Alternate Universe Dynasty

[AZLiam]

NuDynasty is starting to feel more like alternate universe Dynasty with the nods to the original that are spun a little differently like the two Krystals (Cristals), characters taking over original characters' storylines etc. Let's count all of the similar storylines that are being spun differently in NuDynasty and which ones do you like or dislike?

 

[Willie Oleson]

Alexis' scheme (Hank/Adam) was my favourite storyline.

Clarke County too, but that wasn't on original Dynasty.

I also like this Anders as sort of a surrogate father to Blake - my favourite scene of season 1 is when he slapped Blake.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I am no fan of how they rewrote Jeff as a self-made millionaire with a huge chip on his shoulder, so when the Jeff/Fallon relationship went south, I was glad. This Jeff plays better as the "outsider looking in" nipping at the Carringtons' heels, so having him (and Monica) as family members in poor standing (so to speak) will be a challenge for the writers. I like Liam as NewJeff and the promise of his family as the NewColbys.

I think they went too far in trying to give Cristal an "edge" that Krystle didn't have. They went so far that Cristal ended up without the necessary empathy that I think she has to have in order to fill that heroine role. I think they could have made that adjustment to original Cristal's characterization rather than killing her off and bringing in Cristal 2.0; nothing like a brush with death to give a character a shift in their point of view.

I admit I was skeptical about the sex change of Sammy Jo/Sam, but the character is fun and interesting no matter who he is supposed to be based on. I'm now wondering if Sam will just be a "new" character and they will shift Melissa Daniels into a character more like classic Sammy Jo.

They really ought to give more of an edge to Steven, who is a bit too bland when compared to all those around him. Maybe his brush with death, compared with being manipulated by his baby-mama Melissa will make him decide to be a bit more assertive, but I'm not too hopeful. It might have been more fun if Steven had been given more of OriginalAdam's personality, because when NewAdam turns up, Steven would have been behaving more as OldAdam did toward OldJeff.

I am not impressed by the Atlanta locale, either. I know the shift of location was a nod to the actual filming locations, but they're not really taking advantage of Atlanta and depicting its unique character. These events could take place anywhere. I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but there ought to be a sizeable minority of characters who speak in a Southern drawl.

I'm about 70/30 approving of what they've done with their version of Alexis. NS is obviously having fun playing it, which makes me enjoy watching it. I think her somewhat ditzy exterior is more interesting than having her totally devoted to revenge/destruction. She loses points though for not having enough (any?) genuine remorse for the lost years with her kids, and I don't get any sort of "feel" for her inner dialogue (that is, what she wants and why).

They made Claudia too nuts, too over-the-top, too soon. Having her kill Cristal signals (to me anyway) that they don't want to keep her around; if she were to come back, it would be to continue doing short-term, insane stuff rather than playing a viable long-term character. They will have to graft any of the OriginalClaudia stories onto some other character, since they basically made NewClaudia disposable.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I am no fan of how they rewrote Jeff as a self-made millionaire with a huge chip on his shoulder

I wish he had acted more like it.

Sammy Jo/Sam, but the character is fun and interesting no matter who he is supposed to be based on

I agree.

They really ought to give more of an edge to Steven, who is a bit too bland when compared to all those around him

I'd settle for a few extra brain cells.

She loses points though for not having enough (any?) genuine remorse for the lost years with her kids

Why should she, if she's not that kind of person? To me, she comes across as a cold-hearted con artist.

They will have to graft any of the OriginalClaudia stories onto some other character

Maybe Melissa?

 

[AZLiam]

I am also not too impressed with the change to the Atlanta locale. It seems like everything is getting filmed or set in Atlanta nowadays - a little overkill. With the campy nature of NuDynasty, I’m surprised we haven’t seen any Real Housewives cameos or a Walking Dead theme party at the Carrington mansion - maybe in the future, NuCristal can dress up like Walker Celia-Cristal. Speaking of Real Housewives, I’d love to see Lisa Rinna do a stint on the show as Alexis’s nemesis Tracy Kendall given the fact that Lisa is married to Nicollette’s ex-husband Harry, but I doubt that would ever happen - would definitely raise eyebrows and possibly bring a little publicity to the show. In any case, with the tech migration driving downtown Denver's resurgence, as well as the resurgence of oil and gas drilling in Denver, there wasn't really a need for a shift in location, but I digress.

