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Let’s Talk About ‘Catch 22’:
- Fallon is over-preparing for the birth of her baby, making Liam race down hospital corridors with Stacey in a wheelchair.
- Cristal is pissed that Blake is going to search for Dex, and his place, instead of being more helpful at home dealing with the fallout from the crash. Oh, and she told Alexis that Dex is missing.
- Sam did not understand that when Culhane said he was moving to L.A. that he was ending his partnership in the hotel as well.
- Amanda’s ex reveals she’s come to Atlanta with the job offer Amanda had always dreamed of, while Kirby believes there’s more to it than that.
- Liam’s book is about to be published, but can he live with the fact that he stole the book … and will Sam ever let him forget it?
- The Carrington’s new majordomo, and Adam’s kidnapper, reveals his true identity in a crazy twist no one saw coming.
- As if she didn’t have enough to deal with, Fallon is now facing the loss of her own dynasty thanks to the unscrupulous Ellen.
- Stacey goes into labor ahead of schedule, but a traffic jam may keep them from getting to the hospital on time.
After five seasons and 108 episodes, The CW’s reboot of the classic primetime soap Dynasty has come to an end. If you were around at the time of the original, you’ll probably remember that when that show was cancelled it ended on a major cliffhanger as Alexis had plunged over the balcony in the Carrington manor onto the marble floor below. ABC did allow them to do a reunion movie a few years later, but that cliffhanger was pretty much glossed over so it was not a very satisfying end at all. Many have worried that this iteration of the show would suffer the same fate and we’d all be left hanging in the end. We also wondered if they would ever spring Steven from the mental hospital in France and reunite him with his family. With just this last episode to finish the story, the question that hovered over everything was ‘how will it end?’ Being the finale — and apparently the producers prepared both a season and series finale, just in case — all of the major cast members are present and accounted for, so there was a lot of story to squeeze into those 43 minutes. Not everyone had a major storyline, but they all participated in one way or another. Let’s break it all down.
Fallon & Liam
In typical style, Fallon is overdoing everything that concerns the impending arrival of her baby, from making Liam and Stacey race through hospital corridors to completely repainting and redecorating a birthing suite at the hospital. But she also has to worry about the impending vote by the Board of Fallon Unlimited that will determine her own fate with her company … and her arch-nemesis Ellen is on the road to making sure Fallon loses everything. Meanwhile, Liam has just received the proof of his book cover and Sam isn’t above guilting Liam into admitting to the world that he stole the book from his dead professor friend, especially while the guy’s nephew is shaking him down for millions not to tell the truth. Who knows what the kid will do next? Later, Fallon is shocked when she learns Graham’s true identity — we’ll get to that — but her baby is not waiting any longer and they all need to get to the hospital. Luckily Culhane had just pulled into the driveway and offers to take over as their driver — back to his original job! — to get them to the hospital. But they get stuck in traffic and it could be more than a half hour before they get there, and Stacey does not think she’s going to last that long. The only thing to do is turn around and get the doctor to the manor. While Stacey was in labor much longer than anticipated, the family had time to gather at the manor as Fallon, Liam and Stacey introduced Lauren Morrell Carrington … uh, Ridley, the newest member of the Carrington dynasty. Later that night, Fallon summoned Ellen to the manor, not to introduce her to Lauren but to tell her that she’s lost in her bid to take over Fallon Unlimited. Ellen believes she has the votes, but Fallon made the Board an offer they could not refuse — a total buyout at more than twice the value of the stocks. Impossible, not even Fallon could afford that. True, she says, but with all of her family’s assets they have more than enough to close the deal, and it’s done. This is now a true family-owned business. Ellen can go pound the pavement. Satisfied with her accomplishment, and thrilled her daughter got to be there for her first major takeover. But what about Liam and his book? We’ll resolve that cliffhanger later.
Blake, Cristal and Alexis
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Having located his plane in the Appalachian Mountains, Blake has decided he will join the search and rescue team to try to find the wreckage and any survivors, particularly Dex. Cristal has just about had it with Blake at this point, insisting that his time would be better served by remaining at home and helping her deal with the fallout from the crash. But, as he reminds her, PPA is still his company and he’s going to do what he wants. Unfortunately, the one thing he didn’t do was tell Alexis that her husband may be out there in the wilderness waiting to be rescued … but Cristal did and Alexis insists on accompanying him to the crash site. Once there, a survey of the area shows that a rescue mission could be daunting, especially if the survivors tried to make their away to safety. They could be anywhere at this point because they aren’t at the crash site. Blake knows that any good pilot would know to head to the hightest point for better visibility so he guides them to a hill near the site. But a major storm is brewing and the search and rescue team insists they head back to camp until it blows over. Alexis is not going, and as she forges on looking for Dex, Blake has no choice but to follow. He tries to talk her into going back, and even admits that as much acrimony as they have between them, he doesn’t want her to lose Dex, so he will go with her. It’s not long before Alexis hears a response to her calls. Dex is alive and they are reunited. Returning home 24 hours later, Cristal is relieved to see that Blake is okay because for some reason he was too busy to even send her a text. But seeing Alexis and Dex together on top of that mountain in the middle of a storm made him realize what he has in Cristal, and with a newly arrived grandchild to meet, Blake is finally grateful for all that he has. And then Alexis barges in to also be with the family to meet the baby. But Fallon has one more surprise for the family.
