Wat’s perhaps more remarkable is how this latest season manages to encompass the decade-and-change of social and cultural shifts in American society, while seamlessly picking up right where the show left off as though no time has passed.

It doesn’t help that the writing has all the subtlety of a cab ride down Ninth Avenue. Still, despite these shortcomings it’s a tidy hour with just enough strong performances and compelling scenes to keep things moving. The cops side of the hour is stronger than the courts side.

You will find that, except in the manner the series was always changing, swapping new characters in and out over its many years, the taste remains the same.

It’s a blah ending to a blah episode that only superficially resembles the series I love.

Law & Order fans looking for their usual fix will not be disappointed by this revival; the process of making these series appears to have been perfected to a science, and the formula clearly still works. Those looking for a little something more, however, might need to stay tuned for a few more dead bodies on the sidewalk to find out.

The resurrected "Law & Order" is influenced far more by its own spinoffs than its old fans would probably prefer. Neither the dialogue nor the acting is subtle. The points made are obvious, the tone leaden and the old wryness (I really miss Jerry Orbach ) is all but absent.

The two-act structure, the “separate but equally important” intro, the Mike Post theme music and the dun-dun are still there. But the hallmarks of the show at its best — urgency, tricky plotting, bourbon-dry humor and, especially, powerful but economical acting — are missing. Maybe someone can subpoena them before the season’s over.