:46 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
I was in high school when "The Crying Game" came out. I didn't see it at the time, but I remember walking up to some friends in the hallway one day, and they were talking about it, and the conversation was, essentially:
"We saw 'The Crying Game' on Saturday."
"Did you...know?"
"NO, we didn't...know. TOTAL SURPRISE, HOLY CRAP."
They were actually worried about ruining the twist for other people who might accidentally overhear what was a private conversation. Compare that to the Red Wedding, when I set up a stupidly complicated set of Tweetbot filters, still got it spoiled because you can't catch everything, and when I made a passing joke venting my frustration, got replies from a bunch of strangers saying "Dude, just stay off of the internet" (practical!) and "Duh, if you read the books, you'd have known years ago" (insufferable!).
I know enough about corporate life to know that this was just boneheaded groupthink at work. People were so psyched about the cool poster that nobody thought about it. Right now they're in the office, looking at each other and going "whoops". But the availability of a global conversation, our media obsession, corporate boo-boos like this, and the proliferation of dicks on the internet means I've had to make my peace with embracing the death of the movie surprise. I'm still grieving, but oh well.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:50 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
"We saw 'The Crying Game' on Saturday."
"Did you...know?"
"NO, we didn't...know. TOTAL SURPRISE, HOLY CRAP."
They were actually worried about ruining the twist for other people who might accidentally overhear what was a private conversation. Compare that to the Red Wedding, when I set up a stupidly complicated set of Tweetbot filters, still got it spoiled because you can't catch everything, and when I made a passing joke venting my frustration, got replies from a bunch of strangers saying "Dude, just stay off of the internet" (practical!) and "Duh, if you read the books, you'd have known years ago" (insufferable!).
I know enough about corporate life to know that this was just boneheaded groupthink at work. People were so psyched about the cool poster that nobody thought about it. Right now they're in the office, looking at each other and going "whoops". But the availability of a global conversation, our media obsession, corporate boo-boos like this, and the proliferation of dicks on the internet means I've had to make my peace with embracing the death of the movie surprise. I'm still grieving, but oh well.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:50 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
KINDA SPOILERISH: I was delighted though to learn that Marvel intentionally delayed the sale of dancing baby Groots because they were worried about spoiling that moment for people who hadn't seen the film yet.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:52 AM on December 1, 2014 [10 favorites]
posted by middleclasstool at 5:52 AM on December 1, 2014 [10 favorites]
.
My thoughts and prayers are to everyone hurt by this. I can't help but think that even our great-grandchildren will be feeling the repercussions of this gross injustice, their cries echoing through time.
posted by Awful Peice of Crap at 5:54 AM on December 1, 2014 [39 favorites]
My thoughts and prayers are to everyone hurt by this. I can't help but think that even our great-grandchildren will be feeling the repercussions of this gross injustice, their cries echoing through time.
posted by Awful Peice of Crap at 5:54 AM on December 1, 2014 [39 favorites]
I mostly watch shows when they are available on streaming or on dvds, which means that it is a year or more after it has originally aired. (I just watched all five seasons of the Wire, to give an example of how out of date my viewing is.) So minor plot spoilers happen, but that's like one percent of the enjoyment of a good show or movie, compared to the characterizations, cinematography, and everything else.
And the same people who get all fussy about spoilers will enjoy rewatching some movie for the tenth time and looking for clues to the plot in a released or leaked teaser or trailer, so there's definitely an element of invented crisis about the whole thing. We're in an odd moment of asynchronous viewing, with showings staggered by time zone and by region, but where some people get around that with proxies and other solutions, and with everyone simultaneously using social media.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:03 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
And the same people who get all fussy about spoilers will enjoy rewatching some movie for the tenth time and looking for clues to the plot in a released or leaked teaser or trailer, so there's definitely an element of invented crisis about the whole thing. We're in an odd moment of asynchronous viewing, with showings staggered by time zone and by region, but where some people get around that with proxies and other solutions, and with everyone simultaneously using social media.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:03 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Isn't "mid-season finale" kind of a contradiction in terms too
I dunno, I've seen a number of shows where the writers clearly gave up and went home halfway through the season.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:05 AM on December 1, 2014 [14 favorites]
I dunno, I've seen a number of shows where the writers clearly gave up and went home halfway through the season.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:05 AM on December 1, 2014 [14 favorites]
I do this with books sometimes. Usually mysteries or thrillers. It sucks to read one of those all the way to the end only to find out the ending is terrible, and that I'd have been better off with another book.
