Season 7... How bad are we talking? lol

[alexis]

As the DVD releases are my first time in getting to watch the seasons in order and in entirity i have no idea really of what the main storylines of season 7 are.
So out of curiosity i youtubed the season 7 opener. I expected it to be drama filled with much going on and Alexis really changing up the mansion while blake delt with the peril at La Mirage. It wasnt drama filled.

Actually it was quite slow and boring with a stupid amount of screen time given to SammyJo and Clay making a stupid banana split.
And Krystina has reverted back to being new born judging from the babe in arms Krystle was carrying.
The characters all seemed to be so seperate from eachother making the episode feel rather odd.

And i know back in the day people didnt have blackberries and iphones or the internet but i find it hard to believe that alexis had no idea that there was a fire at La Mirage untill Dex waltzs in and tells her at breakfast. Especially since Blake got the phone call telling him of the fire while he was at the mansion, Gerard tells him about the call.

A heads up on further silly writing and storylines would be appreciated
Could someone give me a rough synopsis of this season?

[SnarkyOracle!]

This is what I once wrote about Season 7 (although I don't go much into the plotting details because, I guess, why bother...?) :

----------

Season 7:

As the ratings slide continues alarmingly, more "come-back, we've-fixed-it!" public relations campaigns were mounted. The producers again promise they are getting away from the more outrageous elements of Season 6, and re-focusing on the family. Yet most of the effort still seems to be directed at the publicity rather than fixing the show itself...

The fact is, "realism" and the lack of it isn't necessarily defined by how unlikely or bizarre the plots may appear to be on paper. The issue is execution. And the Powers That Be on DYNASTY still seem almost totally disengaged from their own program. As long as the clothes and hair are right, and the Static Acting Directive isn't violated, the makers remain unconcerned with anything else, or so the show airing every Wednesday night in the States would suggest.

Sure, the plots were more earthbound in Season 7. But drabness isn't much better than idiocy and, in this case, the former was just another manifestation of the latter.

Alexis' control of the mansion could have been quite dramatic indeed. It wasn't. Blake taking it back over a few months later could have been quite a turn of events. It wasn't. Krystle's migraines after she and Blake are run off the road could have been interesting. They weren't. As usual, all the plot twists were telegraphed and unconvincing. "Dumbness" ruled the day. Plus, late Season 6 and Season 7 were determined to deliberately -- and inadequately -- revisit old story devices (a la a re-cast Amanda's affair with chauffeur, Michael) as if, superstitiously, this would somehow put the show back where it was five years earlier when everything was new, when everything was exciting, and when everything seemed possible.

Back in Season 2, DYNASTY established its uniqueness by being something akin to a carnival. By now, however, everything has been reduced to a kind of deranged puppet show.

Blake getting amnesia after an oil rig explosion and shacking up with Alexis in Singapore was a good idea, but the show no longer seems capable of pulling anything off anymore. Krystle arrives from the far side of the globe and shows up just to whimper and ring her hands beside her limousine's flat tire. Dreary plots like Krystina's heart transplant and the suicidal mother of the the heart donor drag on forever without reason. The depressive Fallmont family is about as equally engrossing.

It's routine by this point in the series that the plots either last too long (usually the bad ones) or the plots don't last longer than the time it takes merely suggesting them (usually the good ones). The furiously wrong-headed scripts have long-showed little reverence for family history or any propensity for short-term memory, sometimes unintentionally contradicting stated plot elements even within a single episode.

Then, at some point mid-way thru the season, the writers somehow decide that the continued Nielsen crash is due to the characters being "too mean", and so Alexis and the other villainous denizens of Denver become -- spontaneously and without explanation -- insipidly humanized, even apologetic (to prove they're all really decent people deep down) until those writers eventually forget about this turn of events as well.

There simply seems to be no creative clarity to be accessed here almost at all. The bosses no longer have any grasp about what "works", regardless of whether the ostensible plots are silly or serious.

