New To Who - The Thing About Spoilers

Ack! Spoiler Alert!
(I kept this post spoiler free, for those of you who are on the beginning legs of this journey with me.)

As a new Whovian, joining the fold when the seventh season is already underway, it is hard to complain about spoilers. After all, if I really wanted to be completely surprised by the way the story progresses I should have started in 2005 with the rest of you, right?

It's pretty hard to avoid being spoiled. I follow many people on Pinterest, Tumblr, and Facebook who are all caught up. Between that and my sons who insist on reading their Character Encyclopedia AND reading the plot synopsis before watching the episodes, I've had a few peeks around the bend of the road for some major twists and turns. I knew how long Nine would be with us, knew when Ten would leave, knew what would happen to Donna, and even found out ahead of time what the amazing insight about the origin of the Face of Boe would be (I've linked a video down at the BOTTOM of this post if you'd care to see... way down in case you don't want to be spoiled).

The thing is, some of those spoilers have actually been helpful.

1) Knowing when to savor..
Since I heard early on that I would only have Eccleston for a single season, I took the time to savor each and every episode. I went back and watched the season on my own, while blogging about what I like, and I'm watching them again with my sons. Not that I completely slowed down, mind you. While going back to watch season 1 multiple times, I've also managed to get partway through season 5 in about a month.

2) Preparing for the heartbreak..
I've gotten so much more invested in the characters than I believed possible. Knowing that something bad is coming has helped me brace myself for the loss. I still bawled each and every time, but I think the shock of not knowing it was coming would have been worse.

3) Helping overly anxious kids deal with scary plotlines
I'll elaborate a bit more on this in another post, when I talk about the different ways my sons and I experienced a set of episodes (including Father's Day, Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, and Boom Town). The spoilers, though, really helped both sons deal with the creepy events that might otherwise have been too much for them. Knowing that Nancy survives was the only thing that helped my younger son make it through as the empty child wandered around murmuring, "Are you my mummy?"


Not every spoiler has been helpful, though. I know things about River and the Ponds that I wish I hadn't heard yet. It's my own darned fault. I just can't resist glancing at each gif set or meme that goes by. I try to avoid reading the ones that have characters I don't know yet... but it doesn't always work.

The power of Doctor Who is this...
      even when I know what is coming...
      I'm glued to the screen.
      My head pounds, my heart aches.
      Yet I wouldn't miss a minute.



SPOILERS BELOW (funny video about the Face of Boe spoiler) - Proceed at your own risk..

I'm participating in the Slice of Life Challenge, hosted by the amazing educators at Two Writing Teachers. Now that March is over, we write and share on Tuesdays. Stop by to see what others are posting!

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