Don't read John Harwood's books, then. The endings are so bad they ruin all the great story that went before.
posted by winna at 6:08 AM on December 1, 2014
Don't read John Harwood's books, then. The endings are so bad they ruin all the great story that went before.
posted by winna at 6:08 AM on December 1, 2014
What's a spoiler? Is the only way to enjoy something for it to be a complete surprise?
As long as it's the viewer making that decision for themselves, I'm fine. It's when other people try to make that decision for the viewer, that it is a jerk move.
AMC messed up.
posted by cashman at 6:13 AM on December 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
As long as it's the viewer making that decision for themselves, I'm fine. It's when other people try to make that decision for the viewer, that it is a jerk move.
AMC messed up.
posted by cashman at 6:13 AM on December 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
And what can be the worth of that solicitude which a peep into the third volume can utterly dissipate? What the value of those literary charms which are absolutely destroyed by their enjoyment? When we have once learnt what was that picture before which was hung Mrs. Ratcliffe’s solemn curtain, we feel no further interest about either the frame or the veil. They are to us merely a receptacle for old bones, an inappropriate coffin, which we would wish to have decently buried out of our sight.
And then how grievous a thing it is to have the pleasure of your novel destroyed by the ill-considered triumph of a previous reader. “Oh, you needn’t be alarmed for Augusta; of course she accepts Gustavus in the end.” “How very ill-natured you are, Susan,” says Kitty with tears in her eyes: “I don’t care a bit about it now.” Dear Kitty, if you will read my book, you may defy the ill-nature of your sister. There shall be no secret that she can tell you. Nay, take the third volume if you please—learn from the last pages all the results of our troubled story, and the story shall have lost none of its interest, if indeed there be any interest in it to lose.
Anthony Trollope, as usual, has something to say about everything. This is from Barchester Towers, when he takes pains to tell the reader what doesn't happen so we can relax and not be afraid that Eleanor will marry Bertie Stanhope or Mr. Slope.
posted by winna at 6:16 AM on December 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
And then how grievous a thing it is to have the pleasure of your novel destroyed by the ill-considered triumph of a previous reader. “Oh, you needn’t be alarmed for Augusta; of course she accepts Gustavus in the end.” “How very ill-natured you are, Susan,” says Kitty with tears in her eyes: “I don’t care a bit about it now.” Dear Kitty, if you will read my book, you may defy the ill-nature of your sister. There shall be no secret that she can tell you. Nay, take the third volume if you please—learn from the last pages all the results of our troubled story, and the story shall have lost none of its interest, if indeed there be any interest in it to lose.
Anthony Trollope, as usual, has something to say about everything. This is from Barchester Towers, when he takes pains to tell the reader what doesn't happen so we can relax and not be afraid that Eleanor will marry Bertie Stanhope or Mr. Slope.
posted by winna at 6:16 AM on December 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
Dip Flash: "And the same people who get all fussy about spoilers will enjoy rewatching some movie for the tenth time and looking for clues to the plot in a released or leaked teaser or trailer, so there's definitely an element of invented crisis about the whole thing."
#NotAllPeopleWhoGetAllFussyAboutSpoilers
Well, I don't get fussy, I guess. I get silently pissed off, but I don't complain directly, because the kind of people who spoil recent media are the kind of people who say "It must not be a good movie/book/TV show if knowing the ending spoils it!", which has the double-asshole subtext of "The media you enjoy is bad" and "The way you enjoy media is also bad!"
But, anyway, point is: I rarely ever watch things twice. There are a few movies I've watched multiple times, but for the most part, I'll love a movie, and then 10 years later I'll rent it to watch it again, get halfway through, and turn it off, because I just can't get drawn in when I know what's going to happen.
posted by Bugbread at 6:17 AM on December 1, 2014 [6 favorites]
#NotAllPeopleWhoGetAllFussyAboutSpoilers
Well, I don't get fussy, I guess. I get silently pissed off, but I don't complain directly, because the kind of people who spoil recent media are the kind of people who say "It must not be a good movie/book/TV show if knowing the ending spoils it!", which has the double-asshole subtext of "The media you enjoy is bad" and "The way you enjoy media is also bad!"
