The first four minutes of Lost‘s season premiere have been leaked online, reportedly after a fan won the footage on a USB drive in a contest. James Hibberd at The Hollywood Reporter says ABC has given permission to embed it, and I’m doing so above also linking it here. (The clip comes from uber-Lost guru DocArzt.)
But I’m not going to watch it.
[Update: I decided against embedding it here. That’s as much for my sake as anything. If I leave it embedded at my own blog, I’m more likely to weaken and click it.]
I figure I have four days to wait until I can see the episode, in full HD color, as it was meant to be seen. I can see these four minutes followed by the rest of the episode they should be seen with, rather than in a decontextualized little window. If I pre-empt that by sneaking a peek now, I worry the impact of the premiere will be that much lessened. For the same reason I’ve gone out of my way to avoid spoilers. (I accidentally played the first second or so of this clip, and I regret even that.)
I can always watch this opening later. But I can never un-watch it. If you’re of another mind, though—well, it’s your call.