By Jane Murphy
In last week's two-part 'Law & Order: Los Angeles' -- the first new episode since the show went on a retooling hiatus Dec. 1 -- the reset button was officially hit for the freshman series.

For fans of the show (which has seen its fair share of drama, even though it's only aired 10 episodes to date) the revamp brings us something old, something new and something borrowed, hoping this marriage between the franchise and the City of Angels lasts a good long time.

And of course, there's also something blue with Alfred Molina's character Ricardo Morales leaving the DA's office in the aftermath of the shooting death of Det. Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich) to come back to the beat as a detective.

AOL TV caught up with executive producer Rene Balcer, co-creator of the show with 'L&O' head honcho Dick Wolf, to hear all about Morales' big switch and other cast changes for what he's calling "LOLA 2.0."

"There are many factors that finally convince [Morales] he'd be a happier camper back as a cop ... It's about how the case is being handled, the political influences that come to bear on the prosecution."

Holding steady from the first half of the season are actors Molina, Rachel Ticotin, Terrence Howard and Corey Stoll. What's new is the title, now shortened to 'Law & Order: LA,' and Alana de la Garza, reprising her character of ADA Connie Rubirosa from the last seasons of classic 'L&O.' But despite the on-air hiatus, Balcer reminds that the cast and crew "stayed in production the whole time. For us, it's all one season."

A native of Quebec, Balcer is a nearly 21-year veteran of the 'L&O' franchise (he also created 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' with Wolf). He teased some upcoming storylines, including avenging the murder of Ulrich's character and an episode inspired by the murder of Ronni Chasen. There's also some disappointing news for anyone hoping for 'Law & Order: Montreal.'

Even though 'Law & Order: LA' took a break, high profile cases in L.A. did not.
Obviously, we are doing the Ronni Chasen story -- our own take -- but we'll go in a couple of different directions. We are doing a take on the Bell City Council corruption case. We're doing a story that was an item in the news a few weeks ago about this abandoned mansion up in the Hollywood Hills. It'll be the site of a rather gruesome series of events. Obviously, we're doing something about the Mexican drug wars.

The storyline with Rex Winters and his wife (played by Teri Polo) was very rich in backstory. Will Teri Polo's character be making more appearances?
She'll be making an appearance in the season finale. The storyline continues mostly through the character [Det. Tomas "TJ" Jaruszalski] played by Corey Stoll. His partner's killer is still at large.

You're closely associated with 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent.' That show has benefited from very inventive actors like Vincent D'Onofrio and Jeff Goldblum. Do you think Terrence Howard has that same quality?
Yeah, he's certainly counter-intuitive in terms of his choices. It makes him surprising and interesting to watch. It's paid off for us. He does not want to play the stereotypical lawyer/DA.

About blending in Alana de la Garza's character to 'LOLA' ... what facilitates Connie's move to L.A.?
Her mother has had a stroke so she's in need of care, and [Connie] moves back to LA. She had already passed the bar in L.A.

After we'd let Megan [Boone] and Regina [Hall] go, we were looking to recast and we weren't really getting anywhere. I just happened to be watching a 'Law & Order' from last year to watch an actress we were calling in. I was just looking at Alana and -- Alana and I are very, very distant cousins, I knew Alana was in L.A. and had a newborn to take care of and but she was starting to get back to work. I thought "Why not Alana?" So I told Dick, and he said "I'm so stupid! Why didn't I think of that?" So I beat him to the punch on that.

Funny ... when I suggested moving Alfred to the front of the show as a detective, Dick's first reaction was "That is the worst idea I've ever heard!" Then five hours later he thought about it and said, "That's actually a good idea".

Alfred Molina can do anything.
If you were going to think: who is today's Jerry Orbach? Fred is the guy. Very approachable as a character, there's definitely the everyman quality about him, and as you say, he can do anything. He's as much a song and dance guy as Jerry was. [Laughs]

What about Linus Roache, who played ADA Michael Cutter on the original 'Law & Order'?
Linus is on a series now at HBO! ['The Miraculous Year,' a pilot directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow.]

So no Cutter cameos?
Never say never, but he's busy right now. He's a very talented guy.

I was reading your bio, and considering we now have 'LOLA', 'Law & Order: U.K.' and of course all the New York incarnations -- what about 'Law & Order: Montreal'?
Much too cold.

It's cold in New York!
[Laughs] New York is nowhere near as cold as Montreal. It's more than I could stand -- that's why I moved away. Far too cold. New York is balmy compared to Montreal. New York bitched and moaned because it had three snowstorms this year. [Laughs] Montreal has three snowstorms every week.

WATCH LAST WEEK'S
EPISODE OF 'L&O: LA' HERE