‘Law & Order’ hasn't changed. That's exactly why it's lasted

Back after a 12-year interregnum is “Law & Order,” the Coca-Cola Classic of NBC’s Dick Wolf universe. Hugh Dancy, left, and Sam Waterston in “Law & Order.” At the 50-yard line the show is passed to assistant district attorneys Nolan Price and Samantha Maroun, with Waterston’s DA appearing in doorways to offer comment, advice and philosophy, and to remind his assistant DAs— who have their own differences of opinion and approach — that “the big bad police department are our partners, and in case you haven’t been paying attention they’re under attack… There are people trying to defund them, for God’s sake.” He will ask questions not easy to answer, as on the subject of lying to a suspect to extract a confession: “Where do we draw the line…. Here’s why their pairing works In a guest column for The Times, author and “Law & Order” fan Carmen Maria Machado explains what makes the characters more powerful together than alone. In the final shot of the Season 21 premiere, Dancy’s ADA Price, having opined that “if you try a good case, if you do it the right way, whatever the jury decides is right, whether or not it feels good,” looks up at the facade of the New York State Supreme Court Building, a Roman-inspired temple of justice, upon whose pediment we see inscribed “nistration of justice is the firmest pillar of good.” It fills out to “The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government.” But I had to look that up.