The Geekbox: Episode 52

[Rydog]

Spoiler warning: We spend a fair chunk of this week's episode talking about Lost's season 6 premiere. Hopefully it doesn't mess too many people up. Enjoy!

[darfox8]

Cool I'll listen to it now while I alphabetize my DVD collection. Can't wait for Lost spoilers to go in one ear and out the other.

[slinkdickens]

FYI, that Lennon dude in Lost was also a significant character in Deadwood.

[bitblockader]

Chu's incredulity during the lost letter was hilarious.

[LiK]

i soooooooo love Karen in this episode. i agree with her about not denying yourself specific sorts of entertainment just because you learn a few spoilers. it's the journey that is what makes it enjoyable. open yourself to different things, you might be surprised. if you hate it, fine. but if you have any interests, check it out. i wasn't interested in Harry Potter or LOST until my sis got me into them. i'm glad she did because she got me into loving two great series.

btw Fitch, go play Bioshock! you ignorant man

[IcarusII]

Karen you were so awesome this week! So outspoken and energetic.

I picked up the Bioshock 2 Collector's Edition yesterday. It's the nicest video game LE I've seen in a while and is actuay worth the extra money, which I can't say about a lot of other supposed 'limited' collector sets.

Anyway, I think Ryan should continue reading listener letters/posts in future episodes. Keep it up.

[MrDrifter]

Great episode!

I was on and off with Lost through out its run. Last season was one of those off times, so listening to the podcast was rough... now I'm back on the wagon and look forward to hearing you guys chat about it!

I'm with Karen, ESPECIALLY in regards to Bioshock and Portal, they are must play's regardless of what you may or may not know going in.... In my opinion, the act of getting to the actual 'spoiler' is 3/4 of the fun!

[LiQuid]

Man, it's never gotten on my nerves before, but Karen eating in this episode nearly made me barf. Seriously, can't you guys eat before or after the show?

[Mr_eX]

You guys seem to think that the two "realities" are happening at the same time, it's 2004 in the flashsideways and 2007 on the island. Who's to say they wouldn't end up on the island without the plane crash? Maybe they unsink the island and end up where they would have had they crashed.

[Luke]

When Karen goes off on Fitch, you guys cheer, but when Patrick did it in his first show appearance, apparently everyone was bitching, wtf? I didn't mind her getting aggressive, but I didn't mind it when Patrick did, either.

I agree that the Bioshock 2 CE is one of the best. It definitely had the best packaging.

[Konanda]

When Karen goes off on Fitch, you guys cheer, but when Patrick did it in his first show appearance, apparently everyone was bitching, wtf? I didn't mind her getting aggressive, but I didn't mind it when Patrick did, either.

I agree that the Bioshock 2 CE is one of the best. It definitely had the best packaging.

Well the first post about the Bioshock thing is from a poster who just registered today and second it's only been up for a day. That and Karen's been around since the beginning so it's not as jarring as someone coming in as a guest and just dominating a section of the episode. That said Patrick's awesome and the only reason I personally didn't find his first appearance that stellar is because it got boring after a while just hearing him talk for long stretches at a time.

[AJR]

I had no problem with Patrick berating Fitch, but after about an hour of the guy I was just tired of hearing him. His appearances since then have been fine.

[Albedo12]

Fitch, did you ever turn down sex because you heard about orgasms already? Oh, and don't watch the Lord of the Rings movies if you've read the books - they practically spoil the whole thing.

Seriously though, spoliers may lessen an experience but they don't stop it being fun. Stop being so bloody precious.

[Gravatix]

I don't know... I think you guys are being too hard on Fitch. The journey can be important and all but in some cases when you know the outcome it does ruin the journey. Like Karen's example of a sports game: If you know your team lost 2 to 3 watching it is pointless... you already know that no matter how good some play is, they choked and lost some how. All the passion is gone. If you know they win 3 to 2 then one again it doesn't really matter how good or bad they looked out there, they won. All the dramatic tension is gone. It can be that way with game/movie/tv spoilers... it can totally ruin the journey or at least drain it of its importance.