Sam & Culhane
Sam was under the assumption that even though his best friend Michael Culhane is leaving Atlanta, they’d still have weekly video chats about the hotel. Umm, no, Culhane is selling his interest in the hotel. Would have been nice to let Sam know so he knows who his new partner is. Culhane assures him that it will be fine but he’s welcome to sit in on his meetings with prospective buyers. Which probably wasn’t the best idea as suddenly all sorts of ’emergencies’ arise, from burst pipes to a bed bug infestation, that makes all of the buyers withdraw their interest in Culhane’s offer. He’s pretty sure Sam is the one sabotaging the deal, and Sam admits he was just trying to keep his friend in Atlanta. Culhane assures him the move will not affect their friendship, and as Sam tries to drown his sorroes at the hotel’s bar, he gets a major surprise that changes everything. But that will have to wait.
Amanda & Kirby
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While Amanda’s ex has coffee with her, Kirby spies on them from outside the café, seeing the judge place her hands on Amanda’s. That’s enough to make her drive off in anger, causing her to miss Amanda’s quick withdrawal. Inside the two women are discussing their past, and Florence admits her mistakes in the past but she’s not in Atlanta to win Amanda back … she has a job offer for her at a prestigious law firm in London that could net her a partnership in just a couple of years and her own judicial appointment down the line. It’s the one thing Amanda has always wanted from her career. Florence says she’s not going to get that dealing with malpractice cases at the hospital. It’s a lot to think about, but Amanda still has to deal with Kirby who admits she was spying on the two women, her insecurities getting the best of her. Amanda isn’t thrilled that Kirby doesn’t trust her, so how can they move forward? And how can Amanda turn down this offer without breaking Kirby’s heart? Kirby confronts Florence, who explains to her exactly what is at stake for Amanda. Now that it becomes clear to her, she can’t allow Amanda to stay in Atlanta at the price of her career goals over her heart. Can she? And is Amanda willing to put her career before her heart? Here’s another cliffhanger to consider.
Jeff & Dominique
Jeff has decided he’s not going to retaliate against Richard for releasing his tech information publicly. It’s a bit of tit for tat after what Jeff did to his pharmaceutical company, and Richard assures him that should Jeff try to one-up him, he would retaliate again and he has many more resources than Jeff. It is a real ‘catch 22’ for Jeff. But he finds some surprising support from his mother, who believes that Richard released all of Jeff’s tech secrets but is more concerned that his heart was played with. That brings out her mama bear instincts. But in truth, it was Jeff who released all of the information to the public so that the young, brilliant minds of today could use it and improve it and then he can hire those brilliant young minds with that improved tech to rebuild Colbyco. And then Fallon shows up to ask Jeff for his help in saving her company. It’s Dominique who steps up, telling Fallon she will end her top rated show on FSN to get the Board to vote with Fallon. Although when the news was given to Ellen, she responded that the Board had already been talking about pulling the plug on FSN because it wasn’t generating the revues it once did, and without Dom it would make the decision even easier. Well, that backfired in the moment.
Adam
It looks like Adam’s past has finally caught up with him, and Graham is about to make him pay. But Adam — and we — get the shock of our lives when Graham reveals (in the best soap opera way) that he’s wearing a very impressive mask, and underneath that mask is — STEVEN! He’s been masquerading as Graham (and this is one plothole that is never really addressed because Kirby knew Graham in the previous episode, so is there a real Graham somewhere or has Steven just been pretending to be Graham so who knows how long to see if his family still wants him around?) and now it’s time for Adam (aka George, when he first met Steven in Europe) to pay the piper for getting Steven committed to the mental hospital in Paris, for paying off a nurse to intercept the letters from his family, and then sending them fake letters telling them he didn’t want anything to do with them (and yes, this is something that has been mentioned on the show since Steven’s disappearance). Steven escaped the hospital when it caught fire and burned down, killing the nurse, which enabled him to find the letters at her house and plan his return to Atlanta. As he is about to inject something into Adam’s neck that we assume will kill him, he’s needed in the manor. Or Graham is. But when he returns to the shed (?), he attempts to inject Adam again but Adam kicks at Steven, and is able to break free from the chair he was tied to. The two fight to the tune of ‘I Want to be Sedated’ but Steven gets the upper hand, nearly putting a spike through Adam’s head. But he can’t become a killer (and apparently one of the writers did want Steven to kill Adam but didn’t want to end on such a dark note), so he warns Adam to leave Atlanta and never return. Or else.
