Episode 231: Fashion Equals Bad (S1E3 …Or Just Look Like One)
When the dedicated detectives of Season 1 SVU wander into the world of fashion, you can't help but assume the worst is coming. And it is. Fashion is scary, children, and it's especially scary if you're a minor, as our vics find out. There's a ton of peripheral weirdness in this ep, and we discover yet another TV show that's in the larger SVUniverse.
Episode 229: It’s More of a Stain in Heaven (S3E23 Silence)
This one gets all up in the confessional, culminating in a no-holds-barred Catholic-off between Stabler and Father Michael Sweeney (Eric Stoltz--or is it Stolitz?). Red herrings and misdirects abound, and since we're watching an SVU dealing with the Catholic Church, you can assume that some priest were taking some liberties with parishioners of an underage variety. While this one might kick off with some jarring early-season transphobia, it also has a lot of wild fun stuff, and if you weren't paying attention to the priest's name, don't worry, Josh caught it.
Episode 97: I Don’t Like the Idea of Having Ninja Pedophiles Out There—That Scares Me (S12E12 Possessed)
In conjunction with this week's interview with Michelangelo Milano, who plays Patrick Binder, Larissa/Brandy's boyfriend in this episode, we are dropping this classic episode back into the feed. Make sure to listen to Michelangelo's interview which dropped today, and check out his podcast, The Return Slot... Of Horror (YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify).
Wanna hear what happens when an episode breaks the Munchie Boys and their patented SVU-episode scoring system? Well, “Possessed” (Season 12, Episode 12) broke it like the Kool-Aid Man. Next to every other of the 96 episodes they’ve watched so far, this beautiful piece of art had Adam and Josh contemplating some pretty grand concepts like: was Jerry Horne’s Twin Peaks walkabout really a representation of the liminal state at the end of his life where he was just looking for his Brandy? what exactly was contained within the pages of Buzz’s skin mags that Kevin couldn’t wrap his head around in Home Alone? where is the line where we progressives can stomach police brutality? are we seeing the tripartite peak of pedo performance?
If this were a podcast that employed trigger warnings, it’d probably have to get tagged with all of them. Instead, you are advised to hold onto your butts. There is simply an abundance of insanity that’s too fantastic to ignore. Bask in the glow of “Possessed,” listen, and rejoice.
Episode 212: The Load Distance King Of Lancashire (S21E1 I'm Going To Make You A Star)
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.
Episode 186: We Saw Edward James’s Olmos (S8E12 Outsider)
A series of seemingly unconnected rapes forces Fin Tutuola to join forces with a man who never sleeps. A man who knows the precise tenor and pitch of every recycling center's lunch whistle in the city limits. A man who walks. A man named Chester Lake. We also meet our first perpetrator who staffed the Obama White House, and one of the vics totally isn’t Amanda Rollins—she just looks like her, right?
Episode 179: Carisi Chokes Out Another Pedo in the Meat Wagon (S14E13 Monster’s Legacy)
Some very questionable stuntcasting forces the Munchie Boys to wrestle (box?) with Mike Tyson's checkered past while reluctantly acknowledging that he's actually pretty good in this SVU. He's no Andre Braugher--WHO IS ONCE AGAIN INCREDIBLE--but he was pretty effective. Ed Asner's really good at playing a real monster, too. Kind of burying the lede there though because Peter Scanavino pops up in Monster's Legacy, and it's not as Domenick Carisi, so this ep is one helluva brainmelter.
Episode 174: If Anyone Knows What Leather Will Do To A DNA Sample, It’s O’Halloran (S8E17)
A dead, naked male prostitute is found in a cemetery which leads SVU from hell house to Long Island proto-mega church to the responsible brother from Wings to his accountant over the course of the investigation. Hilarity ensues assuredly.
Episode 155: King Sebastian and the Manual Release (S14E7 Vanity’s Bonfire)
You'd think that an SVU centered around Scott Bakula tricking his mistress into putting their love child up for adoption would lend itself to hours of Quantum Leap conversation wondering just how Ziggy and Al let this whole situation get this out of hand, and that definitely happens, but so does a dive into a pretty heinous guest star, who lived through some gnarly trauma and then doled out plenty herself.
Just as important though, this episode emphatically chides parents who have the temerity to try to parent AND use their cell phones at the same time, and makes you wonder how more parents aren't clocking clear pedos at the park. If you ever wanted to know how to artificially inseminate your significant other in the comfort of your own home, Adam tries to tell you while Josh derails the conversation. And both Adam and Josh cry during this episode for very different reasons.
