The tragedy of population-based registry studies is they are defined by their limitations. The tools are cumbersome, the numbers are immense, and it is easy to get lost in leviathan logistics, misattributing significance and underinterpreting covariable confounders. By avoiding microdissection, Zak and colleagues have elegantly displayed the snapshot, landscape overview that underpins the strengths of database analysis. This unique perspective suggests socioeconomic and ethnic inequity in HCC treatment in California. Surprised?