Another Paternity Leave Installment, and this time we're going with a pretty famous double-ripped-from-the-headlines episode.

We at Munch My Benson like to go off on tangents, and the intellectual fuel provided by "American Tragedy" (S15E3) propelled us pretty far out there. We learn about old New York when it was still basically New Amsterdam; we break down Cybill Shepherd's accent as it wavers in and out of caricature; we delve into the Trayvon Martin and Paula Deen cases from whose headlines this episode was ripped; we learn about John Cougar Mellencamp's extended family; and, we definitely talk about whether or not it's socially acceptable to deck a bald man in the middle of the night on a lonely street corner. Enjoy!

Another Paternity Leave Installment, and with an episode title like this, you know it was bound for a return to the public feed.

This week, the Randomizer blessed us with an unforgettable episode of Law & Order SVU (S9E13 Unorthodox). It starts with an absolute bang and then careens madly between isolationist ultra-orthodox Jewish sects and porn-addicted preteens. Of course, we Munchers go even further afield as we question the existence of an upper peninsula, rank our favorite ape films, and uncover the supernatural engine that powers Casey Novak's courtroom success. This is truly an episode worth savoring. Enjoy!

Another Paternity Leave Installment, and we're turning to an episode where we spoke at length about an issue that's particularly germane to what's happening now.

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.

Another Paternity Leave Installment, and we're whipping one out that was ripped from the headlines...

Well, kids, we’ve got ourselves a very special Barbasode, complete with a super fun headline rip. This week’s episode of SVU? Season 15, Episode 8, “October Surprise.” The inspiration? Anthony Damn Weiner. Needless to say, there is TONS to talk about, like how likely is it that a mayoral candidate’s foot-jobbing side-piece would get shipped off to work for the Israeli Labor Party and how likely is it that said side-piece killed said political party? What would your Anthony Weiner alter ego name be? What should have won Best Picture in 1938? The answers to these and so many more burning questions can be had within the run of this installment.

I know all there is to know about the SVU. I've had my share of the SVU. First there's a body, then there are slurs. And then, before you know where you are, you're saying Dick Wolf.

Once again, we meet a trans character who is placed in the middle of a brutal scene, and the usual ham-fisted SVU shenanigans ensue. Buckle up, kids!

The rape of a woman just outside her apartment building frays the social fabric of New York, when so many of her neighbors saw something happen, but none of them took action to help or even notify the police. This being a season 17 SVU, one can't help but notice the racism bubbling very close to the surface in the portrayal of the 3 bad teens who assaulted her, and of the urbane Lower Manhattanites who refused to notice a damsel in distress. We, of course, were more interested in which East Village coffeeshops allow the open sale of ketamine inside during business hours, and why Adam never visited during his time there. We also meet a magical drunk man on the witness stand, and a Carisi unlike any we've seen before.

The Randomizer finally gifted the Munchies with a Season 11 Stablersode, and in classic fashion, our beloved, bechiseled-butt-cheeks boy takes an already convoluted mess of a case, and thoroughly Fs it in the B. Here we see a karate-loving ponzi schemer get off on rubbing out his accountants whenever the market takes a downturn, before passing the episode's baton to his attorney who might have protected her client's confidentiality but certainly did not protect his person.

When the Randomizer chose an SVU featuring one of the Munchie Boys' all-time favorite actors (Ian McShane) as the Harvey-Weinstein-esque heel in Warren Leight's triumphant return to showrunnerdom, we were understandably excited. While McShane shines, certain choices by said showrunner leave the boys baffled and wishing for what might (should?) have been.

The first episode back from lockdown and the tumultuous summer of 2020 has our SVUs grappling with their own existence. Can they reckon with the role they've played in the realm of copaganda? Can they talk about systemic racism without doing the racism themselves? Can they figure out how to wear masks in the throes of the pandemic? These are questions that the Munchie Boys are forced to answer in this navel-gazing episode of SVU.

Sit back, and try to imagine an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where Olivia Benson, be she Detective or Sergeant or Lieutenant or Captain, finds herself held captive in a hostage situation. Go ahead. Any scenario that could land her in the middle of a standoff with just her wits (and SWAT standing by) to get her out of the situation.

Now, in that hypothetical situation you concocted in your head, things happened to get her there, right? Well, "Townhouse Incident" presupposes a scenario wherein Liv finds herself in a hostage situation in MINUTE TWO.

Yes, you read that right. The 2:12 mark, in fact. In a show where the first 0:21 is taken up by the intro and title card.

This was our Vietnam.