[darfox8]

I'm selective about how anal I am about spoilers. Normally I'm about the Journey and I don't mind if someone spoils something for me. But if I know I'm going to watch/play/read something then I try and avoid everything as much as possible. With MGS4 and Assassins Creed 2 I avoid everything.

But in Assassin's Creed 2's case I'm playing right now and I'm getting near the end but my 360 red-ringed again so I'm waiting for my friend to come over so I can finish it on his 360. I heard the ending was absolutely bonkers so I want to experience it for my self.

[GiantAsianMan]

I don't know... I think you guys are being too hard on Fitch. The journey can be important and all but in some cases when you know the outcome it does ruin the journey. Like Karen's example of a sports game: If you know your team lost 2 to 3 watching it is pointless... you already know that no matter how good some play is, they choked and lost some how. All the passion is gone. If you know they win 3 to 2 then one again it doesn't really matter how good or bad they looked out there, they won. All the dramatic tension is gone. It can be that way with game/movie/tv spoilers... it can totally ruin the journey or at least drain it of its importance.

I tend to disagree. One example I'll give is the 1980 US Olympic hockey team. That game took place a year before I was born, so I've never not known the outcome of US 4, USSR 3. And yet knowing the final score does not detract from my rewatching of that game (on ESPN Classic, watching Miracle, etc.) because the "how" is just as important as the "what." If you just saw the score, you'd miss Mark Johnson scoring at the end of the first period when the Soviets thought that time had expired, the eruption of emotion when Mike Eruzione scores in halfway through the third to go up 4-3, and all of the incredible saves Jim Craig makes in the final 10 minutes to preserve the win. Knowing the final score doesn't, and shouldn't, detract from watching and experiencing these moments. The journey matters to fans, be it of sports, game, movies, TV, books, whatever. And if it doesn't, then you probably didn't care in the first place, and it doesn't matter.

[slinkdickens]

I 1,000,000% agree with Karen beating up on Fitch about not wanting to play Bioshock or Portal because he heard spoilers. Fitch's reasoning has to be about the most ignorant thing I've heard in a long while.

Personally, I went decided to read The Lord of the Rings books after watching the first movie. Guess what? The movie totally spoils the plot points in the books, but plot points aren't what make the books good. A vice-versa example is watching "To Kill a Mockingbird" after reading the book.

The most insane part of it all is that Karen was talking about Bioshock and Portal. These are two games that are all about the experience, not the cliff notes.

I really think that Fitch is just one of those guys that needs to stubbornly defend himself no matter how wrong he knows he is. I say this because no reasonable person would actually believe the stupid crap coming out of his mouth.

[darfox8]

As I said, I'm a "journey is more important than the destination" type of guy. But I guess I'm not as angry at Fitch as some other people because I know alot of people like him in real life. One time I told my friend that before the last boss of Final Fantasy 9 there's a special save point where you can heal and teleport back out to the over world(he was worried he was under leveled to go into the last Dungeon), and he got super pissed at me and told me I ruined the end of the game for him. So when I heard the podcast I just said, "Oh man. Fitch is one of those people."

[jinpei05]

Fitch, did you ever turn down sex because you heard about orgasms already?

Seriously though, spoliers may lessen an experience but they don't stop it being fun. Stop being so bloody precious.

LOLZ! Nice example!

I've had plenty of people spoil shit for me, but if I had the desire/interest initially to see/do it, I'll usually still follow through. Then, I'll kick them for spoiling it for me. Then again, the statute of limitations on spoiling something does play a role also.

[LiQuid]

Fitch seriously hasn't played Portal?! That can't be true... If it is, if Fitch doesn't play Portal like fucking yesterday I'm boycotting... something. I don't care what, I'm gonna fucking boycott.