Dynasty review: from shoulder pads to smartphones
The 80’s was a different world, on a different planet. There was no climate change in talk or effect, no Gen Z, no internet, no smartphones, no designated smoking areas, no helicopter parents and no junk food ruling our lives. The recently trending Beverly Hills Cop Axel F [that I watched and thoroughly enjoyed] originated in in the 80s and brought with it a wistful yearning for more of the same.
This feeling was duly spied on by the Netflix bot that used its algorithmic intelligence to throw Dynasty at me. Not the original but the modernised reboot of the 1980s primetime soap. Sure, I was tempted and decided to give it a go.
I began watching the first episode with a bit of indifference, but I don’t know when and how I got sucked in. It wasn’t long before I realised that it was a mindless escape from the stress related to relentless heat, inflation and killer electricity bills. I also realised that our need for distraction in the present day is much greater than in the 80s, and that when it comes to escapism, you could do a lot worse than a trashy soap that sweeps you into a world of entitled people who dress in evening-wear all day.
The newer Dynasty follows two of America's wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children. You can’t ever mistake it for fine drama, it's super entertaining and trashy as hell. Despite the totally OTT drama and storyline, nauseating racism, Black and Latino characters being portrayed as gold-diggers and law-breakers, it is a heady mix of ridiculously bizzarre situations. These mean, revengeful, shallow, immaculately dressed up, filthy rich, and disgustingly deceitful people who strive to uphold the Carryington family name higher than 55-story Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta [as the action moves to Atlanta instead of Denver from the original series], where they are no less than royalty, and drop their values quicker than they drop their Eugena Kim hats.
I suspect that the cat-fight [within 30 minutes flat], a deadly explosion, a wedding and a funeral in the first episode with a got me hooked and the series became my guilty pleasure.
In 1981, ABC’s original Dynasty evolved into a huge hit, rotating around Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) and the two women in his life: his noble wife Krystle (Linda Evans) and his ex-wife Alexis (the unparalled Joan Collins). Along with Dallas, it was a boom in raunchy, soapy prime-time stuff full of diamonds, drinks, deceit and board meetings. Like all entertainment coming out of the subcontinent in those days, when shoulder pads and voluminous hair were the height of fashion, TV and films preferred older actors or veteran casts, a tradition that's less prevalent today. As we had not much choice but to accept Mohammed Ali, Shabnam, Rajesh Khanna and Dev Anand dancing around trees in their 40s, conservatively speaking, Forsythe was over 60 when Dynasty premiered, Evans was nearly 40, and Collins was nearly 50, yet the series was a huge hit.
To give a younger feel to the show, the new Dynasty was created by Gossip Girl creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, along with Sallie Patrick, who worked on ABC's Revenge. Hence you might feel it isn’t as classic and luscious as Dynasty of the past, the central character Fallon resembles Gossip Girl’s Blaire, the series is cool and big on grudges, and after the first season, the content typically caters to Gen Z.
Even though the big bad Blake Carrington is still the patriarch, in a clever casting decision he is played by Grant Show [remember Jake in Melrose Place 1992?]. Behind Blake’s conventionally handsome exterior of the perfect wealthy daddy is a ruthless oil billionaire who will do anything for power and money, who manipulates both family and business matters and is romantically involved with six women during the Dynasty reboot.
The best part about Dynasty is that instead of feeling tragic, shocked or sympathetic with the characters, you can roll on the floor laughing as you discover that all characters are predictable in their own ways and that in all likelihood Blake is deliciously behind nearly every unfortunate occurrence in the story. You don’t even sympathise with him when his daughter Fallon spews garbage at him. Actually, these characters never connect to the audience in a way that you feel for them and even when they are supposed to be going through some trauma, they are dressed to the hilt in haute couture that makes you giddy.
In the original Dynasty series, Krystle was an American woman who was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio in a stable family. She was also close to her sister, Iris. In the reboot, Cristal of Latin-American descent, from Venezuela where she has spent most of her life gets a spelling change and is played by Nathalie Kelley.
