Brainmelter, Carisi, Late Josh Duggan Brainmelter, Carisi, Late Josh Duggan

Episode 211: Oh, He Wants to Plumb Her Depths (S23E14 Video Killed The Radio Star)

A shock jock cut from the same cloth as any number of high-profile sexual predators (be they Hollywood execs, former Presidents, or unassuming television hosts) enters the world of SVU, and everyone loses their minds. Or at least forgets how things like logic, character motivations, or professional storytelling would dictate where the episode should go. With plot holes as gaping as the Grand Canyon, this exasperating journey into the world of the undercover triple-crossing faux private eye crime genre will try one's patience while still approaching being fun.

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Episode 180: New York City Sidewalk Juice (S12E19 Bombshell)

***MUNCHIES' CHOICE***

When an older gentleman with a knife sticking out of his junk slumps against a Lexus belonging to the worst parker in Lower Manhattan, the unit embarks on an investigation which leads them into a delightfully well-run swingers club. Liv and Stabler go, possibly, a little too undercover and find themselves at the mercy of a legion of pawing hedonists. This being a Season Twelver, the plot careens wildly from red herring to red herring, but it's fun and saucy throughout. Thanks to our splendid Munchies for picking this as our Munchies' Choice episode this week!

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Brainmelter, Late, Carisisode Josh Duggan Brainmelter, Late, Carisisode Josh Duggan

Episode 149: He’s Basically the Gentrifying Rapist (S17E19 Sheltered Outcasts)

Sonny Carisi gets down and dirty with some pretty gnarly dudes in this week's SVU, which sends dearest Dominick undercover into a shelter populated by paroled sex offenders. One (or more?) of these parolees appears to be raping neighborhood women and the Unit has to figure out who's doing it before Carisi gets beaten to a pulp by meathead vigilantes. Luckily Michael Rapaport is around to save Carisi's bacon once, but is he the guy? This mostly effective episode leaves Carisi wondering aloud if maybe the sex offender registry is unfair when compared to say a murderer who gets out and doesn't have to tell a soul that they cut off someone's head with a dull machete.

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Brainmelter, Rollinsisode, Late Josh Duggan Brainmelter, Rollinsisode, Late Josh Duggan

Episode 145: They’re Wasting No Time in Letting Logue Brogue (S15E17 Gambler’s Fallacy)

If there is an episode of SVU featuring a worse version of Bad Amanda Rollins, the Munchie Boys have yet to come across it. Gambling Amanda gets in Dutch with an improbable art forgery/gambling outfit who use her massive debts to them to get her to be their evidence-disappearing cop on the take. Rollins do so much to warrant her immediate firing that it's shocking she made it another decade past this. More than that, for a solid half-hour, we're left to think she was forced to blow Declan while he's undercover in his first appearance. Dark, bad stuff is afoot, but don't worry, we also take plenty of detours into improbable names paired with nonsensical accents, Logue going full brogue, and how being an art history major from an Ivy makes you immune from the heat.

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Peak, Classic, Brainmelter, Novak Josh Duggan Peak, Classic, Brainmelter, Novak Josh Duggan

Episode 117: I Can’t Imagine What the S&P Call for This Episode Was Like (S7E6 Raw)

Sometimes an SVU really does the racism. Then there's S7E6 Raw, which for an unfathomable 20:51 unfurls bigotry at an astonishing rate--an average of once every 23 seconds. And it doesn't even start until past the 16-minute mark. They pack so much hate into this episode that it left Adam and Josh dumbfounded.

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Stunt-casting, Classic, Pantheon, Peak Josh Duggan Stunt-casting, Classic, Pantheon, Peak Josh Duggan

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.

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Finisode, Brainmelter, Amaro Josh Duggan Finisode, Brainmelter, Amaro Josh Duggan

Episode 103: You Gotta Give People Some Cold Cucumber Water While You Rub Their Joint Down (S14E22 Poisoned Motive)

This week, The Munchie Boys tackle a Finisode preoccupied with unpacking Fin's history while an undercover with Narcotics, more than a decade after the fact. Rollins gets improbably shot, which leads to an unhealthy dose of police brutallity and metaphorical prison rape threats, but that's not nearly as shocking as some truly disturbing home-decor-driven revelations upon meeting a seemingly normal family with a secret left unspoken.

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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.

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Episode 70: You Don’t Blow Up Federal Buildings with Compost (S8E1 Informed)

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!

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Pantheon, Classic, Livisode, Novak, Lake, Brainmelter, Peak Josh Duggan Pantheon, Classic, Livisode, Novak, Lake, Brainmelter, Peak Josh Duggan

Episode 68: Close Enough to See Dick Mole (S9E15 Undercover)

We got to watch an all-time Law And Order SVU ("Undercover" Season 9, Episode 15) which sees Olivia Benson go undercover in a notorious women's prison in order to catch a serial rapist corrections officer. Along the way, we discuss the proper way to light an upskirt be-ankled panties shot, '90s nepotism star Barry Van Dyke, and the meaning of the phrase "iron kitten." We also talk about a few of the more famous residents of New York State's Bedford Hills Correctional Facility For Women. This is one of the standout episodes of the entire series, and though it mostly deals in shocking trauma, the writers and producers of this wonderful show found ways to sprinkle in lighthearted dick jokes throughout this heart-pounding hour of television. Enjoy!

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Peak, Greylek Josh Duggan Peak, Greylek Josh Duggan

Episode 41: When You Can Say Wang, You're Going To Say Wang, Right? (S10E12 Hothouse)

Today's SVU episode ("Hothouse" S10E12) takes some fairly wild turns between drifting bodies, Ukrainian prostitution rings, elite prep schools, and the New Jersey justice system, but somehow Josh and Adam take it even further. We discuss tide charts, the identity of "the rich man's Brian Brown," the concept of Zugzwang, and the fate of Imre Nagy among many, MANY, other things.

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Episode 31: It’s a Bad Way To Wake Up If You’re a Recovering Alcoholic (S13E23 Rhodium Nights)

The cliffhanging Season 13 Finale “Rhodium Nights” is an episode that belongs in the pantheon of SVU entries, featuring what has to be the most memorable ending in the entire series. This wild ride takes us down a slew of odd paths, including discoveries of Rollins’s economic beliefs, explorations into load volume, lamenting meddlesome US foreign policy, and travel recommendations for border towns. There’s TONS to talk about in this one, which is a truly shocking installment of television.

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

Episode 26: They Are Not Going To De-Sex Hargitay For The Sake Of An Undercover Operation (S4E12 Risk)

Contrary to Freud, sometimes a sandwich is just a sandwich. The sandwich that Olivia Benson eats at the denouement of "Risk" (Season 4 Episode 12), a rollicking tale a of yuppie coke king who improbably turns to wholesale mom slaughter, however, carries a heaping pile of lost innocence and love turned sour within its soggy buns. Join the Munch crew as we break down this truly bizarre gem. If you are curious about fall foliage, the John Cusack classic One Crazy Summer, or Tutuola scion Ken Randle's ability to drive the basketball, you have found the correct Law & Order: SVU podcast. 

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