7:33 Well it appears we accidentally used a background image of Auschwitz here. That sucks. The image is from stock photo site "Pexels" under the search term "prison" & only labelled as "Restricting wire fence in industrial district". It does NOT clearly indicate what it really is. Naturally, we're angry to have been deceived like this and have reported this issue to the stock photo website for being grossly misleading with something so extremely sensitive.
The "previously on" used in Clone wars was quite interesting, they provided context for the episode by showing what happened "off screen" between last episode and the one you are watching.
it’s supposed to mirror war reels from WWII! so it fits TCW perfectly, because it’s like the audience are citizens of the republic watching updates of the war
My favorite thing about the Legend of Korra recap is that, in one episode, the announcer character is injured in a terrorist attack and his narration is absent in the following episode-the recap is replaced with a recording of a political speech describing the events. To reiterate, the show put the narrator himself in the hospital and therefore he was unable to announce the episode due to the show's continuity.
Meanwhile, a videogame also has a Previously On. If you haven't played Return to Monkey Island for a few days, you get an (optional) reminder of where you're at in the story, through the main character recounting that very story to someone else. So no matter how long you put the game down for, you can carry on without being completely in the dark.
I think the Sonic Adventure games had something like that too. The Characters narrating what just recently happened (and revealing things that weren't in the cutscenes)
The question is, did you make this after the she-hulk episode came out and completed it in a day like a legend? Or was it weirdly convenient she-hulk did a previously on bit mid episode and you had enough time to edit it into this video? I assume the second but I fully believe Eddie could research, write the script and edit the video in a day.
you have no idea how happy it makes me that someone feels the same pain of having to begrudgingly fast forward every fucking episode of avatar the last airbender due to watching it via the dvd set
So the "you're probably wondering how I got here" trope is called in medias res. It's latin for in the midst of things and done right can be a really good intro like in the horror movie "triangle"
While in the Sonic film it feels completely not necessary. I would like a version without it. Just cut out the first but, and cut out that break in the middle. Maybe it will work.
Avatar is the first culprit I think of when it comes to Recap Spoilers. Namely, when a one-off character from Season 1 returns in Season 2. Worst of all, the people who met said character previously aren't even around when they show up - so it doesn't even matter narratively if the audience knew about their first meeting!
I think the worst case is in the finale of season 2: The crossroads of destiny, when the previously on includes the scene of Roku informing aang that being killed while in the avatar state will forever break the reincarnation cycle. There are others, but ATLA as a whole isnt bad with it.
My favorite is when me and my partner were watching sonic x, and (spoiler alert) in the recap it showed shadow, who at this point was meant to be dead, and we both looked at eachother like ‘wow I wonder if shadow will show up this episode’, definitely ruined the surprise, but was pretty funny.
To be fair, the games' continuity has Shadow survive to appear in Sonic Heroes and beyond, and the first half of Season 2 is literally just the Adventure games but Chris is there. So someone who's played the games that were released at the time of the episode could logically deduce that Shadow survived in the X timeline as well.
@@DrRank that’s true! Luckily I was heavily spoiled before the ep came out (I knew about Molly and all that) but still it was funny to pinpoint that ‘oh he’s coming back this ep’
The recap I enjoyed the most thus far was in Samurai Champloo when Jin and Mugen went through Fuu's diary and it was basically recapping their journey up to this point, while you also got to learn a bit more about the characters. Was a nice touch.
I’ve currently been watching Dexter and Breaking Bad (Dexter has recaps whilst Breaking Bad didn’t on the version I was watching) and I’m not sure how I feel about recaps On the one hand, it’s a useful reminder to what happened in the story but on the other hand, it can spoil what’s about to happen in the episode
“Now this is a story all about how…” “…a baby was born and it caused a little stir.” “The children grew, learned…” “…fabulous secret powers,” “…water,” “…wind…” “…and me!” Eh, I’d watch it.
The One Piece dvd collection has this really cool feature where you can watch a “marathon mode” of sorts that deletes the recap and intro. I prefer the recap and intro, but it’s nonetheless a REALLY good idea I feel other Blu Ray sets should adopt.
My favorite inversion of this were the "next week on _Mad Men"_ previews, because the show's crew cut it themselves and went out of their way to avoid giving _any indication whatsoever_ about the next episode. It's just closeups of people reacting and nonindicative lines like "have a seat." And then very occasionally they'd throw in a line that's _extremely_ context-sensitive and sounds ridiculous on its own. It's the funniest shit ever and it's on TH-cam. I miss those.
Funny, I was just thinking this when recently binge watching avatar and being able to predict the plot of the episode just from the “previously on” section.
9:48 - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure has loads of minor spoilers in it's opening sequences, but it cleverly hides them in the background and are really subtle that you don't really notice until rewatching through it in detail after you know what to look for.
Most of the time the Jojo spoilers are fine, but IIRC one of the Part 5 OPs spoiled way too much, like Trish's stand and Giorno stabbing himself with the arrow
You mentioned “next time” so I’m going to run with that! The worst next time trailer I have ever seen is Doctor Who Season 1 episode 11 (leading into 12 “Bad Wolf”) it’s all like “who did this? Who could be behind it? Who who who?” Only for the last shot of the trailer being the Darleks.
