This is when I envy those of you who remain spoiler-free, because I would LOVE to have been shocked like that when the kiss happened. I love freaky surprises and not knowing what will happen next (before the days of spoilers, when there really were cliffhangers on TV!). But I also love posting and chatting on the message boards and there's no way to do that and avoid spoilers -- I've tried. Even if people are careful not to let things slip, you can get a "vibe" (like you mentioned above) that something is going on, and many times you will know if what's ahead is good or bad just from the way people are talking about the show in general or whatever.

Oh, god, exactly! I've tried both ways (I used to be such a spoiler whore for every show), but, man, days like yesterday are exactly the reason I've opted for virgin these recent years. I love the thrill when you have that WTF moment, be it good or bad. :D The bomb and Mr. Kinney's ILU in 510 will always be the perfect example of that. I still can't imagine seeing that ep while knowing it was coming the whole time.

Though I do miss not spending much time in the forums with the other fans. Cos you're so right. It's impossible to avoid spoilers most anywhere, other than my protective little bubble on my LJ. Even the LJ comms here are guilty of it. That vibe thing is major there. I'm constantly wanting to scream that if you use a lj-cut like "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE GOING TO DO THIS THE HORROR D:" for your spoiler posts, spoilers virgin just might deduce that something bad is gonna happen. :|