Comparing vlc to a home theater setup is laughable at best.

Can vlc scrape Metadata and download art? Can I browse my catalog through vlc? Does it work with my remote? How hard is it to get to the next episode when watching a season?

Vlc is great, but it's just a player.

> Can vlc scrape Metadata and download art?

yes

> Can I browse my catalog through vlc?

yes

> Does it work with my remote?

if you got a remote that connects to your pc, yes. there are quite a few of these around, especially if you buy a microserver or similar.

> How hard is it to get to the next episode when watching a season?

pretty easy.. actually, its imo way easier than anywhere else, as you can always use a wireless keyboard/mouse and just jump around

VLC can even cast to a chromecast device and serve its content to TVs if you want that

most of that needs to be enabled through the settings though.

VLC has a lot of features, but it doesn't offer a 10 foot interface at all. Expecting to use the desktop interface in a home theater setup is ridiculous.

I think Kodi is closer to what you're looking for