The recap gives away just enough to get you excited without going into full spoilers about what's actually happenig. Knowing a character will be important but not knowing how is almost more exciting IMO
A detail I liked in The Legend of Korra's recap is that in S1E7, the narrator is replaced with one of the soon-to-be villains because the announcer was electrocuted during the previous episodes attack.
On Dynasty and Falcon Crest they did: ‘Last week..’ and then ‘…and TONIGHT..!’ with spoilers for the episode iitself. Me and my brother still quote it!
One of my favorite variations of the 'Spoiler Opening' is the 'Obscure Spoiler Opening', a la Evangelion, where the entire opening sequence is absolutely *chock full* of highly spoileriffic stuff, but none of it makes *any sense at all* until you've already seen that part of the story (and usually a ways past it) anyway. Instead of the opening giving things away, it becomes a sort of unfolding series of little shared moments of context that you feel good about understanding how because you're as far into the story as you are, and on rewatch can serve to hype you up to see those important moments again in context. :)
I get the spoiler paradox, but personally I prefer to watch stuff (especially mysteries) once knowing nothing, and then again after I've seen the ending so I can appreciate all the clues.
2:09 funny that you show dhmis in the montage of "intros that tell you everything you need to know about the show" considering the only thing this intro tells you is "three people exist."
Yesterday's episode of She-Hulk lampshaded this SO hard, perfect timing. A character returned who was only very briefly on screen and WASN'T in the Previously On, Jen was like "oh my god, you probably don't even remember who that is" and did a Previously On in the middle of the episode with who that guy was. I can't believe you got it in so quick LOL
I always used to read the last page of a book before I started reading it and that made me enjoy it so much more for some reason. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one, and that this is actually a thing.
I actually had a few friends like that. They would always read the last page of a book to see if they liked it and wanted to read the story opposed to reading the first page like a lot of people do. I used to think it was really weird but I kinda understand it now. When you read it the first time it probably won’t make much sense since you don’t know the context of the book but when you reach it the second time it will finally make sense so it’s not too much of a spoiler. If it was a big book you’d probably forget the ending by the time you got to it anyway so it would still be a surprise. I remember at school one time we did an assignment where we watched the first episode of a show and then the last episode and compared it. We watched the Big Bang theory but I was away when they watched the first episode so only watched the last episode. I needed up watching the whole show after that and by the time I reached the last episode I had completely forgotten what happened in it. It’s kinda ironic that I thought it was weird how my friends read the last page of a book because I would always intentionally spoil tv shows and movies for myself because it gave me anxiety not knowing what was about to happen so I would find out the main plot details first so I wasn’t as anxious. And you didn’t know all the intricate details of the plot so there’s still a lot that isn’t spoilt. I guess I probably thought reading the last page of a book weird because a lot of books I’ve read the last page is kinda boring and just full of “they lived happily ever after” stuff.
I get the concept of spoilers actually just changing the context of a viewing to suspense rather than surprise but I still fucking loath when I get spoiled. If I want to go back and re-watch something to get that suspense, I can always do that. But you can only watch something unspoiled once. I want both experiences. Assholes online (and badly made trailers/recaps) rob me of half of the potential of a piece of media by taking the first unspoiled viewing away.
I used to love the way comicbooks did that as a kid. It made the world feel bigger. It made it seem like Spiderman was really off doing things even in a comic featuring Wolverine. It made it all feel interconnected. I didn't mind if I didn't have issue 409 to know where Captain American obtained the space crystal thing. I could fill in the blanks in my head usually.
(7:20) But cartoons in Sweden didn't have ad-breaks, which made a lot of ad-break-jokes that these cartoons made, make no sense. I think they added ad-breaks later (yay, capitalism...) but not when I was growing up with these cartoons.
Great video! A think I love is when Star Trek DS9 (and ENT to a lesser extent) started doing season-long arcs with very little "previously" segments back in the mid-90s. I don't know how much of that was pioneering at the time but I feel like it wasn't being done much at that time.
I personally really like the recaps, especially in something like LOST. Even when binging it, there's a ton of plot points and things to keep track of for each character, something that lets me know "these are the plot points to keep in mind for this episode" helps manage my expectations.
Just finished watching Lost recently and I agree. Most of the time, the recaps just remind you where the story has been heading going into an episode; there are still PLENTY of out-of-nowhere reveals that aren't spoiled at all during the "Previously on"
Yeah I think Lost does it nicely, particularly because most episodes focus on one particular character, so a 'previously on' showing a couple of important things from the previous episode or two and a bunch of stuff relevant to whichever character is pretty helpful
Can’t believe you mentioned Korra recap episode without mentioning the original series one. Ember Island Players is the best recap episode I’ve ever seen because it shows the events from the fire nations perspective and it’s misunderstood. Also you mentioned the leaked game of thrones s5 finale previously on spoiling a returning character, but in the episode that was a total fake out so that may actually help the episode.
Avatar probably had the best version of this format, as it used a rapid fire compilation of essential information from multiple previous episodes to understand the context of the current episode. It gets viewers that missed an episode up to speed, cuts all the fat that comes with rewatching episodes, and lasts no more than 10 seconds.
I have given up on the Arrowverse, as much as I like Arrow and Flash, once you added in the other show it became too much to keep on top of for me. I don't want this have to 2 or 3 other series to find out how an episode of the one I'm watching ends or even started.