Brief Amanda replacement, Karen Cellini, observes in an exit interview that "the producers have no idea what they want" for the show, and revealed her awareness that the audience "really only wants to see Linda and Joan." While DALLAS'/KNOTS' creative father, David Jacobs, laments that Joan and Linda "no longer seem like the stars of the show anymore." (Years later, Kate O'Mara would quote one of the producers as privately confessing that they made the plots up as they went along.)

Sometimes something with great potential, when that potential is squandered or abused, can often become far worse, far more incorrigible, than something which had very little potential to begin with... I recall one reviewer in 1987 comparing --- for some reason or another --- certain TV shows to cuddly animals, stating that DYNASTY was like the neighbor's mongrel dog which keeps dragging decapitated cat heads into the family living room (or words to that effect). Yep, that worked for me. The perverse incompetence bordered on the gruesome.

But as long as nobody gestures too freely, what's the difference? About this time, TV GUIDE ran a piece about "They're Stars but can they Act?" in which celebrated producer, Steven Bochco, said of Linda Evans, "She can't act her way out of a paper bag!" and little disagreement was heard... No one would laugh at Evans' Golden Globe win, tying with the great Barbara Bel Geddes, in 1982, but that seemed a long, long time ago.

To add insult to injury, for some reason the original broadcast prints shown from late Season 6 thru early Season 8 had a blurry, splotchy, absurdly washed-out visual quality which wreaked havoc with the one element of the show still worth watching it for: the "look" of DYNASTY, which was completely compromised as a result. This problem (which has since been fixed for these episodes) undoutedly had the effect of pushing the ratings down even further and faster than was already occurring.

And speaking of earthbound plots, over on the collapsing COLBYS spin-off, Fallon #2, incorrectly re-cast with the curvy Brit, Emma Samms, is kidnapped by a flying saucer and whisked away to Mars --- or, where all platinum foil-draped aliens and their decapitated cats reside, Denver.

[alexis]

ohh dear!

[Jason!]

I'm surprised I wrote so little about season 7:

Season 7:

I like to call season 7 the blender year. “Let’s throw everything in the blender, and see what we get!” What we got was a season of convoluted and unconnected story arcs. There’s too many to reference here, so just take my word for it.

Marky hits the nail on the head:

Alexis' control of the mansion could have been quite dramatic indeed. It wasn't. Blake taking it back over a few months later could have been quite a turn of events. It wasn't. Krystle's migraines after she and Blake are run off the road could have been interesting. They weren't. As usual, all the plot twists were telegraphed and unconvincing. "Dumbness" ruled the day. Plus, late Season 6 and Season 7 were determined to deliberately -- and inadequately -- revisit old story devices (a la a re-cast Amanda's affair with chauffeur, Michael) as if, superstitiously, this would somehow put the show back where it was five years earlier when everything was new, when everything was exciting, and when everything seemed possible.

And the mansion … Remember Marie Barone’s house from Everybody Loves Raymond? That’s the way the sets look this season. Sterile. Alexis is back in the mansion and like the Rita story from the previous season, we’re all sitting back collectively saying, “So?” It was a chance to show Alexis' personality but someone realized ... she doesn't have one. Nor does she have a past. Alexis has a shitstory instead.

Everything is a gimmick or cliché. And it is the first time TPTB finally realize camp just ain’t gonna do it! So we have these feeble attempts at drama. However, even when Dynasty is attempting drama, it’s camp. It’s so far off the path that it’ll take someone more talented than the Pollocks to straighten things out again.

Who thought Clay and Leslie were interesting? The Clay/Amanda/Sammy Jo story had some interest but the recycled Michael Culhane story with fake Amanda suffers. Karen Cellini has only one thing going for her: she’s not Robin Sachs. Sammy Jo has gone from feisty spitfire to Krystle Lite. She whines and goes on about the most mundane things …. like Steven, for example. Steven’s jumping in and out of the closet becomes a joke. His brother Adam finally lands a woman who seems to be his equal but the static acting directive doesn’t work with the talented Leann Hunley.