Just two days after getting caught in his office by his grown-up children in a rather undignified disposition with his PR person Cristal, Blake marries her in the backyard and she becomes the new Mrs Carrington and the COO of Blake’s multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, Carrington Atlantic. Delightfully for the audience, has a dinghy past of which she is constantly reminded of by the Carrington manor’s butler Anders [ not for a moment does he let you miss the proverbial, spiteful saas from the subcontinent]. Cristal is also viciously abused for by her step daughter, yet [dressed as though for a Vogue shoot] she tries to hold back her tears. “Please, call me Mom,” spits Cristal, launching her shellac at a furious Fallon in a fight that reminds you of Blake’s wives Alexis and Krystle’s frequent tussles of yore. But because of the sheer ludicrousness of it, you can only laugh at it all.
The soul of the new series is Blake’s spoilt-to-the-core daughter Fallon (Elizabeth Gillies) who has a close relationship with her father and her brother Steven. Gillies’ performance is exceptional as she plays the sassy, fiery, charismatic, funny, and very entertaining Fallon, a role that is emotionally deep and complex. The beautiful Fallon is the most happening character who has a mouthful for everyone and walks all over people, is brutally rude yet a shrewd businesswoman, and surprises the audience with cat fights in the pool, bullet sprays in the living room and even short-lived human feeling or two of humility. Her lines are punchy as hell and she is actually the daughter who always saves the Carrington dynasty. She is in love with her chauffer [Raja Hindustani?] and hiring a man off the street to get married to for a day and then falls for him.
Fallon’s brother Steven Carrington (James Mackay) is now gay and fooling around with someone he meets who will obviously turn out to be related to someone he knows. Steven’s interest turns out to be Sammy-Jo (Heather Locklear in the original), the gay nephew of Steven’s stepmother Cristal. He starts dirt poor, and has more of a heart and a conscience compared to all other characters. The butler of the manor is quite fatherly to him and their scenes are perhaps the most endearing if anything can be at all endearing in the show.
That brings me to Joseph Anders (Alan Dale) the amazing butler or the majordomo. Remember the Australian soap Neighbours in the 80s? Anders played the lovely man Jim Robinson, who dies of a heart attack. A tall New Zealander, Anders is the guardian angel of the Carringtons and Blake’s right-hand man who knows everything about everyone in and around the Carringtons. With the same calm composure edging on cold, he can warn Cristal that he has investigated her sordid past and will reveal the details to Blake if she steps out of line, produce a joint credit card for her with her hubby so as to control her expense account; an immigration lawyer’s card for Sammy Jo; coordinate a break in at the Carrington’s archrival’s home during a wedding and manage a wedding a funeral together in his long stride. There is a human side to Anders too, where he discreetly helps Cristal pay off someone from her past, and helps Sammy mend his life. Dale’s performance is flawless and he adds class to any scene that he is in.
The rich-people shenanigans of the Carrington family and their powerful energy empire includes more people of colour as compared to the original. Where it might have added a uniqueness or sensation previously, it is now an important requirement for a politically-smart production.
The rival Colby family is black, Cristal Flores’ friends are a diverse bunch, while she and her nephew Sammy-Jones’ ethnic legacy and Spanish language carry over to their characters. Together they do a fabulous salsa item [number!] in a Carrington celebration. Interestingly, looking at the majority of white guests, Fallon’s friend Monique Colby describes Blake and Cristal’s wedding “very white.”
Dynasty’s exaggerated storylines and situations, constructed beyond the realm of possibility and reality, are major fun to watch. Of course, for a wealthy family like the Carringtons, nothing is inaccessible or impossible given their endless resources and trillions of dollars. Some of the situations and storylines from the show are probably the tritest collection of soap opera plotlines, but in all honesty these storylines must resonate somewhere to some people in the world, after all the Ambanis of India are not fantasy creatures. In the five seasons, several actors get replaced which doesn’t settle well.
If you think spiteful confrontations, pushes and kicks, tugging bunches of designer hair extensions, Louboutin stiletto kicks and a cat fight or two is fun to watch, this is your show. Add to that memory loss, complete face changes after plastic surgery, a scene where stepmom Cristal walking Fallon the bride to the altar to marry a hired groom who no one knows is a celebrated writer, with What’s Love got to do as the background score! In another scene, another where Anders plants a tight slap across his employer’s Blake Carrington’s arrogant face, the oil tycoon face for being disrespectful for Grandfather Carrington and poor Fallon almost unknowingly married a cousin [a complete no-no in gora world!]
This is stereotypical Hollywood production at its finest with sheer ridiculousness being its strength that makes it worth watching. Don’t waste time looking for depth, it only promises entertainment, and lots of it.