What did you guys think of Alexis suddenly being a mogul over night?

[lbf522]

For me, it was hard to take her seriously as a mogul who could go toe to toe with Blake and almost defeat him. He went from being an artist to a CEO just like that. Maybe if she had started out as a junior executive in a company and was the right hand of the CEO, I could have bought that.

 

[GillesDenver]

But she had been married to a mogul (Blake) so she must have learnt some tricks on the business during her marriage.

 

[Alexis]

But she had been married to a mogul (Blake) so she must have learnt some tricks on the business during her marriage.

Not to mention dalliances with people like Rachid Ahmed and Cecil Colby. You'd imagine in he 16 years away from Denver she also had relationships and romances with other rich/powerful men.

I think it would have been much easier to swallow if Adam had been a corporate lawyer and had given her advice as well as that original lawyer of Cecil's who was around for an episode or two. He should have popped in now and again for at least half a season. There should been a scene or two with Alexis appearing to be overwhelmed by it all and then we see Adam give her a pep talk and steady her nerves before a big meeting or something. But they were adverse to showing Alexis have any vulnerability which I think was wrong.

 

[tommie]

Not to mention dalliances with people like Rachid Ahmed and Cecil Colby. You'd imagine in he 16 years away from Denver she also had relationships and romances with other rich/powerful men.

I think it would have been much easier to swallow if Adam had been a corporate lawyer and had given her advice as well as that original lawyer of Cecil's who was around for an episode or two. He should have popped in now and again for at least half a season. There should been a scene or two with Alexis appearing to be overwhelmed by it all and then we see Adam give her a pep talk and steady her nerves before a big meeting or something. But they were adverse to showing Alexis have any vulnerability which I think was wrong.

Yep! I said it before, but they really should've addressed the fact that Alexis wasn't a business woman and had no experience. Just show her being overwhelmed, have her getting advice from Adam etc. and then just show her triumphantly realising that she's got a natural knack for business and slowly building up her confidence instead of turning her into Queen of the Universe overnight. But that might've made Alexis human and we can't have that!

One of the things I actually liked about season 9 was that they seemingly finally addressed the fact that Alexis was a lousy business woman.

 

[lbf522]

Thanks for the responses guys. This has always bugged me.

 

[lbf522]

Yep! I said it before, but they really should've addressed the fact that Alexis wasn't a business woman and had no experience. Just show her being overwhelmed, have her getting advice from Adam etc. and then just show her triumphantly realising that she's got a natural knack for business and slowly building up her confidence instead of turning her into Queen of the Universe overnight. But that might've made Alexis human and we can't have that!

One of the things I actually liked about season 9 was that they seemingly finally addressed the fact that Alexis was a lousy business woman.

That would have been much better than what they came up with for Alexis.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Maybe it didn't matter that much in Dynasty. Even in season 1, a loan depended on the marriage between Jeff and Fallon, another loan depended on Krystle's necklace, Alexis' affair with a sheik etc etc.

And even if you inherit the majority of the shares (I assume Cecil and Jeff weren't the only shareholders) then that doesn't automatically make you the CEO of that company, it only impacts the power of the voting rights.
Either way, they could have shown the preperations for her position i.e. being informed and advised by Jeff and all the heads of the various departments - not Adam because he's just a lawyer from Hicksville. He knows as much about oil as Alexis does.
And there were no board meetings (except for the power struggles), shareholder meetings, experts - there was nothing remotely realistic about Dynasty's business, although in season 1 it still kinda looked realistic.

But is that what the Dynasty viewers really wanted to see, especially since season 2 was revamped to show more glamour and bitchy intrigue?

 

[tommie]

Maybe it didn't matter that much in Dynasty. Even in season 1, a loan depended on the marriage between Jeff and Fallon, another loan depended on Krystle's necklace, Alexis' affair with a sheik etc etc.

And even if you inherit the majority of the shares (I assume Cecil and Jeff weren't the only shareholders) then that doesn't automatically make you the CEO of that company, it only impacts the power of the voting rights.
Either way, they could have shown the preperations for her position i.e. being informed and advised by Jeff and all the heads of the various departments - not Adam because he's just a lawyer from Hicksville. He knows as much about oil as Alexis does.
And there were no board meetings (except for the power struggles), shareholder meetings, experts - there was nothing remotely realistic about Dynasty's business, although in season 1 it still kinda looked realistic.

But is that what the Dynasty viewers really wanted to see, especially since season 2 was revamped to show more glamour and bitchy intrigue?

I don't think you need some big poignant storyline to show that Alexis was a bit out of her depth - just show her a bit overwhelmed at the office etc. and not have her go and automatically conquer ColbyCo. They could still move the main plots along (ie show Alexis being a bit overwhelmed by all the paper work while person B enters and talks to her). But yeah, of course Dynasty isn't realistic about business in general and no one wants to see that, but it doesn't mean you should entirely skip point B when going to C.