NYPD officers who've been serving in Afghanistan are getting pretty violent, domestically, and the Unit has to race against a *gasp* journalist to get to the bottom of what's going on in this week's Ripped from the Headlines edition of SVU. The Army are very bad, doctors are huge cowards, and journalists may or may not be bottom feeders in this screed where no cows are sacred and no army wife is safe.

When a Nassau County Cop's awful, investment banker son rapes a woman after a miserable Halloween party next to a pile of disgusting New York City trash bags, you know SVU is getting the call. What you might not expect is that this time, the goose is Benson's former partner, the budget did not account for Halloween, and that the budget also did not account for requiring a script. Along the way, Benson gives such a subtle, loving prison-rape-taunt that you might well miss it, unless your brain is as thoroughly SVU-pilled as ours.

As we race towards the thrilling conclusion of this two-parter, we ponder important questions such as: did SVU throw the Catholic church under the bus in order to curry favor with the location-rich Episcopalians; and, would we watch a Mike Dodds-i-series? We also get to the (power?) bottom of the spicy, ripped-from-the-headlines drama that underpins our favorite interlude from this episode.

Special Guest Star(?) Erika Christensen swoops in from outer spa—er, the FBI to help the Unit find a gruesome serial killer and his likely next victim. Of course, nothing is as it seems and Lake and Benson have to try to figure out what all is amiss in an effort to find said victim. And obviously, the entire time you watch this episode, you wish that this Special Agent Cooper was a better-known Special Agent Cooper and that this one was not making mistakes that Dale Cooper would never make. The weirdness of this SVU also forces Josh and Adam to reckon with what might be the darkest Second Unit shoot in this show’s illustrious history, gets Adam looking into his urban foraging options in Central Park, and diving into the case of The Toy-Box Killer.

This week, SVU investigates the coldest of cold cases while dishing out hot servings of delicious Amanda Rollins fan-service content and heaping portions of Staten Island food. Rollisi come clean, Rolldhun never happens, and Benson meets two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, Jacob DeGrom.

Luscious Grape Distributors--yup, that's the name--seems like a truly awful place to work, if its depiction in SVU's Season 12 gem "Bully" is any indication. As a harrowing journey into abusive workplaces for the first two-thirds of its runtime, the ep succeeds on its own. Then? Well, then there's a turn so shocking, so inventive, and so ingenious that it had Adam and Josh wanting to do a five-season oral history on the making of this single episode of television. This one's got bad bosses, bad moms, and bad coworkers all packed into one delightfully disgusting package.

Imagine a world in which pilots were quasi-celebrities before having performed some heroic feat. No really imagine it. Then imagine a world where the heroic feat they perform to make them even more famous could only have happened because 9/11 must not have happened and a pilot could be left alone in a cockpit, locking the entire flight crew out while she erratically turns the plane around because she doesn't want to be trapped in the cockpit with her rapist. Then imagine that this is all occurring at an airline with a retrograde hypersexualized ad campaign that harks back to the ads for which Dick Wolf was responsible in his ad man days. Because this SVU does all that.

In an episode Adam already covered on his guestisode of the These Are Their Stories Pod, we watched a preposterous reimagining of the various Michael Jackson sexual abuse allegations in which an uber-wealthy toy mogul lures children into his low-rent pirate-themed sex lair to dress them up in precious pajamas and have his way with them. Was it fun? Yes, absolutely. Did it feature enough lemur? Sadly, no.

This week we meet a sex cult based in a mansion located north of Manhattan, so you know we are getting deep into a NXIVM-based, ripped-from-the-headlines SVU. Along the way, we talk knife handling, record collections, elite-level badminton, and extremely high-end security cameras. Also, Rollins is extremely pregnant (again), and this perp can smell the Al Pollack inside of her.

Josh and Adam--both of whom are pretty big fans of Cutty in The Wire--are forced to watch an episode this week where Chad L. Coleman is seen Ray Rice-ing his special lady friend, played by the wonderful Meagan Good. That's not fun to watch, but it's also not fun to watch the SVUs acting against the victim's vehement wishes. It's even less fun to watch after Amaro (who is just back from beating a perp to within an inch of his life) blows up in the opening scene of "Spousal Privilege" (Season 16, Episode 8), making the audience wonder just what qualities in outburst-prone people determine that they get a second chance.

Don't worry, the Munchie Boys also use this episode to revel in RedChanIt, take notice of how many of the SVUs were abused as children, and dive deep into the life of NYC’s first black mayor, David Dinkins, who randomly had two lines in this episode.