The five seasons of the Dynasty reboot will be remembered for their sensitivity to issues of race and gender

Farewells are bittersweet and challenging. However, the last season of Dynasty seems to defy this assumption. Viewers who are willing to invest time in watching the 22-episode-long fifth season might at some point want to desperately bid adieu to the Carringtons and their endless shenanigans. This, of course, is a predictable reaction as the series has always struggled to measure up to expectations.

When the Dynasty reboot surfaced a few years ago, it was touted as both a throwback to the original 1980s soap opera and an opportunity for course-correction. While the creators made a conscientious attempt to rectify the flaws in the original series, they couldn’t bring back the sizzling drama that kept audiences engaged in the 1980s soap opera. During the five seasons of senseless intrigues and tepid dramatic confrontations, audiences seldom witnessed anything radically different from what they had seen before. Instead, tried-and-tested tropes were recycled with reckless abandon and absurd plotlines were pursued with an alarming regularity.

Be that as it may, originality isn’t the missing ingredient that could have salvaged the series from its natural death. From the outset, the Dynasty reboot has benefitted from a heady dose of ingenuity and has even ventured into uncharted terrain. The problem stems from the show’s excessive emphasis on banal subplots, which contribute heavily to its shoddy, meandering narrative arc.

Such problems tend to arise when a show has a gargantuan cast for which precious screen time has to be effortlessly carved out. It is difficult for audiences to sustain their interest in every character’s trajectory and many of them become selective. They cultivate an emotional connection with characters whom they find intriguing and, quite literally, gloss over scenes that feature subplots they don’t care about.

Dynasty’s fifth season suffers from a similar predicament. Each 42-minute-long episode brings to the fore a posse of inconsequential characters who vie for the audience’s attention. Sceptics may be tempted to argue that these characters deflect the viewers’ attention from the main premise of the show. But after so many seasons of senseless intrigues, it is difficult to pinpoint what the fundamental premise of the show is.

While soap operas tend to drift from one premise to the next at a swift pace, there is always a central character or conflict that sustains the interest of viewers. In the original Dynasty, the simmering conflicts among Alexis, Cristal and Blake were the fuel that kept the engine running. In the reboot, the dramatic core of the show has wavered considerably. At one point, Fallon (Elizabeth Egan Gillies) and her antics were single-handedly holding the show together.  Even now, a vast majority of Dynasty fans watch the show because they are curious about Fallon’s next personal or professional move. However, the Carrington heiress still has to compete for attention with a motley crew of meaningless characters who should have been written off a long time ago. Without a central focus, the series tends to falter and effectively loses its sheen.

The fourth season of Dynasty ended with a shooting incident that was nothing short of calamitous. Viewers expected the new season to begin on an equally chaotic note. Instead, many of them will be astonished to find that the first episode is untainted by the storms that struck in the previous season. The mood of the series swiftly changes after Fallon slips into a coma. Her momentary absence brings a sudden lull to the series and acts as a glaring reminder of how critical she is to the show’s success. Once she recovers, Dynasty returns to its usual track where events cause neither a whimper nor a bang. The occasion half-baked calamities strike a few chords without reaching a crescendo. Business arrangements turn sour and stoke personal conflicts. Even so, viewers are unlikely to be fazed by these developments. After all, Dynasty would be meaningless without the looming fear of hostile takeovers and personal turmoil. After every few episodes, an unmistakable highpoint is reached and the series gathers momentum, albeit to fritter it away with relative ease. The confusion steered by a character’s double role isn’t utilised to drive the plot forward. The arrival of forgotten but troublesome Carrington uncle isn’t mined to full potential. Plot conveniences are thrown in to iron out any situations that the creators find tedious or unwieldy. In other instances, arbitrary business scandals and catfights over candelabras are used to distract the attention of the audiences.

Some of the most memorable moments of Dynasty’s fifth season are those that are separate from the all-important business scandals. Liam Ridley’s journey as a bestselling author who suffers from writer’s block and contemplates plagiarising his professor’s novel is executed with care. Amanda’s love life as well as her efforts to reinvent herself as a Carrington heir after working as an industrious lawyer are equally compelling. There is fertile ground for growth in these characters. If the creators are contemplating spin-offs with characters from the Dynasty reboot, they should look no further than Liam and Amanda.

The fifth season of Dynasty doesn’t carry the spirit of a final hurrah. The rhythm of the show stays fairly consistent and creates the promise of subsequent seasons. The final episode, however, is an anomaly as it pulls the series out of its languor and propels it towards a rushed, if not entirely unsatisfying, denouement. For most viewers, the final episode has a distinctly dream-like quality. A Carrington sibling finally gets his comeuppance while another emerges from the shadows. Though somewhat contrived, the finale reveals that the show’s creators always knew how to put its wavering storyline back on track, but were reluctant to use their superpowers.

In hindsight, the five-part series can be construed as a watered-down version of the original soap opera. Sceptics might be quick to assert that the show exemplifies the dangers of rebooting old soap operas. However, the merits of the Dynasty reboot can’t be discredited so easily. The five seasons of the Dynasty reboot will be remembered for their sensitivity to issues of race and gender — a crucial ingredient that made a classic seem more palatable to modern viewers. -Ends