diff --git a/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Library/LibraryController.swift b/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Library/LibraryController.swift
index 4d1d64e..ee2b67a 100644
--- a/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Library/LibraryController.swift
+++ b/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Library/LibraryController.swift
@@ -451,17 +451,22 @@ public final class LibraryController {
 
         let scanned = await scan.value
         spinnerBound.cancel()
-        applyScan(scanned, previous: previous)
+        // Merge off-main: it may read one cached `.meta` JSON per show.
+        let merged = scanned.isEmpty ? scanned : await Task.detached(priority: .utility) {
+            LibraryScanner.mergeEnrichment(scanned, from: previous)
+        }.value
+        applyScan(merged)
         refreshing = false
         scanInFlight = false
         await combineSplitShows()        // re-combine after a fresh scan (cached decisions reused)
     }
 
-    /// Fold a completed scan into the UI state (or fall back to the registry when
-    /// the mount yielded nothing and we have no cache). Persists the snapshot.
-    private func applyScan(_ scanned: [CachedShow], previous: [CachedShow]) {
+    /// Fold a completed scan (already enrichment-merged) into the UI state (or fall
+    /// back to the registry when the mount yielded nothing and we have no cache).
+    /// Persists the snapshot.
+    private func applyScan(_ scanned: [CachedShow]) {
         if !scanned.isEmpty {
-            shows = LibraryScanner.mergeEnrichment(scanned, from: previous)
+            shows = scanned
             source = "scan"
             lastRefresh = Date()
             LibraryStore.save(LibrarySnapshot(shows: shows, capturedAt: Date(), source: "scan"))
diff --git a/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Library/LibraryScanner.swift b/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Library/LibraryScanner.swift
index 2905d37..8fec1f3 100644
--- a/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Library/LibraryScanner.swift
+++ b/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Library/LibraryScanner.swift
@@ -194,19 +194,33 @@ public enum LibraryScanner {
         return lhs.episode < rhs.episode
     }
 
-    /// Carry forward poster/overview from a prior snapshot onto a fresh scan,
-    /// keyed by rootDir, so a rescan never drops Phase-4 enrichment.
+    /// Carry forward poster/overview from a prior snapshot onto a fresh scan, then
+    /// backfill anything still missing from the `.meta` cache. Keys are normalized
+    /// to black-side form so enrichment survives the legacy-plum → black-side path
+    /// switch (a raw rootDir match would silently drop every poster). The `.meta`
+    /// cache is the durable record: re-folding it here means one bad snapshot can
+    /// never lose artwork permanently.
     public static func mergeEnrichment(_ scanned: [CachedShow], from previous: [CachedShow]) -> [CachedShow] {
-        let prior = Dictionary(previous.map { ($0.rootDir, $0) }, uniquingKeysWith: { a, _ in a })
+        let prior = Dictionary(previous.map { (MediaPaths.toRemote($0.rootDir), $0) },
+                               uniquingKeysWith: { a, _ in a })
         return scanned.map { show in
-            guard let old = prior[show.rootDir] else { return show }
             var s = show
-            s.posterPath = old.posterPath
-            s.overview = old.overview
-            // re-attach per-episode metaPath by episode path
-            let oldMeta = Dictionary(old.episodes.map { ($0.path, $0.metaPath) }, uniquingKeysWith: { a, _ in a })
-            s.episodes = s.episodes.map { ep in
-                var e = ep; if let m = oldMeta[ep.path] ?? nil { e.metaPath = m }; return e
+            let key = MediaPaths.toRemote(show.rootDir)
+            if let old = prior[key] {
+                s.posterPath = old.posterPath
+                s.overview = old.overview
+                // re-attach per-episode metaPath by (normalized) episode path
+                let oldMeta = Dictionary(old.episodes.map { (MediaPaths.toRemote($0.path), $0.metaPath) },
+                                         uniquingKeysWith: { a, _ in a })
+                s.episodes = s.episodes.map { ep in
+                    var e = ep
+                    if let m = oldMeta[MediaPaths.toRemote(ep.path)] ?? nil { e.metaPath = m }
+                    return e
+                }
+            }
+            if s.posterPath == nil || s.overview == nil, let meta = MetaWriter.loadCache(forPath: key) {
+                if s.posterPath == nil { s.posterPath = meta.posterURL }
+                if s.overview == nil { s.overview = meta.overview }
             }
             return s
         }
diff --git a/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Metadata/MetaWriter.swift b/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Metadata/MetaWriter.swift
index b14a1eb..e18f410 100644
--- a/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Metadata/MetaWriter.swift
+++ b/Sources/TVAnarchyCore/Metadata/MetaWriter.swift
@@ -11,8 +11,11 @@ public enum MetaWriter {
             .appendingPathComponent(".local/state/tv-anarchy/meta")
     }
 