But, anyway, point is: I rarely ever watch things twice. There are a few movies I've watched multiple times, but for the most part, I'll love a movie, and then 10 years later I'll rent it to watch it again, get halfway through, and turn it off, because I just can't get drawn in when I know what's going to happen.
posted by Bugbread at 6:17 AM on December 1, 2014 [6 favorites]
What's a spoiler? Is the only way to enjoy something for it to be a complete surprise?
Only way? No. But it is one way. A delightful way. Having that rug pulled out from under you sucks. Being sympathetic to that isn't exactly onerous.
Using that same argument: is the only way to voice your appreciation for a story to lay out in detail what happened in the plot for the whole world to read? Are you reviewing it or making a book report?
Because the types of stories we're told through movies and television fall along pretty predictable lines.
I will certainly grant you that there are such things as "spoiler-proof" stories, but if you've never been surprised by a story, then either you are far more clever than nearly all of humanity or you have only encountered predictable stories in your lifetime. In either case, the rest of us aren't that way.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:17 AM on December 1, 2014 [8 favorites]
Only way? No. But it is one way. A delightful way. Having that rug pulled out from under you sucks. Being sympathetic to that isn't exactly onerous.
Using that same argument: is the only way to voice your appreciation for a story to lay out in detail what happened in the plot for the whole world to read? Are you reviewing it or making a book report?
Because the types of stories we're told through movies and television fall along pretty predictable lines.
I will certainly grant you that there are such things as "spoiler-proof" stories, but if you've never been surprised by a story, then either you are far more clever than nearly all of humanity or you have only encountered predictable stories in your lifetime. In either case, the rest of us aren't that way.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:17 AM on December 1, 2014 [8 favorites]
Isn't "mid-season finale" kind of a contradiction in terms too
Yes and this is my new favorite thing to hate on the internet.
On the plus though, if it means pushing American shows to shorter seasons with no repeats, that's a big bonus.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:25 AM on December 1, 2014
Yes and this is my new favorite thing to hate on the internet.
On the plus though, if it means pushing American shows to shorter seasons with no repeats, that's a big bonus.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:25 AM on December 1, 2014
Well, I don't get fussy, I guess.
"Fussy" was a crappy term for me to have used and it detracted from my point; I'd rewrite with a much more neutral term if editing was possible.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:33 AM on December 1, 2014
"Fussy" was a crappy term for me to have used and it detracted from my point; I'd rewrite with a much more neutral term if editing was possible.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:33 AM on December 1, 2014
Hell, Twitter probably was worse - I'm not really into the show, but had the last couple minutes on last night just out of idle curiosity and saw the, er, "Old Yeller" moment. And then a couple minutes later I realized what the Twitter feed was probably going to look like and peeked - and then had to laugh when I saw that all the posts with the Walking Dead hashtag went from bantery back-and-forth to all-caps Sally Field "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY????" wailing all at the same moment.
then again, Twitter is mainly the uncensored and unbridled emotional knee-jerk outbursts from fans; you can't totally prevent people from blurting shit out sometimes. (I got EMPIRE STRIKES BACK spoiled for me when I was a kid when my godmother's kids came for a visit and one of them had just seen it and was all "OMIGOD YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE IT - LUKE'S FATHER IS [X]!" But he was just ten, and you can't get too down on that kind of thing. A corporate thing like that, that's different.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:35 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
then again, Twitter is mainly the uncensored and unbridled emotional knee-jerk outbursts from fans; you can't totally prevent people from blurting shit out sometimes. (I got EMPIRE STRIKES BACK spoiled for me when I was a kid when my godmother's kids came for a visit and one of them had just seen it and was all "OMIGOD YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE IT - LUKE'S FATHER IS [X]!" But he was just ten, and you can't get too down on that kind of thing. A corporate thing like that, that's different.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:35 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Forget the internet: AMC spoiled the surprise during the show itself in a commercial for Talking Dead. They showed a couch with only two of the usual three guests, and Chris Hardwick said that they'd have a special guest from the show on-- and that the viewer wouldn't want to miss it. My wife and I both groaned aloud and agreed that clearly, someone was going to die in the next five minutes.
