Is a popped seam really the end of the world though?

Watched my buddy drag his girlfriend to a showing and she just stared at her phone until the spoon scene, then she finally got it and started laughing. Guess some folks need that one big moment to buy in.

The part about "no brown crumbs in the white frosting" is what gets me, because that is really a texture problem more than a looks problem. When you skip the crumb coat, those loose crumbs get pushed around and end up sitting right at the surface, and then when you drag your spatula over the top coat they tear little ridges into it. So you are not just hiding crumbs, you are giving yourself a smooth base to glide over. I learned this the hard way doing a red velvet cake once, and the frosting looked like it had dirt in it. The other thing nobody mentions is that the crumb coat firms up the whole cake, so the top layer does not slide around while you work. It takes 20 minutes of waiting but saves you 20 minutes of cursing.