When proffered the box of “Pandora” (S4E15)—phrasing?—Josh and Adam were forced to deal with yet another episode of SVU wherein many children fell victim to an international cabal of pedos, complete with one getting to proudly espouse his party platform to the detectives of SVU and a network television audience. This one hurtles forward at breakneck speed, taking Elliot from New York to Prague and back before the final act has even started. Along the way, Adam and Josh marvel at the way that early SVU writers had no real concept of how computers and the internet worked, the defenestrations of Prague, the endless stream of actors who REALLY pass for pedos in the SVU stable, and the emergence of Zero Dark Stabler. We’ve said it many times previously, but the label definitely fits here—this one is wild.

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!

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.

It's a bittersweet week on Munch My Benson as we say goodbye to a character who predates Law & Order: SVU itself ("Wonderland Story" S15E5). Thankfully, John Munch's going away party gives us plenty to discuss. Josh talks for a solid ten minutes about a no-line featured extra (albeit a particularly influential one). Adam describes his ongoing, probably imagined, but possibly real feud with legendary playwright David Mamet. We also talk Delco accents, imagine Rollins's post-sobriety social life, and get deep into the world of caterer-waitress fetishism. Come revel in the storied career of one of televisions most memorable detectives, and please Munch everyone's Benson.

The Munchie Boys faced down a stark depiction of hard-scrabble life in the projects in Guardian (Season 19, Episode 21). As this is Chernuchin’s special brand of SVU, nuance is nowhere to be seen, and stereotypes nearly exclusively populate this world. But don’t think that just because this episode centers around a brother who’s pimped out his mother and sister that there aren’t the typical diversions, including a diatribe on French roast, a dive into the Five Percent Nation and its influence on ‘90s hip-hop and preservation of New York in 1968, and a brief discussion about the grotesque miscarriage of justice that was the arrest and conviction of the Central Park Five. It’s just another wild week in Munchland.

People, this episode of Law & Order SVU ("Strange Beauty" S13E22) is why we do this podcast. Steve from Sex And The City pays women for the pleasure of removing their left legs so that he can "appreciate" their "improved" bodies. If this doesn't make you stop what you're doing and ask, "WTF?", I don't know what will. This show manages to impugn dentistry, cab drivers, Sikhism, car services, pigeon handlers, bike mechanics and especially (like especially especially) psychiatry, and yet it treats the potentially fraught subject of extreme body modification with a reasoned and compassionate touch. We, of course, dive into a variety of strange diversions including superfund site freeganism, what Melinda Warner is truly "into," and what you can—and cannot—get away with in a storage unit. This one is for the ages, folks. Enjoy!

When the Randomizer selects a late-season SVU, there is often a concern that sets in that we might not be getting the best of the insanity that SVU has to offer. That concern was UNFOUNDED with regards to “Motherly Love” (S18E10)—which is a banger in every sense of the word. After having seen nearly 500 episodes of SVU and recorded 77 episodes of a podcast about the show, it’s safe to say that the Munchie Boys have been subjected to some unimaginably shocking things, yet this one still dropped their jaws with its brazen impropriety.

So listen as Adam and Josh revel in a truly disturbing exploration of motherhood in its darkest form. This episode is as good an exemplar as any when trying to describe why this podcast exists.

When The Randomizer chose the week's episode—Venom (S7E18)—listeners would be forgiven for thinking they might be embarking on an hour's worth of sub-par television, but they'd be wrong. This—the first half of Ludacris's voyage through SVU (we covered part 2 in Episode 51 of Munch My Benson, "You Can't Eat Ethan Hawke")—features some standout performances and wildly inappropriate content. The Munchie Boys obviously break it down in lurid detail and answer an assortment of essential questions: How to dig a shallow grave? Why are they still making courtroom dramas? What are Liam Neeson's most underrated films? And of course, how many times is too many times to say "nips out on a gurney?" This one will make you wish Tej Parker would open up an East Coast branch of his car-modding, bro-hugging crime syndicate. Enjoy!

The Randomizer has thrown the Munchies Boys into the deep end this week, thrusting them into the sixth staggered installment of a sex-trafficking saga centered around Noah’s father and a ragtag crew of severely traumatized sex workers—”Surrendering Noah” (SVU S16E23). Here, there’s a ton to unpack. How do they keep Baby Doe calm? Why did they slam Elliot at the end of the episode? Why did both Benson and Amaro think he’d be a good candidate for Sergeant? Buckle up, kiddos, it’s another wild ride, and this one has Nick Amaro riding off into the sunset after suiciding-by-cop Noah’s monster dad.

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!