posted by eamondaly at 6:36 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by eamondaly at 6:36 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
I will certainly grant you that there are such things as "spoiler-proof" stories,
I will suggest that À la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Proust is such a story. While there are twists and surprises, they are mostly telegraphed, and the journey really is the point of the thing. However, in the spirit of suppressing spoilers, I won't repeat the funny and viciously cutting thing the Baron de Charlus says.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:42 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
I will suggest that À la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Proust is such a story. While there are twists and surprises, they are mostly telegraphed, and the journey really is the point of the thing. However, in the spirit of suppressing spoilers, I won't repeat the funny and viciously cutting thing the Baron de Charlus says.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:42 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
However, in the spirit of suppressing spoilers, I won't tell repeat the funny and viciously cutting thing the Baron de Charlus says.
Great, now I know Baron de Charlus says a funny and viciously cutting thing and will be looking for it. What's wrong, there weren't any puppies to kick?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:45 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
Great, now I know Baron de Charlus says a funny and viciously cutting thing and will be looking for it. What's wrong, there weren't any puppies to kick?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:45 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
Anyway, I was trying to understand how fragile the enjoyment of something is. Can it not survive the knowing of this detail or that?
Oh sure. I figured it was going to be Beth once the firetruck mysteriously appeared out of nowhere with her sister (who thought she was dead) in it. So in that sense I knew what was coming via watching the show.
What occurred here is that the network that runs the show just blatantly revealed the details with no context, before the show aired for much of world. At that point, the episode can lose a bit of its luster, since you know what's coming. Frankly, TWD is so up and down in its quality, that it should avoid spoiling episodes, since it's starting from such a low bar anyway.
At this point I like to think the spoiler was done by Gary the intern, who was pissed about being passed over for a full time job yet again.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:50 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh sure. I figured it was going to be Beth once the firetruck mysteriously appeared out of nowhere with her sister (who thought she was dead) in it. So in that sense I knew what was coming via watching the show.
What occurred here is that the network that runs the show just blatantly revealed the details with no context, before the show aired for much of world. At that point, the episode can lose a bit of its luster, since you know what's coming. Frankly, TWD is so up and down in its quality, that it should avoid spoiling episodes, since it's starting from such a low bar anyway.
At this point I like to think the spoiler was done by Gary the intern, who was pissed about being passed over for a full time job yet again.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:50 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Great, now I know Baron de Charlus says a funny and viciously cutting thing and will be looking for it.
Dude, that is pretty much what Baron de Charlus does. It's like complaining that someone told you that Liam Neeson punches someone in his upcoming movie. You need no more of a glimpse of the Baron's finely tailored grey slacks to realize a vicious put-down is coming. And that's if he's in a good mood.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:54 AM on December 1, 2014
Dude, that is pretty much what Baron de Charlus does. It's like complaining that someone told you that Liam Neeson punches someone in his upcoming movie. You need no more of a glimpse of the Baron's finely tailored grey slacks to realize a vicious put-down is coming. And that's if he's in a good mood.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:54 AM on December 1, 2014
People are losing their shit over this because the plot piece that was spoiled was the only thing of note that had occurred in four or five episodes. If you don't watch The Walking Dead, please note that it's generally three and a half episodes worth of plot stretched over eight episodes. And those eight episodes contain about ten episodes' worth of commercials.
When something happens on The Walking Dead, it's a Big Deal. The bulk of the show is people arguing in derelict buildings and trash-strewn lots. The characters take occasional breaks to stab stumbling zombies in the head. That's literally 95% of the show. Investing eight hours in watching a character study of irritable, grubby people in the hopes that something cool will happen only to learn about it before the payoff? I would have been ripshit.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:56 AM on December 1, 2014 [13 favorites]
When something happens on The Walking Dead, it's a Big Deal. The bulk of the show is people arguing in derelict buildings and trash-strewn lots. The characters take occasional breaks to stab stumbling zombies in the head. That's literally 95% of the show. Investing eight hours in watching a character study of irritable, grubby people in the hopes that something cool will happen only to learn about it before the payoff? I would have been ripshit.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:56 AM on December 1, 2014 [13 favorites]
Dude, that is pretty much what Baron de Charlus does.
