Brainmelter, Cabot, Peak, Classic Josh Duggan Brainmelter, Cabot, Peak, Classic Josh Duggan

Episode 235: A Helicopter Parent of the Most Self-Defeating Order (S3E22 Competence)

In an unprecedented turn in the annals of Munch My Benson history, this installment of SVU from Season 3 is simultaneously the standard bearer for representation of a marginalized and underrepresented subset of our population and one of the starkest examples of why it's always best to choose an actor who's a representative of that segment of the population. When given the choice to cast two characters with Down syndrome, they chose an accomplished actress with Down syndrome and an actor who'd later be the top-billed star of prestige dramas for her love interest. The results were something that needs to be seen to be believed.

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Episode 221: Can Credits Just Roll in Very Slo-Mo? (S20E2 Man Down)

Picking up where we left off in MMB 219, we had a SUPER bad dad who was just found not guilty of ummm, SAing his son to show him what a real man is. The Munchie Boys were left to wonder what fresh hell awaited them upon returning to this foul ground in a second part that seemed unnecessary, and this one did not disappoint in terms of exceeding their already low expectations. There are bad episodes of SVU, and then there's this week's installment, which achieves lows hitherto reached only once before.

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Episode 187: Like, We’re Asking If It’s Racist Against Midwesterners (S20E7 Caretaker)

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.

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Cabot, Brainmelter Josh Duggan Cabot, Brainmelter Josh Duggan

Episode 173: Pant-Suit Connie Is Coming for You, Bro (S2E11 Abuse)

Young Hayden Panettiere melted our brains this week, as we were forced to watch the origin story of the teenage girl we saw doing some pretty, pretty, pretty bad things back in MMB 16, where we watched the Season 6 all-timer "Hooked." After seeing how bad her parents are in this week's episode, it's not hard to see why the Birmingham call-back might end up being too mundane for this deeply damaged girl. There’s quite a bit of disturbing child acting and costume choices to unpack, along with a wild scene for a 10-year-old’s birthday party that left Adam and Josh breathlessly pinballing between the psychedelically mismatched celebrants and odd art department choices.

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Episode 161: Bring Mother Her Juice, She’s Parched (S12E18 Bully)

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.

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