Fascinating video. Any chance of a sequel videos on “next time on…” trailers and how occasionally they can be quite spoiler heavy too? For example, the biggest culprit I can think of guilty of this is Doctor Who, when an episode played a next time segment at the end and straight up spoiled the Daleks return, when perhaps if it wasn’t spoiled the return could have played off better as a genuine surprise.
With the spoiler paradox point I would like to point to Columbo. Every episode starts with a little montage of highlights from the episode you’re about to watch, which now a days really helps with trying to find my place again in the series of if I watched it or not. Though Columbo has the odd set up with how we see the crime unfold and watching to see how Columbo solves it.
I rather watch it spoiler free the first time, then I can watch it a second time and knowing how it ends. That way I can experience it both ways. If I'm getting told the ending before I watch it the first time, I don't get that first experience.
I distinctly remember with Buffy's previously on being particularly bad. They would just show an unrelated scene from 2 seasons earlier and you then knew exactly what was coming up
the recaps are fine for me, it's the "next time on..." that I hate. I have to desperately change the channel or close the streaming service to avoid actual spoilers.
I would like to throw in an addition to your "spoiler story" concept. I'm a huge Shakespeare buff, and while I personally don't like it as much as his other works, his most famous and renowned play, Romeo and Juliet begins with a sonnet literally telling the audience the plot of the show. And yet the words, the plot, and the play as a whole is so beautiful that you can't help but appreciate it even more knowing the horror and irony of what's to come. This is added to even more by the 4 centuries since he was writing and alive. Nobody goes into a shakespeare play anymore wondering what it'll be about. Odds are, if you're choosing to watch it, you already at least have an idea of what happens. You know whether it's a comedy, or a tragedy. And yet every time we see one, there's something new we notice, something new that makes it worth watching, something beautiful. This, I believe is at the core of why spoiler stories arent bad. If a story is good enough throughout that knowing the ending doesnt change anything, just helps you pay attention without needing to wonder about the ending, it means it was worthwhile to watch. If a movie just has a dramatic twist ending and knowing that ending before watching would ruin every other part of that movie for you, then with a few exceptions (6th Sense, maybe the Jordan Peale movies, and probably Hot Fuzz, you can probably think of a few), it probably should've had more substance in the buildup. That, I think, is where ending spoilers are bad. In movies in which the ending is the only purpose of the movie, and it prioritises the buildup to that ending over entertainment. Again, as I listed a few earlier, there are movies where ending spoilers can diminish the movie even if the ending isnt the only good part, but still...
I mean, yea, it's a Tragedy taken from the style of the Greeks. It's not a Grecian Tragedy if you don't already know the fatal flaw that dooms the character. The whole point is that their fatal flaw is unavoidable and will always lead to their doom.
OTOH, the 'Previously on' for Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 100 (the final one of Season 5) was just one frame* from every one of the previous 99 episodes. * or a very short snippet - it's been a while since I've seen it.
The Aquabats Super Show did a great spinoff of this gag by mixing in some joke clips that never happened as well as real events from the previous episode
Honestly the worst thing for this is Intros from shows, that flat out spoil plot elements, or characters from later in the season. Its led to me actively skipping intros that I may have enjoyed, just to avoid spoilers. Hell, I recently rewatched all of SAO, and forced myself to skip the intros of the newer stuff I hadn't seen cause I *knew* it'd spoil....but those openers are usually bangers, so it sucked.
11:52 Oh gosh, don't even get me started on the "next time" immediately following Vegeta's sacrifice. Also, TV stations playing episodes out of order is annoying, and I'm glad some modern stations have given up the practice.
"Now this is a story all about how a baby was born and it caused a little stir The children grew, learned fabulous secret powers Water, Wind and Me!" Water, Wind, and Me is a TV show or web cartoon I'd watch definitely
I keep hearing about this study that having the ending spoiled slightly increases the viewer's enjoyment, however the thing that really bothers me about it is that it doesn't take into account that this means that you no longer have no reason to re-watch it, so surely it actually _halves_ the potential enjoyment of texts with well-executed plot twists?
You've got to give Bays & Thomas credit for basically making the recap redundant by having Future Ted say "Hey kids, remember that story I told you about XXXXX? Well, that's going to become important to this story, so make sure you remember that."
the point about shows spoiling what would happen in the title sequence reminded me of one that i really hated. the title sequence of total drama action, the second season of total drama island, shows all of the contestants in various wacky scenarios. one of these parts shows the characters harold and duncan in a rivalry before duncan's girlfriend, courtney, distracts duncan. the problem here is that courtney didn't actually join the season until episode 13, half way through. the intro sequence completely spoils her addition to the cast.
The all time best recap has to be from Buffy season 3. They had to recap the fact that Giles was fired. It took them two words: "Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer… …You're fired"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was probably the first show I watched to almost always have a Previously On section. One gripe I had about them: Why did they sometimes assume that whoever was watching hadn’t watched the show for months? After Spike got a chip, every episode with Spike in it for the rest of the season showed the effects of the chip in the Previously On. I don’t know what watching the show was like back when you had to tune in weekly, but did people really need to be reminded about the chip every episode for months?
the"previously on" in the last seasaon of GoT was really manipulative by only showing scenes of characters that would show them in a certain light, trying to make us believe they always acted a certain way and therefore are still in character by doing a lot of stupid things now (looking at you, Danaeris....)