Damn man, just kill the whole movie! You text with your mother about season finales with those fingers?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:08 AM on December 1, 2014
Damn man, just kill the whole movie! You text with your mother about season finales with those fingers?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:08 AM on December 1, 2014
I routinely skip to the last five minutes of tension-ridden shows like TWD. Then I can go back and actually enjoy the show because the big reveal is over.
Similarly, my grandfather would read the last few pages of a book to see if it was worth slogging through the contents. But I think he missed the journey for the destination, which is not what you're doing.
Personally, I like the tension, it makes the viewing of some drawn-out events more interesting.
Anyway, I don't need AMC to spoil the show, I have plenty of family and friends who regularly do that already. But if a show can truly be ruined in the spoiling, then I figure the rest of the story wasn't that great if they're relying on a twist in the finale to make it all worthwhile.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:13 AM on December 1, 2014
Similarly, my grandfather would read the last few pages of a book to see if it was worth slogging through the contents. But I think he missed the journey for the destination, which is not what you're doing.
Personally, I like the tension, it makes the viewing of some drawn-out events more interesting.
Anyway, I don't need AMC to spoil the show, I have plenty of family and friends who regularly do that already. But if a show can truly be ruined in the spoiling, then I figure the rest of the story wasn't that great if they're relying on a twist in the finale to make it all worthwhile.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:13 AM on December 1, 2014
If you don't watch The Walking Dead, please note that it's generally three and a half episodes worth of plot stretched over eight episodes. And those eight episodes contain about ten episodes' worth of commercials.
This sounds awful.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 7:15 AM on December 1, 2014
This sounds awful.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 7:15 AM on December 1, 2014
Myself, I'm just happy that the cast is getting away from Ayn Rand Memorial Hospital.
posted by delfin at 7:17 AM on December 1, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by delfin at 7:17 AM on December 1, 2014 [7 favorites]
This sounds awful.
When it's good, it's absolutely excellent. But the more I watch, the angrier I get with myself for putting up with the gaps. Once you've invested a lot of time in a show, it's hard to convince yourself that the rewards are no longer commensurate with that investment.
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:30 AM on December 1, 2014
When it's good, it's absolutely excellent. But the more I watch, the angrier I get with myself for putting up with the gaps. Once you've invested a lot of time in a show, it's hard to convince yourself that the rewards are no longer commensurate with that investment.
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:30 AM on December 1, 2014
GenjiandProust: "Dude, that is pretty much what Baron de Charlus does. It's like complaining that someone told you that Liam Neeson punches someone in his upcoming movie. You need no more of a glimpse of the Baron's finely tailored grey slacks to realize a vicious put-down is coming. And that's if he's in a good mood."
Honestly cannot tell if this is a thing actually in the book or if you guys are riffing.
Don't tell me, though, I'm enjoying my Schroedinger's Baron.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:32 AM on December 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
Honestly cannot tell if this is a thing actually in the book or if you guys are riffing.
Don't tell me, though, I'm enjoying my Schroedinger's Baron.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:32 AM on December 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
Once you've invested a lot of time in a show, it's hard to convince yourself that the rewards are no longer commensurate with that investment.
Sounds a lot like LOST.
posted by troika at 7:32 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Sounds a lot like LOST.
posted by troika at 7:32 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Honestly cannot tell if this is a thing actually in the book or if you guys are riffing.
Don't tell me, though, I'm enjoying my Schroedinger's Baron.
He was partly based on Robert de Montesquiou the famed French aesthete, if that helps.
posted by winna at 7:47 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Don't tell me, though, I'm enjoying my Schroedinger's Baron.
He was partly based on Robert de Montesquiou the famed French aesthete, if that helps.
posted by winna at 7:47 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Dude. My question was about whether or not this was "ruinous" to viewing pleasure. I didn't ask why everyone was being such a crybaby about it. But it seems like that's the question you read.
Okay, fair enough. All I can say is that that's how your comment read to me.
Here's where I'm coming from: To me it read like a rhetorical question of the unhelpful "But what IS art really?" variety followed immediately by the implication that spoilers and surprises don't matter (the stories are always predictable, the path to the twist matters more than the twist [and therefore you're worrying about the wrong thing], etc.). Finishing up with "I don't watch the show" read to me like a sideswipe "I am above all of these concerns".
