The Dynasty That Could Have Been

Ked

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Michael Torrance said:
And Krystle went from having a panic attack after a discussion with Joseph about seating arrangements to asking Jeanette to assert her position as lady of the house before confronting Alexis because she cut some flowers. Such pettiness would be above Krystle in season 1, who was wondering if she belonged in that world. But now she was beyond such questioning.
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It wasn't *that* petty. First of all, Alexis had ordered the gardener to cut her the last of the roses. She was giving commands to what was no longer her staff, and yet she was more readily obeyed than Krystle from the previous season. Secondly, by then, several months (if not a year) had passed since her "panic attack" happened; Krystle had gotten used to having servants. So her being miffed about the situation feels pretty natural.
 
Matthew Blaisdel

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Willie Oleson said:
The network may have been responsible for the shift in tone, but the story itself almost demanded a new chapter.
The introduction of Alexis may have been a calculated decision but:
1) it would have happened anyway because the mother was already "there".
2) her return was the result of Blake's crime, it was a natural development in the story that she would appear at that particular time.
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But just for 6 episodes. That was the original plan. Alexis (or Madeleine) wasn't meant to stay at first.
 
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Matthew Blaisdel

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No, thanks. :D
If that was the case, we wouldn't be here right now to talk about the show.
 
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Michael Torrance

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Matthew Blaisdel said:
But just for 6 episodes. That was the original plan. Alexis (or Madeleine) wasn't meant to stay at first.
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That was the original plan of the Shapiros. I think that even then the thinking was a combination of stunt casting (getting some big name as the ex wife, hence the Sophia Lauren proposal) and also not changing the Carrington universe too much. The Pollocks insisted that you can't create a core character for a quick in and out, and as they said in an interview in The Dynasty Years, they knew that from many years of writing for the form, i.e. soap opera. So once they were brought in, Madeleine became Alexis and a season-long character. I think the Shapiros wrote season 1 as a mini-series, and from what Esther had said season 2--pre-Pollocks--- would be a few different arcs (2 or 3), with the ex wife one of them, not overlapping but one after the other. The Pollocks brought on their bible for a different prime time soap they had created on spec, and the Shapiros or Spelling or ABC or some combo of the three decided to adapt that bible to the Dynasty characters (or, as it turned out, vice versa). And then the show became what we got to know in season 2.
 
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Michael Torrance

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Ked said:
It wasn't *that* petty. First of all, Alexis had ordered the gardener to cut her the last of the roses. She was giving commands to what was no longer her staff, and yet she was more readily obeyed than Krystle from the previous season. Secondly, by then, several months (if not a year) had passed since her "panic attack" happened; Krystle had gotten used to having servants. So her being miffed about the situation feels pretty natural.
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Look at their first encounter, where Krystle has the upper hand and Alexis acts as if this is her house still, and Krystle puts her in her place.


Now, look at this encounter. It starts with this wholly weird question and some bizarre smug smile when her employee tells her she is mistress of the house--what would she really say? And if you have to ask...
Then in the scene Alexis plays Krystle like a fiddle, so that the scene closes with an exasperated Krystle and a very satisfied Alexis who was able to get under her skin. Unlike the first encounter, where Krystle could not be shaken.

 
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If Alexis was the new insider than Sammy Jo and Nick Toscanni were the new outsiders.
Sammy Jo came with a fresh point of view, easy profit. Fallon had accused Krystle of the same thing (or at least hinted at it) but to me this seemed like an excuse to resent her stepmother.
Nick Toscanni was very much a season 1 style character, I once joked about an idea for a Dynasty book (In Therapy With The Carringtons) but perhaps this could have been another critical view, for Nick to try to find out what it's like to be a Carrington - and saving Krystle in the process.
The link with Blake and DC (his brother's death) felt a bit contrived and the retooling of his persona (shrink -> Doctor Fix It) was quite jarring.
Alexis was doing just fine, killing Blake's baby and stealing Krystle's flowers, but it was Nick Toscanni who suffered the most from (what would become traditional) sensationalized soap writing.
I enjoyed all his stuff with Krystle, Fallon and Claudia but it could have been more literary.
 
Michael Torrance

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Willie Oleson said:
If Alexis was the new insider than Sammy Jo and Nick Toscanni were the new outsiders. Sammy Jo came with a fresh point of view, easy profit.
Nick Toscanni was very much a season 1 style character
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I think both of them would have fit the first season, although Sammy Jo was probably another Pollock invention. Sammy Jo did fit the show well. She fit the craziness of season 2, but she also would have fit the season 1 era, as the embarrassing relative that would give fresh fodder to Joseph and Fallon. And Steven could have gone through some trauma after Ted Dinard's death and need a psychiatrist. Since he was the team's shrink, it would have been great to see the team some more, especially given Rhinewood's interest in it. In the pilot the team is mentioned, but other than Rhinewood's interest they are off screen until season 8 and Steven being in charge.

And speaking of therapy, after being told in season 1 that Matthew was whom Krystle would rather have been with if he had not lied to her that he did not love her, I amazed--in retrospect--that she did not shed a single tear for him. But I have to admit that the first time my teenage self saw it, the Blaisdels were as much a foggy memory to me as they were to the (new) writers.
 