Notable changes to me:

In the pilot for original Dynasty, Krystal had many friends and coworkers that seemed to support her engagement to Blake and she promised them that after her marriage, she wouldn't change and would invite them out to the mansion - something we know didn't happen. I think if we had gotten a glimpse of that same support by friends for Cristal in NuDynasty, there may have been a little more empathy for the character in the beginning. However, the fact that Cristal was actually a woman named Celia pretending to be "Cristal" may mean she did not get close to too many people for fear of her true identity being revealed. I see no indication yet of the character Mark Jennings (or alternate counterpart) who was also responsible for saving Alexis and Krystal in the original cabin fire, but perhaps he's being reserved for NuCristal. However, Nick Toscanni has been cast for Season 2.

Speaking of the cabin fire, when we saw Blake and Cristal visiting the Carrington cabin in earlier episodes of NuDynasty, I thought perhaps it was a foreshadowing to a future scene with Cristal and Alexis trapped in a cabin fire similar to the fire at Steven's cabin in original Dynasty. Instead, we got a fire in the stable house during the finale with other characters (including Alexis). The finale also included a scene between Cristal and Claudia involving Matthew and a gun that ended with Cristal being shot and Claudia realizing he truly was dead. Original Dynasty had an episode with Claudia intercepting a fax that revealed Matthew and Lindsay were in a car accident that had no apparent survivors. When Claudia found out that Cecil knew they were dead, she planned to shoot Cecil, but when Krystal arrives, they struggle over the gun and Claudia gets shot. Also alternatively, a few seasons later, Claudia dies in the fire she started when trapped in her room at La Mirage, but in NuDynasty, it is Claudia who shoots Cristal (who had been trapped) and leaves her to die prior to the fire in the stable house.

Then, there’s the Ted, Sammy Jo, Claudia, Adam, and Kirby character and timeline changes. In original Dynasty, Ted had already died at the end of Season 1 before Sammy Jo came to town a few episodes after Alexis in Season 2. Whereas, in NuDynasty, Sammy Jo arrived before Ted and Alexis, and Ted is still alive. Claudia was pregnant by Matthew instead of already having a grown child (Lindsay) with him. Instead of Sammy Jo, Melissa is the one pregnant by Steven and not trashy like original Sammy Jo. Alexis is more like a combination of original Alexis and has elements of trashy little tramp Sammy Jo. Also, in NuDynasty, the Adam storyline begins and Kirby shows up at the end of Season 1 vs. Original Dynasty when Adam (Michael) shows up at the beginning of Season 3 and Kirby shows up around a third of the way through Season 3.

In original Dynasty, Joseph seems to have followed Alexis's life through the tabloids since she was banished from Denver, but never seemed to be a fan of hers and dreaded the day she would return to Denver. Ultimately, he was the one responsible for the cabin fire that trapped Krystal and Alexis due to the secret Alexis kept over his head about Kirby's mother. In NuDynasty to date, he hasn't shown as much contempt for Alexis as the character did in the original.

The complete Colby family rewrite - not going there.

I'll think of more...

 

[RottenSkipper17]

The Colbys could have been really interesting but they just botched up that family so much man...

Honestly, I feel like the way the show has portrayed Fallon is pretty much the only thing I've been truly happy with so far. It's been such a great joy watching Fallon evolve from a self-centered spoiled brat into a determined, ambitious young woman with a deep desire for love and also wanting to prove herself to the world. On paper Fallon sounds like a really horrible and annoying character and if played by any other actress she very well could have turned out that way but Liz Gillies somehow manages to make her more nuanced and interesting. It makes me wonder why they couldn't do the same to Cristal and instead have to go to the extreme to killing her off.

