The Carringtons and the the
Colbys; ah me…how times and television have changed – arguably, neither for the
better. For nine seasons we thrilled to their lavish escapades, and marvelled
at Nolan Miller’s often absurd, though never anything less than dramatic
fashions. In its prime, Aaron Spelling’s Dynasty
was not simply ‘must see TV but a way of life in the go-go 1980s. Its style permeated our pop culture like
nothing before, inspiring perfumes, tuxedoes and an entire generation of
shoulder padded, synched waist designs in ladies apparel, not to mention the
Chrysler Corporation naming one of their vehicles after it. And since it officially
left the air in 1989 Dynasty has
never been without its loyal fans, thanks to cable syndication around the
world.
The lynchpin of the series
is, was and will always be Joan Collin’s uber bitch, Alexis Morrell-Carrington-Colby-Dexter;
the woman we all loved to hate. But fans also tuned in for the turbulent
marital roller coaster of Blake Carrington (John Forsythe), his ever devoted
Krystle (Linda Evans) and the complicated lives of their mostly dysfunctional
children. The series thrived on sin, sex and seduction, albeit in a more or
less recklessly playful way than we’re used to seeing on TV these days. In
hindsight, Dynasty had everything
going for it. So it’s easy to see why the show was such a colossal smash on
both sides of the Atlantic.
But also in hindsight, the
show’s oversights and misfires seem all the more obvious and glaring. Season
One’s rocky start without Joan Collins left Dynasty foundering at #28 in the Nielsen ratings. The writers and
producers’ inabilities to successfully commit to the character of Steven
Carrington (first played by Al Corley, then Jack Coleman), as an ‘occasionally’
homosexual single man raising a small child equally made for some inconsistent
viewing. The series was also utterly notorious for introducing, building up and
then dropping storylines and characters without sufficient resolution. Some,
like Deborah Adair’s venomous social climber, Tracy Kendall (from Season Four)
were arguably disposable from the beginning. But others like Kate O’Mara’s
slinky Caress Morrell and James Farentino’s conflicted, Nick Toscanni are
unforgiveable.
Season Six of the ever
popular Dynasty has a mountain of
hurdles to overcome – some visible, others rocking the series from behind the
camera. After topping out as the #1 show in America (even beating Dallas in the ratings) during Season Five,
Dynasty Season Six arguably had
nowhere to go but down…and it does. Season Six is awash in the sort of muddled
storylines and misguided attempts at keeping the high energy level ever rising,
that would ultimately force the series into cancellation three short years later.
Worse, the decision to split the cast and storylines into two prime time soap
operas (Dynasty II: The Colbys
premiered during Season Six) means that some of Dynasty’s narratives make absolutely no sense at all when viewed
apart from its spinoff.
We begin on a truly sour
note; the laughable aftermath of the ‘Moldavian massacre’. The finale of Season
Five had left the entire cast unconscious and bloody after a palace coup by
rebel forces sprayed Prince Michael (Michael Praed) and Amanda’s (Catherine
Oxenburg) lavish wedding ceremony in a hailstorm of bullets. But in Season Six
we quickly learn that everyone except minor characters Luke Fuller (Steven’s
gay lover played by Billy Campbell) and Lady Ashley Mitchell (a jetsetter
played by Ali McGraw) has escaped the siege virtually unharmed. Palace coup,
indeed!
King Galen (Joel Fabiani)
is wounded and taken prisoner by Minister Warnick (Theodore Bikel). Michael is
told that his father is dead, and after some very minor legal haranguing
Michael, his bride and the rest of the Carringtons and Colbys are put on a plane
to America. From Denver, Alexis (Joan
Collins) plots to restore the Moldavian monarchy – partly for Amanda’s
happiness, but moreover because Galen has promised her absolute control of
Moldavia’s leading financial institution. Alexis encourages her husband, Dex
(Michael Nader) to risk his life and hers in a return to Moldavia. Posing as a
nun and her peasant driver, Dex is taken captive and tortured by Warnick’s men
while Alexis hides in a nearby convent. Eventually, Dex tricks one of his
guards and escapes, slinging Galen over his shoulder and storming out of
Moldavia with both the King and Alexis in tow.
