Here's the breakdown.
Dynasty is a soap-opera that deals with two families -- The Carringtons and The Colbys. The head of the household is Blake Carrington (John Forsythe), who runs an oil company. Krystle Carrington (Linda Evans) plays the forever-understanding wife who often battles it out with Blake's "cold as ice" ex-wife Alexis Carrington (Joan Collins).
Many of the family members of the Carrington and Colby families play intricate parts in the series bringing their own brand of head-scratching drama in their own way. I could go into all of that for this review, but it is merely that — a review, not a plot summary. If the show weren't so damned horrible, I'd give an essay if I could on all of the other characters and their complicated lives.
Most soap operas don't have any likeable qualities. Everyone is bad one week and good the next without much logical explanation. The acting and dialogue are usually terrible and the people who direct them are far too in love with long pauses and extreme close-ups.
Dynasty's importance in the world of television was to, in theory, showcase the troubling life the rich can often have even though they have financial security. I can understand how that would appeal to an audience who most likely aren't and never will be born into a situation like that. That being said, a couple of seasons, not several, are all you need to showcase that.
The nail in the coffin for me as I watched this particular set of episodes was that Blake Carrington suddenly became an abusive jerk, which is unfortunate as he was the only one in the dozens or so cast members that I actually felt I could connect to.
During a particular episode somewhere earlier in the show’s history, Blake Carrington accidentally kills a male lover of one of his sons. The son, Steven Carrington, already unable to get along with his father finds himself suddenly caught in a fire explosion at an oil ring he found employment with. After having his face reconstructed, he is conned by his father into coming back into his life because of another son that he had by a woman that never liked him.
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