I always skip the previously on's. I personally avoid spoilers at all costs, ofcourse knowing the end on future viewings doesn't ruin how much im enjoying the thing but there is nothing like being truly surprised by a show or movie. I have vivd memories of the first time i saw the final scene of some like it hot or watching scream for the first time. I LOVE mystery and i think we could do with a little more of it in our current media. Studios rely heavily on revealing big names at the moment but do you know whats better than knowing hugh jackman is coming back as wolverine? Sitting in a theatre and finding out for the first time when he appears on screen. The first will give you some internet buzz but the second? People would lose their minds.
I have a big ol problem with that spoiler research which is that I enjoy a reveal in an _entirely different_ way to just absorbing the story. Its like comparing a chocolate bar to a satisfying meal, yes when hungry Im sure people would generally prefer the latter, but that doesnt mean that nobody ever wants to eat a chocolate bar, it doesnt mean companies should start systematically removing all of them from the shop shelves... They just arnt the same experiences, let people choose. Ahh but the videos argument is that its for everyone so it should appeal to a plurality... but why is that even necessary in this context? If you feel more enriched by media with spoilers... look up spoilers, or watch it again. My mum used to do that, literally chose what to watch based on the twists. Good for her, didnt mean she was gonna spoil it for everyone else. When the story is spoiled then thats that, there is no equivalent the other way round. Or to put it another way, I have never once regretted watching a piece of media that I hadnt read spoilers for, while there are quite a few big films that were spoiled for me and to this day I think that sucks. I dont care if I was appreciating the film in some nebulous way that looks statistically good in research, I was robbed of a little burst of fun I can never get back. I mean there are whole reaction channels pretty much based on your empathising with and consequently recapturing the feeling of seeing twists for the first time, this is definitely a hugely common thing people love. Granted none of this is the biggest deal in the world, but I fail to see any good argument for spoilers becoming the norm in trailers and catch up material outside of corporate nonsense trying to optimize the experience for maximum profit.
I think the only time recaps have a problem is when they eat up too much of the runtime. Because if I'm brutally honest, if the mild spoilers a recap might make is enough to ruin the story, frankly it's not a very good story.
7:33 Well it appears we accidentally used a background image of Auschwitz here. That sucks.
The image is from stock photo site "Pexels" under the search term "prison" & only labelled as "Restricting wire fence in industrial district". It does NOT clearly indicate what it really is.
Naturally, we're angry to have been deceived like this and have reported this issue to the stock photo website for being grossly misleading with something so extremely sensitive.
awkward recontextualization of the scene, but I'm sure everyone is glad you've acknowledged it
Thanks for acknowledging it Eddie i knew it felt uncanny so thank you
That is shocking.
psh who cares, mistakes are common and you're only human :) it's not like you did it on purpose lol (also it's the websites fault anyway lmao)
@@CartoDarko ....
The "previously on" used in Clone wars was quite interesting, they provided context for the episode by showing what happened "off screen" between last episode and the one you are watching.
I liked how Bad Batch continued this, even though it was only in the pilot.
The narrator is almost as iconic as every other character
@@fantasticbirdblue I mean he also plays Admiral Ularen (I think that’s his name)
@@GhostTransit Yularen
it’s supposed to mirror war reels from WWII! so it fits TCW perfectly, because it’s like the audience are citizens of the republic watching updates of the war
My favorite thing about the Legend of Korra recap is that, in one episode, the announcer character is injured in a terrorist attack and his narration is absent in the following episode-the recap is replaced with a recording of a political speech describing the events.
To reiterate, the show put the narrator himself in the hospital and therefore he was unable to announce the episode due to the show's continuity.
That's amazing attention to detail
That's awesome.
Meanwhile, a videogame also has a Previously On. If you haven't played Return to Monkey Island for a few days, you get an (optional) reminder of where you're at in the story, through the main character recounting that very story to someone else. So no matter how long you put the game down for, you can carry on without being completely in the dark.
I wish more games did that!
I think the Sonic Adventure games had something like that too.
The Characters narrating what just recently happened (and revealing things that weren't in the cutscenes)
Pretty sure Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green had a thing where it recapped your last few actions anytime you start the game.
@@bjp4869 same with platinum
So did farcry primal. Everytime you start the game the shamen shows what happens in the story from where you left off
The question is, did you make this after the she-hulk episode came out and completed it in a day like a legend? Or was it weirdly convenient she-hulk did a previously on bit mid episode and you had enough time to edit it into this video? I assume the second but I fully believe Eddie could research, write the script and edit the video in a day.
It was absolutely a last minute addition
@@eddache I don’t believe you… I know your secrets…
@@eddache It made it in perfect timing I'm kinda shocked
Thank god I have something good to watch. My new puppy is crying and its driving me mad. I guess you could say, he's giving me an Eddache.
Wasn't expecting to bump into an EWJ fan here
@@teddyroo12 You are 80% of the earthworm fan base.
the other 20% is me, this guy, and like 7 other people
@@Ceaugo Thank you for the compliment?
Why is the puppy crying?
@@teddyroo12 You are single handedly keeping the community alive, also thanks for the Earthworm Jim Pilot Animation upload, that was cool
you have no idea how happy it makes me that someone feels the same pain of having to begrudgingly fast forward every fucking episode of avatar the last airbender due to watching it via the dvd set
Dr. Dingle is a scam bot scam bot scam bot ☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️
what?