There’s a few exciting moments with Caress, but she soon skips town; Ben whines and morphs into a goody goody; and Dominique tries the black Dex Dexter. Dex has now become a cliché on the series. He can only do two things now: bed and rescue. There’s a hint of him and Dominique, we see his new father, visit his home, and meet his friends, and … nothing. Rumor was that little Cathy would be revealed to be Dex’s daughter but it never materialized. There’s also boring and untalented Cassie Yates who appears as Dex’s old flame who seems to be what a grown up Lindsay Blaisdel would be.
Speaking of Blaisdels, Matthew reappears in the cliffhanger. Weren’t cliffhangers supposed to be shocking? Damned ABC reveals the shock in the promos!

So much goes on in this season, one needs a flow chart. What makes matters worse is the new, sudden injection of “drama”. The ads read, “It’s not just drama, it’s Dynasty.” Like that was going to help. The only positive effect of the Krystina story was little Jessica Player hamming it up and out acting Linda Evans in scenes. Seriously, Linda Evans in those shoulder pads often looked like Brian Bosworth. If whoever was in charge thought this story was injecting some realism into the series, they were mistaken.

[DynastyTreeNat89]

The first half of s7 seemed mildly interesting but only because at that point Ben was still evil but later season 7 was awful every one was too lovey dovey with one another and again they kept re-using story lines from previous seasons like Snarky stated, Amanda/Culhane would've been more exciting with C/O and going somewhere with it, the second rate Claudia aka Sarah Curtis storyline is so
1982 (LB's kidnapping/Claudia taking a doll in seasons 2 & 3) and worst of all another wedding hostage situation that the very same show used as a cliffhanger two seasons earlier and the very cliffhanger Dynasty was still trying to recover from, and they don't have the decency to let us stew on 'who has come back' instead Matthew shows up and reveals his reason for coming back to boot
Season 7 & 8 are to me the worst of Dynasty's years

[Stringer Bell]

About the only thing I liked about this season was Adam's identity crisis storyline. Sure, the writing was mostly absurd and inconsistent and the outcome was soppy and made little sense, but at least it gave Gordon Thomson something to do other than scheme about Denver Carrington, or argue with Steven.

I swear that plot was the ONLY thing that kept me tuning in to the latter half of season 7. Undoubtably Dynasty's dreariest hour.

[Jason!]

Hmmmm. I don't know how to go with this one. Adam's identity crisis was good, but still too soapy. Gordon Thomson does a good job with what he's given, but instead of us finding out what makes Adam tick -- he's obviously upset over not being a Carrington, but why? -- we're left with the usual gooey story. Like with Krystina's heart problem -- Dynasty just couldn't remember how to do drama.

[gonebananas]

The whole identity crisis thing could have been avoided when Adam was introduced, if you ask me.

I know that DNA tests for paternity were only starting out back then, but Blake could have easily insisted on and gotten one. Or, better yet, insisted on comparing Adam's adult footprints with those of the infant Adam that were more than likely recorded on the birth certificate.

But then, script writers don't have the common sense that God gave to a soda cracker, so we had that mess to deal with.

As to the whole Adam/Dana thing, it was handled very stupidly. With the kind of advances that were available, even in the late eighties, they could have found out if Dana were still capable of conception.

What about in vitro conception? That way, the baby would have been theirs, and Karen wouldn't have had a leg to stand on, legally speaking. She would only have been renting out the use of her womb for the duration of the pregnancy.

And then, they bring Karen's deadbeat ex husband into the story, a man who took off on her and her two (or was it three kids?), and never sent so much as a birthday card to the children? And she takes him back????

I know that love can be blind, but it doesn't have to be stupid on top of it.

Or was the whole baby thing Season Eight? I can't remember, but my point is still valid?

