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| Image from Dynasty, streamed via Netflix |
Season 1 Episode 1
Though I have been watching Dynasty from the release of its first episode, I went back and forth on whether I was going to recap it. I have several ongoing recapping projects right now, and I intend to add more in the next few months. Though recaps seem the simplest of writing jobs, the truth is, they take time and energy to work on. It was not until a couple of days ago that I decided to finally start covering Dynasty. It is in keeping with my vision of Recap Lab, a small corner of the Internet where shows that are entertaining, but do not receive much mainstream coverage, can find a home. So, here we go.
I am not old enough to have seen the original incarnation of Dynasty on TV, so I went into this CW version with fresh eyes. When I watched the Pilot for the first time months ago, my impression of it was that it was a nothingburger, but for Elizabeth Gillies, who carried the show with such confidence and sass that I wanted it to succeed because of and for her. Ms Gillies was Fallon Carrington, an energy executive and heiress who expected her father, Blake (Grant Show), to name her the new COO of Carrington Atlantic. She and her brother Steven (James Mackay) were shocked to learn that their father called to introduce them to Blake's new fiancee, Cristal Flores (Nathalie Kelley).
Fallon had been happy to come home because she had just learnt of a business opportunity. A company called Windbriar was going under. The company and its assets could be absorbed by Carrington Atlantic. When Fallon mentioned this to her father, Blake barely reacted. Without telling Fallon, Blake later sent Steven to meet with Windbriar's owner. Steven and Blake had been at odds for years, in large part because Steven was a self described bleeding heart liberal who opposed many of his father's business decisions. Blake sold the Windbriar deal to Steven as a way for Carrington Atlantic to increase their presence in renewable energy. What Steven later realised was that Blake sent him to the meeting because he was gay, and so was the owner of Windbriar. Fallon and Steven both felt that they had been manipulated by their father.
This first episode of Dynasty set up Fallon and Cristal as rivals. Fallon was the entitled rich kid and driven businesswoman. Cristal was the beautiful immigrant who worked hard, climbed the corporate ladder with her social conscience intact, and just happened to fall in love with her billionaire boss, though not with his outlandish gift giving practises. On paper, Cristal would be the one viewers could root for. That it did not happen, for me anyway, was due in large part to the gulf in energy that Ms Gillies and Ms Kelley brought to their respective roles. Ms Gillies was all in in her performance, so that Fallon may not have the lovely emotional layers Leighton Meester gave Blair Waldorf, but the same determination Fallon had to succeed was equal to her actor's determination to carry each scene she was in, and indeed this series.
Fallon initially dismissed her father's relationship as "just an engagement", though she set about trying to dig up dirt on Cristal with the help of her father's chauffeur and her lover Michael (Robert Christopher Riley). Michael managed to get a photograph of Cristal meeting up with her ex lover Matthew, a field engineer who also worked for Carrington Atlantic and who happened to be married. From Cristal's point of view, that night time rendezvous was just her way of fully closing a chapter in her life before beginning a new one. From Blake's point of view, after Fallon sent him the incriminating photograph, his new fiancee had lied to him over where she was that night. To Fallon's smug satisfaction, she saw her father invite Matthew to the house on the day his and Cristal's engagement photographs were being taken. Cristal and Matthew both pretended not to know each other. Blake acted the nonchalant billionaire, but what he wanted was to see Cristal and Matthew together.
Cristal was furious with Blake when she realised what he had done. To win her back, Blake turned what was supposed to be their engagement party into their wedding, and made Cristal the new COO. That development led to Fallon and Cristal getting into a classic soap opera fight, complete with hair pulling. By the time the wedding happened, Fallon had already rallied past her disappointment. She made a deal with a young billionaire businessman Blake hated, Jeff Colby, to back her as she formed her own company and acquired its first asset, Windbriar.
Dynasty's appeal to me is that it is soapy fun and relatively undemanding. I usually watch it when I am tired or stressed, and I just want to have something on the TV. I realise that is hardly a ringing endorsement, but I find that shows like this are essential to people who do not live easy lives. In my teens, I could not understand it when people older than me refused my TV or film recommendations because, at the end of the day, they no longer wanted to think. Now that I am a (reluctant) grown up, I fully understand that. So, if you do not mind soaps and enjoy wealth pron, give Dynasty a shot.
