Dynasty is an American drama television series reboot based on the 1980s soap opera of the same name. Developed by Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, and Sallie Patrick, the first season stars Elizabeth Gillies as glamorous businesswoman Fallon Carrington, Grant Show as her billionaire father Blake, James Mackay as her brother Steven, and Nathalie Kelley as Blake's new wife Cristal, with Robert Christopher Riley as chauffeur Michael Culhane, Sam Adegoke as tech billionaire Jeff Colby, Rafael de la Fuente as Cristal's nephew Sam "Sammy Jo" Jones, and Alan Dale as Joseph Anders, the cunning majordomo.
The series later featured Nicollette Sheridan (later Elaine Hendrix) as Blake's first wife Alexis; Maddison Brown as Joseph's daughter, Kirby Anders; Ana Brenda Contreras (later Daniella Alonso) as Blake's third wife, Cristal; Sam Underwood as eldest Carrington son Adam; Michael Michele as Blake's half-sister Dominique Deveraux; Adam Huber as writer Liam Ridley; and Eliza Bennett as the youngest Carrington sibling, Amanda.
The pilot, which was announced in September 2016, was ordered to series in May 2017. Dynasty premiered on October 11, 2017, on The CW in the United States, and on Netflix internationally a day later. On November 8, 2017, The CW picked up Dynasty for a full season of 22 episodes. On February 3, 2021, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on December 20 of the same year. In May 2022, it was announced that this season would be the last. The final episode aired on September 16, 2022.
Premise Fallon and Steven Carrington learn that their billionaire father Blake is engaged to Cristal, an employee at the family company, Carrington Atlantic. When Fallon's machinations to separate the couple backfire and cost her a promotion, she allies with Blake's nemesis and former employee, Jeff Colby, and strikes out on her own. Cristal's opportunistic nephew, Sam, threatens to expose her shady past as the fractured dynasty forms a united front in the wake of engineer Matthew Blaisdel's suspicious death. Things do not remain harmonious. Season after season, more relatives appear in Atlanta, including Fallon and Steven's long absent mother, Alexis; their twisted older brother Adam; secret Carrington offspring Amanda; and Dominique, the illegitimate daughter of Blake's father, Thomas.
The reboot updates several elements from the 1980s original, including moving the setting from Denver, Colorado to Atlanta, Georgia; shifting the lead to young businesswoman Fallon; making Steven's homosexuality a nonissue to Blake; and changing gold digger Sammy Jo to a gay man. Additionally, Blake's new wife and her nephew are Latin American, and chauffeur Michael Culhane and the Colby family are African-American.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main Elizabeth Gillies as Fallon Carrington, an heiress and businesswoman, daughter of Blake Carrington and his first wife, Alexis, married to Liam Ridley Gillies also briefly portrays Alexis Carrington in season 2. Nathalie Kelley as Celia Machado / Cristal Flores Carrington (season 1), Fallon's new stepmother, a woman with a shady past James Mackay as Steven Carrington (seasons 1–2; guest season 5), Fallon's gay environmentalist brother Robert Christopher Riley as Michael Culhane, former Carrington chauffeur and Fallon's on again-off again lover, who eventually amasses a fortune Sam Adegoke as Jeff Colby, business rival to Blake, CEO of ColbyCo Rafael de la Fuente as Samuel Josiah "Sammy Jo" Jones, Celia's wayward nephew and Steven's ex-husband, later hotelier of La Mirage Alan Dale as Joseph Anders (seasons 1–4), the Carrington majordomo, Kirby and Steven's biological father Grant Show as Blake Carrington, billionaire CEO of Carrington Atlantic, father of Adam, Fallon and Amanda by his first wife, Alexis Nicollette Sheridan (recurring season 1, main season 2) and Elaine Hendrix (seasons 3–5), as Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter, both Blake and Jeff's scheming ex, Dex's wife, and mother of Adam, Steven, Fallon and Amanda Ana Brenda Contreras (season 2) and Daniella Alonso (seasons 3–5) as Cristal Jennings Carrington, Blake's third wife, a physical therapist from a Mexican crime family who had let Celia use her identity Alonso also portrays Cristal's scheming look-alike, Rita, in season 5. Maddison Brown as Kirby Anders (seasons 2–5), Joseph's recovering addict daughter, La Mirage's event coordinator, then a model Sam Underwood as Adam Carrington / Dr. Mike Harrison (seasons 2–5), Blake and Alexis's eldest son, a doctor who was kidnapped as an infant Adam Huber as Liam Ridley (recurring seasons 1–2, main seasons 3–5), a writer who marries Fallon twice Michael Michele as Dominique Deveraux (guest season 2, main seasons 3–5), Blake's discontent half-sister, Jeff and Monica's mother Eliza Bennett as Amanda Carrington (recurring season 4, main season 5), Alexis's secret daughter by Blake, a lawyer raised in the UK and Kirby's love interest
Recurring
Introduced in season one Nick Wechsler as Matthew Blaisdel (season 1), Celia's former lover, a field engineer who dies in a suspicious explosion Brianna Brown as Claudia Blaisdel (seasons 1–2; guest season 5), Matthew's unstable wife, a former engineer Wakeema Hollis as Monica Colby (seasons 1–3; guest season 4), Jeff's sister, Fallon's closest friend Elena Tovar as Iris Machado (season 1; guest season 5), Celia's sister and Sam's mother Michael Patrick Lane as Ted Dinard (season 1), Steven's addict ex-boyfriend Arnetia Walker as Louella Culhane (seasons 1–2, 5), Michael's mother Luis Fernández as Alejandro Raya (season 1), Sam's father who is operating under the alias of Diego Calastana Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Cesil Colby (seasons 1–2), Jeff and Monica's incarcerated father Kelly Rutherford as Melissa Daniels (seasons 1–3), wife of Senator Paul Daniels, and Steven's former lover Elizabeth Youman as Evie Culhane (seasons 1–2), Michael's tech savvy younger sister Natalie Karp as Mrs. Gunnerson, the Carringtons' cook (guest seasons 1–3, 5) Brent Antonello as Hank Sullivan (seasons 1–2), Alexis's lover who poses as her and Blake's kidnapped firstborn, Adam
