coming late to the party/spoiling the surprise

[fox]

have almost completed first viewing of due south season 1 dvds. wrapped up part 1 of victoria's secret not long ago; struck, all over again, by what a stunner it must have been to all of y'all watching it the first time around, when she shot jolly. was it? it must have been. the business with cleaning the counter instead of the dishes seems like a huge freakin clue now, but that's with 20/20 hindsight; i suspect if i had no reason to think she was a villain (okay, she's a convicted felon, but she's not presented as a bad guy), i'd think victoria was cleaning the counters because they were dirty, and about to wash the dishes when she was through. and she seems genuinely frightened of jolly, even when fraser's not there to see her -- when he's holding her by the neck over the waterfall, i mean. and then, wham, she shoots him in the head, and "to be continued", and the viewers are forced to re-evaluate everything they've been thinking for the past hour. it's not unlike a couple of months ago when i was watching a friend's buffy dvds and came to the first moment angel turns into a vampire and buffy screams and screams -- of course, i knew he was a vampire the minute i laid eyes on him, because i've been friends with buffy fans for years, but what a jolt it must have been to find out without having known beforehand. wasn't it? and ditto, with the clues that seem obvious in retrospect but at the time might just have been details.

and against this kind of craftsmanship, people hunt and beg for spoilers. it's nothing to them to make utter ruin of the effort it takes the writers and directors (and actors, who don't tip their hand!) to lead up to a revelation with subtlety and nuance. layers of meaning? who needs 'em?

i will never, ever understand that.