nuDynasty Episode Chat S2E20: New Lady In Town

[Michael Torrance]

The hour (I can't call it a show anymore) overall lacks anything resembling characters or plot. Liam is getting equally asinine and hollow the more he is around Fallon. Anders and Sam are already a stale item as a recurring joke of the week. On the other hand Jeff, for some reason, looked amazingly relatable this episode. Maybe his wooden arrogance gone and a vulnerability in the character past-illness helps the actor bring out the best. In fact, thanks also to Dominique, the Colbys were more interesting than the Carringtons.
I know Dominique's arrival was nothing like the iconic mystery entrance of Dominique in Dynasty. But I don't find her quite as destroyed as Alexis. Her long con was much better for once, and she does have a past (and another whole family) to explore. The peach Alexis had nothing.
Of course, peach Dynasty has played the game of lowering expectations so well, any episode without two Gillies (either as a Wizard of Oz fantasy or as fake Alexis) now appears passable.
As for Adam, the hour does beg the question: is it that he is so smart, or Fallon so brain-impaired? Of course it could be both.
Since the Carringtons overall left me cold, I was left paying attention to the visuals.
The hour, despite what I am sure is a low budget, looks good. They have nice outside shots and even exterior shots of the Colby mansion. I go back to how easy it would have been for real Dynasty to avoid the claustrophobic show-in-a-cardboard-studio look after season 3.

 

[thomaswak]

The hour (I can't call it a show anymore) overall lacks anything resembling characters or plot.

yes. It's neither character or plot driven. It's such a strange beast.
The promo poster for season 3 should have the following tagline : "Lower you expectations. At least, don't keep them high"

 

[Michael Torrance]

yes. It's neither character or plot driven. It's such a strange beast.
The promo poster for season 3 should have the following tagline : "Lower you expectations. At least, don't keep them high"

Well, you know networks some decades ago would name a show around the star that was in it, such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Bob Newhart Show" or "The Andy Griffith Show," so why not just rename it "The Elizabeth Gillies Goof Hour" and be done with it...

 

[Brian Kinney]

I also liked the Colbys this week. Their dinner scene was a rare family dynamic on this show that feels real and not like comic relief. And I'm a fan of Jeff's mansion - the outside shot: am I the only one who thinks the upper level of that building looks like the upper part of a yacht?

I still like Liam and I don't think Adam Huber is a bad actor. Considering the material he's given to act he obviously knows in which kind of show he's acting while Culhane's Robert Christopher Reilly does expressions that would be better suited for Hamlet or any other tragic drama. (I don't mind the whole soccer story though.) Reilly is too earnest looking and handled similar campy material in Hit the Floor much more believable. This is why I treasure Alan Dale as Anders - a veteran who finds the balance between camp and drama seamlessly. And Grant Show is always underrated. Peach Blake isn't partly as interesting as Original Blake but I can't blame Show for it.

Right now Adam's Sam Underwood rocks it for me. Many shades of expressions, despite being the main villain now his part isn't written much better than others and it could look ludicrous but he's somehow charming in an unique way.

Weird: two weeks without Kirby and I actually miss her. I don't know why. But I still don't miss Cristal 1. I really don't get the ongoing comments who miss the character or think the show would be better with her. No it's always the writing! I think US shows should embrace the idea to have writers been responsible for a few episodes in a row instead of teams where every week someone else is writing an episode. Somehow this reflects the tone of a series.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I still like Liam and I don't think Adam Huber is a bad actor

I really appreciated him in the episodes when Fallon was trying to win him back.

Right now Adam's Sam Underwood rocks it for me. Many shades of expressions, despite being the main villain now his part isn't written much better than others and it could look ludicrous but he's somehow charming in an unique way.

The Paris episode was awesome, but I think it's difficult to maintain that level of suspense for a long time. And it's not like every ODynasty episode was a winner.
Either way, he hasn't disappointed me yet. Let's hope they're not going to redeem him.
The brother vs sister feud seems refreshing after all those girl fights.

Weird: two weeks without Kirby and I actually miss her

Me too! It surprised me.

This is why I treasure Alan Dale as Anders - a veteran who finds the balance between camp and drama seamlessly.