But It appears that reading was uncharitable, and for that you have my sincerest apologies. Really.
I'd really hate to have Asperger's around you... My questions were honest. Yours was insincere.
However, this is not what the high ground looks like. Perhaps I deserved that response, but dude. C'mon.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:53 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Okay, fair enough. All I can say is that that's how your comment read to me.
Here's where I'm coming from: To me it read like a rhetorical question of the unhelpful "But what IS art really?" variety followed immediately by the implication that spoilers and surprises don't matter (the stories are always predictable, the path to the twist matters more than the twist [and therefore you're worrying about the wrong thing], etc.). Finishing up with "I don't watch the show" read to me like a sideswipe "I am above all of these concerns".
But It appears that reading was uncharitable, and for that you have my sincerest apologies. Really.
I'd really hate to have Asperger's around you... My questions were honest. Yours was insincere.
However, this is not what the high ground looks like. Perhaps I deserved that response, but dude. C'mon.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:53 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Please. You knew she was doomed the second Head Bitch Cop Lady took her under her wing. If there's one thing this show has taught me, it's stay the hell away from any given power structure. Tall poppies, yo.
(Some advice for Head Bitch Cop Lady, and others in similar conundrums: less talky, more shooty. No one ever benefits when you have that much backstory spilling out. Either someone you know that well is a danger to you or they aren't. You know it in your heart. Less talky, more shooty).
posted by bitter-girl.com at 7:53 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
(Some advice for Head Bitch Cop Lady, and others in similar conundrums: less talky, more shooty. No one ever benefits when you have that much backstory spilling out. Either someone you know that well is a danger to you or they aren't. You know it in your heart. Less talky, more shooty).
posted by bitter-girl.com at 7:53 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
We've kept watching and for a little while I thought they had turned it into something somewhat well written. But nope, three episodes in and we were back with the lazy writing and recycled plots, story going nowhere, inconsistencies, characters making bad choices, packing five minutes of plot into forty-five... It's no wonder there's takedowns like this on the Web.
posted by Ber at 8:08 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Ber at 8:08 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
bitter-girl.com, I think that people on this thread have been trying to speak in general, non-specifically-identifiable terms out of respect for the DVR set.
On the other hand, there's a larger lesson here in that if you don't want to be spoiled, you really have to put some effort into avoiding social media, trailers, watercooler conversation, and reviews. Get mad at AMC all you want, they deserve it, but people should also know they're taking a risk being all up in the facebooks right before a mid-season finale is going to air.
posted by xigxag at 8:09 AM on December 1, 2014
On the other hand, there's a larger lesson here in that if you don't want to be spoiled, you really have to put some effort into avoiding social media, trailers, watercooler conversation, and reviews. Get mad at AMC all you want, they deserve it, but people should also know they're taking a risk being all up in the facebooks right before a mid-season finale is going to air.
posted by xigxag at 8:09 AM on December 1, 2014
Once you've invested a lot of time in a show, it's hard to convince yourself that the rewards are no longer commensurate with that investment.
At some point I realized I no longer gave a shit what happened on True Blood, and that was a great moment.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:11 AM on December 1, 2014 [7 favorites]
At some point I realized I no longer gave a shit what happened on True Blood, and that was a great moment.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:11 AM on December 1, 2014 [7 favorites]
Hey it's not our fault they all live on the wrong side of the country. Hell they wouldn't even have water if it wasn't piped in. They can stand to deal with some bad TV show spoilers. At least they aren't living in a dry desert wasteland!
posted by ReeMonster at 8:16 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ReeMonster at 8:16 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
You don't recognize art, Pope Guilty. True Blood was being meta by sucking the lifeblood out of its viewers until they longed for the true death. ;)
posted by xigxag at 8:16 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by xigxag at 8:16 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
inconsistencies
What were those? There's an open fanfare thread for last night's TV episode to drop them into.
posted by cashman at 8:17 AM on December 1, 2014
What were those? There's an open fanfare thread for last night's TV episode to drop them into.
posted by cashman at 8:17 AM on December 1, 2014
So, no more Last Week Tonight, or The Walking Dead, for a while and The Simpsons is only intermittent at the moment. What the hell am I supposed to do on a Monday morning now? Work, or something?!
posted by Wordshore at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by Wordshore at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2014
Honestly cannot tell if this is a thing actually in the book or if you guys are riffing.
