Dynasty Episode 4 Review: Private as a Circus

This Dynasty review contains spoilers.

Dynasty Episode 4

The most recent episode of Dynasty is full of awesomely bad outfits, loads of eye candy, and a plot as thick as gravy. This is the first episode so far to find a nice balance between the many overlapping storylines the show juggles: Fallon’s business endeavors, everyone’s love stories, Cristal’s backstory, and Matthew’s death.

Like any good soap, Dynasty is chewing through plot as quickly as they can come up with it, and sometimes quicker. Which is why, after three whole episodes, they’ve decided they have enough buy-in to push the show’s moral center into a grey area, if you can even call Steven that. The pilot contained some heavy-handed exposition about how Steven is “the good Carrington” and now it seems that all anyone has to do is mention his name or Haiti and everyone nods in sage agreement. This makes his (albeit short-lived) fall from grace all the more fun to watch.

Personally, I think chauffeur Michael is the real moral center, but the show is determined to tell us it’s Steven, in spite of his spotty record.

Blake becomes a Carrington

Sammy Jo and Stansfield rightfully call out Steven’s illegal and immoral dealings: he’s a true Carrington now, no more hiding behind his morals. But it’s a lot less fun to watch since by the end of the episode, Steven realizes they’re right and it destroys him. Maybe someday Steven will become a gleeful, meddling villain like his sister, or a vengeful gay man like Anders (come on, that man cannot be straight) but for now he is just heartbroken to realize he played a role in an innocent man’s death.

Dynasty pushes beyond that, however, with the reveal that Blake didn’t know about the sex tape: he was after evidence that this is not the first time Steven has ended a life. Of course, Steven will have to learn this eventually, and at the rate they’re going, this secret won’t last until Christmas. And when it finally does come out into the light, who will Steven have left to turn to in his despair?

Fallon screws everyone over

Fallon is a self-centered bitch and she knows it; that’s where all the fun of her character originates. She’s also highly competent, rich, and gorgeous, and she uses those advantages to great effect. But in this episode, we see that it’s not enough. Rather than Steven’s heavy-handed privilege apology, Fallon will actually have to lose what she wants (the deal, and more importantly, eventually Michael) in order to learn her lesson. I really can’t wait.

In lesser hands, Fallon would be either a Madonna or a whore, an idiot or an ugly worker bee, and we would only be able to root for either her or Cristal. Instead, both women are beautiful, smart, and worth supporting in their own narratives, even when they royally screw up. Fallon has definitely taken Michael for granted since the beginning, and I’m glad to see her paying for that. Maybe his time with Kori will finally teach Fallon a lesson.

I’m looking forward to the inevitable return of Fallon’s mother. Anyone who can drive the ice queen to sending that many letters (yes, actual letters) must be formidable. I’m sure there’s another story behind her leaving Blake and the kids, too, and I sort of hope Andres pulled a What a Girl Wants and sent her packing under false pretenses.

And of course, the clothes. Cristal tries to seduce distracted Blake in nothing more than the fur of an animal that’s been dead longer than she’s alive, while Fallon goes full-on Elle Woods in that pink tweed suit of fringe-y Muppet death. Sammy Jo is usually a winner, but that bedazzled camo jacket looks like the bad part of the 90s. Luckily, Jeff’s blazer game is still strong, showing up with a dragon blazer like some kind of champion. Until next time, stay salty.

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