Episode 153: Make ‘Em Space Communists That Are Waiting for Sentient Dolphins to Come Impregnate Us (S4E24 Perfect)
Another SVU, another bizarre cult. This time around, a certifiable quack of the cloning-will-save-humankind-from-the-depleting-ozone-layer variety has an entire organization hornswoggling teen girls with low self-esteem into becoming his own personal baby factories. Don't worry, it's not just non-sexual sex cult action we're dealing with this time around. No, we've got police brandishing their weapons and running hilariously, accents that spin you around, and surprising restraint from a cult leader who seems much more interested in playing God than hide the salami. Of course, talk of claims of human cloning took Adam down a strange rabbit hole into the Raëlians, and there are some wildly unexpected revelations with regards to this week’s guest stars, so there’s a ton of munchy weirdness afoot this week.
Alt episode title this week? Her Mouth Is a Melting Pot.
Episode 151.1 - The We Biffed Sabrina Getting Arrested for Getting an Abortion Addendum with Special Guest Isabel (S9E3 Impulsive)
Sometimes Adam and Josh are idiots. In this instance, they glossed over a PRETTY MAJOR plot point in S9E3 Impulsive because they were bored with how SVU generally deals with abortion, totally missing the VERY PROBLEMATIC moment where the Unit essentially arrests Sabrina the Teenage Witch for aborting her rapist's baby. Thankfully, our Munchie Isabel was there to hold us to account in this bonus convo.
Episode 151: This Is Basically SVU’s Rashomon (S9E3 Impulsive)
This installment of SVU pits very recognizable teacher against an also recognizable student in a he-said-she-gonorrhea'd-me/she-said-he-raped-me exercise in who can we believe for the Unit and the audience. Sure, the teacher is Sabrina/Clarissa, but if we know anything about this show, it's hard to believe the potentially stuntcasted. And, yeah, the kid is basically known for playing quiet lunatics, but they can't both have done it, right? This one's fun AND strains credulity in all the best ways.
Episode 140: It's Sub-Tropical Water Not Dom-Tropical Water (S12E22 Bang)
We let the Munchies pick this week's episode, and by god did they pick an all-timer. Everybody's favorite cool uncle, John Stamos, shines as a reproductive abuser, and Lori Singer is but the most famous of his many, many victims. This one really has everything we here at Munch My Benson are looking for out of this unique series. Thank you for this marvelous choice!
Episode 128: She's Breastfeeding Every Child in the Waiting Room (S7E15 Manipulated)
This episode of SVU is so goddamn fun, guys. Rebecca De Mornay (no, not from the homeless shelter) hatches possibly the most outlandish plot ever devised on network television involving implanted mouth semen and Special Forces assassins, all to ensure that her milquetoast husband only ever has eyes for her. Wild stuff. Obviously there is a TON of stuff to talk about including the 1951 Academy Awards, the unionization of Strip Clubs, Lethal Weapon, the greater Shermerverse, the Bronx Zoo, and the future of this podcast. This is an episode to enjoy with your entire family--provided, of course, that they are down to listen to detailed discussions of the half-life of jizz loads. Special thanks go out to my other favorite Rebecca De Mornay, Sonya Eddy, who has sadly never performed in a Law & Order franchise.
Episode 111: Dylan McKay: Rapist (S10E1 Trials)
IT IS HERE! LUKE PERRY, Y'ALL.
Are you holding onto your butts? Are you ready to have Law & Order: Special Victims Unit lay waste to your childhood? To destroy the sacred bond you shared with THE heartthrob of the '90s? To see the profound damage said heartthrob did to the very recognizable women he violated after leaving the glamorous environs of Beverly Hills?
In what might be the stuntcastiest episode in SVU's storied history, Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) does some pretty bad things to Darlene Conner (Sara Gilbert), Carol Vecsey (Julie Bowen), and our collective innocence. This episode is what started this whole venture back when it little more than a bitchin' name. Yes, via this insane show, Dylan McKay rapes our youth.