@@tzarg I called out a scam bot and they got delete muehehe kupo
Yeah I watch it on Netflix so I just get to skip the recap haha
So the "you're probably wondering how I got here" trope is called in medias res. It's latin for in the midst of things and done right can be a really good intro like in the horror movie "triangle"
While in the Sonic film it feels completely not necessary.
I would like a version without it. Just cut out the first but, and cut out that break in the middle. Maybe it will work.
Avatar is the first culprit I think of when it comes to Recap Spoilers. Namely, when a one-off character from Season 1 returns in Season 2. Worst of all, the people who met said character previously aren't even around when they show up - so it doesn't even matter narratively if the audience knew about their first meeting!
I think the worst case is in the finale of season 2: The crossroads of destiny, when the previously on includes the scene of Roku informing aang that being killed while in the avatar state will forever break the reincarnation cycle. There are others, but ATLA as a whole isnt bad with it.
I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time, and the recap spoils the plot of the episode so often
I really love Hilda's opening sequence, it's cool to watch an episode and find a new character that had been hiding in the opening the entire time
yeah! it's also such a fast sequence you probably won't notice everything at first
My Mom always goes "We already saw this part!" whenever the recaps happen because she always misses the "Previously On" part for some reason.
Ok
Ok
My favorite is when me and my partner were watching sonic x, and (spoiler alert) in the recap it showed shadow, who at this point was meant to be dead, and we both looked at eachother like ‘wow I wonder if shadow will show up this episode’, definitely ruined the surprise, but was pretty funny.
To be fair, the games' continuity has Shadow survive to appear in Sonic Heroes and beyond, and the first half of Season 2 is literally just the Adventure games but Chris is there.
So someone who's played the games that were released at the time of the episode could logically deduce that Shadow survived in the X timeline as well.
@@DrRank that’s true! Luckily I was heavily spoiled before the ep came out (I knew about Molly and all that) but still it was funny to pinpoint that ‘oh he’s coming back this ep’
@@lilwoofs Wait, who's Molly?
A ginger girl who was friends with shadow, she was only in sonic x, the third season, and she died fighting the Metarex people.
@@lilwoofs Ah. I'd forgotten about her.
Can you imagine if stuff like Corrie had to completely recap at the beginning of every episode? Lawks.
I know right
The recap I enjoyed the most thus far was in Samurai Champloo when Jin and Mugen went through Fuu's diary and it was basically recapping their journey up to this point, while you also got to learn a bit more about the characters. Was a nice touch.
I’ve currently been watching Dexter and Breaking Bad (Dexter has recaps whilst Breaking Bad didn’t on the version I was watching) and I’m not sure how I feel about recaps
On the one hand, it’s a useful reminder to what happened in the story but on the other hand, it can spoil what’s about to happen in the episode
Eddache, the channel that talks about the topics that no other channel will talk about.
(But topics you've always wanted)
“Now this is a story all about how…”
“…a baby was born and it caused a little stir.”
“The children grew, learned…”
“…fabulous secret powers,”
“…water,”
“…wind…”
“…and me!”
Eh, I’d watch it.
I wonder if that was intentanal
The Fresh CatDog HeMan Of Captain Planet Sonic Underground, Im Scared: the show
(ALSO HAS A MANGA BOOK AND COMIC SERIES LMAO)
@@ALittleBitCheesy it was 100% intentional lmfao
Yeah, same.
“…water,”
“…wind…”
“…and meth!”
The One Piece dvd collection has this really cool feature where you can watch a “marathon mode” of sorts that deletes the recap and intro. I prefer the recap and intro, but it’s nonetheless a REALLY good idea I feel other Blu Ray sets should adopt.
7:33 Well, I would like to know how Edd got out of Auschwitz.
Oh god... Didn't know THATS where the background came from! Thanks for flagging, I'll investigate how this happened.
@@eddache I'm pretty sure it is.
Basically, a Jojo Spoiler isn't really a spoiler. It is fun to listen to ''What the fuck?'' And then you see it. ''Oh, it makes sense.''
Whenever an Eddache vid comes up, you pause whatever you're watching and engage. Easily one of the best ones to do it.
My favorite inversion of this were the "next week on _Mad Men"_ previews, because the show's crew cut it themselves and went out of their way to avoid giving _any indication whatsoever_ about the next episode. It's just closeups of people reacting and nonindicative lines like "have a seat." And then very occasionally they'd throw in a line that's _extremely_ context-sensitive and sounds ridiculous on its own. It's the funniest shit ever and it's on TH-cam. I miss those.
Reminds of "Tonight on Top Gear..." where the descriptions of the episodes get more silly as the show goes on.
Can't wait for another of your fantastic videos, Ed!
@Dr.Dingle 🅥 who the fuck are you
I really like the recap. They usually fade into the intro and it hypes me up for the episode, even if I’ve just seen the previous one
Funny, I was just thinking this when recently binge watching avatar and being able to predict the plot of the episode just from the “previously on” section.
9:48 - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure has loads of minor spoilers in it's opening sequences, but it cleverly hides them in the background and are really subtle that you don't really notice until rewatching through it in detail after you know what to look for.
Most of the time the Jojo spoilers are fine, but IIRC one of the Part 5 OPs spoiled way too much, like Trish's stand and Giorno stabbing himself with the arrow
You mentioned “next time” so I’m going to run with that! The worst next time trailer I have ever seen is Doctor Who Season 1 episode 11 (leading into 12 “Bad Wolf”) it’s all like “who did this? Who could be behind it? Who who who?” Only for the last shot of the trailer being the Darleks.
