Disappointed with Dynasty

[lethalreno]

They really do define Dynasty. I'm re-watching season 1 for the first time since I bought it nearly 3 and a half years ago. I have to admit, its the most well-written season i've seen (i've only watched the first five up till now) in terms of character development and subtext, but not in plot development. The pacing was really slow, but I found myself really enjoying the Blaisdell's for the first time in 3 and a half years.
Gabriel Maxwell is right, they did lobotomize Claudia's character after this season and she became unbearable!
I agree with Gabriel Maxwell again; seasons 2-4 are my favorites too. Alexis was my favorite character and she really made the show compulsive viewing. And yes, I loved the season 2 episode with her and Joseph and the cobwebs. Very eerie, very dark. I haven't seen season 9 yet, but it seems to be a very popular choice on this forum, so I look forward to it (especially since fabulous Stephanie Beacham is in it!)

[lethalreno]

Postscript: Have nearly finished the first season, am up to the episode "The Separation" and have to admit i'm really appreciating the 1st season a lot more than when I originally viewed it 3 and a half years ago. I think at that point I was just being impatient and counting down the episodes until Alexis arrived! But I must say i've been gripped by the episodes "Fallon's Weddding", "The Chauffeur Tells A Secret", "The Bordello", "The Necklace Part 2", "The Beating" & especially "The Birthday Party". This season started out much slower, but has really picked up the pace and seems to be racing towards the climatic season finale!
I've fallen in love with Fallon all over again, she was such a beautifully rich character in the early years! She would have been a dream to play. Sort of a mini-Alexis! I've realized why i've always despised Blake! His raping of Krystle, his having Michael beaten up and trying to sabotage Matthew and Walter's oil rig, his non-acceptance of Stephen's sexuality. What a bastard!
And Krystle! I have to admit i'm actually rooting for her! I was always Team Alexis, but that was when her (like Claudia's) character was just about lobotomized in later seasons and she became a whimpering, emotional goody-goody. She was much stronger in the first season!

[alexis]

I agree with everything in your last two posts lethalreno ~

[lethalreno]

Thanks Alexis I've noticed from the Knots Landing forum that you and I have some favorite character's in common

[SnarkyOracle!]

As I've stated before, the first season was shot almost entirely during the calendar year of 1980 -- which, I assert, is absolutely the last year of the '70s (what we think of as the "80s" zeitgeist doesn't really kick in until 1981).

And the pilot, in particular, has that hovering '70s melancholia about it. The sense that the characters have a past from the very first minute you see them on-screen, even if the script doesn't support it. It comes from the era's basic mood and I suppose, its film stock as well.

That's just "very '70s".

Something that's particularly good will capture its time in sometimes unintended ways, like tapping into a frequency. I always think of that particularly during the library confrontation between Blake and Steven in the pilot -- it was filmed in September 1980 and feels exactly like September 1980, just as autumn is beginning, as the '70s are truly waning and just before the world changed and shifted into that Reagan/Thatcher/MTV "thing" that would define the '80s.

In some weird way, it's almost like the end of the '60s-'70s hyphenated dual decade. You can sorta feel it.

It's a good place for an '80s saga like DALLAS or DYNASTY to begin, the very end of the '70s: that bittersweet, disillusioned '70s mood somehow granting a certain gravitas to the backstory which can resonate for years into the dizzier, hyperbolic '80s...

Even I, however, wish that there were places in Season 1 that didn't feel quite so leisurely. I believe in taking your time, too, but some spots drag a bit more than necessary...

Also, Season 1 tends to feel more like a TV show, lacking somewhat the more cinematic feel of the pilot... And sometimes, I think "cinematic" just comes down to a wider master-shot, and holding that master-shot for a few second longer before moving in for the close-ups. Oh, and reining the music score in and not over-doing it.

I really do. Sometimes I think it's just that simple.

-----------------------------

The early-'60s and late-'60s were pretty different from each other, at least to have been in the same decade. I guess that's what made the '60s the '60s: the schizm was the story.

The reason people like Jason and myself thought that all the talk earlier in the year about an early-'60s movie prequel (although we knew it would never get made, and it looked like they'd changed the backstory enough to ruin its potential) was a decent idea, was that the Carringtons' past was somehow parallel to the changes in the culture at that time: Blake and Alexis are the "ideal" couple ("that's what they said about us... 'ideal' ") at the peak of the postwar American culture (pardon the oxymoron) at the end of the '50s and early-'60s, during the late Eisenhower and Kennedy reigns.