Strays
■ Cristal and Blake have only been dating for four months when they decided to get married.
■ Steven slept with a guy he met at a bar, Sammy Jo (Rafael de la Fuente), who turned out to be Cristal's nephew. Sammy Jo stole money from Steven, and Steven did not even notice.
■ Sammy Jo moved into the Carrington mansion.
■ Anders (Alan Dale), who was in charge of the Carrington household, ran a background check on Cristal, as he did with all employees in the house. He knew whatever secret it was Cristal was hiding.
■ Matthew's wife Claudia's illness was not specified in this first episode, but it was serious enough that she needed a nurse to look after her.
■ Matthew was going to leave Carrington Atlantic. He went out for one last survey job and died in an explosion. Claudia drove to the Carrinton manor and accused Blake of killing her husband.
■ Whilst Jeff worked for Carrington Atlantic, he developed a music software that would go on to earn him his first billion. Blake hated him because he believed that software was the property of Carrington Atlantic, though a judge ruled otherwise.
I am not old enough to have seen the original incarnation of Dynasty on TV, so I went into this CW version with fresh eyes. When I watched the Pilot for the first time months ago, my impression of it was that it was a nothingburger, but for Elizabeth Gillies, who carried the show with such confidence and sass that I wanted it to succeed because of and for her. Ms Gillies was Fallon Carrington, an energy executive and heiress who expected her father, Blake (Grant Show), to name her the new COO of Carrington Atlantic. She and her brother Steven (James Mackay) were shocked to learn that their father called to introduce them to Blake's new fiancee, Cristal Flores (Nathalie Kelley).
 |
| Image from Dynasty, streamed via Netflix |
This first episode of Dynasty set up Fallon and Cristal as rivals. Fallon was the entitled rich kid and driven businesswoman. Cristal was the beautiful immigrant who worked hard, climbed the corporate ladder with her social conscience intact, and just happened to fall in love with her billionaire boss, though not with his outlandish gift giving practises. On paper, Cristal would be the one viewers could root for. That it did not happen, for me anyway, was due in large part to the gulf in energy that Ms Gillies and Ms Kelley brought to their respective roles. Ms Gillies was all in in her performance, so that Fallon may not have the lovely emotional layers Leighton Meester gave Blair Waldorf, but the same determination Fallon had to succeed was equal to her actor's determination to carry each scene she was in, and indeed this series.
 |
| Image from Dynasty, streamed via Netflix |
Cristal was furious with Blake when she realised what he had done. To win her back, Blake turned what was supposed to be their engagement party into their wedding, and made Cristal the new COO. That development led to Fallon and Cristal getting into a classic soap opera fight, complete with hair pulling. By the time the wedding happened, Fallon had already rallied past her disappointment. She made a deal with a young billionaire businessman Blake hated, Jeff Colby, to back her as she formed her own company and acquired its first asset, Windbriar.
 |
| Image from Dynasty, streamed via Netflix |
Strays
■ Cristal and Blake have only been dating for four months when they decided to get married.
■ Steven slept with a guy he met at a bar, Sammy Jo (Rafael de la Fuente), who turned out to be Cristal's nephew. Sammy Jo stole money from Steven, and Steven did not even notice.
■ Sammy Jo moved into the Carrington mansion.
■ Anders (Alan Dale), who was in charge of the Carrington household, ran a background check on Cristal, as he did with all employees in the house. He knew whatever secret it was Cristal was hiding.
■ Matthew's wife Claudia's illness was not specified in this first episode, but it was serious enough that she needed a nurse to look after her.
■ Matthew was going to leave Carrington Atlantic. He went out for one last survey job and died in an explosion. Claudia drove to the Carrinton manor and accused Blake of killing her husband.
■ Whilst Jeff worked for Carrington Atlantic, he developed a music software that would go on to earn him his first billion. Blake hated him because he believed that software was the property of Carrington Atlantic, though a judge ruled otherwise.
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