The recap gives away just enough to get you excited without going into full spoilers about what's actually happenig. Knowing a character will be important but not knowing how is almost more exciting IMO
A detail I liked in The Legend of Korra's recap is that in S1E7, the narrator is replaced with one of the soon-to-be villains because the announcer was electrocuted during the previous episodes attack.
“Water, Wind, and Me”
Once again you've found an amazing topic that few speak about but we all experience. Thanks Eddie!
" It's not even Christmas yet "
company's in the first of November: yes it is
On Dynasty and Falcon Crest they did: ‘Last week..’ and then ‘…and TONIGHT..!’ with spoilers for the episode iitself. Me and my brother still quote it!
I love the Korra recap it's just nice
One of my favorite variations of the 'Spoiler Opening' is the 'Obscure Spoiler Opening', a la Evangelion, where the entire opening sequence is absolutely *chock full* of highly spoileriffic stuff, but none of it makes *any sense at all* until you've already seen that part of the story (and usually a ways past it) anyway. Instead of the opening giving things away, it becomes a sort of unfolding series of little shared moments of context that you feel good about understanding how because you're as far into the story as you are, and on rewatch can serve to hype you up to see those important moments again in context. :)
Can you talk about the Lack of Animation of 1959's Cartoons next, Eddache?
I get the spoiler paradox, but personally I prefer to watch stuff (especially mysteries) once knowing nothing, and then again after I've seen the ending so I can appreciate all the clues.
2:09 funny that you show dhmis in the montage of "intros that tell you everything you need to know about the show" considering the only thing this intro tells you is "three people exist."
I mean, it does tell you everything you need to know. There's three of them. What other questions could you possibly have?
Yesterday's episode of She-Hulk lampshaded this SO hard, perfect timing. A character returned who was only very briefly on screen and WASN'T in the Previously On, Jen was like "oh my god, you probably don't even remember who that is" and did a Previously On in the middle of the episode with who that guy was. I can't believe you got it in so quick LOL
I always used to read the last page of a book before I started reading it and that made me enjoy it so much more for some reason. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one, and that this is actually a thing.
I actually had a few friends like that. They would always read the last page of a book to see if they liked it and wanted to read the story opposed to reading the first page like a lot of people do. I used to think it was really weird but I kinda understand it now. When you read it the first time it probably won’t make much sense since you don’t know the context of the book but when you reach it the second time it will finally make sense so it’s not too much of a spoiler. If it was a big book you’d probably forget the ending by the time you got to it anyway so it would still be a surprise. I remember at school one time we did an assignment where we watched the first episode of a show and then the last episode and compared it. We watched the Big Bang theory but I was away when they watched the first episode so only watched the last episode. I needed up watching the whole show after that and by the time I reached the last episode I had completely forgotten what happened in it. It’s kinda ironic that I thought it was weird how my friends read the last page of a book because I would always intentionally spoil tv shows and movies for myself because it gave me anxiety not knowing what was about to happen so I would find out the main plot details first so I wasn’t as anxious. And you didn’t know all the intricate details of the plot so there’s still a lot that isn’t spoilt. I guess I probably thought reading the last page of a book weird because a lot of books I’ve read the last page is kinda boring and just full of “they lived happily ever after” stuff.
I get the concept of spoilers actually just changing the context of a viewing to suspense rather than surprise but I still fucking loath when I get spoiled. If I want to go back and re-watch something to get that suspense, I can always do that. But you can only watch something unspoiled once. I want both experiences. Assholes online (and badly made trailers/recaps) rob me of half of the potential of a piece of media by taking the first unspoiled viewing away.
I used to love the way comicbooks did that as a kid. It made the world feel bigger. It made it seem like Spiderman was really off doing things even in a comic featuring Wolverine. It made it all feel interconnected. I didn't mind if I didn't have issue 409 to know where Captain American obtained the space crystal thing. I could fill in the blanks in my head usually.
(7:20) But cartoons in Sweden didn't have ad-breaks, which made a lot of ad-break-jokes that these cartoons made, make no sense. I think they added ad-breaks later (yay, capitalism...) but not when I was growing up with these cartoons.
Great video! A think I love is when Star Trek DS9 (and ENT to a lesser extent) started doing season-long arcs with very little "previously" segments back in the mid-90s. I don't know how much of that was pioneering at the time but I feel like it wasn't being done much at that time.
I personally really like the recaps, especially in something like LOST. Even when binging it, there's a ton of plot points and things to keep track of for each character, something that lets me know "these are the plot points to keep in mind for this episode" helps manage my expectations.
Just finished watching Lost recently and I agree. Most of the time, the recaps just remind you where the story has been heading going into an episode; there are still PLENTY of out-of-nowhere reveals that aren't spoiled at all during the "Previously on"
Yeah I think Lost does it nicely, particularly because most episodes focus on one particular character, so a 'previously on' showing a couple of important things from the previous episode or two and a bunch of stuff relevant to whichever character is pretty helpful
Can’t believe you mentioned Korra recap episode without mentioning the original series one. Ember Island Players is the best recap episode I’ve ever seen because it shows the events from the fire nations perspective and it’s misunderstood. Also you mentioned the leaked game of thrones s5 finale previously on spoiling a returning character, but in the episode that was a total fake out so that may actually help the episode.
