Episode 142: I'm Not Gonna Kink Shame a 12-Year-Old (S23E11 Burning With Rage Forever)
In our first brush with Season 23, the Randomizer (episode.lol) gifted us with the sight of that precious little Baby Boy Doe himself locked in a cage being forced to eat dog food by one of his friends. This kind of depravity only happens on SVU, folks. Of course, the madness only begins there as we are treated to a truly bonkers world where no child is ever, EVER safe. Along the way, the Munchie Boys go way off the rails with loads of esoteric content. Fans of that stuff will really enjoy the unedited Patreon edition which features an additional 40 minutes of fun.
Episode 141: Tension’s Building in the Amandolas Relationship (S16E8 Spousal Privilege)
Josh and Adam--both of whom are pretty big fans of Cutty in The Wire--are forced to watch an episode this week where Chad L. Coleman is seen Ray Rice-ing his special lady friend, played by the wonderful Meagan Good. That's not fun to watch, but it's also not fun to watch the SVUs acting against the victim's vehement wishes. It's even less fun to watch after Amaro (who is just back from beating a perp to within an inch of his life) blows up in the opening scene of "Spousal Privilege" (Season 16, Episode 8), making the audience wonder just what qualities in outburst-prone people determine that they get a second chance.
Don't worry, the Munchie Boys also use this episode to revel in RedChanIt, take notice of how many of the SVUs were abused as children, and dive deep into the life of NYC’s first black mayor, David Dinkins, who randomly had two lines in this episode.
Episode 140: It's Sub-Tropical Water Not Dom-Tropical Water (S12E22 Bang)
We let the Munchies pick this week's episode, and by god did they pick an all-timer. Everybody's favorite cool uncle, John Stamos, shines as a reproductive abuser, and Lori Singer is but the most famous of his many, many victims. This one really has everything we here at Munch My Benson are looking for out of this unique series. Thank you for this marvelous choice!
Episode 139: We Might’ve Seen Peen, Everybody (S7E5 Strain)
The Munchie Boys are dealt an SVU episode with super-AIDS and methed-out party boys running roughshod all over the gay party scene. This one is chock-full of problems, in all the best ways. How far does it go? Well, let's just say that if you have to wonder whether you're seeing hand or dong on a posed nude corpse, you found yourself in a pretty wild place.
Episode 138: There's No Freezer Burn In That Hair (S20E10 Alta Kockers)
Have you ever heard the old joke about the longest-running scripted drama in television history doing a bizarre ripped-from-the-headlines episode about two aging, hoarder brothers as a convoluted excuse to say nasty slurs on primetime TV? Oh, you haven't? Well, after you've seen "Alta Kockers," you will have. Oh, and one of these brothers, who hasn't left his mother's house since 1976, somehow becomes the literary voice of the present generation via his anonymously published novel. Sure.
This one is about as absurd as SVU gets, but thankfully wonderful moments from legends Judd Hirsch and Wallace Shawn, and some truly standout background acting prevent this from being an all-time stinker.
Plus: Special Contibutor Natalie graciously joined Josh with a dissenting opinion to tell us why our ranking of 'Service" (S19E18) which we covered in MMB 119 - No, Rollins Is A Tactile Detective was unfair.
Episode 137: I Have Known People Who Served; They Do Talk Like Humans (S18E12 No Surrender)
What happens when a trailblazing female Army Ranger is sexually assaulted, jeopardizing a nationwide media blitz? The Munchie Boys found out this week, and whatever it was, it wasn't fun. Or good. Or memorable. Go along for the ride as they investigate Army guidelines for haircuts, bizarre Army propaganda, full pressers out of nowhere, and false accusations undercutting our victim's status as sympathetic figures.
Also find out how Adam liked his leaf-peeping that possibly infected an entire train full of yahoos, get more Hudson Fjord talk, and follow along as Adam and Josh wonder from what universe this truly unprofessional episode of SVU came.
Episode 136: They Really Shared a Moment Over Those Chickpeas (S20E13 A Story Of More Woe)
Both Josh and Adam were a little sick when they recorded this one, but not nearly as sick as the twisted minds inside Michael Chernuchin’s SVU writers’ room who crafted this byzantine scheme wherein a 13-year-old girl convinces her 15-year-old sister to murder their own father, so she can become adopted by and live with the love of her life, a 30-something weirdo who lives down the hall who reads Shakespeare with her. Obviously, the Munchie Boys are forced to confront The Bard among many, many other topics including the real reason no one on SVU orders food at the Square Diner and the many spellings of “Catherine.”