Then, just after JFK's 1963 assassination and the resultant sociopolitical seismic shifts, Blake's and Alexis' own world fell apart, too, as Alexis is "banished from that kingdom forever" imprisoning their "children in an emotional exhile for the rest of their lives."

So, for the next decade-and-a-half or so, the tiny family unit of Blake, Fallon and Steven wandered those lonely halls of the mansion, and eventually the halls of the Ivy League (in Steven's case), or the halls of five star European hotels (in Fallon's case), affluent but somehow lost. All of which also could be said to parallel the disillusioned bittersweet wanderings so definitive of the late-'60s, and even the refractory period of the '70s.

Then came 1980, with Blake and Krystle's wedding somehow closing out that long, hyphenated dual 60s/70s decade, the scene in the pilot between Blake and Steven in the library preceded by that brief exchange between Blake and Joseph on the mansion staircase ("Irish whiskey then?" "Three, one for each headache...") underscoring that closure... And then, lo and behold, pops up Alexis from the mists of the past, that cobwebby night scene in her art studio with Joseph somehow further evoking the above dynamic.

For that reason, I like the pilot and Season 1. And why I understood the ripe potential of a prequel placed in what we now seem to be calling "The MAD MEN era"... And it's also one of the numerous reasons I liked Season 9 so much, as it harked back to this backstory.

And if they ever do a reboot, it would be nice if they remember some of this stuff and not betray it again. And don't start calling Mrs Gunnerson "Concepcion" or something.

[leahsguide]

DYNASTY did not take off until Season 2 with the arrival of Joan Collins. Season 3 is probably the best of all seasons. Don't give up after watching only Season 1 (that was a bad season indeed).


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[sunshineboyuk]

Well it depends what you want.

If you want a show driven by character then season 1 is the best season of any of the 80's soap operas KNOTS LANDING included. The plot is huge and epic but it pays off toward the end of the season in a breathtaking collision of all of the plots that have been building, slowly, for the 11 or so eps before the final few. It's a rich, multi layered piece of drama that moves at a filmic pace, at times it like a Scorcese flick.

But if you want plot and spectacle then season 3 onwards will be your bag. But that's all it is . Plot. But the ultimate test of these shows is whether they have a something that resonates decades later. Season 1 does. It has Steven's " otherness" , the wholetake on the brutality of capitalism, the Claudia Blaisdale story and the taut annd often darkly humorous story of Krystal in the mansion. It's a classic piece of television and looks beautiful, the way it's photographed is second to none.

Season 2 is a different animal, it's brilliant in it's own audaciousness and the plot drives enough character stuff too make it a wild and thoroughly addcitive ride. And yes it's got Joan Collins at her very best. Alexis is never better than when she's hidingbehind hedges and scheming in sleaze from her gothic cottage at the end of the garden. It's all wonderful and extremely detailed, if you look. James noticed that Alexis is still stealing flowers from the garden riight up until the end of the season, they are placed in shot and it's those details iin seaosn 2 that are easy to miss amidst the operatic dramaticness of the whole crazy ride.

Season 3 has bits and pieces of interesting stuff, namely Adam and Alexis but it isn't really interesting as a complete show anymore. It literally falls apart as Blake falls off his horse and Nick Toscani disappears into the night taking all and everything with him. Nick didn't steal the baby, he stoole the fcking show!


I realise there are people who enjoy what came after it, just like people enjoy FALCON CREST but it doesn't stand up as anything worthwhile. That's not to say that you can't enjoy it and even love it. I can't like or love it. But i don't care because seaosn 1 and 2 are so good that I would argue that they exist as a two part series and that you get absolutely everything you could want from a soap opera/drama right there in those two answer/response seasons. And i, for one, am quite happy to leave the Carringtons and Blaisdales at the end of season 2 in the middle of a rainy stormy cliffhanger. It just makes the 2 seasons even more definitive and classic. Claudia and Steven in the library, Cecil giving Krystle advice about the kind of titan Blake is, Blake raping Krytsal, the late night scolding of the servants, Krystal and Matthew's final meeting, the court room, Ted, Alexis and Rashid... it's all just perfect.

So, disappointed in DYNASTY? No. Not at all. Totally rewarded by it's brilliance? Yes.

Watching it past season 3? No.

[SnarkyOracle!]

Season 1 (that was a bad season indeed).