When an episode of Law & Order: SVU contains such shockingly racist characters that Adam and Josh have to ask themselves what audio they can actually pull for an episode of this podcast that revels in wild inappropriateness, you know you’re dealing with some next-level racism. “Hate” (S5E13) has so much wrong with it that even the Munchie Boys were uncomfortable. While reckoning with the racism in every nook and cranny of this episode, the topics of fuel oil, man’s odd relationship with fire, the virtues of accurately mining stereotypes to avoid hiccups, reclusive authors' semi-famous sons, and how Captain America’s racist son reframes his legacy. If ever an episode needed a trigger warning, this one does for the discussion of anti-Muslim racism and a clip pulled from the show for begrudging reference which neither Adam nor Josh felt particularly good about pulling.

When we watched the conclusion to the two-part Season 19 finale ("Remember Me Too" Episode 24), we might have taken the opportunity to research the migration patterns of monarch butterflies or the structure of the Sinaloa Cartel or the various degree programs at Gonzaga were this a standard, functional installment of SVU. Instead, we were treated to a mind-melting melange of unbelievable plot lines, inconceivable character motivations, and abysmal acting. Was it good? Obviously not. Did we have fun watching and then excoriating this complete and utter waste of network resources? You bet we did.

What happens when the season from which light cannot escape—SVU’s 19th—bestows upon the world a two-part season finale? An unintelligible, unmitigated disaster. Reality and common sense fold in on themselves, and we’re all left to try to make sense of the hellish mess that is “Remember Me” (S19E23). When character motivation, logic, and how technology actually works are entirely discarded, you are left with a confounding mélange of nonsensical dialogue and wild conclusions with nary a passing relationship to reality. Needless to say, this ride—a wild one for all the wrong reasons—gave the Munchie Boys plenty to discuss.

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!

In this exercise in somewhat effective stunt-casting, Stabler gets pitted against his untethered analog, a rage-fueled annihilator of tween girls played by erstwhile star actor Matthew Modine. Yes, this week, the Munchie Boys took on “Rage” (SVU S6E17). In a structurally odd episode that pits rager against rager in a ticking-clock, nearly locked-room scenario until it suddenly isn’t and renders much of what preceded moot, Stabler tries to nab the one who got away while confronting his own anger management issues. Don’t worry, there’s also talk of malodorous food PsyOps, truly pornographic whistling, edging, the nature of the San Fernando Valley, Modine’s inability to shed his yuppie prick veneer, and so much more.

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!

This week’s entry into the annals of Munchstory—SVU, S21E5, “At Midnight In Manhattan”—sent Adam and Josh caroming between three different stories in a rare exercise in single-weekend, multi-case, mom-card trumping storytelling, heavily featuring Carisi and Kat learning the ropes on their respective new jobs. Along the way, they decry the misidentification of doors, lament casting miscues, weigh the virtues of manners in new environs, and work their way through the indignity of seeing a slew of rich men’s knees. So come for the shoe-shaming, and stay for the nap chat whilst getting your Munch on.

The Randomizer gifted us with a wild Law & Order: SVU thrill ride featuring Hollywood legends Pam Grier and John Heard wherein a rape investigation leads Benson and Stabler into a massive federal investigation of some really really bad dudes. Do our heroes acquit themselves well in this complex and trying situation? No, not at all. Do we enjoy discussing Adam's time out on the town, Josh's former neighbors, a variety of big money scams, and, of course, speculating about the standards and practices meeting that let the first 6 minutes of this gem burst through the cracks? Obviously.

This week’s selection is Law & Order: SVU’s swipe at the anti-vax movement—“Granting Immunity” (S16E19)—which puts the vulnerable Baby Doe in the path of a measles outbreak spawned by the casual dismissal of science by rich dick Tribeca parents who clearly know more than epidemiologists and have conspired to circumvent New York’s mandated vaccinations for all students. This leads the Munchie Boys to investigate just what started this anti-vax MMR-causes-autism nonsense that’s since metastasized in much more widespread and nefarious ways. Don’t worry, there’s also plenty of fun to be had, including (but not limited to) the virtues of Susie Essman, the horrors of opening montage music, the hilarious inappropriateness of filmed teenage sex parties, and the watercooler TV-watching habits of the dedicated detectives of the Special Victims Unit. Is this the scariest episode of SVU in Munchstory? Only one way to find out.

The Randomizer gave Josh the gift of a lifetime—an SVU featuring beloved Patriot alum Michael Chernus as Carisi’s BIL-to-be. “Parole Violations” (S16E17) is the rare episode where we get a fair amount of main character backstory that works. This is a fun one where Chernus’s Tommy Sullivan is being forced to bone his parole officer while his pregnant fiancée (Carisi’s sister, Bella, played by Marin Ireland) is buying enormous, infant-inappropriate teddy bears and getting sonograms. As always, rabbit holes are ventured down, with time spent discussing the physiological functions of junkie junk, the college and pizza scene in Utica, and Staten Island cannoli. And, obviously, Patriot factors heavily into this episode.