Greetings,
Some of you may recall that, last year, I dedicated an entire month to the awesomeness that is Law & Order. I put in a lot of work to honor that show and everyone involved with it, and I am so glad I did. So, clearly, there is not a single thing I could say against that show or anything that may have spawned from it. Yeah, so let's talk about Law & Order: Los Angeles.
Okay, back story time. I think most fans of Law & Order were upset about how the show ended. Not that the last episode or the last season weren't good. They were extremely good, actually, but they weren't FINALES! You get me. This show was on for twenty years! They deserved something more grand than what they got. Turns out, as the twentieth season ended, they were 'on the bubble', but someone thought that, instead of giving them one more, record-breaking, proper final season, they would much rather focus time and money on a new leg of the franchise. NO! And that's how we got Law & Order: Los Angeles. I mean, I assume. I wasn't in any meetings or anything.
Look, I'm not going to go too in depth about this show, because I can barely remember anything about it. Yes, I tried to re-watch via Netflix, but it just made me sad. Though maybe not for the reasons you would suspect. More on that later. Anyway, I don't know why someone though it was a good idea to move the franchise to Los Angeles. Seems to me that Law & Order has always been defined as a New York City show, and that was one of the best things about it. I know what you're thinking. Yes, I am a fan of Law & Order: UK, so doesn't that make me sound hypocritical. Perhaps, until you remember that Law & Order: UK takes place in London, which is just New York with more tea. So, there's that. Besides, this franchise was always divided by different types of cops or different aspects of the legal system. Location was a C.S.I thing. So, what the heck is up with that?
Okay, let's talk a little about the cast. To be fair, they did not slack off when it came to getting some great actors to be in this series. Most notably were the presences of Skeet Ulrich, Terrence Howard and the always fantastic Alfred Molina. But we also got a familiar face in my girl Alana De La Garza, who played Connie Rubirosa on the original series. Apparently, they were trying to use the same tactics for this that they used for SVU, which was getting someone from the original to either be a regular cast member or to just randomly show up numerous times during the first season. I guess it eased the transition. Not so much in this case, though. Still, I have no beef with this aspect of the show. Every one of these actors did a wonderful job.
And I also have no problem with the writing, which you all know I am a snob about, usually. It was fine. The stories were fine. Everything was just fine. I mean, it was still under the Law & Order umbrella, so it could never be that bad. But, as it turns out, it wasn't good enough. At least, not for the network.
So, what led to the cancellation? Well, it had a strong start. I think that was mostly due to fans of the original, like me, hoping for...something. Just hoping. But then, it got moved around and taken away, only to be brought back after a little revamping. Still, all of that wasn't enough to keep people interested. Therefore, Dick Wolf and everyone pulled a "Hey, we tried" and let it go. It happens. Bottom line, as good as the good parts were, as a whole, it just wasn't strong enough.
Now for the burning question of this series of mine - did it deserve a second season? I have to say this is a hard one for me. In and of itself, this was not a bad show. I've seen much, MUCH worse shows last much, MUCH longer. I'm just not sure if I was interested in seeing more, but I think that has more to do with things surrounding this series. Particularly how it connected to the end of original Law & Order. Part of me wanted this L.A. version to last a while. Why? Well, then the cancellation of the original would not have been kind of in vain. The L.A. version lasted but one year, so, in hindsight, would it not have not have been better to give us all one more year of the original? And as hindsight is 20/20, I suspect some people in the franchise wish that they would have gone that route instead. And it didn't even have to be a whole, 22-24 episode season. I would have been happy with a half season or thirteen episodes. Anything that could have been touted as a grand finale for a legendary show. Instead, they rolled the dice on something knew, and kinda crapped out. Now we have this one season show that was, and I hate to be mean by saying this, a bit pointless in the long run, instead of a memorable end to a downright masterpiece. I will say this, however. At least, they did try. They worked at this show, wanting to make it a success. So, I cannot really fault anyone involved for putting forth some effort to make it worthwhile. And considering how complacent and apathetic everyone in the TV world appears to be these days, that is a huge compliment.
Okay, let me wrap this up. In good conscience, I can't recommend this show, nor can I not recommend it. I'm just so indifferent to it as a whole. I don't love it. I don't hate it. I just have no emotional attachment to it. I guess I...nothing Law & Order: Los Angeles. So, whether or not you check it out on DVD or wherever, that's entirely up to you.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
