Episode 123: Not as Stiffed as Charmaine Was (S16E16 December Solstice)
What happens when SVU drops a fading Norman Mailer analog into a Ripped-from-the-Headlines family drama with his daughters pitted against his new wife, who the daughters think is sending dear ol' dad to an early grave by way of force-fed Viagra? Rectal probe electroejaculation and lewd talk of stiff, varnished eels, obviously.
Episode 122: Bikram Bong Rip Class (S16E22 Parents' Nightmare)
We see what happens when a bad mom and a dad with a ludicrously bad plan to snap her out of her bad mom-ness get together to ensure that their loving and sweet 8-year-old boy will suffer in the foster care system for the next 10 years of his life. Along the way we meet a lovable homeless man and an oft-interrupted yoga class, and we learn about Adam's hot life and Josh's cat-like reflexes. Munch away!
Episode 81: Nina’s Grinding So Hard on Carisi’s Joint Here (S16E15 Undercover Mother)
Mere weeks after covering its successor in the Baby Doe Parentage Saga, the Randomizer selected “Undercover Mother” (Season 16, Episode 15) for the Munchie Boys to cover. Undercover Mother is frankly an insufficient moniker to give this episode, as another mother goes undercover for our undercover mother, along with most of the rest of the Unit. Insanity reins supreme as SVU’s undercover op interferes with Declan Murphy’s own undercover op, one in which he’s working on taking down the brutal Johnny D but not without showing that he’s in so deep that he’s basically a human trafficker himself. We talk the careers of Lili Taylor and Donal Logue, the history of the defunct Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, Eric Adams’s purported sleep schedule, SVU’s love for undercover ops, and much, much more.
Episode 75: Amaro Nips Out on a Gurney (S16E23 Surrendering Noah)
The Randomizer has thrown the Munchies Boys into the deep end this week, thrusting them into the sixth staggered installment of a sex-trafficking saga centered around Noah’s father and a ragtag crew of severely traumatized sex workers—”Surrendering Noah” (SVU S16E23). Here, there’s a ton to unpack. How do they keep Baby Doe calm? Why did they slam Elliot at the end of the episode? Why did both Benson and Amaro think he’d be a good candidate for Sergeant? Buckle up, kiddos, it’s another wild ride, and this one has Nick Amaro riding off into the sunset after suiciding-by-cop Noah’s monster dad.
Episode 65: That’s How You Get Throat Gonorrhea, Kids (S16E19 Granting Immunity)
This week’s selection is Law & Order: SVU’s swipe at the anti-vax movement—“Granting Immunity” (S16E19)—which puts the vulnerable Baby Doe in the path of a measles outbreak spawned by the casual dismissal of science by rich dick Tribeca parents who clearly know more than epidemiologists and have conspired to circumvent New York’s mandated vaccinations for all students. This leads the Munchie Boys to investigate just what started this anti-vax MMR-causes-autism nonsense that’s since metastasized in much more widespread and nefarious ways. Don’t worry, there’s also plenty of fun to be had, including (but not limited to) the virtues of Susie Essman, the horrors of opening montage music, the hilarious inappropriateness of filmed teenage sex parties, and the watercooler TV-watching habits of the dedicated detectives of the Special Victims Unit. Is this the scariest episode of SVU in Munchstory? Only one way to find out.
Episode 64: It Looks Like He Came Straight from His Job as Future Cop at the Bondage Club (S16E17 Parole Violations)
The Randomizer gave Josh the gift of a lifetime—an SVU featuring beloved Patriot alum Michael Chernus as Carisi’s BIL-to-be. “Parole Violations” (S16E17) is the rare episode where we get a fair amount of main character backstory that works. This is a fun one where Chernus’s Tommy Sullivan is being forced to bone his parole officer while his pregnant fiancée (Carisi’s sister, Bella, played by Marin Ireland) is buying enormous, infant-inappropriate teddy bears and getting sonograms. As always, rabbit holes are ventured down, with time spent discussing the physiological functions of junkie junk, the college and pizza scene in Utica, and Staten Island cannoli. And, obviously, Patriot factors heavily into this episode.
Episode 20: Wherein SVU Prophesies The Future... Of Tom Hanks's Filmography (S16E6 Glasgowman’s Wrath)
Adam and Josh rolled the dice this week, and the dice gave them "Glasgowman's Wrath" (season 16, episode 6), which might be the only Halloween episode in the SVU catalogue. Who or what is a Glasgowman? Why is he wrathful? Is it GGG to act out a violent tawdry rape fantasy in a public space? How does any of this pertain to legendary plane crasher Sully Sullenberg? Take a (not 500 mile) walk with us as we breakdown this particularly bizarre example of the modern police procedural.