Episode 110: It's Not A Gay Cowboy Orgy, Probably... (S11E18 Bedtime)
What this delightful episode of SVU (S11E18 Bedtime) lacks in terms of coherent three-act structure or thoughtful character development is more than made up for by the absolute cavalcade of bonkers plot lines and instantly recognizable famous people. Ann-Margaret justifiably won an Emmy for her turn as the perma-drunk Rita Wills. William Goddamn Atherton plays a petulant serial killer! Morgan Fairchild gets about 30 seconds of screen time! Liv and Elliot get propositioned for a threesome! Theres so much fun in this episode you're going to have to just dive in and revel in the madness.
Episode 104: Did You Put On Your Father's Underwear When You Wanted To Feel Special? (S1E5 Wanderlust)
Well, if you've ever seen a Season 1 SVU, you'll know that the show worked a little differently back then. If you see this episode from Season 1, you'll gain entrance to a world where things are fully upside down. Here we see tan lines in wildly improbably places, sex-positive waitstaff, disgraced pedophiles who blossom as well-intentioned tailors, train-obsessed teens, and, quite possibly, a travel writer with an unspeakably bizarre kink. As if that's not enough weird, we Munchers go even further off script and dive deep into tainted muskrats, Le Corbu furniture, impossible addresses, and the origins of the Garifuna people. Yeah, we go hard in this one people.
Episode 101: Did You See Amaro in that Towel? (S15E22 Reasonable Doubt)
Adam and Josh wrestle with a high-profile headline rip as Reasonable Doubt casts Bradley Whitford as the Woody Allen/Roman Polanski analog in an episode that doesn't do a particularly good job of establishing what its title might suggest it should: Reasonable Doubt. Rollins and Amaro don’t believe women, a faux celebrity couple act out the Woody/Mia divorce virtually note for note, and anti-Tibetan racism runs amok. In other words, SVU still SVUs. Adam looks into the Roman Polanski rape case and the victim and poses the ideal solution for what the US Government should do with the frozen real estate of Russian oligarchs, while Josh wonders whether this episode acts in tandem with the one that follows it in sequence to mete out some revenge on The West Wing. Y’know, Munchie stuff.
Episode 98: His Refractory Period Is in Inverse Proportion to His Height (S17E22 Intersecting Lives)
Hot on the heels of an episode that nearly broke our rating scale, the Munchie Boys watched Part 1 of a two-parter featuring Ray Romano's kooky brother Robert from the hit turn-of-the-century sitcom for olds, Everybody Loves Raymond. Fans of that show will remember that the actor in question, Brad Garrett, is really, REALLY tall. This causes the kind of continuity problems that only SVU can create. We're obviously talking about complex genital geometry problems. We would, of course, be remiss if our discussion stayed on topic, so expect to hear about Chinese New Year, more car talk from Josh, Rikers Island, and Predator.
Episode 97: I Don’t Like the Idea of Having Ninja Pedophiles Out There—That Scares Me (S12E12 Possessed)
Wanna hear what happens when an episode breaks the Munchie Boys and their patented SVU-episode scoring system? Well, “Possessed” (Season 12, Episode 12) broke it like the Kool-Aid Man. Next to every other of the 96 episodes they’ve watched so far, this beautiful piece of art had Adam and Josh contemplating some pretty grand concepts like: was Jerry Horne’s Twin Peaks walkabout really a representation of the liminal state at the end of his life where he was just looking for his Brandy? what exactly was contained within the pages of Buzz’s skin mags that Kevin couldn’t wrap his head around in Home Alone? where is the line where we progressives can stomach police brutality? are we seeing the tripartite peak of pedo performance?
If this were a podcast that employed trigger warnings, it’d probably have to get tagged with all of them. Instead, you are advised to hold onto your butts. There is simply an abundance of insanity that’s too fantastic to ignore. Bask in the glow of “Possessed,” listen, and rejoice.
Episode 88: Kevin Arnold Is a Power Reassurance Rapist (S4E22 Futility)
When The Wonder Years ended almost 30 years ago, no one could have imagined the incredibly dark turn that Kevin Arnold's life would take. Yes, Mr. Arnold's death, Paul's going to Harvard, and Winnie to a long and successful career on the Hallmark Channel were all disturbing outcomes, but this is much worse. This SVU shows little Kevin Arnold beating, raping, and then re-victimizing women across the Upper West Side. This obviously provides tons of fodder for the Munch mill as we dig into a really great episode of television. We talk Jeopardy! prep, our favorite lawyer lover plot twists, and Josh takes us on a particularly unexpected trip through the shenanigans of the Warwick R.I. city council. Enjoy!