Meanwhile, back at the
Carrington homestead Krystle begins to suspect that she is being stalked by has
been movie director Joel Abrigore (George Hamilton). Her suspicions are confirmed
too late when, upon arriving at the Delta Rho Stables to confront her niece
Sammy Jo (Heather Locklear), Krystle is knocked unconscious by Abrigore and
locked away inside the stable attic. It seems Sammy Jo has concocted the whole
affair to gain access to her late father’s estate. To further this deception she
and Abrigore have taught a drop dead look alike, Rita Miller (also played by
Linda Evans) to impersonate Kyrstle until they can have the real Kyrstle’s power
of attorney over Sammy Jo’s money overturned. One problem – no one in this
scheme is playing with a full deck. Not Sammy Jo – who waffles between good
girl/bad girl, nor Rita – who begins her masquerade utterly terrified of the
consequences but ends up as a savvy would be murderess, nor Abrigore, who
becomes a raving control freak and psychotic virtually overnight.
The first half of Season Six
focuses almost exclusively on Kyrstle’s kidnapping, reducing the real (and
usually feisty) Krystle to a puddle of tears inside the attic while her look
alike Rita slowly poisons Blake so that she and Abrigore can inherit the
Carrington estate. Apparently, this convoluted and depressing storyline was
predicated on the fact that behind the scenes Joan Collins was bartering with
producers for a bigger salary and refusing to come to work until she got it. The series shot around her, and what they shot
was pure pulp with more than a tinge of ennui.
Worse, at approximately the
same time Dynasty retired two of its
most popular ongoing characters, Jeff Colby (John James) and Fallon Carrington-Colby
(Emma Samms) to Dynasty II: The Colbys leaving
a void that proved impossible to fill. To simplify: at the end of Dynasty’s Season Four, Fallon (then
played by Pamela Sue Martin) began experiencing crippling headaches and drove
her car over the edge of a cliff on the eve she was to have married Jeff for
the second time. Jeff valiantly spent the bulk of Season Five searching for his
beloved but with no success. It was then hinted that Fallon had died in a plane
crash with drug smuggler, Peter DeVilbis (Helmut Berger). But Jeff never gave
up hope. At the end of Season Five Fallon (now played by Emma Samms) inexplicably
re-emerged in California, suffering from amnesia and having rechristened
herself Randall Adams where she promptly fell in love with wealthy playboy,
Miles Colby (Maxwell Caufield) – Jeff’s cousin.
We barely glimpse the love
affair blossoming between Miles and Randall before they are whisked away to Dynasty II: The Colbys. Too bad,
because Jeff’s sudden decision to leave Denver Carrington after being offered
stock in Colby Enterprises by his estranged aunt, Constance (Barbara Stanwyck)
really doesn’t make much sense, and neither does the brief mid-season
re-entrance of Fallon alone (with her memory suddenly restored) to comfort
Blake as Alexis plots to take over his empire. Apparently, she and Jeff have
reconciled and remarried in California.
Meanwhile, things are not
at all well at La Mirage – the ultra-fashionable watering hole of the elite.
Previously managed by the indescribably fragile Claudia Blaisdel (Pamela
Bellwood), its hotel and country club are inexplicably taken away from her by
Blake and given to Michael after it looks as though his future as a Prince is doomed.
Adam (Gordon Thompson) pursues Claudia – whom he began dating in Season Five –
and marries her to spite Steven (Jack Coleman) (Steven and Claudia were briefly
married in Season Three). In one of the hotel suites, Blake’s half-sister
Dominique Devereaux (Diahann Carroll) is struggling with a deep secret; that
her daughter, Jackie (Troy Byer Bailey) is actually the love child of Garrett
Boydston (Ken Howard); an attorney for Jason Colby (Charlton Heston).
A deal between Jason, Blake
and the LexDex Corporation has just been signed to build a pipeline to the
coast under the strenuous objections of Senator Fallmont’s enterprising son,
Bart (Kevin Conroy). Adam learns that Bart is gay and ruins his chances for a
run at the senate by planting the story in a tabloid magazine. Meanwhile Galen
is ensconced in Alexis’ apartment until the coup to regain his throne can
proceed, gradually driving a wedge between her and Dex. Michael has been sworn
to secrecy by his father and is working in the underground with former lover
Elena, the Duchess of Branagh (Kerry Armstrong) to regain his throne. This puts
a strain on Michael’s marriage to Amanda. The two become estranged and, in the
heat of the moment Amanda and Dex wind up in bed together. Alexis walks in and
vows to destroy Dex. She also disowns Amanda in a heartbeat. One of the weakest
of all premises in Dynasty’s history
follows. Alexis learns that Galen has been siphoning money from her accounts
and kicks him out of her apartment. She next makes an impassioned move to
seduce Blake that goes nowhere fast and then makes an even more impromptu
decision to destroy Blake by using his estranged brother, Ben (Christopher
Cazenove) against him.