Well, there are only 3300 pages between you and knowledge. If you've been able to read A Song of Ice and Fire, reading Proust should be a piece of cake, even if there isn't a prestige TV series.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:42 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Well, there are only 3300 pages between you and knowledge. If you've been able to read A Song of Ice and Fire, reading Proust should be a piece of cake, even if there isn't a prestige TV series.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:42 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
My wife and I are still plodding along with this show intermittently, but the main problem I think is that after a few seasons we've both had our fill of people crying, screaming and/or getting shot in the head.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:45 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:45 AM on December 1, 2014
"D'you want me to play the phrase from the sonata for M. Swann?" asked the pianist.Mefi's Own™ Marcel Proust, ladies and gentlemen.
"What the devil's that? Not the sonata-snake, I hope!" shouted M. de Forcheville, hoping to create an effect. But Dr. Cottard, who had never heard this pun, missed the point of it, and imagined that M. de Forcheville had made a mistake. He dashed in boldly to correct it: "No, no. The word isn't serpent-à-sonates, it's serpent-à-sonnettes!" he explained in a tone at once zealous, impatient, and triumphant.
Forcheville explained the joke to him. The Doctor blushed.
posted by cardboard at 8:59 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
MetaFilter: the availability of a global conversation, our media obsession, corporate boo-boos like this, and the proliferation of dicks on the internet
posted by Gelatin at 9:24 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Gelatin at 9:24 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
The only clip of Game of Thrones I've ever watched is the Red Wedding.
posted by gottabefunky at 10:21 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by gottabefunky at 10:21 AM on December 1, 2014
I've learned to avoid being online for shows I don't want spoiled ever since some guy on the FuckedCompany message boards with the moniker FUCK THE WEST COAST would post "Survivor" cast-offs during that very first season (e.g. "Gevase Voted Off" as the post title, and the other dicks would keep bumping the post to keep it on the front page throughout the night).
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 10:38 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 10:38 AM on December 1, 2014
I will certainly grant you that there are such things as "spoiler-proof" stories,
I will suggest that À la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Proust is such a story.
I seriously disagree! I suffered through "Swann in Love" (the middle section of Swann's Way), and vowed that it would be the first and last Proust I ever read. And then came the brilliant reveal at the end of "Names of places: the name," which was an awesome OMG really!!! moment, and justified all the pain of slogging through Swann in Love.
As for Facebook spoilers ... I used to "like" obscure shows thinking that I'd give them a free advertising boost, but in return all I got were spoilers from them. Though this one with the Walking Dead seems particularly egregious.
posted by kanewai at 11:53 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I will suggest that À la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Proust is such a story.
I seriously disagree! I suffered through "Swann in Love" (the middle section of Swann's Way), and vowed that it would be the first and last Proust I ever read. And then came the brilliant reveal at the end of "Names of places: the name," which was an awesome OMG really!!! moment, and justified all the pain of slogging through Swann in Love.
As for Facebook spoilers ... I used to "like" obscure shows thinking that I'd give them a free advertising boost, but in return all I got were spoilers from them. Though this one with the Walking Dead seems particularly egregious.
posted by kanewai at 11:53 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I've managed without really trying at all; not caring one figgling beet abut spoilers, no really; to notice this instance but here's my imagined huge spoiler:
The scrappy band gathers quickly together and leaves Atlanta heading north. After a few gratuitous head choppings and close call bites that turned out to be bad scratches (do they have some big secret stash of Tetanus shots??) they run into another scrappy band headed south:
Other Scrappy Band.
The groups join up, merge shows and start fighting a new hybrid menace.
posted by sammyo at 12:29 PM on December 1, 2014
The scrappy band gathers quickly together and leaves Atlanta heading north. After a few gratuitous head choppings and close call bites that turned out to be bad scratches (do they have some big secret stash of Tetanus shots??) they run into another scrappy band headed south:
Other Scrappy Band.