Oh, season 1 was great, intelligent. But slowly paced, comparatively,

seaosn 1 and 2 are so good that I would argue that they exist as a two part series and that you get absolutely everything you could want from a soap opera/drama right there in those two answer/response seasons. And i, for one, am quite happy to leave the Carringtons and Blaisdales at the end of season 2 in the middle of a rainy stormy cliffhanger. It just makes the 2 seasons even more definitive and classic. Claudia and Steven in the library, Cecil giving Krystle advice about the kind of titan Blake is, Blake raping Krytsal, the late night scolding of the servants, Krystal and Matthew's final meeting, the court room, Ted, Alexis and Rashid... it's all just perfect.

And Season 9, of course, is a return to quality.

[alexis]

DYNASTY did not take off until Season 2 with the arrival of Joan Collins. Season 3 is probably the best of all seasons. Don't give up after watching only Season 1 (that was a bad season indeed).


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Watch season 4 or 5 and tell me they are better than season 1.

[Colonel Lucas]

Dynasty, after S1 became plot-obsessed, hardly ever character based. Dallas became plot obsessed in its bad final two years or so. Dynasty pulled it off most of the time, I think the breaking point was with the Crystal look-alike story. I never liked Crystal and having two of her around was annoying.

[bybr]

...Crystal...Crystal...

I don't remember such character. Can you elaborate on her? Who played her?
I'm actually serious.

[alexis]

I don't remember such character. Can you elaborate on her? Who played her?
I'm actually serious.

I think she was Rita's mom. She was locked in the basement at the Carrington mansion. Her spin off never took off though.

[willie oleson]

I think the writers got the SuperSoapFever. Yep.
No more time for detailed storylines or breathtaking scenes. Hurry hurry. New shocking plot-twists. New faces! Lights! Models! Guest lists!
What, Falcon Crest did the earthquake? Dammit!
PSM wants to leave? Dammit! Bring on another daughter. Tempo darlings, tempo!

Maybe they thought they couldn't stop the rollercoaster. Afraid to lose viewers if they didn't keep up with the soap-craze.

[ronald mascot]

I started watching Season 2 and so far, it's really good! No wonder I liked the show, it has not devolved into high camp yet with the "batgirl kick" catfights- and Al Corley is just soooooo good looking. What a piece of meat!



I do remember Season 3 was my favorite so I can't wait to watch up until then, hopefully I will done by the weekend

[alexis]

Season 3 it starts to get.... "Hmmmmmm I wonder should I take that fish out of the freezer for tomorrow? Na... I'll just have a salad. That scented candle isn't what I expected it to be. Maybe I could fold some washing while I'm doing nothing. Oh! Silly I'm watching DYNASTY!!!! Still maybe I should fold some sheets. I could probably make a potatoe salad too...hmmmm vacum the stairs? I hate Kirby and Alexis has a big bangle on......"

[SnarkyOracle!]

Season 3 it starts to get.... "Hmmmmmm I wonder should I take that fish out of the freezer for tomorrow? Na... I'll just have a salad. That scented candle isn't what I expected it to be. Maybe I could fold some washing while I'm doing nothing. Oh! Silly I'm watching DYNASTY!!!! Still maybe I should fold some sheets. I could probably make a potatoe salad too...hmmmm vacum the stairs? I hate Kirby and Alexis has a big bangle on......"

I washed sheets and made potato salad the other day, too. I'm not sure if Season 3 was on, but maybe it was.

[alexis]

I think the writers got the SuperSoapFever. Yep.
No more time for detailed storylines or breathtaking scenes. Hurry hurry. New shocking plot-twists. New faces! Lights! Models! Guest lists!
What, Falcon Crest did the earthquake? Dammit!
PSM wants to leave? Dammit! Bring on another daughter. Tempo darlings, tempo!

Maybe they thought they couldn't stop the rollercoaster. Afraid to lose viewers if they didn't keep up with the soap-craze.

And yet with everyone running around and being frantic the show somehow managed to become very dull, very slow and very boring. It's really quite strange.

[SnarkyOracle!]

And yet with everyone running around and being frantic the show somehow managed to become very dull, very slow and very boring. It's really quite strange.

Well-phrased.

[ronald mascot]

Well I just watched them all- it took me about 2 weeks, maybe 3, and I skipped a little of Season 8, I really appreciate the show a lot more than I did before, there are some great season and some great writing. I only wish I had watched it in order, instead I started at Season 2 and ended with Season 1.

