Pre-flight Prep, A Pod for the Ma'am — The Reality Cut

The exact same intelligence as The Brief — the China and Taiwan power structures, the military purge, the divided legislature, the strategist working the seams — costumed as a reality-TV season. China is a Big Brother house where the Head of Household keeps evicting his own alliance until only two players are left. Taiwan is a Love Island villa where three parties can't couple up, the kingmaker's in isolation, and the biggest public dumping in history somehow eliminated nobody. Still honest, still sourced; just staged so a busy program manager will actually stay awake to the parts that matter — flagged, straight, when they do.