Episode 135: Only SVU Is Able to Backdoor in Some Kiddie Porn (S17E3 Transgender Bridge)
To say Law & Order: SVU's historic treatment of the transgender community is fraught with problems is an understatement of epic proportions, and this week's episode--S17E13 Transgender Bridge--makes, ummm, progress? Of course, it's incremental at best, and much of the ground gained is immediately lost by jamming the episode full of racial stereotyping that plays rough.
This week's episode pushed the Munchie Boys so far out of their comfort zone that they brought in reinforcements in the form of a guest segment (for Munchies, this will be as an entirely separate Bonus Episode) with gracious trans listener Summer, who hopefully makes up for the two cishet honkies who host this weekly show and is more qualified to speak on how this episode still had a lot of work to do to get things right.
Hold onto your butts. This is a long one.
Episode 134: This Overreach Isn’t Going to Assuage Your Guilt, Alex, but Maybe Dripping Candle Wax on Benson Will (S3E18 Guilt)
When a sting to catch a groomer pedo goes sideways in a New Jersey train station, Alexandra Cabot disregards due process, civil rights, and decades of precedents in the pursuit of a conviction. We see the SVU debut of everyone's favorite legal hard ass, Elizabeth Donnelly, we learn about a particularly outlandish purchase that Josh is contemplating, and we definitively answer that age old question: Who's the boss? Those wanting Adam's airport rankings or our views on the relegation system in world football are encouraged to sign up for the Munchies tier on our Patreon. Enjoy!
Episode 133: Elliot Can’t Get Drinks Because He Might Have HIV (S2E13 Victims)
The Munchie Boys tackled a tough one this week, as Stabler is forced to investigate the murder of an admittedly odious perp he'd locked up previously. If ever there were an episode that wallowed in the "you can't choose your victims" edict, it's this one. "Victims" also has some pretty big names in it to go along with some pretty rough pre-9/11 fashion and a Guardian Angels storyline that gives Adam a bit to talk about.
Episode 132: I Just Assumed He Was Bald Because of the Fanny Pack (S24E2 The One You Feed)
This week we meet a pair of new detectives, a new showrunner, and a perfect family from Ohio who have the worst possible trip to the Harry Potter store in Union Square. We have way too much stuff to talk about, including Josh's various brushes with death and Pavement, Adam's exotic transit options, why you wouldn't want John Edwards summoning your dead family members, Fin's rapidly expanding consciousness, and, of course, how to wear a fanny pack without becoming a mark for ne'er-do-wells. We also meet a minor character who expands the greater Munchiverse exponentially. Until we rolled this one, we weren't even sure our Randomizer could pick from the latest season, so here's a big plug for the best episode spinner on the web: episode.lol
Episode 131: Any Teenager Getting off a Bus at the Port Authority Is Going to Get Turned out (S13E10 Spiraling Down)
Why do any non-New Yorkers even bother coming to the big city? They're just gonna get turned out within minutes. Of course, that might give them the chance to service a john of Broadway Joe's caliber. This one does quite the about-face halfway through, making the wild left turn from teens being forced into prostitution fresh off the bus at the Port Authority into a dive into the unending effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and how it’s downing our sports idols. Obviously it was going to end up there, right? This is SVU, after all.
Episode 130 - They Put a GoPro on a Dog and Let Him Run Wild (S17E4 Institutional Fail)
While SVU's attempts at sad morality plays about the children who slip through the cracks when publicly funded institutions are stripped to the bone to pay for advanced cod-pieces for our police forces don't always land, we at Munch My Benson always have plenty to discuss. When five-year-old Bruno wanders the streets in search of some tasty treats, did the store clerk try to get him arrested for shoplifting? When Benson goes hobnobbing with the hot stuff downtown, did her wardrobe match her pension status? Did Dodds just force Dodds upon the unit. Also, Rollins is ultra pregnant, and Whoopi Goldberg works a lot.
