Warning: SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

I’ve been skeptical about the newest version of Law & Order for many reasons, the main being that it is almost near impossible to top the original that lasted 20 seasons. However, this series does deliver (both good and bad), and shows a little bit of promise as well.

The Good: Law & Order: Los Angeles still relies on the two-tiered format – the detectives in the first half and the prosecutors in the second – and doesn’t try to be anything different. The series also still uses cases ripped from the headlines, and I must say it does work a lot better for Hollywood than it does for New York. While a lot of things crossed over well into the Big Apple, things with celebrities tend to do better in Los Angeles.

The Bad: There are two things that always open up any Law & Order series (that includes the reality version and the UK version): the opening narration and the opening credits. Both are absent in this series (although sources say the narration will begin soon) and without those, this feels just like any other cop show. Also, as this series was rushed into production (the pilot was filmed a little more than a month ago), some things felt rushed. First, the commanding officer (played here by Wanda De Jesus) will be replaced next week and only had one line tonight. Second, there was no D.A. Actor Peter Coyote was added to the cast very late and should be seen next week.

My biggest problem with the series is that there really is no point in having it. While having stars like Alfred Molina and Terrence Howard are great, I believe given the right timeslot, the original series still could’ve been beneficial for the network. The series wasn’t broke, so it shouldn’t have been fixed. While LOLA seems to have potential, minus the backdrop, this series is exactly the same as the mothership.

Final Conclusion: This version of L&O has been praised by critics already, but it is up to the viewers to see if they’ll accept it or send it off to television hell.

Final Grade: 7.0/10