Episode 167: The Whole Point of the Thong Is That You Don’t Make the Pantyline (S2E3 Closure (Part 2))
In a conclusion to last week's installment of Law & Order: SVU following nearly a full year later, another rape victim turns up describing an attack an awful lot like our vics described in Part 1. This means Tracy Pollan is back, picking up where she left off, which was getting an Emmy nomination for playing this role. This doesn't yield a second one, but she still rocks in "Closure (Part 2)" and helps give this episode the titular want that last week's left us all wanting.
Episode 166: Don’t Ever Compost Your Avocados (S1E10 Closure)
This week, we watched a Season 1 gem which, in spite of several characters not having names or jobs, was uncharacteristically grounded in the real world. SVU investigates a brutal home invasion rape where the victim is unable to correctly identify her assailant. Along the way, we see the genesis of Cassidenson, meet the wettest peeper in lower Manhattan, and learn about some brutal turn-of-the-century muffin murders. This one was so well received when it first aired that it earned its leading guest star, Tracy Pollan, an Emmy nomination, and led to an out of order Part 2, which we'll cover next week.
Episode 165: I’m Just Gonna Call Her Swimfan (S9E12 Signature)
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.
Episode 164: Cragen Hand Play, Check (S1E20 Remorse)
In a first for Munch My Benson, we are rewatching an episode of SVU we covered in the first 10 episodes of the show. How will the intervening years have affected our opinion of this classic, Munch meets girl-who-is-also-victim, Munch falls for girl, girl gets blown up by a psychotic fan who just wanted to see her happy face? We also get deep into 1999's East Timor news and wonder whether the mafia has fallen so low that they're pumping gas along the NJ Turnpike.
Episode 163: Maybe They Could NOT Talk About Murder Weapons Up Butts in Front of His New Girlfriend? (S15E9 Rapist Anonymous)
Recovery is not going smoothly for Rollins this week, as she is unwittingly dragged into an all-caps MESSY ménage à quatre that ends up making her look like a dupe. Could be worse, though, she could be the guy who does a post-head header off a rooftop. Things get messy, but this is a Rollinsisode, so that should be expected. Does that excuse her going for Nate with that awful hat, though. That's a hard no.
Episode 162: Poor Dude Thinks He Prejacked a Kid (S23E13 If I Knew Then What I Know Now)
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.
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.
Episode 158: Her Screams of Agony Are One of the High Points of the Episode, Emotionally (S5E3 Mother)
Two dipshit wannabe writers on an uptown depravity tour lead the detectives at SVU into a truly outlandish world populated by avenging sister-moms and serial-rapists-made-good who are pushed back into serial raping by the heavy-handed approach of Stabler & Co. Along the way we learn about cleaning fish, proper wine breathing etiquette, and whether or not Ricardo from the Java Barn is the right guy to ask for illicit hard drugs. This episode revels in the early season insanity. Does it make sense? Does it have to?
Episode 157: I Don’t Think She’s a Val Gal (S19E11 Flight Risk)
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.
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 154: Sniffing Cold Pies Lasciviously (S16E20 Daydream Believer)
Wherein we meet a terrifyingly gross Greg Yates for the first time and are forced to dive deep into the One Chicago Universe. Along the way, we speculate about the lives we will live once we become avid Chicago Fire fans, whether or not it's worth your time smelling a cold pie, why it's sad when hardened cops can't unlock a Camry, and, of course, the answer to the question every Munchie will have upon watching this megasode: exactly how many times did Greg Yates cum during that trial?
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 152: I Gave Your Mom a Guardian Ad Litem End-Around (S5E19 Sick)
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.
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 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.
Episode 148: The Post-Micturition Dribble (S10E15 Lead)
What happens when a trusted pediatrician is found to have extra-medically milked many young boys urethras over the years? Well in SVU, he is brutally beaten to death by one of his former victims who himself was doubly victimized as his Pica led him to eat the lead paint off of cheap toy cars which permanently stunted his development and planted the seeds of his rage. Come for Alexandra Cabot's jaw dropping Season 10 return, stay for Kim Greylek's unceremonious act 2 poochie'ing, and go home with a delightfully detailed breakdown of what exactly blood alcohol content means and whether or not the arrogant rich guy could have blown a 2.2 and kept driving.
Episode 147: Knowing that Layla Is in Finance Only Tweaks Munch’s Kink-Sensing Nips More (S1E9 Stocks & Bondage)
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.
Episode 146: He Keistered Her Entire Collection of Pens (S2E19 Parasites)
Season 2 SVUs typically mean one thing, and that is bonkers plots stacked on plots with bizarre flourishes stuffed in, and in that regard, this frantic ride does not disappoint. We talk underground hydrangea markets and age-progression specialists, correct the record vis-à-vis erotic versus autoerotic asphyxiation, meet Martin's obscure Amis brother, and find out just who is leaving their rare orchid pollen on our victim's panties.
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.
Episode 144: He’s Wearing a Pedo Sweater (S12E4 Merchandise)
Helen of Troy might have had the face that launched a thousand ships, but this gem of a Season 12 SVU is the problematic hellscape that launched the Munch My Benson ranking system. Kids are never safe in SVU, and in this episode we see kids casually listing their prostitution fees, kids getting Meet-Joe-Blacked outside of a farmers' market, kids getting chained up and forced to drink cyanide, and kids destroying a bespoke, heirloom blueberry compote. This is one hell of a ride. Enjoy!