Broken Krystle (02 Nov 88) v The Bungalow (DYNASTY, 05 Oct 83)
Jeanette’s two big scenes of the series come in the penultimate episode of the first season, Blake Goes to Trial, and in the opening episode of the final season, Broken Krystle. In each, she, the loyalest of servants, reluctantly bears witness against one of her employers. In the former, at Ted Dinard’s trial, she hesitantly recounts how she heard Blake say, “I'll kill him” shortly before he, um, killed him. In the latter, in the Carrington master bedroom, she hesitantly recounts how she saw Krystle hovering outside in the middle of the night wearing only her nightgown. “I can’t describe the look in her eyes,” she says darkly.
Jeanette is sort of our way into this weird new storyline. We have no idea what has happened to Krystle or why Blake was so freaked out about her trashing their bedroom that it warranted an end of season cliffhanger. But if meek little see-no-evil Jeanette is worried enough to speak out then maybe we should be worried too.
Fallon doesn’t know what’s going on either. She can’t understand why Blake is receiving urgent calls from a doctor in Los Angeles after Krystle suddenly disappears any better than she can understand why, five years earlier in The Bungalow, a pregnant Kirby refuses to call a doctor after falling off her horse. The reason, as Kirby later explains to Krystle, is that she is trying to lose Adam’s baby. Similarly in Broken Krystle, the prospect of raising Adam’s child doesn’t exactly fill Dana’s heart with joy which is why she failed to show up in court for his surrogacy/custody verdict thingy and why she now walks out on him for good. (Thus far in my alphabetical re-watch, Dana is the character I like the least, but I really like her scenes here. Her low key exit is just great.)
While Krystle’s mysterious absence is a cause for concern for Blake in Season 9, Joseph’s is a worry for Kirby in Season 3. Neither of them have been seen since the previous season and when Joseph eventually does show up, he’s behaving as weirdly as Jeanette says Krystle was by the reflection pond. I know Joseph’s always been weird, but his line readings are now completely off the scale. He sounds like a broken down robot reading an autocue at gunpoint.
Worried about his major domo’s acting, Blake and Jeff race to Joseph’s old house in a mad hurry, but a truck pulls out in front of them, blocking their path. The exact same thing happens to Blake five years later when he is trying to catch up with the elusive Krystle’s car. Sometimes, even life or death Carrington emergencies fail to take precedence over everyday truck drivers going about their nonspecific business.
Meanwhile, Alexis is recovering from various end-of-season murder attempts. In 1988, following her fourth husband’s efforts to shoot her in the bath, she flies to LA, gets drunk and sings Cole Porter songs before passing out on the floor. In 1983, following the fire which we’ll later earn was started by her fourth husband’s father, she spends most of her time in bed eating caviar in a variety of turbans.
Both eps conclude with a juicy dead body cliffhanger. In ’83, Jeff and Blake arrive at the Anders house in time to see Joseph shoot himself in the cardigan — but why? In ’88, Jeff and Sammy Jo arrive at the Carrington lake in time to see a body washed up on the bank — but whose?
And the winner is ... Broken Krystle
BONUS BEATS:
Jeanette’s two big scenes of the series come in the penultimate episode of the first season, Blake Goes to Trial, and in the opening episode of the final season, Broken Krystle. In each, she, the loyalest of servants, reluctantly bears witness against one of her employers. In the former, at Ted Dinard’s trial, she hesitantly recounts how she heard Blake say, “I'll kill him” shortly before he, um, killed him. In the latter, in the Carrington master bedroom, she hesitantly recounts how she saw Krystle hovering outside in the middle of the night wearing only her nightgown. “I can’t describe the look in her eyes,” she says darkly.
Jeanette is sort of our way into this weird new storyline. We have no idea what has happened to Krystle or why Blake was so freaked out about her trashing their bedroom that it warranted an end of season cliffhanger. But if meek little see-no-evil Jeanette is worried enough to speak out then maybe we should be worried too.
Fallon doesn’t know what’s going on either. She can’t understand why Blake is receiving urgent calls from a doctor in Los Angeles after Krystle suddenly disappears any better than she can understand why, five years earlier in The Bungalow, a pregnant Kirby refuses to call a doctor after falling off her horse. The reason, as Kirby later explains to Krystle, is that she is trying to lose Adam’s baby. Similarly in Broken Krystle, the prospect of raising Adam’s child doesn’t exactly fill Dana’s heart with joy which is why she failed to show up in court for his surrogacy/custody verdict thingy and why she now walks out on him for good. (Thus far in my alphabetical re-watch, Dana is the character I like the least, but I really like her scenes here. Her low key exit is just great.)
While Krystle’s mysterious absence is a cause for concern for Blake in Season 9, Joseph’s is a worry for Kirby in Season 3. Neither of them have been seen since the previous season and when Joseph eventually does show up, he’s behaving as weirdly as Jeanette says Krystle was by the reflection pond. I know Joseph’s always been weird, but his line readings are now completely off the scale. He sounds like a broken down robot reading an autocue at gunpoint.
Worried about his major domo’s acting, Blake and Jeff race to Joseph’s old house in a mad hurry, but a truck pulls out in front of them, blocking their path. The exact same thing happens to Blake five years later when he is trying to catch up with the elusive Krystle’s car. Sometimes, even life or death Carrington emergencies fail to take precedence over everyday truck drivers going about their nonspecific business.
Meanwhile, Alexis is recovering from various end-of-season murder attempts. In 1988, following her fourth husband’s efforts to shoot her in the bath, she flies to LA, gets drunk and sings Cole Porter songs before passing out on the floor. In 1983, following the fire which we’ll later earn was started by her fourth husband’s father, she spends most of her time in bed eating caviar in a variety of turbans.
Both eps conclude with a juicy dead body cliffhanger. In ’83, Jeff and Blake arrive at the Anders house in time to see Joseph shoot himself in the cardigan — but why? In ’88, Jeff and Sammy Jo arrive at the Carrington lake in time to see a body washed up on the bank — but whose?
And the winner is ... Broken Krystle
BONUS BEATS:
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