Introduced in season two Sharon Lawrence as Laura Van Kirk (season 2–5), Liam's controlling, manipulative mother Katherine LaNasa as Ada Stone (season 2), an antiquities dealer who blackmails Michael and Jeff Taylor Black as Ashley Cunningham (seasons 2–3), Liam's fiancée and Fallon's romantic rival Chase Anderson as Tony (seasons 2–3), the Carringtons' dimwitted gardener Geovanni Gopradi as Roberto "Beto" Flores, Cristal's brother, an enforcer for the Flores cartel (season 5; guest seasons 2–4) Nicole Zyana as Allison, Fallon's assistant (seasons 2–3)
Introduced in season three Ken Kirby as Evan Tate (season 3; guest season 4), the older brother of Fallon's childhood friend Trixie Kelli Barrett as Nadia (season 3), an orientation and mobility instructor hired by Fallon to seduce Adam Jade Payton as Vanessa Deveraux (season 3), Dominique's stepdaughter, an aspiring singer Daniel Di Tomasso as Fletcher Myers (seasons 3–4), a public relations consultant who becomes Sam's love interest Emily Rudd as Heidi (season 3), Liam's former girlfriend, mother of Connor John Jackson Hunter as Connor (season 3), Liam's young half-brother who he initially believes is his son Wil Traval as Father Caleb Collins (season 3–4), Cristal's lover Shannon Thornton as Mia (seasons 3–4), an event planner who is romantically entangled with both Jeff and Michael Lachlan Buchanan as Ryan (season 4; guest seasons 3 and 5), a stripper Sam marries briefly, and then dates
Introduced in season four Ashley Day as Colin McNaughton (season 4), Fallon's former enemy and business associate with whom she has an affair Luke Cook as Oliver Noble (season 4), Kirby's Australian ex-boyfriend, a fashion photographer David Aron Damane as Leo Abbott (season 4), a shady contractor Kara Royster as Eva (season 4; guest season 5), Fallon's assistant and protégé who is obsessed with Liam Grace Junot as Ellen (season 5, guest season 4), a board member at Fallon Unlimited Randy J. Goodwin as Brady Lloyd (season 4; guest season 5), Dominique's grifting ex-husband
Introduced in season five Felisha Terrell as Nina Fournier (season 5), an independent filmmaker and Culhane's love interest Pej Vahdat as Dex Dexter (season 5), Alexis's third husband, a hedge fund manager Rogelio T. Ramos as Daniel Ruiz (season 5), a horse trainer who is Sam's biological father Cynthia Quiles as Charlie Jiménez (season 5), Kirby's modeling agent Brett Tucker as Ben Carrington (season 5), Blake's disinherited brother, an art broker Samantha Massell as Stacey Moore (season 5), a paleontologist who is Fallon and Liam's surrogate
Production
Development In September 2016, it was announced that a reboot of the 1980s prime time soap opera Dynasty was in development at The CW, co-written by Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, and Sallie Patrick. Savage said, "All of us have worked on shows that owe a huge debt to Dynasty, so it's kind of in our writing DNA to do this show." The trio discussed what they found unique and attractive about the original series, and how best to preserve those elements in an update. They also met with Richard and Esther Shapiro, the creators of Dynasty, who were ultimately attached as producers. Schwartz said, "We are definitely living in an age of dynasties. Whether it's the Trumps or the Clintons or the Kardashians or the Murdochs, our news is filled with the worlds of family dynasties and that was exciting for us." Savage added, "When we first sat down with the Shapiros to talk about rebooting the show, they talked a lot about family. No matter the villainous things that they did, they never stopped loving each other. I think we took that core concept and then just talked about how to place the idea in the historical context of our day." Patrick noted that the 1980s series was progressive for its time, dealing with issues like race, women in the workplace, and gay acceptance. She said, "We're trying to figure out how do we respect what that show was doing then and pushing it even farther in our version." De la Fuente said, "We're trying to make it stand on its own and be its own thing. But we have to pay homage to the original and the classic stuff that people remember from Dynasty, like the fashion, the catfights and the opulence of it all, is of course in our show. It wouldn't be Dynasty otherwise." Patrick said, "We really enjoy looking back through the old series and finding dramatic character-driven moments that they featured, but then making them our own and modernizing them. But at the same time, you can't do a reboot without making it your own, and I think over the course of the season, especially towards the end of the year, we started letting go a little bit more, and while there are a lot of Easter eggs for original viewers...and there are plot points that we've kind of rebranded...but we try not to tie ourselves too much to the old show, because sometimes that anchor can tie the show down."
The new series finds heiress Fallon Carrington facing off against her soon-to-be stepmother Cristal, a Hispanic woman. Patrick said, "It was important to me as a working woman to have two women fighting over the future of the dynasty." Schwartz said of the rival characters: