Spoilery Expectations

[deird_lj]

So, I was watching Normal Again and remembering the first time I watched it.


You see, back when I was first watching Buffy, I knew quite a bit about what was going to happen.
In fact, the very first thing I remember hearing about the show was that, at the end of a season, Willow's girlfriend Tara would die, and Willow would turn evil, get black hair, flay a guy alive, and then try to destroy the world.
(Did I mention I really dislike spoilers? *glares*)

But anyway...

See, the first time I watched season six, I knew that at some point Tara was going to die. But I didn't know when. And there's this moment, during the big basement fight towards the end of Normal Again, when Tara comes in and starts running down the stairs to help, and Buffy grabs her ankle and makes her fall the rest of the way.

AND TARA WAS DEAD. SHE'D SNAPPED HER NECK AND DIED AND WILLOW WAS GOING TO TURN EVIL, AND IT WAS ALL BUFFY'S FAULT. THIS SHOW WAS SO AWESOME AND HARD-CORE.


...clearly this did not happen.
But every time I rewatch that episode, I get a momentary flashback to what it was like thinking that Tara was going to die right then.


And yeah, I like going into things unspoilered, mostly. But occasionally, knowing some spoilers without knowing all the specifics can actually make you react to scenes in entirely unexpected and interesting ways.

Anyone else do this?

Comments

[ohwaluvusbab.livejournal.com]

Huh, weirdly I never heard of Tara's death before watching on DVD.

I did hear all about the bringing down the house, but it was still AWESOME when it happened ;)