diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Carousel.tsx b/frontend/src/components/Carousel.tsx
index 31834026..46f4affa 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Carousel.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Carousel.tsx
@@ -77,8 +77,10 @@ export function Carousel({
 
   const label = ariaLabel ?? (typeof title === "string" ? title : undefined);
 
+  // Mouse-only: hidden until the carousel is hovered or the arrow is keyboard-focused; `reveal-hover`
+  // removes it on touch, where the strip scrolls by swipe — so an invisible edge button never eats a tap.
   const arrowBtn =
-    "absolute top-1/2 -translate-y-1/2 z-10 grid h-9 w-9 place-items-center rounded-full " +
+    "reveal-hover absolute top-1/2 -translate-y-1/2 z-10 grid h-9 w-9 place-items-center rounded-full " +
     "bg-black/55 text-white backdrop-blur-xs border border-white/15 shadow-lg transition " +
     "opacity-0 group-hover/car:opacity-100 focus-visible:opacity-100 hover:bg-black/75";
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/PlayerModal.tsx b/frontend/src/components/PlayerModal.tsx
index 77adbcab..67ca30ad 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/PlayerModal.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/PlayerModal.tsx
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import {
 import Avatar from "./Avatar";
 import AddToPlaylist from "./AddToPlaylist";
 import { PopoverSurface, useAnchoredPopover } from "./AnchoredPopover";
-import { pushLayer, removeLayer, anyLayerAbove } from "../lib/layerStack";
+import { pushLayer, removeLayer, anyLayerAbove, escapeHandled } from "../lib/layerStack";
 import DownloadButton from "./DownloadButton";
 import { api, type Video, type VideoStatus } from "../lib/api";
 import type { YTPlayer } from "../lib/youtube";
@@ -337,7 +337,10 @@ export default function PlayerModal({
       if (e.key === "Escape") {
         // Defer to any layer opened above the player FIRST (a Modal like the download dialog, or an
         // anchored popover): it takes the Escape and we do nothing — so we don't also step out of
-        // maximise or close the player underneath it.
+        // maximise or close the player underneath it. The consumed-event flag is the reliable signal
+        // (UX-8): the layer's `document` listener runs before ours and its close can pop it off the
+        // stack synchronously, so `anyLayerAbove` alone would miss it and close the player too.
+        if (escapeHandled(e)) return;
         if (layerIdRef.current != null && anyLayerAbove(layerIdRef.current)) return;
         // In fullscreen, let the browser's Esc exit fullscreen only — don't also close the modal.
         if (fullscreenElement()) return;
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/PlexPlayer.tsx b/frontend/src/components/PlexPlayer.tsx
index 1fe3eef3..76a7d8de 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/PlexPlayer.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/PlexPlayer.tsx
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ import { LS, useAccountPersistedObject } from "../lib/storage";
 import { useDismiss } from "../lib/useDismiss";
 import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 import { useBackToClose } from "../lib/history";
-import { pushLayer, removeLayer, anyLayerAbove } from "../lib/layerStack";
+import { pushLayer, removeLayer, anyLayerAbove, escapeHandled } from "../lib/layerStack";
 
