If the wait for season six is killing you, or you're finding yourself searching the web for clues and indicators as to what's to come, then there is some help. It's a contraversial subject, but spoilers could be what seperates you from a calm hiatus, to pulling your hair out with frustration.
It seems as though whenever you ask someone about spoilers, they fall into two camps: the spoilerphobe and the spoilerfreak.
The spoilerphobe will fear and avoid spoilers like the plague, during hiatus they don't enjoy comic-con or fan discussion, and when it gets closer to the season they limit their online hours. YouTube becomes blacklisted when the show starts to avoid promotional material or sneak-peaks, and when the season finale approaches they're never to be found.
The spoilerfreak is the opposite of this. Everything and anything contributes to excitement and enjoyment of the show. If it's Lost-related, they want to know -- and they want to know first.
If anything, todays thing is here to convince you that there's a middle-ground. There's an alternative to either going into the show blind and frustrated, and knowing the script to every episode. Here's our guide on how to spoil yourself, as little or as much as you want.
Ways to spoil yourself
As mentioned, we feel as though there are levels to being spoiled. We've split them up into three sections: light, medium and heavy spoilers.
Light Spoilers
So you don't want to know everything, and you'd still like to be pleasently surprised when anything important happens; but the wait is killing you--either between seasons, or between episodes? There are ways to keep your insanity at bay yet still get updated on smaller and teasing pieces of information as you go along.
Episode Promo Videos
After every episode, a short (approximately 30 second) promo video plays for the upcoming episode (sometimes a summarising promo for multiple episodes). This is usually a production of the marketing department, and can very often be misleading--but nevertheless, it's seldomly high in reveals and usually spikes interest. One idea might be to avoid the promo immediately after the show, yet if you become peckish for information, catch the video on YouTube later in the week.
IMDb Profiles
Each episode has a list of cast members on IMDb (the internet movie database). Checking this out prior to an episode airing can give you an indication of what to expect. Keep an eye out for cameo actors from a particular character's history and you can usually guage the centricity of the episode.
TV EPG
The electronic programme guide on your TiVo, Sky or other digital receiever will usually have a one-or-two-sentence synopsis for at least the upcoming episode. This will usually reveal central and side plots in a non-revealing way.
Also check out these synopsis on TV Rage, TV.com and TV Guide online.
Medium Spoilers
Official Lost Podcast
During the on-season, Lost producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse hold a (somewhat) regular podcast for the show. This is a fun way to be lightly teased about upcoming events. The show rarely talks specifics, but can often reveal the episode title and who the episode is centered around, and maybe some form of light plot synopsis.
Previously, the podcast has been known to also provide hints at answers to long-standing questions, usually in the form of "Whatever happened to ...", "Will we see x again?", or "Did I really see a x in the last episode?".
Sneak Peaks
Mid-way through the week, ABC will release a number of so-called "sneak peaks". These are handpicked scenes, usually from the teaser section (the section of the show before the 'LOST' title-card) and the subsequent 5-10 minutes. These, of course, are more revealing than other promotional material, but definitely leave you with a sense of wanting more.
Strong Spoilers
There are plenty of sites out there that are dedicated to non-stop, unfiltered spoilers. These are great sources for the most heavy of spoilers, for those that just can't wait to hear the juciest of information. Here's our pick.
DarkUFO Spoiler Section
Provides a variety of spoilers from cast updates to full episode guides and right now a constantly updated Season Six spoiler guide. Array of sources, many of which are ABC insiders.
SpoilerFix
Simply one of the best. A single and informative page for a number of shows, seperated by episode/season. Regularly updated.
DocArzt's LOST Blog
Long-time contributor to the Lost community, and author of Lost Ate My Life. Variety of Lost related articles, and regular spoilers/teasers.
EW Ausiello Files
Entertainment Weekly's regular Ausiello Files feature usually has an emphasis on Lost, but covers a number of other shows. Spoilers are often revelealed in the form of a clue or hangman puzzle that one must work out in order to discover the spoiler itself.
The ODI
Known to often provide exclusive pieces. Regularly updated with a multitude of themes, but an emphasis on Lost.
Lost Spoilers Wiki
Community edited spoilers with an informative main page. Formed to deal with the crackdown (and eventual abolishing) of spoilers on Lostpedia.
General Spoiler Tips
In the past, controversy has been attached to spoilers, from all sides of the discussion. The general concensus is that spoilers should be handled with care and maturity; giving out spoilers to people who want to read them is fine, but surprising people or inentionally spoiling people who otherwise don't want to read them can be a common thing.
So whether you're going all out, or restricting yourself to teasers, there's a few ways you can help yourself to get just waht you want from spoilers as we approach the final season, and eventually the season finale, when there'll no doubtedly be very revealing spoilers regarding the end of the show.
Categorized Spoiler Forums
Some forums will have a seperate category for milder spoilers. Lostpedia forums, for example, have a seperate forum for 'Minor Spoilers'. We feel this falls into the medium category, however.
Keep an eye out for any sub-forums of a similar nature. This can greatly alleviate some of the potential harm done by the heavier spoilers. Beware though, that these are of course user-contributed.
Utilise RSS and Twitter
Twitter and RSS feeds often provide byte-sized or snippet-based information. Twitter particularly, since it holds the 140-character limit, and so dealing with Twitter updates usually means headlines only, and thus nothing too revealing. Anything super-revealing will have less of an impact if you've got that slight warning.
Share tips with others
Use our comment section to share spoiler tips or spoiler sites with others, and read other peoples ideas.