Agreed. I find him the most quotable character.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Isolating Sam and Anders on the plane for those scenes was a chance for us to gain some insight into Anders's character ("I like helping people..."), though I felt kind of cheated that we received no similar insight into Sam. Sam's life this year has been one catastrophe after the other, what with Aunt Celia dying horribly, getting and losing Little Blake, the circumstances surrounding Steven's departure, followed by the events of Paris and their divorce...and yet he keeps up this outer shell of vapid superficiality and seems perfectly happy with his situation. Once out of the mansion and around someone he feels he can confide in, he ought to unload. Nobody should be that happy. And if he wants to keep his unhappiness and/or heartbreak a secret from the rest of the world, who better to vent to than Anders, the best secret-keeper in town?

 

[Ferdnand Colby]

I think Sam is suffering from amnesia, or a brain tumor like Krystle had in season 9. Otherwise, he's a jerk. An empty shell jerk.

Rafael de la Fuente is a good actor, I'm pretty sure he could have a good scene showing sadness, crying, pain, et cetera, apart from being rolling eyes and wearing Instagram clothes.

I know this is supposed to be a Dynasty for millennials, but I think people in Gossip Girl cried, like a lot. That's the closer reference to teen soaps for millennials I remember now. In fact, young people drama, crazier as hell if possible, is good for ratings, I think.

 

[tommie]

Weird: two weeks without Kirby and I actually miss her. I don't know why.

I would've at least added a scene with her and Culhane to expand on their romance/relationship and give her a purpose in the future as he betrays Blake and in extent Fallon, rather than keeping her at a stand still.

 

[Brian Kinney]

Before Anders disposed Mack's body in the lake he was the moral compass of the show. Now his daughter is the least corrupt of the cast who appear in the title credits. That's probably the reason I miss her. She has some innocence no one else has there in the Carrington mansion and the actress is actually endearing.

I wonder about the ever-happy Sam too. A nervous breakdown could be a story for him - healed by going to church and falling in love with a priest who' still hiding in the closet... Yes, otherwise the character would be an empty shell - not someone Steven really would've loved.

 

[Alexis]

Bliss and Jackie! Bliss and Jackie and Kirby and Fallon, going to the spa, talking about boys - and mostly about Fallon and how she feels about Liam.
Oh, wouldn't that be aaaawesome ?

I feel sick.

 

[JeffUSA]

I'm not surprised, but Dominique's arrival was a complete letdown from the moment she threw her arms in the air and proclaimed, "Mama's home" or whatever she said. It felt like a repeat of the absurd entrance of the Alexis character. And I completely agree with her character being a rehash of Nicollette Sheridan's version of Alexis. Disgrace!

Why has Adam become a cartoon over the course of 3-4 episodes? He seemed so scary/psycho/dark (almost too much) just a few episodes ago and now he's a joke.
​

Finally, the scene with Fallon and Liam trying to drug Adam was ridiculous. Dynasty isn't supposed to be some madcap comedy. It's so hard to watch, and the only reason I keep doing so is because it's called Dynasty.

I could rant about more, but it's all been said here before.

 

[Michael Torrance]

And I completely agree with her character being a rehash of Nicollette Sheridan's version of Alexis. Disgrace!

Maybe it's the new paint in my office, but I don't see more than incidental similarities. I find Dominique more layered. Certainly in accessories.

 

[Willie Oleson]

She fooled me like she fooled the Colbys!

 

[Daniel Avery]

I completely agree with her character being a rehash of Nicollette Sheridan's version of Alexis. Disgrace!

​

I think it's too soon to tell. She's only been in a single episode so far, and I don't know much about the next two episodes (the final two of the season ), much less any plans for her in season three.

 

[Willie Oleson]

the final two of the season

 

[Michael Torrance]

She fooled me like she fooled the Colbys!

Francesca?

 

[Willie Oleson]

Francesca?

And her dirty laughter in the opening credit was a hidden clue! But what did you expect from Alexis' cousin?

 

[Rove]

and I don't know much about the next two episodes (the final two of the season

Generally with 2 episodes to go we'd have a clear indication where the cliffhanger is heading and the ensuing excitement. Not Peach Dynasty. At this point the Carrington and Colby families could be killed off and I wouldn't miss any of them.

 

[tommie]

Before Anders disposed Mack's body in the lake he was the moral compass of the show.

Hmm, I never saw him as that. From the pilot episode it was made very clear that he's Blake's right hand, for better or worse. I fully expect him to have done more heinous things in his days to aid the Carringtons (in two generations - he was with Tom before that!), hence him being paid so well for his loyalty. He's one character I could see having a lot of skeletons in his closet.