No spoilers, please
SEASON finale scene of Kit Harington (as Jon Snow) sparked a slew of online spoilers that, in turn, inspired homicidal retorts.
NEW YORK—I am currently in the middle of a major binge-watch session in my apartment all by myself. Once I arrived here in my apartment on Monday morning, I ordered breakfast and lunch, planted myself on the sofa, and started this season of HBO’s monstrous hit, “Game of Thrones.”
One really nice surprise of this season was seeing my original Engineer in “Miss Saigon,” Jonathan Pryce, playing the part of the High Sparrow, elevated by the Queen Regent Cersei to the position of High Septon (equivalent to the Pope, I guess, if that’s how King’s Landing’s religious hierarchy goes).
That’s not a spoiler, by the way, and I promise to not litter this article with any spoilers from this season, nor spoilers from any other television show that I plan to binge-watch after this one, including ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder” and Fox’s “Empire.” There’s
also AMC’s “Breaking Bad” that I have to get to as well, as per my husband’s recommendation. I’ve also just finished ABC’s “Scandal.”
Thank goodness I’ve been very careful about steering clear from any spoilers that could, well, spoil my viewing pleasure. It’s infuriating when I accidentally happen upon a plot twist… a revelation that I purposely did not want to happen upon.
My imagination runs wild with what possibly could’ve entered the mind of any person who decided to post such revelations on the Internet.
Battle trouble
We had our own trouble on Season Two of “The Voice of the Philippines,” when spoilers revealing the result of the first weekend of Battle rounds were posted on our official Facebook page. Needless to say, no one was pleased or amused.
Is it a case of someone having such a sad life that they post the spoilers to feel better about themselves? Or perhaps it’s one-
upmanship, the desire to show off that they’re “in the know,” that they were there?
Oh, I’ll never know. I’ll never know the seemingly malevolent forces that drive the spoilers to try and ruin it for the rest of us.
There will always and forever be someone trying to ruin our fun. But we don’t have to let that happen. Here’s a list from me of what might help, should this happen to you/happen to you again:
If the first couple of words on a Facebook or Twitter posting has “spoiler ahead” written all over it, stop reading. Walk away from the laptop, put your phone down. Back away from the device in dramatic fashion. The more “teleserye-worthy” you do it, the better. Channel your inner Amor Powers, or Lavinia Arguelles.
Take a deep breath. Take at least 10. Slow and easy, smooth breaths, filling your entire body with cleansing air. And with each exhalation, under your breath, mutter the name of the person spoiling your day. It might also help to light a few scented candles as well. I recommend lavender to help you relax, or vanilla to change your mood from homicidal to sweet.
Swiftly, unreservedly, and without regret, Unfriend and Block each and every person who posts a spoiler that appears on your feed or timeline. Or at least temporarily Mute or Unfollow them so that what they write does not show up. And if what they write doesn’t show up, you’ll have no spoilers to read.
This is one piece of advice that I’ll attempt to follow also: Be happy that spoilers for your favorite shows exist. It shows your excellent taste in television, that someone out there actually thinks to post something to try and ruin everything. Don’t let them take the fun away from you.
Huwag mapikon. Ang pikon, talo.
‘The Voice Kids,’ so far
We have just finished Week 3 of Blind Auditions, and right now the teams are all shaping up very nicely. Team Sarah is leading with nine young artists on her team: Kyle Echarri, Krystle Campos, Kenshley Abad, Zephanie Dimaranan, Alyssa Celo, Gian Ale, Alexia Dator, Francis Lim and Ken John Membrano. Team Bamboo is in second place with seven: Romeo Espino, Lance Macalinao, Atascha Mercado, Martina Ortiz, Altair Aguelo, Benedict Inciong and Christian Pasno. Team Lea has just six, so far: Bianca Marbella, Reynan Dal-Anay, Joemar Lazarraga, Stephanie Jordan, Esang de Torres and Noah Anderson.
By Week 7, we will end up with 18 young artists on each team.
Please keep watching. I promise you there is much more excitement and fun ahead. Not to mention some really wonderfully talented kids whose gifts we get to discover for ourselves and celebrate every weekend.
Have you picked your favorite yet?
