Dynasty: Discussion Thread

[Melroser]

I enjoyed the original Dynasty (tho i never watched a lot of the original run) and shows like Dallas and Melrose Place, but to put this show in that category is ridiculous. I've tried to get into this show. I just can't. The whole time I'm watching it through a filter as though it is a bad SNL sketch making fun of the original. In that sense, it's kind of a funny show. As a "drama" about a rich family, not so much. 

[soapfan770]

Oh lol the show has been renewed for a fourth season!!! 

 

https://www.tvshowsace.com/2020/01/09/dynasty-season-4-how-did-cws-lowest-rated-show-get-renewed/

[John]

Lets guess who will play Cristal in season 4

[pdm1974]

LOL! They really should do it. It's like a tradition at this point!

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[te.]

I love how Dominique isn't worthless in this and that they're actually making the most of her.

 

Bravo nuDynasty writers!

[soapfan770]

Lol I’m going to safely say that Liam & Fallon’s wedding is going to be in Moldavia whenever it occurs. I just can’t with this show. 

[soapfan770]

Season 4 is currently filming and is expected to come out in April but now the show has been renewed for a fifth season as well for the 2021-22 season:

 

https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/dynasty-season-five-early-2021-22-renewal-for-cw-reboot-series/

[j swift]

OK, I watched the season finale last year and then the season premiere last night, and I am kind of hooked on the campy charm of this reboot.

 

Although I still need to reference the original characters in my head in order to "translate" the current cast, Dynasty is a great example of using a reboot to correct the past.  Melrose Place, 90210, and the Dallas reboot proved that nobody cares about new characters in our old shows.  Recasting Fallon was a huge production error in the original, but this time the series is able to give her center stage and focus on her as the most interesting member of the Carrington Clan.  In my opinion, John Forsythe verged on creepy when playing sexual scenes, but Grant Show (who is only four years younger than John was when he portrayed Blake) maintains a healthy sex appeal.  As much as I miss the other Morells, like Sable and Caress, I like Dominique being Jeff and Monica's mother.  Obviously, nobody could be better than Joan Collins, but that is why I am glad to see that the current series doesn't focus on Alexis as much, and uses Alexis as an antagonist rather than a heroine.

 

I am shocked by how truly funny it is, without being too wacky.  E.g. in last night's  premiere Fallon turned to her new Latina florist and yelled, "crystal" as a referential nod to the seasonal recasting of her step-mother, when in fact she was talking about the fact that her wedding cake topper was crystal and not gold.  They found a sweet spot between parody of primetime dramas, absurdity, and comedy.

 

That being said, it also looks expensive.  Although there are too many excuses to keep the drama in a limited number of sets, those sets looks great.  La Mirage has tons of flowers and extras to fill the lobby.  Alexis's suite is chic with modern details.  And the costumes are fabulous.

 

Of course there are errors in logic, I like Sam, but I have no idea why the Carringtons continue to support him after his aunt Cristal's death.  The loss of Steven seems unresolved, especially given that Michael the chauffeur is still around in season 4.  Also, character motivations flip flop each week, for example, why does Kirby like Fallon?

 

I still don't get who the intended audience is supposed to be?  As an older gay, I get the references to Moldavia, the girl hidden in the pond, pool fights, barn fires, and other OG Dynasty tidbits.  But, would the 18-25 crowd be willing to check the old WIki to understand these callbacks?  I don't actually care if they are producing the show solely for my entertainment, but it does seem like a rather specific cultural indulgence which I am really enjoying. 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by j swift

[soapfan770]

 

 

I think you gave a great assessment on the show! 

 

I watched the Season 4 premiere as well and found it harmless fun. Interestingly for the first time in forever this show actually felt a lot more mature that it was in Season 3 where it was just wacky and over the top campy. I am guessing a lot of this has to do with the fact we're actually back with the same cast for change LOL, at least for now. Although why Culhane is still around I have no clue lol but at least the actor is nice to look at. 