Ked

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Michael Torrance said:
Look at their first encounter, where Krystle has the upper hand and Alexis acts as if this is her house still, and Krystle puts her in her place.


Now, look at this encounter. It starts with this wholly weird question and some bizarre smug smile when her employee tells her she is mistress of the house--what would she really say? And if you have to ask...
Then in the scene Alexis plays Krystle like a fiddle, so that the scene closes with an exasperated Krystle and a very satisfied Alexis who was able to get under her skin. Unlike the first encounter, where Krystle could not be shaken.

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So... what are you saying? That you'd prefer Krystle to remain unshaken in every single one of her encounters with Alexis? No offense, but that'd become boring and predictable. And besides, throughout all of Season 2 (heck, throughout the entire series, pretty much) the two Mrs. Carrington would take turns having the upper hand. That made it more exciting, as it was never really clear who'd come out on top.

Consider these various scenes:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v257d207NX8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXw7SkNPHxs&list=PL1VO1Bu2-UmQXoVi3614x06yQ8Dvdt8g3&index=17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyZnJR12qY&list=PL1VO1Bu2-UmQXoVi3614x06yQ8Dvdt8g3&index=22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ89m9W1gIA&list=PL1VO1Bu2-UmQXoVi3614x06yQ8Dvdt8g3&index=24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV_sJPDPPwM&list=PL1VO1Bu2-UmQXoVi3614x06yQ8Dvdt8g3&index=28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRRP6m50_Ak

In most of them, its Krystle who has the upper hand, but the fact that Alexis is able to get under her skin makes Alexis seem like a legit threat.
 
Richard Channing

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Ked said:
So... what are you saying? That you'd prefer Krystle to remain unshaken in every single one of her encounters with Alexis? No offense, but that'd become boring and predictable. And besides, throughout all of Season 2 (heck, throughout the entire series, pretty much) the two Mrs. Carrington would take turns having the upper hand. That made it more exciting, as it was never really clear who'd come out on top.

Consider these various scenes:




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyZnJR12qY&list=PL1VO1Bu2-UmQXoVi3614x06yQ8Dvdt8g3&index=22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ89m9W1gIA&list=PL1VO1Bu2-UmQXoVi3614x06yQ8Dvdt8g3&index=24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV_sJPDPPwM&list=PL1VO1Bu2-UmQXoVi3614x06yQ8Dvdt8g3&index=28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRRP6m50_Ak

In most of them, its Krystle who has the upper hand, but the fact that Alexis is able to get under her skin makes Alexis seem like a legit threat.
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Nice little collection of confrontations, thanks! Looking back at these I think season 2 really was the pinnacle of the Krystle/Alexis clashes. They're still fresh and well written and they have plenty of legitimate issues and grudges to argue and bitch about. Compared to later confrontations that felt forced and repetitive, here their clashes are organic and exciting.
 
Ked

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Richard Channing said:
Nice little collection of confrontations, thanks! Looking back at these I think season 2 really was the pinnacle of the Krystle/Alexis clashes. They're still fresh and well written and they have plenty of legitimate issues and grudges to argue and bitch about. Compared to later confrontations that felt forced and repetitive, here their clashes are organic and exciting.
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Yes. Compare this confrontation in Season 6:


"You're not going to hurt Blake, Alexis. No matter how hard you try, you're not." I mean, what a lame line for Krystle to spout. Alexis has been able to hurt Blake many a time in the past, and chances are, with her connections and resources, Alexis could very well hurt him again.

Plus, the fact that Krystle devoted all that time "searching all over Hong Kong" just to say that seems like such a waste of time. It probably would have been better if the two happened to cross paths with each other... or if Krystle marched into that jewelry store with some blackmail to get Alexis to back off.

Thankfully, this scene is rescued by Krystle's "pearls before swine" line, which I still love to this day. :D
 
Michael Torrance

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Ked said:
Yes. Compare this confrontation in Season 6:

"You're not going to hurt Blake, Alexis. No matter how hard you try, you're not." I mean, what a lame line for Krystle to spout. Alexis has been able to hurt Blake many a time in the past, and chances are, with her connections and resources, Alexis could very well hurt him again.

Plus, the fact that Krystle devoted all that time "searching all over Hong Kong" just to say that seems like such a waste of time. It probably would have been better if the two happened to cross paths with each other... or if Krystle marched into that jewelry store with some blackmail to get Alexis to back off.
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After mid-season 4 with Blake and Krystle's second (real) wedding and Forsythe's demand that there be no Blake and Krystle breakup, there could be no more fights between the two of them over Blake since the show had closed the book on that. Even though the writers tried to have their cake and eat it with the Singapore reunion, it still was not able to yield much fruit because of the aforementioned Forsythe demand. The show knew that the tension between the two women was a cornerstone of Dynasty in seasons 2 and 3, and in 6B where they tried to bring back all these former elements, they tried to bring that back as well, first with the hillside fight and then this. But that boat had long sailed, and sunk.

While it would never be as effective, the two could have been opponents in some other arena, such as a charity board (a common venture of the two companies because of the pipeline) or with Alexis threatening Sammy Jo with newspaper revelations and possible jail time, so "that little tramp" would be away from Danny. Krystle would then be forced to stand against Alexis, and maybe Blake would not have been so quick to forgive Sammy Jo (though he would not want her in jail).
 
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