All of this seems utterly
plausible except that Alexis’ sister, Cassandra ‘Caress’ Morrell (Kate O’Mara)
has recently arrived in town after spending five years in a Venezuelan prison –
presumably at Alexis’ hand, and determined to expose Alexis’ foibles in a tell
all biography. Even though the two despise one another, Alexis permits Caress
to live in her penthouse, sip her champagne and indulge in wearing her clothes.
However, when Ben learns that Caress has the power and the proof to expose them
both in their scheming against Blake he kidnaps and chloroforms Caress in a
back alley, promptly shipping her back to prison after paying the Venezuelan
authorities to keep her there indefinitely.
At a trial to gain control
over one quarter of Denver Carrington’s vast empire, Ben lies on the stand that
Blake had killed their invalid mother many years ago by refusing to stay with
her. Having been accused of the murder of Steven’s gay lover Ted Dinnard in
Season One, the judge finds ample evidence to support this erroneous charge and
forces Blake to pay Ben $125 million in damages. Ben is elated, but Alexis is
dissatisfied. She plots to buy up Denver Carrington stock to gain a controlling
interest in the company. Blake counteracts by launching a takeover bid for
ColbyCo. Unfortunately, to seal the deal he has to borrow a billion dollars
from the banks. After virtually all of his time honoured business associates
refuse to loan him the money, Blake agrees to an unholy alliance with Arab
financier, Faruk Amed (Kabir Bedi) whose brother Rashid (John Saxon) double
crossed Blake in Season Two.
Unbeknownst to Blake, Faruk
is working for Alexis. After Blake signs away his company Faruk calls in his
marker forcing Denver Carrington into receivership. Following a bit of harmless
teen angst relating to the mystery of Jackie’s father, Dominique and her
daughter reconcile and Dominique and Garrett decide to marry. Dominique throws
a lavish engagement party at La Mirage where Alexis informs her that Garrett
has never been married before. This is crucial because Garrett has always
insisted to Dominique that the only reason he never married her so many years
ago during their passionate love affair was because he was already married to a
fictional wife he called Jessica. Presumably, Dominique is about to call off the
wedding.
Ah, but Claudia has
everyone else beat. Having returned to her suite at La Mirage after moving out
of Adam’s bedroom at the Carrington estate, the emotionally unstable waif has
decided to hold a silent candlelit vigil for the death of her dreams.
Unfortunately for everyone, one of the candles falls from its silver stick,
igniting the curtains and everything else. As the guests dance on in the grand
ballroom a whiff of smoke begins to seep from the air ducts above them,
foreshadowing a catastrophe about to unfold.
Blake and Krystle have
escaped this deluge however, after Blake receives a message that someone is
waiting for him back home. Assuming that his last ditch effort to raise funds
and save his empire from Alexis have called in the cavalry, Blake and Krystle
hurry home to discover their luggage already packed and waiting for them by the
front door. Alexis appears on the balcony, declaring that she now owns the
company and the house. She orders Blake and Krystle out. In a rage, Blake
storms the stairs and begins to strangle Alexis as Krystle, subdued by Ben,
helplessly looks on.
If all these machinations
sound confusing and way over the top – no kidding – they are! But such was the
implausible fantasy world of the night time soap opera and nobody – except maybe
Dallas – dished the dirt more
readily or with such unadulterated aplomb than Aaron Spelling’s Dynasty. Once Joan Collins gets cooking it’s every man
and woman for his/herself and that, I am afraid, is both the strength and the
weakness of the show. Season Six suffers
partly from her initial absence early on. But there’s also the claptrap of
storylines that come tumbling forth midseason without ever being brought to
absolute fruition.
