Quick question (not many spoilers please, still in season 1, episode 12) …
Does Dynasty do much backstory like Dallas and Falcon Crest? Do we find out how the Carringtons and Colby’s made all their money, whether inherited or self made? Or are we just told they’re rich and never told how or why?
thanks in advance
Okay, no spoilers.
DYNASTY had, in my opinion, some of the best backstory potential of any show --- it is, after all, about a dynasty.
But the second-string producers (as Joan called them) had some creative pathologies -- while they were good at casting and unformed story ideas, they were very week at pacing and detail (and, hence, construction) and had these ruinous creative perversities (like the static acting directive, which you'll observe crop up in the first episode of Season 3).
Therefore, continuity isn't their strong suit.
I assume you know about Alexis. As the series winds on, the narrative, the dialogue, always crystallizes (as it were) when Blake and Alexis start bitching at each other about their bad marriage/divorce. Oddly, the same is true when the shadowy backstory is discussed of Kirby, the majordomo's daughter who pops up in Season 3, Joseph himself, and her deranged mama (unseen by the camera) which plays itself out in Seasons 3 & 4 --- despite the fact that the audience, generally, doesn't really like Kirby nor find her terribly interesting.
Suffice it to say, the DYNASTY writers sometimes came up with very promising backstory ideas, yet wouldn't follow through with them (choosing to instead focus on the dull, cliched stuff with far less potential and for far longer)... I mean, just steel yourself for that pattern as your viewing goes along.
That, and the pointless bedroom scenes and endless relationship re-defining dialogue (e.g., "I'm your father/You're my daughter/Why don't you share your pain with me?," etc.) is used as endless time-killers --- and one wouldn't think time-killers necessary in a multi-character/multi-generational saga like DYNASTY... Those problems begin in Season 3, but at least the writers still seem to care about their characters; not necessarily so for Season 4 (and beyond).
But don't let anybody scare you away from the series. You must endure the Tortellini of the Damned (or is that Amanda2? or FALCON CREST?) along with the rest of us.
The point being: adjust your expectations (after wonderful Seasons 1 & 2, and, later Season 9) and you'll probably get through it more or less in one piece.
