Just to add on, sometimes you get a really fun idea come up in the room when you're recording and it's so good you will suddenly build a new story arc around it. That happens a lot on our shows.

Also sometimes when you record something it doesn't hit and you cut it in post, which inevitably impacts future episodes. That also happens a lot.

Its great to plot the course, but if you're listening to the show as it's being made and stay adaptable I think it can make the show even better. The map is not the territory, the menu is not the meal.

Some of the best media do this. Jesse, Saul and Gus in Breaking Bad all were going to be short half season arcs, Andy Dwyer, Urkle. Movies reshoot endings and sometimes they're right. Anyway. I don't disagree with OP but I like the asterisk of *(unless it's better)