+    /// Cache key is the sha256 of the CANONICAL (black-side) path, so lookups hit
+    /// regardless of whether the caller holds a legacy plum mount path or the
+    /// black-side form the scanner now emits.
     public static func cacheURL(forPath path: String) -> URL {
-        let digest = SHA256.hash(data: Data(path.utf8))
+        let digest = SHA256.hash(data: Data(MediaPaths.toRemote(path).utf8))
         let hex = digest.map { String(format: "%02x", $0) }.joined()
         return metaDir().appendingPathComponent("\(hex).json")
     }
diff --git a/mcp/src/blacktv/black-tv.sh b/mcp/src/blacktv/black-tv.sh
index 5c28829..89f3efa 100644
--- a/mcp/src/blacktv/black-tv.sh
+++ b/mcp/src/blacktv/black-tv.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # black-tv — drive mpv on black's HDMI TV (NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti / nouveau / DRM).
 #
-# Source of truth: plum-control-mcp/src/blacktv/black-tv.sh
-# Deployed to /usr/local/bin/black-tv on black; invoked over SSH by the
-# plum-control MCP `blacktv` module (mirrors transmission-remote-over-ssh).
+# Vendored identically in tv-anarchy (mcp/src/blacktv) and plum-control-mcp
+# (src/blacktv); deployed to /usr/local/bin/black-tv on black and invoked over
+# SSH by the plum-control MCP `blacktv` module. Keep all three copies in sync —
+# the tv-anarchy app's Devices tab flags a deploy as stale by comparing shas.
 #
 # One long-lived mpv instance plays to the TV; every verb except `play`/`stop`/
 # `restart` goes through its JSON IPC socket, so volume/seek/pause never restart
@@ -141,10 +142,26 @@ build_dir_playlist() { # <dir> -> writes $PLAYLIST, echoes count
     | sort > "$PLAYLIST"
   wc -l < "$PLAYLIST"
 }
-resolve_show() { # <query> -> shortest-named matching show dir under tv/cartoons/anime
-  find "$MEDIA_ROOT"/tv "$MEDIA_ROOT"/cartoons "$MEDIA_ROOT"/anime \
+# Some shows are stored as one sibling dir per season ("Foo Season 3 Complete
+# 720p ..."), which a single substring match can't tell apart. names_season
+# tests whether a dir name designates a season: "Season 3", "Season 03", "S03".
+names_season() { # <name> <season> -> exit 0 when the name designates that season
+  printf '%s' "$1" | grep -qiE "(season[ ._-]*|s)0*$2([^0-9]|\$)"
+}
+resolve_show() { # <query> [season] -> best matching show dir under tv/cartoons/anime
+  local matches d
+  matches=$(find "$MEDIA_ROOT"/tv "$MEDIA_ROOT"/cartoons "$MEDIA_ROOT"/anime \
        -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -iname "*$1*" 2>/dev/null \
-    | awk '{ print length, $0 }' | sort -n | cut -d' ' -f2- | head -1
+    | awk '{ print length, $0 }' | sort -n | cut -d' ' -f2-)
+  [ -n "$matches" ] || return 0
+  # With per-season sibling dirs, a dir naming the requested season beats the
+  # generic shortest-name pick (which lands on whichever season sorts first).
+  if [ -n "${2:-}" ]; then
+    while IFS= read -r d; do
+      if names_season "$(basename "$d")" "$2"; then printf '%s\n' "$d"; return 0; fi
+    done <<<"$matches"
+  fi
+  head -1 <<<"$matches"
 }
 # Some show dirs hold several self-contained releases side by side (e.g. a full
 # 1080p series, a 720p series, and standalone movies). Pick the versioned
@@ -172,7 +189,16 @@ build_show_playlist() { # <showdir> <season?> <episode?> -> writes $PLAYLIST
     local sxe start
     sxe=$(printf 'S%02dE%02d' "$season" "${ep:-1}")
     start=$(grep -in "$sxe" "$PLAYLIST.all" | head -1 | cut -d: -f1)
-    if [ -n "$start" ]; then tail -n +"$start" "$PLAYLIST.all" > "$PLAYLIST"; else cp "$PLAYLIST.all" "$PLAYLIST"; fi
+    if [ -n "$start" ]; then
+      tail -n +"$start" "$PLAYLIST.all" > "$PLAYLIST"
+    elif names_season "$(basename "$showdir")" "$season"; then
+      # Per-season dir with nonstandard episode names — the whole dir IS the
+      # requested season, so start from its beginning.
+      cp "$PLAYLIST.all" "$PLAYLIST"
+    else
+      rm -f "$PLAYLIST.all"
+      die "no $sxe under $(basename "$showdir") — refusing to start the wrong season"
+    fi
   else
     cp "$PLAYLIST.all" "$PLAYLIST"
   fi
@@ -340,7 +366,7 @@ case "$cmd" in
     launch "$PLAYLIST"; echo "playing $n item(s)" ;;
   play-show)
     [ $# -ge 1 ] || die "usage: black-tv play-show <query> [season] [episode]"
-    showdir=$(resolve_show "$1") || true
+    showdir=$(resolve_show "$1" "${2:-}") || true
     [ -n "$showdir" ] || die "show not found: $1"
     build_show_playlist "$showdir" "${2:-}" "${3:-}"
     n=$(wc -l < "$PLAYLIST")
diff --git a/mcp/src/blacktv/tools.ts b/mcp/src/blacktv/tools.ts
index f1882aa..c55691d 100644
--- a/mcp/src/blacktv/tools.ts
+++ b/mcp/src/blacktv/tools.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export const BLACKTV_TOOLS = [
   },
   {
     name: "black_play_show",
-    description: "Play a show on black's TV. Resolves a show directory under black's local library (tv/cartoons/anime) by case-insensitive substring, builds an ordered playlist (preferring a 1080p release when several exist), and plays it through to the end. Brings up the display driver automatically. NOTE: the TV must be powered on physically — there is no HDMI-CEC.",
+    description: "Play a show on black's TV. Resolves a show directory under black's local library (tv/cartoons/anime) by case-insensitive substring, builds an ordered playlist (preferring a 1080p release when several exist), and plays it through to the end. When a show is stored as one directory per season, a requested season selects the directory naming that season (playback then covers that season); if the requested season can't be located, the call errors instead of starting the wrong season. Brings up the display driver automatically. NOTE: the TV must be powered on physically — there is no HDMI-CEC.",
     inputSchema: {
       type: "object" as const,
       properties: {