I feel like putting meta plot at the beginning of the episode makes it harder to enjoy the statements.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the new formatting of the show, but it makes the statements feel intrusive. I was honestly too busy wondering what’s going to happen to Sam to listen to the statement.

Like, in ep 146 of The Magnus Archives, they have the confrontation about Jon feeding on people, which ends with them deciding to go to Hilltop Road, the next episode starts with them at Hilltop Road. There’s not a random statement before the conclusion of the cliffhanger; it’d be like if ep 147 started with Martin reading a statement and then we see how Hilltop Road goes.