Episode 65: That’s How You Get Throat Gonorrhea, Kids (S16E19 Granting Immunity)
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.
Episode 64: It Looks Like He Came Straight from His Job as Future Cop at the Bondage Club (S16E17 Parole Violations)
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.
Episode 58: I Think We Can Assume Cassidy Is So Dumb That He Tries to Golf at a Disc Golf Course (S19E1 Gone Fishin’)
What happens when a new showrunner takes over Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and doesn’t understand the characters at all? Or how SVU tells stories? Well, the Randomizer selected “Gone Fishin’” (Season 19, Episode 1), so the Munchie Boys found out the hard way. Fin kidnaps a perp who absconded to Cuba? Dean Winters and Peter Jacobson coexist in an episode where Jacobson isn’t Bart Ganzel, Cassidy’s pimp employer from the Cragen waking up with a corpse in his bed three-part saga, challenging the strength of the space-time continuum? How ridiculous can a soundstage set that’s supposed to pass for Cuba get? The answers to these and so many other befuddling questions lie within the confines of this installment of Munch My Benson.
Episode 38: That Is The Weirdest Wonk Boner I’ve Ever Heard Of (S15E8 October Surprise)
Well, kids, we’ve got ourselves a very special Barbasode, complete with a super fun headline rip. This week’s episode of SVU? Season 15, Episode 8, “October Surprise.” The inspiration? Anthony Damn Weiner. Needless to say, there is TONS to talk about, like how likely is it that a mayoral candidate’s foot-jobbing side-piece would get shipped off to work for the Israeli Labor Party and how likely is it that said side-piece killed said political party? What would your Anthony Weiner alter ego name be? The answers to these and so many more burning questions can be had within the run of this installment.
Episode 24: The Thin Blue Line Between Order And Suburban Police (S14E11 Beautiful Frame)
This week the randomizer takes Josh and Adam to episode 11 from season 14 of SVU, "Beautiful Frame," which has SVU tangle with a corrupt den of dirty law enforcement officials from Suffolk County. During the long drive out to the suburbs, we meander down a variety of digressions: the history of "red lining" and the formation of the modern suburb, the various career paths of the cast of Malcolm In The Middle, and, of course, which Belizean city has the best tchotchke shops. Enjoy!
Episode 21: Oh, Quaaludes, Cue Adam’s Drug Dive (S18E9 Decline and Fall)
With a ripped-from-the-headlines story owing to none other than serial dosing rapist Bill Cosby, Adam and Josh covered the disgusting territory laid out in Episode 9 from Season 18, “Decline and Fall.” If you’re wanting to hear the most repugnant filth spewing forth from the septuagenarian warden from The Shawshank Redemption, being repeatedly forced to envision him engaging in coitus, while having Prezbo’s biography recontextualized by an episode of Law & Order: SVU, this is the episode for you.
Episode 13: I Don’t Feel Like Wesley Crusher Could Take Care of Himself (S15E8 Military Justice)
After reckoning with the horrific current events aspect of this week's installment, Adam and Josh get down to brass tacks with "Military Justice," which depending on where you watch it is either Episode 7 or 8 from Season 15 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. We discuss the essence of Galveston, the most heinous crime in the Boschiverse, the general self-preservation skills of ensigns, and Rollins straight-up laying a dude out, while marveling at a shockingly good episode of SVU complete with efficacious character development and some real tearjerking moments. And a lot of peen.
Episode 4: The Cold Mom Off Gets Hot (S19E9 Gone Baby Gone)
Baby Doe gets kidnapped. Olivia Benson loses her shit.
Episode 3: Is that Staten Island Slang? (S19E8 Intent)
We dive into another ep of Law & Order: SVU. This time we learn about West Virginia, colostomy bags, how to pronounce Klatch properly, and the 2013 Miami Heat. We are watching Season 19 Episode 8 "Intent." In the podcast’s first foray into Ripped from the Headlines fare, the squad investigates a rape that isn’t quite what it seems. An MMA fighter nicknamed ‘The Monster” jarringly rapes an Instagram star, only to find out that she asked for him to rape her. Or did she?