Also even though the first half of Season 1 wasn't that interesting or memorable to begin with I enjoyed the build-up and conflict involved with Michael and Fallon's growing romance but a part of me is still pissed that they seemed to have trashed it all away just for a boring, idiotic romance with Liam. Now that I think about it this whole Liam storyline wouldn't have bothered me so much if they actually had made Liam act more like a douchebag asshole who openly flaunted his money and family background around other people.

Maybe having Liam be a polar opposite in personality to Michael would probably help people invest more in this upcoming love triangle and maybe make people root for Michael and Fallon more. People have said that Original!Jeff & Original!Fallon had a love/hate relationship... I would also hope the very same happens for Liam/Fallon... I am not ready for Fallon to forgive Liam for all of his lies and deception yet. I don't want Fallon to automatically fall in love with Liam without her having completely processed all of the emotional turmoil and agony that he put her through. Who knows... maybe "nice guy Liam" really is a facade...

I agree with everyone that says that Steven is super bland... the poor guy doesn't have much of a personality, does he? Even Sammy Jo appears to have more character development than him.

Also I could care less if Alexis has any redeeming qualities or not because she is supposed to be a coldhearted and evil villain through and through. Also I am not too crazy about NuCristal and Blake potentially getting together somewhere down the line because of how he treated OldCristal back in Season 1. I hope before that inevitably happens that she gives him a lot of hell first. I also don't want a retread of the Fallon/Cristal rivalry either and if there is such thing that it ends relatively quickly.

 

[Richard Channing]

I am not ready for Fallon to forgive Liam for all of his lies and deception yet. I don't want Fallon to automatically fall in love with Liam without her having completely processed all of the emotional turmoil and agony that he put her through.

I don't remember him putting her through a lot of emotional turmoil and agony?? All he did was not tell her his real name because he didn't want to be associated with his dysfunctional family. It was Alexis that told Fallon that he was writing a book and she implied it was about the Carringtons. When he tried to put things right by giving Alexis the only copy of the book, which was actually about his own family, she burned it. And as for lies and deception, the main lies and deception in their relationship was Fallon scheming against Jeff by marrying Liam, which he went along with to help her (he clearly didn't need the money). I'm not really sure what you think he shouldn't be forgiven for.

 

[RottenSkipper17]

@Richard Channing When I was talking about the emotional trauma and agony that Fallon went through, I was referring to the scene right after the whole reveal with Liam where she is literally moping in the study and snuggling on the couch with Bo and Sammy Jo was trying to cheer her up. I mean, yeah despite of the whole fact that Liam was hiding something pretty much from the minute he was introduced, Fallon was just starting to like him and when she found out just what Liam was hiding, it really devastated her to her core.

And considering Fallon's history of constantly having people in her life betray her time and again, I figured it would be more logical if she held a bit of grudge against Liam for at least a little while. That would still give Liam the chance to redeem himself in her eyes. If I were writing this show I would definitely have Fallon be nasty and aloof to Liam for at least a whole season or two and then eventually something could happen that would start the process of her warming up to him. This would make a lot of sense in my opinion considering that we're talking about someone with some serious trust issues, (and not without good reason, mind you).

I mean, think about it - her mother not only abandoned her but also is basically trying to screw her over just for stupid revenge against her ex. Her father also screws her over any chance he gets just for a business deal if he thinks he can profit from it and get away with it. Her good childhood friends Monica and Jeff betrayed her by trying to destroy her family and the company that her grandfather worked so hard to build just because they believed that the Carringtons took everything away from them even though Blake had tried to help them by setting them up on a scholarship that would allow them to attend school with his kids. And with Fallon scheming against Jeff by marrying Liam, at least she was doing it to save her family and her company. Jeff was someone that she thought that she could trust and he was deliberately out to ruin her just for some stupid petty revenge regarding his dad.

But maybe I'm hoping for way too much since these writers don't even know how to write compelling and interesting plot points and characters.