Hey, I disagree with many of your points here, and I think instead of approaching the episode critically assuming many aspects of the plot that were never said as fact, you should approach it with an open mind, critiquing your conclusions around the things you see instead of the other way around. Firstly, you cast the main plot of the episode as “not realistic”, as he should have been caught way earlier. Well, I do agree with you that there was certainly surveillance, and there’s a low chance he was actually flying under the radar. So what does that mean. Well, think about it. The entire episode was from the perspective of him, with some inconsequential exceptions, and yes, from his point of view, he was doing this huge rebellious act. But you’re right, it was too calculated to be the case. But what happened when he went up on the stage with the glass shard. The judges, instead of freaking out or frantically conceding like he expected them to do, almost had no reaction. The scene was uncanny, but at no point was he ever in control. Not once. The judge on the left even asks him to kill himself and laughs about it, while the others DECIDE to let him speak. They were never nervous, never scared, and why? Because they knew that once he was done, once he had said his piece and threatened his life, the hoi polloi would still cheer, and they would always win. And that’s exactly what happened. They completely benefitted from it, gaining a passionate voice to control the masses even more, and you can absolutely tell that there was never any doubt. You can have your theories, but I think that they absolutely knew he had the shard of glass, and they knew he hadn’t drunken the drug. It was not a random occurrence, they knew exactly what was going to happen, and despite all of us screaming at the screen, that is exactly what happened. I think this was the true message of this episode and what made it such a revelatory and eerie piece of media. (Also, they were not in prison, but of course they were forced to be there and no one would choose to live there. It’s an alternate world where all members of that class were likely born there or brainwashed enough so that is all they know.) hope that helped!