If a person is going to write a story, they should have it plotted out from point 'A' to point 'Z'.

I know that there can be changes to the script, but really! That season went beyond the bounds of credibility to the realm of stupidity and beyond!

[SnarkyOracle!]

Yes, the baby thing was Season 8, with DYNASTY trying to rip the surrogate story from the 1987 headlines. Unfortunatley, all the show could rip at that point was a fart.

Instead of the Atkinsons, I'd've brought Kirby back for a season with what we suspect is Adam's two year old baby.

[AJ]

Yes, the baby thing was Season 8, with DYNASTY trying to rip the surrogate story from the 1987 headlines. Unfortunatley, all the show could rip at that point was a fart.

Instead of the Atkinson's, I've brought Kirby back for a season with what we suspect is Adam's two year old baby.

YES YES YES and Uncle Sean is trying to kill granddaddy Blake and granny Alexis........I LOVE IT!

[B.J. Ewing]

Yes, the baby thing was Season 8, with DYNASTY trying to rip the surrogate story from the 1987 headlines. Unfortunatley, all the show could rip at that point was a fart.

Instead of the Atkinsons, I'd've brought Kirby back for a season with what we suspect is Adam's two year old baby.

Knowing the Dynasty writers, Kirby's baby would probably have been a teenager and not a two year old...

[gonebananas]

That would have been preferable. Kirby on the verge of dying from cancer or something else, and decides to hand her two year old child to it's biological father. Who has probably been taught from the giddyap to be afraid of Alexis.

What was the French name of the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty? Carabosse, I think?

Imagine, a very Frenchified little girl squealing, "Grand-mere Carabosse!" and running for the safety of Daddy's arms whenever Alexis showed up.

[alexis]

That would have been preferable. Kirby on the verge of dying from cancer or something else, and decides to hand her two year old child to it's biological father. Who has probably been taught from the giddyap to be afraid of Alexis.

What was the French name of the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty? Carabosse, I think?

Imagine, a very Frenchified little girl squealing, "Grand-mere Carabosse!" and running for the safety of Daddy's arms whenever Alexis showed up.

i can see it

[gonebananas]

Remind me to write that fic one day.

[Clubsoda]

Wathcing Karen Cellini is an unbearable experience in itself. I wonder if Karen will buy this season? ha

[alexis]

It somehow was better than when i watched it on youtube, maybe because it was on the big screen in the living room.
I just love Alexis, obvious i know. But she was amazing in the season 7 opener i actually think everyones performances are great in it except Karen Celini. The poor girl.

I am guessing the mysterious woman calling Ben is Lesley Carrington? His daughter?
Im not very clued up on this season but i think im right.
One thing about when Alexis opens the photo frame in the bedroom in the mansion the photo of Amanda changes from a full pic of a girl, to a head shot of Karen Celini, im guessing that Catherine Oxemberg was still on the pay roll when Joan filmed that scene then they axed her inserted the clip of the Celini pic.

Do we see anymore of Caress in this season? And does Dominique leave?

[bothen]

yes caress is in some episodes but not sure how many. This is Dominique's last season as well.

[DynastyTreeNat89]

Caress comes back for five or six more episodes then leaves for Australia presumably she was supposed to return but after the huge ratings dip in the Autumn of 1986 this was one of the storylines dropped during the Jan 1987 retooling in favour of more 'down to earth lovey dovey' story-lines played out in the latter half of the season, had Caress come back she would've found evidence to state that Ben Carrington was a murderer which was the original main storyline of that season, this was partially reused in season 8 using Sean Rowan, but no we never hear or see of Caress again after this, yet another wasted opportunity

[Jason!]

We never saw Caress again because of Diahann Carroll.

[DynastyTreeNat89]

We never saw Caress again because of Diahann Carroll.

I've heard two things on Kate O'Mara's departure I've heard the Diahann Carroll story and I've heard that Joan Collins had KOM sacked,