When the son of an influential right-winger is found beaten to death and drenched in semen, red herrings abound until we learn the shocking truth.

That truth is that the Munchies are in the throes of a full on Cassidissance. Our boy Mayhem keeps his head throughout this Season 1 attempt to tackle the time-honored debate as to whether a criminal's nature causes them to commit heinous acts, or whether the terrible environment they were nurtured in is more to blame. I'm not sure the philosophy works, but there's plenty of fun to be had nonetheless.

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.