My favourite parody of the recap: That Mitchell and Webb Look's "The Gift Shop Sketch"
Rocky and Bullwinkle always had the best bit where the Next Time and Previously On were slightly wrong and changed the plot
Agreed ❤❤
2:14 why’s this your first example
My family frequently say "PREVIOUSLY ON HOMELAND" whenever someone explains where they've been, so I'm glad recaps exist just for that.
Avatar probably had the best version of this format, as it used a rapid fire compilation of essential information from multiple previous episodes to understand the context of the current episode. It gets viewers that missed an episode up to speed, cuts all the fat that comes with rewatching episodes, and lasts no more than 10 seconds.
I have given up on the Arrowverse, as much as I like Arrow and Flash, once you added in the other show it became too much to keep on top of for me. I don't want this have to 2 or 3 other series to find out how an episode of the one I'm watching ends or even started.
Fascinating video. Any chance of a sequel videos on “next time on…” trailers and how occasionally they can be quite spoiler heavy too? For example, the biggest culprit I can think of guilty of this is Doctor Who, when an episode played a next time segment at the end and straight up spoiled the Daleks return, when perhaps if it wasn’t spoiled the return could have played off better as a genuine surprise.
You really brought up "layers" over footage of two Shrek-coloured characters and thought we wouldn't notice?
With the spoiler paradox point I would like to point to Columbo. Every episode starts with a little montage of highlights from the episode you’re about to watch, which now a days really helps with trying to find my place again in the series of if I watched it or not. Though Columbo has the odd set up with how we see the crime unfold and watching to see how Columbo solves it.
A lot of series during this time period had stuff like this. The A-Team, CHiPs, Magnum P.I., MacGyver, etc.
Previously on ninjago
I still died a little when you did the Buffy reference for Seeing Red. It will forever be too soon.
Perfect timing I was just getting out of things to watch!!
Will there be a dhmis theory?
I rather watch it spoiler free the first time, then I can watch it a second time and knowing how it ends. That way I can experience it both ways.
If I'm getting told the ending before I watch it the first time, I don't get that first experience.
Just do what classic doctor who used to do. Just show the cliff hanger from the previous episode.
The fact you called Avatar a standalone show. Honestly offensive. /s
Tonight, Eddie plays with Christmas lights, Will Smith tells a story, and the Who plays "Baba O'Riley".
I distinctly remember with Buffy's previously on being particularly bad. They would just show an unrelated scene from 2 seasons earlier and you then knew exactly what was coming up
the recaps are fine for me, it's the "next time on..." that I hate. I have to desperately change the channel or close the streaming service to avoid actual spoilers.
2:00 have had this stuck in my brain computer all year.
My earliest memory of a "previously on..." was the 90's X-Men cartoon. It was always pretty epic.
Great you spoiled titanic for me, I haven't watched it yet (11:09)
I definitely appreciate the acknowledgement of The Beverly Hillbillies
Another solid video, Eddie! Thanks again for the shoutout and I look forward to your next essay.
NO SPOILERS PLEASE!
6:58 yes meg our dog brain griffin is dead
I would like to throw in an addition to your "spoiler story" concept. I'm a huge Shakespeare buff, and while I personally don't like it as much as his other works, his most famous and renowned play, Romeo and Juliet begins with a sonnet literally telling the audience the plot of the show. And yet the words, the plot, and the play as a whole is so beautiful that you can't help but appreciate it even more knowing the horror and irony of what's to come.
This is added to even more by the 4 centuries since he was writing and alive. Nobody goes into a shakespeare play anymore wondering what it'll be about. Odds are, if you're choosing to watch it, you already at least have an idea of what happens. You know whether it's a comedy, or a tragedy. And yet every time we see one, there's something new we notice, something new that makes it worth watching, something beautiful.
This, I believe is at the core of why spoiler stories arent bad. If a story is good enough throughout that knowing the ending doesnt change anything, just helps you pay attention without needing to wonder about the ending, it means it was worthwhile to watch. If a movie just has a dramatic twist ending and knowing that ending before watching would ruin every other part of that movie for you, then with a few exceptions (6th Sense, maybe the Jordan Peale movies, and probably Hot Fuzz, you can probably think of a few), it probably should've had more substance in the buildup.
That, I think, is where ending spoilers are bad. In movies in which the ending is the only purpose of the movie, and it prioritises the buildup to that ending over entertainment. Again, as I listed a few earlier, there are movies where ending spoilers can diminish the movie even if the ending isnt the only good part, but still...
Agreed.
I mean, yea, it's a Tragedy taken from the style of the Greeks. It's not a Grecian Tragedy if you don't already know the fatal flaw that dooms the character. The whole point is that their fatal flaw is unavoidable and will always lead to their doom.
Is it weirdly ironic or just a coincidence that I came back to watch this during the run-up to Christmas?
No
OTOH, the 'Previously on' for Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 100 (the final one of Season 5) was just one frame* from every one of the previous 99 episodes.
* or a very short snippet - it's been a while since I've seen it.
The Aquabats Super Show did a great spinoff of this gag by mixing in some joke clips that never happened as well as real events from the previous episode
The recap legend of korra episode reminds me of what total drama did for it's second season.