 

Still the show runs at lightning speed...the public reveals of the fact Blake slept with Laura and Cristal slept with the priest should have been more shocking and juicier than it was presented but it wasn't. Aside from two seconds of jaw drops and gasps Liam & Fallon were very unfazed aside from Fallon's rant about everything getting ruined and by episode's end all seemed okay for now. 

 

The OG callbacks have been interestingly tangled in all over from various seasons in the new Dynasty. As it stands we've had barn fires, Claudia go absolutely crazy again and die, Alexis shoot Mark and cause Cristal's miscarriage, Alexis and Cristal pool fight, Adam as Michael Torrance, Blake on murder trial with Hendrix making her debut the same way Alexis did at the end of S1 in the original, now the show is talking about Moldovia etc. with of course some various twists on the original thrown into the mix. It'll cause whiplash if you wrap your head around it. 

 

Maybe it's because I have no standards when it comes to this show, but Hendrix has made a better Alexis in my opinion than Sheridan did. I am quite sure Joan Collins loses no sleep though LOL. 

 

As for Sam there's been a gap even since Steven left but at least the actor is sexy/charismatic and I approve of casting Lachlan Buchanan as his new love interest. Hope this show doesn't waste him the same way Y&R did. 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by soapfan770

[j swift]

I only dipped in and out of the prior seasons, but I will continue this year.  Also, a Lachie Buchanan fan, but Station 19 isn't for me, so this is a good excuse to watch him.  Plus the EW article mentioned that he's going back to the strip club, so that's a plus.

 

I don't mind the speed because it is only an hour a week, so they have lots to get through.  Fans often wish that old soaps would get replayed on streaming, but I just watched an old season of Dallas, and at 29 episodes per year that plot dragged by today's standards.

 

I don't know if it was Culhane or Jeff that was talking about napkins with Sam, but I liked their chemistry as well; I appreciate the portrayal of a straight/gay friendship.  I still translate these characters using the old cast, like the cliffhanger of Anders on the plane going to investigate Adam made me run to my phone to figure out who Alan Dale was playing.

 

It is amusing because it is as if they are predestined to live through certain plots, because they happened in the old show, but there are enough new twists to keep it suspenseful.  I'm still wondering what's in Dominique's safety security box, that her mother conveniently kept the key to, just in case she dropped by a year later. 

 

 

Also, I don't think people buy loans from banks using briefcases filled with cash, but I was entertained by the visual, and I can't wait for Alexis to start throwing furs over the railing of the Carrington staircase.

 

 

Most of all, I think they nailed the casting of Kirby and Fallon.  However, if Moldovia means that Amanda or Prince Michael are coming I may need to start hitting the ff button...

Edited May 11, 2021 by j swift

[soapfan770]

 

Lol fair point, especially for some of the longer seasons of Dallas, Dynasty, and Knots.

 

So far there is no indication this incarnation’s of Moldavia is like the original. The Moldavians so far have been presented  as terrorists, with Moldavia being something more akin to a Post Soviet Republic like Belarus, Turkmenistan, or even the real Moldova. 

[j swift]

Can we take bets who is in the coffin?

 

Liam is too obvious.  I'm going with Culhane because Fallon's grief over her past lover will cause Liam to become jealous.

[soapfan770]

Liam is definitely too obvious.

At the moment I would wager it’s some peripheral character like Laura or Evan. We’re allegedly supposed to see more characters show up for the funeral to rule them out, so it may very well be Culhane or someone like Anders who of course died in the original.

[j swift]

Evan was the guy touring the flooded church with the wedding planner (who conveniently told the whole event strategy of a "gold package" wedding to a stranger she had never met before) at the end of the season premiere?

 

It is total soap logic that Fallon, daughter of Alexis, would trust superstition over sabotage as the cause of events.

[soapfan770]

Yep that is Evan. Evan is the brother of the drunk underage girl who was found the pond. Initially he was sabotaging Fallon out of revenge but then developed unrequited feelings and has became obsessed being her. So far though all of his schemes have completely backfired.