 

[Willie Oleson]

just show her a bit overwhelmed at the office

She seemed very overwhelmed and distressed when she talked to Cecil's empty chair.

 

[tommie]

She seemed very overwhelmed and distressed when she talked to Cecil's empty chair.
View attachment 21259

Well, more of that stuff. I've been watching Peyton Place lately and one of the storylines that's caught my discerning eye is the Connie / Dr Rossi "romance" - it's not played out that much on the show, but it's sort of happening on the show and since Elliot Carson came back from prison it's been slowly falling apart. There's not been huge scenes, but it's more of a continuing storyline. That's how I'd like Alexis's storyline taking over ColbyCo to happen - not huge, but just chugging along in the background. It's not like there was a point of Alexis becoming The Queen of the Universe until she decided to go after Blake in season 6B.

 

[Willie Oleson]

It's not like there was a point of Alexis becoming The Queen of the Universe

Yes yes there was because now they could barge into each other's offices and then scream "get the hell out of my office!"

And Alexis also got her tycoonette fashion design.

 

[tommie]

Yes yes there was because now they could barge into each other's offices and then scream "get the hell out of my office!"

Don't forget all those scenes of Blake yelling "Damnit Alexis!!!". I now see the light, thanks.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

This time when I re-watched Season 3, I realized for the first time that they really didn't do a 'just-add-water Queen of the Galaxy' kind of thing with Alexis --- she really took most of the season before she even occupied the ColbyCo office.

But it still feels rushed for some reason.

 

[GillesDenver]

Yes, it's not before she realized what Adam did to Jeff that she decided to work at ColbyCo. Before that, she spent her time drinking cocktails in her fabulous penthouse. However, she mentioned once that she "saved the day" in some business with the Ahmed brothers, even though we did not see any of this.

Then, she just set up the merger, nothing else. And Gerald Wilson was still around.

It's in season 4 that she really became a serious business woman (and Gerard Wilson disappeared). I guess there was an enthousiastic reception from the audience (years later, the meeting in which Alexis is dressed like a man was shown in some movie and reenacted with Raquel Welch in "Central Park West") so the producers/writers decided to continue this way rather than letting Alexis going back to drinking cocktails all day.

 

[Michael Torrance]

Yes, it's not before she realized what Adam did to Jeff that she decided to work at ColbyCo. Before that, she spent her time drinking cocktails in her fabulous penthouse.

But that just made it worse. The writing team's initial instincts were correct, showing her feeling like she is completely out of her element. But I don't think it is that they did not want to make her look human. I think it is that they had no patience to show her doing some learning. Seasons 2 and 3 are at a frenetic pace, before the show comes to a screeching halt in terms in narrative progress once the merger ends.

And there were no board meetings (except for the power struggles), shareholder meetings, experts - there was nothing remotely realistic about Dynasty's business, although in season 1 it still kinda looked realistic.

Even Grey's Anatomy is not a realistic medical show. But it makes it look real. Similarly, you do not need realism for a show about oil giants, you need verisimilitude. Again, it takes patience: showing some location shoot about the notorious shale oil extraction process, for instance. Season 1 was not realistic because there were more board meetings (there were less) but because there were more businessmen. Remember the dinner party and all those invited? Showing Alexis start to cultivate connections would have been fun and make it more palatable when she became the sole runner of Colbyco.

 

[tommie]

Can someone please write an Alexis-esque rant about how she deserves to be in charge of ColbyCo, how she is competent, how she is an expert and damn-you-Blake?

 

[Willie Oleson]

when she became the sole runner of Colbyco

But it wasn't really about her and the company, we already knew about D-C and ColbyCo.
During the reading of the will it became clear that she was going to take Cecil's place and continue his battle against Blake. The only thing that mattered was that she was given equal power in order to add a new chapter to their feud.

Remember the dinner party and all those invited?

Yes, but this happened in season 3, it wasn't that kind of Dynasty anymore.
The merger wasn't stopped because of Blake's business skills, these things were always linked to personal drama and intrigue and blackmail.

 

[Michael Torrance]

there was nothing remotely realistic about Dynasty's business, although in season 1 it still kinda looked realistic.

Yes, but this happened in season 3, it wasn't that kind of Dynasty anymore.

For some reason you seem to believe (or propose) that because they moved away from plausible plots they could not self-correct and fix it.

I mean, is your critique that it was not realistic, or that you do not WANT it to be realistic?

 

[Willie Oleson]

you seem to believe (or propose) that because they moved away from plausible plots they could not self-correct and fix it.

Well, they didn't. And I can't change history. The new direction in season 2 set the tone for the rest of the show, as being discussed over and over again. And I'm being realistic about that.

 

[Michael Torrance]

Well, they didn't. And I can't change history.

Have you ever read the forums?