79 - Tons of Cut Dudes in This Episode, and We Don’t Get to See Any of It

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.

Sources:

Enter the Five Percent: How Wu-Tang Clan’s Debut Album Maps the Complex Doctrine of the Five Percent Nation - Center for the Humanities, Washington University in St. Louis

Music:

Divorcio Suave - “Munchy Business”

13:22 - Big Daddy Kane - “Ain’t No Half-Steppin’” from Long Live the Kane (1988)

30:48 - Wu-Tang Clan - “Protect Ya Neck” from Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)

46:25 - Cat Stevens - “Where Do the Children Play?” from Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

Next Week’s Episode: Season 15, Episode 5* “Wonderland Story”

*Episode 4 if you’re watching on Hulu