diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 851eb439e..2419bb1f6 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -618,6 +618,14 @@ This project uses modern Angular signal-based APIs and patterns. **ALWAYS** use
 - External players: MPV, VLC (via IPC to Electron backend)
 - Embedded MPV (experimental, macOS/Windows/Linux): renders mpv video inside the Electron window through a native addon. macOS uses the libmpv render API in an `NSOpenGLView`; Windows uses in-process libmpv with `--wid` against an app-owned child `HWND`; Linux spawns an out-of-process `mpv --wid=<x11-window>` controlled over a JSON IPC socket (X11/XWayland only, requires system `mpv` on PATH; subtitles/speed/aspect/recording are not exported there). mpv's own screensaver inhibition does not apply to any of these paths, so `EmbeddedMpvNativeService` holds an Electron `powerSaveBlocker` (`prevent-display-sleep`) whenever any session's status is `playing`, and releases it on pause, dispose, or shutdown. Service: `apps/electron-backend/src/app/services/embedded-mpv-native.service.ts`; full architecture: `docs/architecture/embedded-mpv-native.md`.
 
+**VOD/Series Detail Pages (two-state layout)**:
+
+- Xtream and Stalker detail pages use the shared `PortalDetailShellComponent` (`libs/ui/components/src/lib/portal-detail-shell/`) with two states: **Browse** (hero with poster/metadata/actions, episodes below) and **Watch** (hero collapses with a ~300ms morph, the inline player takes the full content width, metadata moves to an About block below the episodes)
+- Watch state derives from `inlinePlayback() !== null` only; external MPV/VLC playback keeps the browse layout. Esc and the now-playing back button close the inline player back to browse without route navigation
+- Hosts pass hero chips/meta/actions as `*detailTags`/`*detailMeta`/`*detailActions` templates; the shell stamps them into both the hero and the About block
+- Seasons are tabs (`SeasonTabsComponent`, dropdown beyond 6 seasons) with auto-selection (playing episode's season → resume season → first) that fires the same `seasonSelected` lazy-load/enrichment hooks as manual clicks; grid/list episode view toggle persists to localStorage; season descriptions come from `get_series_info` (Xtream) or TMDB (Stalker)
+- See `docs/architecture/embedded-inline-playback.md` ("Two-State Detail Layout")
+
 **Radio Player**:
 
 - Dedicated audio player for channels with `radio="true"` M3U attribute
diff --git a/docs/architecture/embedded-inline-playback.md b/docs/architecture/embedded-inline-playback.md
index 8d53a7051..88ef2a9d8 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/embedded-inline-playback.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/embedded-inline-playback.md
@@ -82,8 +82,60 @@ Current limitation:
 - because of that, the setting is auto-sanitized back to the default inline player unless support detection reports that the experimental runtime is available
 - this follows the rollout gate: keep the native work in-tree, but do not leave it user-facing until playback, resize, focus, and packaging are stable
 
+## Two-State Detail Layout (Browse ↔ Watch)
+
+Portal VOD/series detail pages are hosted by the shared
+`PortalDetailShellComponent`
+(`libs/ui/components/src/lib/portal-detail-shell/portal-detail-shell.component.ts`),
+which owns the page scroll container and two layout states:
+
+- **Browse** (`playbackActive=false`): the hero (`ContentHeroComponent`,
+  now a natural-height, non-scrolling block) renders poster, title, chips,
+  description, credits, and actions. Episodes render below.
+- **Watch** (`playbackActive=true`, bound by hosts to
+  `inlinePlayback() !== null`): the hero collapses (~300ms CSS morph,
+  disabled under `prefers-reduced-motion`), the host-projected
+  `[detail-player]` slot renders the inline player at full content width,
+  and the shell renders an About block (`ContentAboutComponent`) below the
+  `[detail-episodes]` slot so the hero metadata stays reachable.
+
+Contracts:
+
+- Hosts provide hero chips/meta/actions as `*detailTags` / `*detailMeta` /
+  `*detailActions` templates; the shell stamps them into the hero and again
+  into the About block. Degradation stays "missing → not rendered".
+- The shell never wraps the `[detail-player]` slot in a conditional; the
+  host's `@if (inlinePlayback())` is the only creator/destroyer of the
+  player subtree, so shell state changes cannot recreate the `<video>`.
+- **External MPV/VLC sessions do not flip the layout to watch** — browse
+  layout stays, and the primary CTA keeps its "Stop <player>" behavior.
+- Escape closes inline playback: the shell emits `closePlayerRequested`
+  when playback is active, the event was not `defaultPrevented`, and no
+  element is in browser fullscreen; hosts wire it to `closeInlinePlayer()`.
+- The inline player's now-playing bar has a back button that emits the
+  existing `closed` output — in watch state, back returns to browse, it
+  does not navigate the route.
+- Entering watch scrolls the shell to the top; leaving keeps the scroll
+  position.
+
+Season navigation inside `SeasonContainerComponent` uses season tabs
+(`SeasonTabsComponent`; a dropdown beyond 6 seasons) instead of the old
+seasons-grid + "Back to seasons" level. A season is auto-selected
+(inline-playing episode's season → most recently updated in-progress
+episode's season → first) and the auto-selection emits `seasonSelected`,
+so host lazy-load/enrichment hooks (Stalker VOD-series episode fetch,
+TMDB season fetch, Xtream `enrichSelectedSerialSeason`) fire on open
+without a click. Switching tabs never stops playback; a "back to playing
+episode" chip appears when the playing episode is outside the opened
+season. Season descriptions come from `get_series_info` seasons (Xtream)
+or `TmdbEnrichmentService.getSeason` (Stalker).
+
 ## Components
 
+Shared detail layout shell:
+
+- `/Users/4gray/Code/iptvnator/libs/ui/components/src/lib/portal-detail-shell/portal-detail-shell.component.ts`
+
 Shared inline player shell:
 
 - `/Users/4gray/Code/iptvnator/libs/ui/playback/src/lib/portal-inline-player/portal-inline-player.component.ts`
diff --git a/docs/architecture/portal-detail-navigation.md b/docs/architecture/portal-detail-navigation.md
index 7aaf3420c..68ded27f2 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/portal-detail-navigation.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/portal-detail-navigation.md
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ Related:
 
 - Xtream category browsing uses a route-first detail model.
 - Stalker uses an inline/store-state detail model.
+- Detail pages themselves are two-state (browse ↔ watch) inside
+  `PortalDetailShellComponent`; entering/leaving watch is a layout state,
+  not a navigation. Route-level back semantics are unchanged; the
+  watch-state back button only closes the inline player. See
+  [Embedded Inline Playback](./embedded-inline-playback.md).
 - Favorites and recently viewed collections now use collection-owned inline detail
   for non-live Xtream and Stalker items.
 - Provider-scoped collection routes fall back to the matching global collection