 // The rich info overlay (poster/cast/ratings) reuses the same component as the card's info page.
 const PlexInfo = lazy(() => import("./PlexInfo"));
@@ -602,7 +602,10 @@ export default function PlexPlayer({ itemId, onClose, queue }: Props) {
         case "Escape":
           // Defer to any layer opened above the player (Modal or anchored popover) — let it take the
           // Escape, not us. A player MENU registers as a layer too, so it closes first and the next
-          // Escape reaches the auto-skip-cancel below (the old blanket-stopPropagation bug).
+          // Escape reaches the auto-skip-cancel below (the old blanket-stopPropagation bug). Check the
+          // consumed-event flag first (UX-8): a layer's `document` listener runs before this `window`
+          // one and its close can pop it off the stack synchronously, so `anyLayerAbove` alone misses it.
+          if (escapeHandled(e)) break;
           if (layerIdRef.current != null && anyLayerAbove(layerIdRef.current)) break;
           if (skipProgressRef.current != null) cancelAutoSkipRef.current();
           else if (menuOpenRef.current) {
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/VideoCard.tsx b/frontend/src/components/VideoCard.tsx
index f4b40dab..e502722c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/VideoCard.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/VideoCard.tsx
@@ -262,9 +262,12 @@ function Thumb({
           <Bookmark className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
         </span>
       )}
-      {/* Hover overlay: Play everywhere; Continue + Restart once the video is in progress. */}
+      {/* Hover overlay: Play everywhere; Continue + Restart once the video is in progress. Mouse-only:
+          reveal on hover AND on keyboard focus-within (else a Tab-focused button is invisible), and
+          `reveal-hover` drops it entirely on touch — the card tap already plays/resumes there, so a
+          permanent dark scrim over every mobile thumbnail (and an invisible tap target) is not wanted. */}
       {onOpen && (
-        <div className="absolute inset-0 flex items-center justify-center gap-2 bg-black/45 opacity-0 group-hover:opacity-100 transition-opacity">
+        <div className="absolute inset-0 flex items-center justify-center gap-2 bg-black/45 opacity-0 group-hover:opacity-100 group-focus-within:opacity-100 transition-opacity reveal-hover">
           {inProgress ? (
             <>
               <button
diff --git a/frontend/src/index.css b/frontend/src/index.css
index 78ec681a..ca02eb27 100644
--- a/frontend/src/index.css
+++ b/frontend/src/index.css
@@ -581,6 +581,16 @@ body {
   .reveal-idle {
     display: none;
   }
+  /* Sibling of `.reveal` for a MOUSE-ONLY hover-reveal: unlike `.reveal` (shown at rest on touch),
+     a `.reveal-hover` control is removed entirely on a device that can't hover, so it is never an
+     invisible tap/Tab target. Pair it with the site's own `opacity-0 group-hover:… group-focus-within:…`
+     (which still governs the hover + keyboard case). For a full-card/edge affordance whose action is
+     already reachable on touch another way — VideoCard's play overlay (tapping the card plays/resumes)
+     and the Carousel arrows (swiping scrolls the strip) — where a permanent scrim/edge button is not
+     wanted. Group-agnostic (encodes only the touch removal), so it works under any `.group`/`group\/…`. */
+  .reveal-hover {
+    display: none;
+  }
 }
 
