Lost

ABC marketing has come under fire from fans for LOST spots that blow answers out of proportion, or edit in scenes from future episodes of LOST to make the next seem more  'packed' with story.  It's a very common complaint of TV fans in general.  For much of the season, NBC has committed similar infarctions with its Heroes spots that would promise story lines to be resolved, or, gasp, character deaths, only to fall sort in delivering them.  A more disturbing trend with LOST has arisen with its web based clips.  Visit the front page of ABC.com and prepare to have a major revelation from this weeks "Par Avion" spoiled before your very eyes.  Not just a factoid that impacts this one episode, mind you, but an answer to a big question that has plagued LOST fans since the middle of season two.  Read on for the super spoilerish details.

LOST fan's have long debated who the mysterious "Him" was that was mentioned by both Henry Gale (before his Ben days) and Mr. Friendly.  As time went by, many were convinced that it was Ben himself who was the leader of the others.  They do what he says,  Juliet has indirectly fingered him as their leader in the death plot she attempted to seduce Jack into this season.  Finally, now we know for certain that Ben is not him.   Not by watching the episode, as we should have, though, and not by some onset leaker that snitched to the press.  This time, the culprit that ruined the big surprise for us was ABC themselves.

In the preview scene from this weeks episode of LOST,  Par Avion,  we are privy to a conversation between patchy and Kate.   Patchy tells Kate she would never understand how the others came to be on the island because she is not on the list.  He explains that they are not on the list simply because they are weak, and flawed.   (By the way, this is another deviation/plot hole since Kate was on the list last season.)  He goes on to talk about their leader, a magnificent man.  At that point Kate makes a snide comment about Ben, and Patchy clarifies that Ben is not the magnificent man he is referring to.

Now, the information on its own is very intriguing.  However, it has the makings of one of those 'moments' where LOST episodes really begin to payoff.  Revealing such a pivotal point in the episode ahead of the episode is irresponsible on the part of ABC's Marketing people.  No doubt the writers intended this to come out in the narrative of the episode, not in a sneak peek.