Season 1- Really well- done, great writing, there is great suspense, especially surrounding the necklace! Steven almost portrays a "Christ-like" figure in his portrayal of Steven. He and Claudia, the ultimate misfits, coming together was beautiful and believable and didn't cheapen Steven's portrayal. And my goodness- the cliffhanger is certainly the greatest entrance of any TV character in TV history. Pamela Sue Martin and Linda Evans are both beautiful and both acted great.

Season 2- the show is different and even though it's not the same, it's a dynamite season- characterization seems to suffer, but fast-paced plots seem to cover for it and what wonderful plots they are, and such great writing and so many memorable lines.

Season 3- The entrance of Adam gives the show a jolt almost as powerful as Collins but not quite at her superstar level- the sinister son is played to the hilt, and suspense is everywhere. Great plots, more great writing.

Season 4- As I've said other places, this seems more like SEason 3, part 2 than it does it own season. The two main plots in the season are basically wrapping up plots that started the season before with Adam and Kirby. There are still great moments, and again, this show has terrific suspense with Adam attempting to frame his own mother- but something odd has started to take shape. What the show has been up to now has been a "drama"- it now slides more into "entertainment." Plotting seems to not be the main priority of the show, but glitz, glamor and spectacle start to become more important. I actually remember when Carousel first aired, and the PR campaign was in high gear with the appearance in the episode of real important figures in politics, I think Henry Kissinger made an appearance, so it was suddenly about the dresses and pomp.

Season 5- The conversion into an "entertainment" is complete, with big guest stars, bigger fashion, bigger money. Plotting starts to suffer, but the entertainment factor is still high, with Rock Hudson and the entrance of Dominique and a royal wedding.

Season 6- I think this may be the worst season of Dynasty. The thing is, perhaps the show could have went on a few more years and left with some respect in this new entertainment format- this season will wreck Dynasty for years. In the past few years, the plotting and writing of the show had fallen behind the glitz and the glamor, it was about the 4th most important thing, in this season, it's not even on the radar, the writing is INCOMPETENT. It falls so low, it becomes a joke. The whole season is a disaster. It can be summed up in one small scene where the fake Krystal has been poisoning Blake with something but drops her bottle and Sammy Jo sees it and picks it up-

This is "Ed Wood" bad- the only entertaining factor in it is you can't believe they are actually presenting something like this to the audience.

Season 7- I actually liked this season in ways, although how Blake got the home back was kinda boring and unbelievable, there were some watchable plots like Blake having amnesia and being with Alexis, and there was some real suspense back with Adam being told he was not a real Carrington and he tries to hide it and is being blackmailed, these are interesting stories to me, I even liked the Kristina heart plot, it was at least back to being watchable- and Blake and Alexis earned their paychecks to me this year, I thought both were front and center this season- there was a quote from someone during this time where they said they felt like Alexis and Krystle weren't the stars of the show anymore and I didn't quite get that, it seemed both Blake and Alexis dominated the scenes and the shows more in this year than in some others. At the end of the season, they wreck it again with just a crazy plotline where Alexis and Blake adopt Adam, not caring if he is their real son or not. What the hell? Can you imagine Season one Blake Carrington agreeing to nonsense like this- he made Krystle sign a pre-nup, he's going to give away some of his fortune to someone not even his son who he has not known but a few years but during the time he's known him, the guy has tried to kill Jeff and tried to frame Alexis for attempted murder! It's wacko crazy, I agree with James from London who I think said they both appeared lobotomized.

Season 8- it just starts off with nonsense and Matthew Blaisdell and it seems to get worse, I fast-forwarded through most of this, I can't say I really watched it, I hated the Governor thing, I hated Dana, I hated Sean, I thought the whole thing was nuts, maybe I will go back but I doubt it.

Season 9. This was a good season again. The murder mystery is a bit over-rated but the plots that surround it are what makes it worth watching, the murder is just a device to move things forward. In a complete surprise out of the blue, Emma Samms, of all people, suddenly becomes watchable! PSM is still the best Fallon but Emma actually starts having a pulse! She is funny, clever, and interesting- something she hasn't been well since..... well since Emma Samms took the role. Sable is a lot of fun- after all this time, Alexis actually has a nemesis worthy of her- Krystle is touching and has some great moments before she goes, and Blake actually seems to have some of his brains back after so many years. For such a long time, he had played by a fool by either Adam or Alexis and he finally sees Adam for what he is- I really liked it.

Dynasty was a great series, all in all. One abysmal season almost tore it apart, but it did get back on it's feet after a few more seasons, definitely worth a watch!

[SnarkyOracle!]

One abysmal season almost tore it apart!

There was more than one.