The groups join up, merge shows and start fighting a new hybrid menace.
posted by sammyo at 12:29 PM on December 1, 2014
I'm a little tired of the incompetence of the group (or the writers) in that all they've ever done is get a little ways out of Atlanta. I've seen toddlers with more forward momentum than this show.
posted by Ber at 1:16 PM on December 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Ber at 1:16 PM on December 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
xigxag: "On the other hand, there's a larger lesson here in that if you don't want to be spoiled, you really have to put some effort into avoiding social media, trailers, watercooler conversation, and reviews. Get mad at AMC all you want, they deserve it, but people should also know they're taking a risk being all up in the facebooks right before a mid-season finale is going to air."
If you're the only person in your group of friends who is watching the Walking Dead, Facebook shouldn't be a risk factor. Or, if your friends are actual non-assholes, Facebook shouldn't be a risk factor. (I finally watched Interstellar. The only person in our group of friends who hasn't seen it yet is my wife. As such, there's a discussion on Facebook that reads much like this thread, minus bitter-girl's comment. Everyone is speaking really vaguely until my wife sees the movie, at which point we'll all speak a hell of a lot more concretely.) So Facebook itself shouldn't be a problem (unlike, for example, MeFi or Reddit or some other "I didn't personally invite all the people here" sites, which should all be avoided). AMC has put itself in the surprising position of "Hey, your friends are all cool? They don't spoil stuff for you? So Facebook should be safe, right? Well, guess what. We'll spoil it ourselves. Haha!"
posted by Bugbread at 2:37 PM on December 1, 2014
If you're the only person in your group of friends who is watching the Walking Dead, Facebook shouldn't be a risk factor. Or, if your friends are actual non-assholes, Facebook shouldn't be a risk factor. (I finally watched Interstellar. The only person in our group of friends who hasn't seen it yet is my wife. As such, there's a discussion on Facebook that reads much like this thread, minus bitter-girl's comment. Everyone is speaking really vaguely until my wife sees the movie, at which point we'll all speak a hell of a lot more concretely.) So Facebook itself shouldn't be a problem (unlike, for example, MeFi or Reddit or some other "I didn't personally invite all the people here" sites, which should all be avoided). AMC has put itself in the surprising position of "Hey, your friends are all cool? They don't spoil stuff for you? So Facebook should be safe, right? Well, guess what. We'll spoil it ourselves. Haha!"
posted by Bugbread at 2:37 PM on December 1, 2014
As usual, the East Coast rules all.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:36 PM on December 1, 2014
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:36 PM on December 1, 2014
As is right and proper.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:58 PM on December 1, 2014
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:58 PM on December 1, 2014
I haven't read all the comments, because I hadn't watched the show until just a few moments ago. I had to work last night, and my wife DVRd it. I'm proud to say that, when the moment came, we both pretty much said "oh good, it was only [redacted]."
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:06 PM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:06 PM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
I edited my prior comment by the way, because now I see that some folks may still not have seen the episode.
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:11 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:11 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm a little tired of the incompetence of the group (or the writers) in that all they've ever done is get a little ways out of Atlanta. I've seen toddlers with more forward momentum than this show.
Coach, Ellis, Rochelle, and Nick got to fucking NEW ORLEANS and these dinguses don't even have to deal with smokers and boomers!
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:21 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Coach, Ellis, Rochelle, and Nick got to fucking NEW ORLEANS and these dinguses don't even have to deal with smokers and boomers!
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:21 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
AMC says our bad: "We heard your feedback to last night’s post, and we’re sorry. With zero negative intent, we jumped the gun and put up a spoiler. Please know we’re going to work to ensure that, in the future, possible spoilers by official AMC social feeds are killed before they can infect, certainly before the West Coast (U.S.) broadcast of The Walking Dead. As always, thank you for watching, and keep the comments coming. We appreciate all of your support. #RIPSpoiler"
posted by cashman at 6:10 AM on December 4, 2014
posted by cashman at 6:10 AM on December 4, 2014
« Older The Anak Merdeka - Indonesia's radical punk... | Doxxing Defense Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
This is blunder I'd expect five or more years ago though; it's a surprise that AMC would cock up so badly considering the conversations, uprisings, and thinkpieces that now emerge annually to discuss The Spoiler Issue.
posted by youarenothere at 4:30 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]