Steven
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It is so wonderful that they finally decided to bring Steven back … but it sucks they waited until the last episode. But at least his appearance made everything right. After sending Adam on his way, Fallon came upon ‘Graham’ playing the piano in the manor, telling him that was the same song her brother used to practice. She was in for a real shock when he turned to her and she saw it was her brother. Finally reunited, Steven told her what Adam did, and revealed he never received their letters nor did he write the ones they got back, and the two sang together for the first time in years, something that the show has sorely missed since James Mackay was written out of the show. But the song was interrupted by the sudden labor pains and Fallon had to leave, but Steven did not reveal himself to Liam, who thought his wife was having some weird moment with Graham. At the Oasis where Sam was dealing with the impending loss of his best friend, Graham showed up out of the blue and ordered a drink — the same one Steven used to order. And without much ado, he removed the mask and revealed himself to Sam who was overcome with happiness. Steven also assured him that he never sent those letters to Sam and they both admitted they still loved each other very much. And as everyone gathered at the manor for the arrival of the baby, Alexis demanded to know where the new majordomo was because she needed a drink. Sam said he’d be there soon. And as Fallon introduced baby Lauren, she had one more family member to bring out — and Steven appeared from the patio, entering the room to the shock of all gathered there. Blake and Alexis rushed to him to give him hugs, Stacey was confused, Amanda was seeing her other brother for the first time, and we realize that Steven has also never met Cristal 3.0, but that is never brought up. But, Fallon announces there will be time for reunions and explanation but she still has to save her company — which she did.
But there are still some little cliffhangers to address …
Six months later…
The future is now in widescreen! Fallon is back in her office and Liam arrives to show her that he’s finally straightened everything out with ‘his’ book (he actually admitted to the theft in the car when Stacey was in labor) which shows the rightful author’s name on the cover and a Forward by Liam (which means Fallon only has to read the Forward). But Liam has written his own book, thanks to the inspiration of his new daughter, and his publisher thinks ‘Lauren’s School for Ghouls’ could be a successful series of children’s books. While Blake enters and Liam returns to the office’s day care to pick up Lauren — whom Blake says is the smartest six-month-old ever, Fallon wants to talk to him about renaming the company. Blake insists that Fallon Unlimited already has the name recognition and he is against changing the name, but under the circumstances of the family basically combining all of their businesses to save hers, the only right thing to do would be to rename the company Carrington United. Blake can’t say no to that.
At the manor, guests are arriving for a wedding. Steven and Sam are together and Steven asks Sam if he’s nervous. Sam says he’s done this before so they appear to be getting re-married. But Culhane interrupts them, panicked that he can’t find the ring. This is his wedding to Nina, and Sam has the ring so Culhane wouldn’t lose it (although he freaks out Culhane by pretending that he lost the ring). We catch up with Jeff and Dom, as his plan has worked and Dom’s success has afforded her the chance to buy a shop on Bleecker Street in New York City. Alexis seats herself across the aisle and mentions that she and Dex also just happened to buy a building on Bleecker Street. What a coincidence. But the rivals have a laugh that they will still be able to feud and make up for a very long time. Amanda has returned from London. She did take the job and break things off with Kirby and after the two awkwardly talk about work in the hallway — Amanda is on track to be a partner within a year — they finally admit that they miss each other terribly. Kirby says she never imagined leaving Atlanta but she is ready to go to London with the person she loves … as long Amanda promises to teach her all of the British slang. Deal! Sam officiates Michael and Nina’s wedding but we’re left with one loose end — where is Adam? Well, turns out he’s now in London (uh oh), back in the medical profession, waiting for his next patient, Mrs. Thatcher. No not Margaret, it’s a cat. Adam is now a veterinarian under an assumed name. After the wedding, Blake jokingly (?) asks Cristal is they should make a play to be co-CEOs of Carrington United since Fallon obviously has other things on her mind (yes, he still in the mindset that a mother can’t be a businessperson … some things will never change), and Cristal suggests waiting a few days before staging another coup, Dom suggests to Alexis that perhaps she’ll start her own skin care line to sell in her store (oh, those two), and Jeff tells them to just buy the whole block and install a custom boxing ring in the middle. Culhane said he’d pay to see that. Steven asks Sam if Fallon might be open to him taking over her foundation, and Sam says absolutely as long as he understands she’ll still be in charge of everything. Fallon tells everyone to be quiet so they can take a family photo. Smile and pretend they all love each other. Say ‘Carrington’!
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And with that, a new Carrington dynasty is born just as the show comes to an end, thankfully with nary a cliffhanger in sight. In the realm of TV series finales, this will go down as one that is very satisfying. We got to see the birth of the baby, we got to see the family put all of their differences aside and truly become one. The only person missing from this group was Dex, who for some reason was out of town on business. He should have been included. It would have been nice if Adam could have been redeemed along the way but he was just pure evil from the start (and besides not knowing this Cristal, I don’t believe Steven had seen Alexis’ new face either, so I guess at some point she told him how that happened, which only makes it easier to accept Adam is not in that family picture … and neither is Nina). It was a lovely end to a series I’ve had a love-hate relationship with over the last five years, and ultimately I am sad to see it end. Looking at the stars’ social media accounts, it’s clear they all had a great time working together so I hope they remain friends moving forward. For the fans, we are left with reruns and memories, deciding for ourselves where the Carringtons and their extended family goes next. Thanks for the ride,
What did you think of the series finale? Tell us in the comments section below!
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