Interesting
Honestly the worst thing for this is Intros from shows, that flat out spoil plot elements, or characters from later in the season.
Its led to me actively skipping intros that I may have enjoyed, just to avoid spoilers. Hell, I recently rewatched all of SAO, and forced myself to skip the intros of the newer stuff I hadn't seen cause I *knew* it'd spoil....but those openers are usually bangers, so it sucked.
I’m currently watching The Rings of Power and recap with my parents each episode right after we watched it because it’s so hard to follow.
Previously on Ninjago...
Whatever happened to that?
Eddache: it's not even Christmas yet!
Right? He should have posted the video tomorrow and then it would be time to celebrate the holidays
7:33 I see what he's talking about...
11:52 Oh gosh, don't even get me started on the "next time" immediately following Vegeta's sacrifice.
Also, TV stations playing episodes out of order is annoying, and I'm glad some modern stations have given up the practice.
"Now this is a story all about how a baby was born and it caused a little stir
The children grew, learned fabulous secret powers
Water, Wind and Me!"
Water, Wind, and Me is a TV show or web cartoon I'd watch definitely
2:10 ok we get it!
this makes me want cheese for some reason
I keep hearing about this study that having the ending spoiled slightly increases the viewer's enjoyment, however the thing that really bothers me about it is that it doesn't take into account that this means that you no longer have no reason to re-watch it, so surely it actually _halves_ the potential enjoyment of texts with well-executed plot twists?
You've got to give Bays & Thomas credit for basically making the recap redundant by having Future Ted say "Hey kids, remember that story I told you about XXXXX? Well, that's going to become important to this story, so make sure you remember that."
11:18 "the shield"?
the point about shows spoiling what would happen in the title sequence reminded me of one that i really hated. the title sequence of total drama action, the second season of total drama island, shows all of the contestants in various wacky scenarios. one of these parts shows the characters harold and duncan in a rivalry before duncan's girlfriend, courtney, distracts duncan. the problem here is that courtney didn't actually join the season until episode 13, half way through. the intro sequence completely spoils her addition to the cast.
The best spoilers are foreshadowing that you're unclear about and that you all but forget before the resolution comes.
The all time best recap has to be from Buffy season 3. They had to recap the fact that Giles was fired. It took them two words:
"Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer…
…You're fired"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was probably the first show I watched to almost always have a Previously On section. One gripe I had about them: Why did they sometimes assume that whoever was watching hadn’t watched the show for months? After Spike got a chip, every episode with Spike in it for the rest of the season showed the effects of the chip in the Previously On. I don’t know what watching the show was like back when you had to tune in weekly, but did people really need to be reminded about the chip every episode for months?
the"previously on" in the last seasaon of GoT was really manipulative by only showing scenes of characters that would show them in a certain light, trying to make us believe they always acted a certain way and therefore are still in character by doing a lot of stupid things now (looking at you, Danaeris....)
Previously in the comment section:
Someone cut off all my fingers
Now:
Hdutygjfjdeuritjfjfkf
I always skip the previously on's. I personally avoid spoilers at all costs, ofcourse knowing the end on future viewings doesn't ruin how much im enjoying the thing but there is nothing like being truly surprised by a show or movie. I have vivd memories of the first time i saw the final scene of some like it hot or watching scream for the first time. I LOVE mystery and i think we could do with a little more of it in our current media.
Studios rely heavily on revealing big names at the moment but do you know whats better than knowing hugh jackman is coming back as wolverine? Sitting in a theatre and finding out for the first time when he appears on screen. The first will give you some internet buzz but the second? People would lose their minds.
One of my favorite "begins with the character in dire situations" is the Uncharted movie. And uncharted 2, now that I think about it.
I have a big ol problem with that spoiler research which is that I enjoy a reveal in an _entirely different_ way to just absorbing the story. Its like comparing a chocolate bar to a satisfying meal, yes when hungry Im sure people would generally prefer the latter, but that doesnt mean that nobody ever wants to eat a chocolate bar, it doesnt mean companies should start systematically removing all of them from the shop shelves... They just arnt the same experiences, let people choose.
Ahh but the videos argument is that its for everyone so it should appeal to a plurality... but why is that even necessary in this context? If you feel more enriched by media with spoilers... look up spoilers, or watch it again. My mum used to do that, literally chose what to watch based on the twists. Good for her, didnt mean she was gonna spoil it for everyone else.
When the story is spoiled then thats that, there is no equivalent the other way round. Or to put it another way, I have never once regretted watching a piece of media that I hadnt read spoilers for, while there are quite a few big films that were spoiled for me and to this day I think that sucks. I dont care if I was appreciating the film in some nebulous way that looks statistically good in research, I was robbed of a little burst of fun I can never get back. I mean there are whole reaction channels pretty much based on your empathising with and consequently recapturing the feeling of seeing twists for the first time, this is definitely a hugely common thing people love.
Granted none of this is the biggest deal in the world, but I fail to see any good argument for spoilers becoming the norm in trailers and catch up material outside of corporate nonsense trying to optimize the experience for maximum profit.
I think the only time recaps have a problem is when they eat up too much of the runtime. Because if I'm brutally honest, if the mild spoilers a recap might make is enough to ruin the story, frankly it's not a very good story.
Have you watched Babylon 5? Watch it...
Previously, on Battlestar Galactica...
...and now the conclusion