Just what is this love/hate relationship soap fans have with spoilers and for that matter rumors as well. Spoilers are  meant to tease us, to entice us, to lure us into watching the next episode and the episode after that,  but by default, it seems all they really do is foster disappointment, create confusion and discord.  There never seems to be any real rhyme or reason for the way these supposedly juicy tidbits are released aside from the inevitable influence of our modern technological world, namely the internet and the desperation of TPTB who live and die by the ratings. Ratings down, release more.  Ratings up hold back.   Are TPTB actually controlling the information that is released or are the “official” spoilers just a reaction to, a way to counteract the real information being leaked from and through sources beyond their control.  So many times spoilers turn out to be wrong or such tiny parts of the truth that they defeat any effectiveness or impact they surely have.  You know the old saying, don’t trust everything you read.   It’s never been more blatant in this information age.  Trust them, don’t trust them, that’s up to the reader and the fan to determine what information to process as gospel and what not to.  It’s a sad commentary on the state of soaps if the TPTB feel the only way to keep a fan interested and excited is to tease them with coming attractions. Shouldn’t the drama itself, the fast paced story lines of the arc format,  the characters that have become almost family be enough to keep our interest.  If the writing is good, the plot and characterizations are exciting and fun, the actors are talented, the couples are hot, the fantasy true to the genre, shouldn’t that be enough to want to make you tune in the next day.  Apparently not for us greedy little souls whose need for more and more fuels the huge engine that is daytime promo.  We’re not content to wait until tomorrow or heaven forbid next week.  We’re no longer content to let that delicious anticipation build anymore so that each plot twist is a surprise or a new romance catches your breath.  We’ve been turned into spoiler junkies, myself included most times, and for what.  Our opinions don’t matter anyway, certainly not for PORT CHARLES whose stories are now written and shot months in advance.  No amount of  angry, happy, ambivalent  responses  to the information being “clandestinely” leaked to us is going to make any difference to the story.  No, I suspect the real reason most of us crave spoilers, seeking them out  in any place they may be lurking,  particularly through Superstition and Torn, is to find some semblance of hope that the  story lines we can’t accept, don’t like, don’t want to like, are fed up with or have had more than enough of  will mercifully be history the following week.  Then again many of  us are looking for confirmation that our favorites will indeed be showcased tomorrow or next week and if not make our viewing choices accordingly.  Is this what the writers and producers really want, manipulating the viewers, even though more often than not  it can’t possibly produce the desired result. 

I’ve always loved to read spoilers and it never coloured my viewing habits when it came to PORT CHARLES.  Other soaps, definitely, that fast forward button headed into overdrive most times, but never PORT CHARLES.  I did however have an interesting spoiler experience this week that prompted this whole musing. Forced to be out of town on business, unable to watch three important episodes,  I made good use of my  laptop computer each night in my hotel room, scrolling through spoiler after spoiler and message board after message board, devouring  everything I could find.  I simply had to  know if Rafe finally dumped Livvie, if Frank finally emerged from the Avatar’s grasp, if Lucy made any contact with Kevin, and so on.  After all this is the second to last week of Torn.  All roads are converging finally, these are not the two weeks to miss.  I savored every bit of information and then came home and watched those three episodes back to back.  Guess what happened.  Information overload, dulled senses,  sabotage by spoilers.  The episodes were completely anti-climatic, seemed slow and laboring.   I had unconsciously created my own little fantasy of what I wanted to see happen so that when it actually did the sense of urgency, anticipation and excitement you feel when you finally sit down to watch your guilty little pleasure was sucked right out of me.  I found myself not hypnotized by the game but basically anesthetized, trying to reconcile the little world spoilers had created for me and what was actually right in front of my eyes.  Now don’t get me wrong, Rafe finally, finally dumping Livvie and turning to his true destiny was a wonderful payoff that we all deserved.  Once again Brian Gaskill and Kelly Monaco showed us the power of their talent, I wasn’t disappointed one iota there.  Nor was I disappointed for the most part in the other story lines being played out.  The developing triangle, romantic or not, of Lucy/Ian/Kate (and her comatose sidekick) looks to be one that can be exploited with great results. Frank’s inability to control the violent urges of the Avatar and his subsequent attack on Chris was well done.   It’s simply that the intensity of the drama, the twists and turns, the secrets that are to be revealed or not, the great ride that soaps take us on, was dimmed because I already knew too much.

Did I learn any lessons here, probably not.  Will I keep reading spoilers, probably so because like any junkie an addiction needs to be fed and is hard to break even when you want to.  It’s too late to do anything about the finale of Torn – so much information has been released you had to be hiding in a cave not to stumble on something.  The fans extreme displeasure with the direction of Superstition and Torn prompted TPTB to practically give away the finale’s action, on a day by day basis, in an effort to keep those disillusioned fans tuned in.  I would rather let the power of the acting and the drama create the excitement and anticipation that keeps us tuned in day after day.  In my book, when it hits its mark, no soap does that better than PORT CHARLES.