 /* Dark mode: the ambient accent pools are faint over a near-black bg, so the docked frosted
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/layerStack.dom.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/layerStack.dom.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ec3e5ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/layerStack.dom.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+//
+// Guards the UX-8 fix: one Escape must close only the TOPMOST layer, never both an open popover AND
+// the player beneath it. The bug was that the popover's Escape listener (on `document`) fires before
+// the player's (on `window`), and closing the popover flushes its layer off the stack synchronously —
+// so by the time the player's `anyLayerAbove()` lookup runs, the stack already reads "nothing above"
+// and the player closes too. The fix stamps the shared KeyboardEvent when a layer acts; the player
+// reads the stamp instead of the (now-mutated) stack. This test reproduces that exact ordering with
+// the stack primitives — the layer removes itself between the two listeners, mimicking the flush.
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from "vitest";
+import {
+  pushLayer,
+  removeLayer,
+  anyLayerAbove,
+  isTopmost,
+  markEscapeHandled,
+  escapeHandled,
+} from "./layerStack";
+
+// Keep the module-level stack clean between cases (ids never repeat, but membership must not leak).
+const opened: number[] = [];
+function open(): number {
+  const id = pushLayer();
+  opened.push(id);
+  return id;
+}
+afterEach(() => {
+  while (opened.length) removeLayer(opened.pop()!);
+});
+
+describe("layerStack Escape coordination (UX-8)", () => {
+  it("a player defers even when the acting layer is popped mid-dispatch", () => {
+    const playerId = open();
+    const popoverId = open();
+    const playerClose = vi.fn();
+
+    // Popover: the `document` listener from useLayer — topmost acts, stamps the event, and (the
+    // regression) its close synchronously removes the layer before the window listener runs.
+    const onDocumentKey = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
+      if (e.key === "Escape" && isTopmost(popoverId)) {
+        markEscapeHandled(e);
+        removeLayer(popoverId); // the synchronous React flush the real close triggers
+      }
+    };
+    // Player: the `window` listener — fires AFTER the document one, reading an already-mutated stack.
+    const onWindowKey = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
+      if (e.key !== "Escape") return;
+      if (escapeHandled(e)) return; // the fix
+      if (anyLayerAbove(playerId)) return; // the old, now-insufficient guard
+      playerClose();
+    };
+
+    const e = new KeyboardEvent("keydown", { key: "Escape" });
+    onDocumentKey(e);
+    onWindowKey(e);
+
+    // The stamp holds even though the stack no longer shows a layer above the player...
+    expect(escapeHandled(e)).toBe(true);
+    expect(anyLayerAbove(playerId)).toBe(false); // ...which is exactly why anyLayerAbove alone failed
+    expect(playerClose).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("a plain Escape with no layer above still closes the player", () => {
+    const playerId = open();
+    const playerClose = vi.fn();
+
+    const e = new KeyboardEvent("keydown", { key: "Escape" });
+    if (!escapeHandled(e) && !anyLayerAbove(playerId)) playerClose();
+
+    expect(playerClose).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+  });
+
+  it("stamps are per-event: a fresh Escape is not treated as already-handled", () => {
+    const first = new KeyboardEvent("keydown", { key: "Escape" });
+    markEscapeHandled(first);
+    const second = new KeyboardEvent("keydown", { key: "Escape" });
+    expect(escapeHandled(second)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/layerStack.ts b/frontend/src/lib/layerStack.ts
index d0380824..2ac0057b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/layerStack.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/layerStack.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,23 @@ export function anyLayerAbove(id: number): boolean {
   return i !== -1 && i < stack.length - 1;
 }
 
+// UX-8 — a layer that ACTS on an Escape stamps the event here; a lower layer with its own key handler
+// (the players, listening on `window`) reads the stamp instead of re-reading the stack. This closes
+// the "one Escape closes BOTH the popover and the player" bug: the popover's Escape listener is on
+// `document` and fires before the player's on `window` (bubble order), and closing the popover flushes
+// its layer off the stack synchronously — so by the time the player's `anyLayerAbove()` runs, the stack
+// already reads "nothing above" and the player ALSO closes. Tagging the one shared KeyboardEvent object
+// (every listener in a single dispatch is handed the same instance) is immune to that mid-dispatch
+// mutation; `anyLayerAbove` stays as the fallback for a layer above with no Escape handler of its own.
+// WeakSet so a spent event is GC'd without a manual sweep.
+const handledEscapes = new WeakSet<KeyboardEvent>();
+export function markEscapeHandled(e: KeyboardEvent): void {
+  handledEscapes.add(e);
+}
+export function escapeHandled(e: KeyboardEvent): boolean {
+  return handledEscapes.has(e);
+}
+
 /** Register an open layer for as long as `active` is true, and get live predicates to read inside your
  *  own key handler. Pass `onEscape` to also install a topmost-only Escape listener (the common case —
  *  modals, popovers). Omit it for a layer that owns a bigger key handler and only needs `anyAbove()`
@@ -57,7 +74,12 @@ export function useLayer(
     let onKey: ((e: KeyboardEvent) => void) | undefined;
     if (escRef.current) {
       onKey = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
-        if (e.key === "Escape" && isTopmost(id)) escRef.current?.();
+        if (e.key === "Escape" && isTopmost(id)) {
+          // Stamp BEFORE closing so a player's `window` listener (fires after this `document` one)
+          // sees the Escape as consumed even though closing us pops this layer off the stack.
+          markEscapeHandled(e);
+          escRef.current?.();
+        }
       };
       document.addEventListener("keydown", onKey);
     }