Episode 129: Man, This One Really Suffers from My Own Special Victims Unit Derangement Syndrome (S4E23 Grief)
Elliot meets another father of a daughter, only the other father's daughter just died in an alley having just been sodomized, meaning there's some sympathy pain for Stabes to experience. These fathers are both on a tear, and it's hard to say who does more damage in this one. Of course, there are tangents, including a dive into the NYPD's heinous brutality done unto Abner Louima, so hold onto your butts.
Episode 128: She's Breastfeeding Every Child in the Waiting Room (S7E15 Manipulated)
This episode of SVU is so goddamn fun, guys. Rebecca De Mornay (no, not from the homeless shelter) hatches possibly the most outlandish plot ever devised on network television involving implanted mouth semen and Special Forces assassins, all to ensure that her milquetoast husband only ever has eyes for her. Wild stuff. Obviously there is a TON of stuff to talk about including the 1951 Academy Awards, the unionization of Strip Clubs, Lethal Weapon, the greater Shermerverse, the Bronx Zoo, and the future of this podcast. This is an episode to enjoy with your entire family--provided, of course, that they are down to listen to detailed discussions of the half-life of jizz loads. Special thanks go out to my other favorite Rebecca De Mornay, Sonya Eddy, who has sadly never performed in a Law & Order franchise.
Episode 127: His Olfactory Detection Is Disgusting (S17E2 Criminal Pathology)
Picking up where we left off last week, things get even Durstier as ME/murderer Carl Rudnick jumps bail, leaving the Unit in his dust, making a break for the border, and giving us as close as we’re going to get to an SVU/Midnight Run mash-up. And of course, Rollins needs to keep being the Clarice to Yates's Hannibal, so he can smell how pregnant she is. Unlike a lot of two-parters, this one’s actually a lot of fun, with anything from Rollisi’s cholesterol-hardened livers and Buffalo fair game to be cut into on the slab.
Episode 126: Adam’s Corpse Power Rankings (S17E1 Devil's Dissections)
In Part 1 of an epic double-episode of SVU, we see Rollins Clarice-it-up with the truly disgusting serial killer Dr Greg Yates, whilst ME Rudnick Robert-Durst's-it-up in a shocking series of ante-mortem dismemberment murders. Along the way, we talk about State Fair fare, address justified criticisms of the podcast, and debate whether or not serial killers have a peculiar sense of smell.
Episode 125: THIS Liv Owns These Boots (S11E12 Shadow)
What happens when a super rich girl gets cut off after her umpteenth parentally funded business venture fails? Well, since this is SVU, a grisly double homicide hastily staged to look like a murder-suicide, followed in short order by a slew of hits taken out on the Unit after they ignore Sarah Paulson/Anne Gillette's extreme white privilege, and an off-the-books massive undercover fake jailbreak operation against Cragen's explicit orders that they were all off the case.
There's also plenty of class warfare, crapping on abstract art, and multiple undercover ops, one of which includes Liv domming out on a bootlicking blue blood. And don’t worry, this still opens plenty of doors to vanish through, so if you want to know how abstract art got funded, and what nefarious organization was doing it, look no further than this episode of Munch My Benson.
Episode 124: Was He Blue-Balled Then Blackballed, or Was It the Other Way Around? (S17E15 Collateral Damages)
Sure, this SVU spends a lot of time presupposing that we are heavily invested in the lives of minor recurring characters, but it also introduces us to a delightfully crass BBQ slinger with a penchant for lewd double entendres and forces us to go down all kinds of wild Munchian rabbit holes. Does Rollins have a separate person for her vacations at clothing-optional, adult-only all-inclusives? What scandals have engulfed the world of professional canoeing? Is Adam capable of surviving as a single parent for more than a week? Did we just watch an extra torpedo a "career" in background acting for the chance at one pay bump? This is definitely one for the Munchie-curious as a full 45 minutes of banter about Josh's concert going, Lucas Duda, and the Yiddish language (among many, many other things) had to be left on the cutting room floor. Enjoy!
Episode 123: Not as Stiffed as Charmaine Was (S16E16 December Solstice)
What happens when SVU drops a fading Norman Mailer analog into a Ripped-from-the-Headlines family drama with his daughters pitted against his new wife, who the daughters think is sending dear ol' dad to an early grave by way of force-fed Viagra? Rectal probe electroejaculation and lewd talk of stiff, varnished eels, obviously.