The most regrettable of
these in Season Six is the introduction, and then unceremonious dispatch of
Kate O’Mara’s Caress Morrell. Clearly, the actress had more to say than her
character, because whenever O’Mara is on the screen it is impossible to take
our eyes off her. If only the writers had been more proactive in crafting a
storyline worthy of her talents we might have had some real fireworks to
appreciate. Instead, Caress enters Alexis’ life with all the promise of a
thunderous catfight that never is to be. She valiantly sets up ambitious roadblocks for
Alexis and Ben before being booted off the series in a most predictable way.
After all, why would a woman as devious and as enterprising as Caress agree to
meet Ben Carrington in an out of the way alley? Ridiculous.
Season Six also does not do
right by Diahann Carroll’s Dominique Devereaux – relegating her to predictable third
string hysterics after Jackie’s brief runaway attempt. As mentioned before, the
absence of the corresponding Dynasty II:
The Colbys episodes leave a good many narrative threads seemingly
unresolved. After Season Five’s speculation about Jeff and Fallon getting back
together, we don’t ever learn that they have in fact found one another. Blake makes some vague reference midway
through the season to a wedding in California, and, a few episodes later
informs Sammy Jo that Jeff and Fallon’s nuptials were spectacular. But these we
never get to see, so we’re not quite sure if, when or how they happened. At the
very least, Paramount ought to have included the corresponding episodes from The Colbys on a separate disc so that
all of us could catch up to speed.
Still, I wouldn’t be quite
so quick to trash Dynasty as a
series just yet. For that I am waiting for the disastrous Season Eight to make
its DVD debut. For now, I’ll stick to Season Six. What’s here may be unevenly
paced and even appear rushed and convoluted at times, but overall it’s great to
have the claws out again for another deliciously devious outing between the Carringtons
and the Colbys. Lives of the rich and infamous – what fun!
I can’t rightly say as much
about CBS/Paramount’s DVD incarnation. Once again, Dynasty has been split into two half season releases that can be
jointly purchased in one double pack. Oh well, better this than to wait nearly
a year for half seasons to emerge, as was the case when Paramount began
splitting the series after Season Two. There’s been a lot of talk that Season
Six hasn’t been remastered for DVD and I have to concur that the image quality
is a definite step down from previous seasons. But I don’t think the oversight
can entirely be blamed on shoddy remastering efforts. Season Six was the first
to be photographed on digital tape rather than film. This was fine and dandy
when we were all viewing shows like Dynasty
on 720i tube monitors that didn’t get any bigger than thirty-six inches.
Regrettably, our present hi def large screen monitors quickly expose the visual
shortcomings of digital tape. Bad idea.
Could Paramount have done
more to ‘clean up’ these transfers before slapping them to disc? Arguably yes,
but even then I am afraid their quality would pale compared to previous film
based archival elements. Having stated the obvious, I’ll add herein that the
results on Season Six are hardly awful. In fact, on the whole they’re quite
good. Stock footage and long shots tend to suffer from a lot of aliasing and
shimmering of fine details and occasionally even colour bleeding. Not exactly
sure why that is.
And images under title
credits do appear more softly focused and much grainier than they ought. But
these shortcomings aside, we get a fairly solid home video presentation that
will surely not disappoint most. Colours are bright, bold and richly saturated.
The Masquerade episode as example is a visual ice cream sundae of brilliant,
eye-popping hues.
The biggest problem I had
is that a few of the episodes have had their contrasts artificially boosted,
creating a washed out image with occasionally severe blooming whites. Again,
not sure why this is. Grain looks gritty rather than grainy. And edge
enhancement is a big no-no that keeps cropping up – sporadically, thank heaven –
but pretty much in every episode for a few seconds here and there, just long
enough to make its presence obvious. Otherwise, I wasn’t all that put off by my
viewing experience and neither should you be. Some message boards I’ve reviewed
have made erroneous claims like the image quality doesn’t fare much better than
old VHS tapes. In my opinion this is untrue. Enough said.
The audio is mono but
represented at an adequate level and with a remarkable amount of clarity. As
with other Seasons we get NO extras. For shame! There have been a number of
good to great ‘reunion’ shows featuring surviving cast and crew. Why these
fascinating back stories have not been made available on DVD is a mystery and a
disappointment for fans of Dynasty.
Perhaps Paramount will surprise us all on the final season. At this rate, given
Paramount’s commitment to the series, we probably won’t see Season Nine until 2015.
Bottom line: recommended!
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
3
VIDEO/AUDIO
3
EXTRAS
0
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