Responding to a grisly crime scene, the Unit are called upon to investigate the murders of a father, daughter, and son, who were stabbed a bunch of times while they slept in their Upper West Side brownstone. As the case unfolds, a team of SVUs who've literally seen every horrible thing known to humankind, act shocked that a mother could murder her whole damn family to protect them from descending into the middle class.

Along the way, the Munchie Boys encounter characters who've been established for many years acting in ways that they wouldn't, fake NASCAR fandom, and a very bad mom/lawyer. Oh, and the episode forces one of them to do a particularly disturbing Google search for the umpteenth time in the history of this podcast.

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.

The power brokers in New York Law Enforcement and the Catholic Church seem to be in cahoots as they end up in SVU's crosshairs. Why might these powerful men be under investigation? Oh, they just appear to be trafficking teen girls from St. Fabiola's to their closed-door sex parties featuring a slew of city employees who will gladly abuse their power to turn the tables and go after Tucker and the SVUs hot on their trail. By the end of the first part of this compelling two-parter, bodies have dropped, careers are in jeopardy, and acting and accent choices put an otherwise high-quality episode in dire straits.

This week the Munchie Boys travel back into the Pre-History of SVU, before it knew what it was but when it definitely knew what it wanted to be: salacious, outrageous, and just a little bit pervy. "Stocks & Bondage" marked the show's first dalliances into the world of BDSM, and it wastes little time getting weird as hell. So come along for the ride, and get familiar with The Human Ashtray, comely leather salespeople who seem to have an interest in Cassidy (and who Cassidy is decidedly into), and Tennesseans who should never have been let out of the state. And if we're talking finance, as the episode's title implies, you know things are going to get pretty dark in this one, so strap on--I mean, strap in.

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!

This week, the Randomizer (thanks, Flett) blessed us with an unforgettable episode of Law & Order SVU ("Unorthodox" S9E13). 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!

Has your edging fetish turned you from a respectable snitch into a radical eco-terrorist? Are you curious about the lengths Law and Order: SVU would go to torture the poor extras whose unheralded and underpaid work transforms a film set into a living vibrant world? Are you dying to know what Medical Examiner Warner did during her year in Paris? For the answers to these questions, plus tips on how to decorate your anarchist bookstore, tune in to this week's Munch My Benson where we break down "Informed" (Season 8, Episode 1), which sees Olivia Benson screw up a rape case so badly that she ends up being forced by an implausibly accented Marcia Gay Harden to live with a bunch of bomb-throwing hippies for nearly three months. Please rate and review the podcast, and thanks so much for listening!