It’s rare that Dynasty offers up a life lesson, but Season 5 Episode 17 was packed with not one but two.
The first: you can’t change the past, but you can change what you do in the future. And the follow-up lesson to that? Some people have the capacity to change while others simply don’t.
Ben’s trial against Blake was a riveting one that made for one of the strongest and most enjoyable episodes of the season.
Much like the inner turmoil it caused Fallon, it wasn’t exactly clear as to whether or not Blake was guilty or if he was telling the truth.
Did he see the note Ben left him on the night his mother died? Did he purposefully ignore it?
Things were not looking good for the Carrington patriarch, especially as the case took some twisted turns and revealed some of Blake’s unsavory secrets.
On the night of his mother’s death, Blake wasn’t dealing with a Carrington Atlantic rig issue, he was sleeping with Fallon’s beloved nanny Heather (guest star Charisma Carpenter).
To be fair, I love how the judge and the court simply took Blake’s cheating to mean he was a terrible man without placing blame on Heather, who was knowingly sleeping with a married man.
While it was hard to hear all about his sordid affairs, it also didn’t prove that Blake intentionally killed his mother.
Alexis then took the witness stand to deliver the actual note from the night, proving that it was in Blake’s pocket the whole time.
Of course, that revelation thrust Blake into villain territory, and Fallon, who was already disgusted by his personal relationship, could barely look at her father.
But, she is her father’s daughter, and if there’s one thing that has always remained true, it’s that Fallon truly meant it when she told Ben that she knows exactly who her father is.
Fallon isn’t blind to the truth — she knows Blake has done his fair share of terrible things, but killing his own mother for personal gain is clearly not one of them. Blake may be a lot of things, but he’s a family man through and through. He’d never ostracize his own brother unless he truly believed that Ben was to blame for the death.
Fallon, in fact, took the stand because she knew that Blake never saw the note. On the night in question, she recalled her and Steven writing their father a note and putting it into their coat pocket because they were scared of monsters. The note was written in wax pencil thus proving that the only person being completely honest in that courtroom was her.
Also, isn’t it great to see the series finally acknowledge Steven’s existence, even if it is in a passive flashback? And I couldn’t help but laugh when Heather showed Blake a photo of his “son” because honestly, how many secret sons can that man have?
When Ben and Alexis tried to rebuff Fallon’s claims, Kirby sealed the deal by proving that Alexis committed perjury by stealing the note from Anders’ diary.
It didn’t matter that even Anders thought Blake looked guilty, all that mattered was that the judge deemed that Ben never upheld his promise to find his mother a caretaker before abandoning his responsibilities and thus, the will was upheld.
It was like a Carrington murder mystery with Blake coming out victorious. And it took the whole family rallying behind him to prove his innocence.
And though his reputation took a bit of a hit, it’s nothing he can’t bounce back from.
The one that was scarred the most was Cristal as she had to face the fact that Blake was kind of a terrible husband who got around back in the day. However, the fact that she’s so thrown by his affairs means that he’s a completely different man now who actually loves his wife.
And the truly shocking thing is that Dominique helped Cristal get to that realization. Who would’ve thought we’d see the day where Dom defends Blake?
Ben was quite a sore loser about the whole thing. When Blake tried to put the past behind them and make things right, Ben pretty much threatened his brother, meaning that this fight is far from over.
Alexis is one of those people that never changed. She stooped to new lows to take down Blake, and while she has her reasons, I’m more upset that she decided to go back on her word and steal from Kirby.
Kirby may have made some missteps in the past (who hasn’t?) but she always does the right thing when it matters.
She knew it wasn’t right to use Anders’ burn book against Blake, and in general, she knew holding onto it would cause more harm than good, so she burned the whole thing. I can’t say I agree with it, but at least she never has to worry about Blake coming after her again. She won his trust and his respect with that move. And as someone who is serious about Amanda, it’s good to have an “in” with her father.
Another person that can’t change despite having so many chances to turn over a new leaf? Adam.
We’ve seen him do some truly unruly things, but it’s usually to people who exist in this dysfunctional society, to begin with. It’s different when the victim is an innocent single mom who simply wants to help other people start families.
Stacy didn’t deserve to become the sociopath’s target, and I wanted so badly to warn her and tell her to run in the complete opposite direction.
Instead, she fell for Adam’s sob story and thought she finally found a “good guy,” when in reality, it couldn’t be further from the truth.
The fact that Adam brought up his single mom — the one he killed — made it seem like he pursued Stacy because of mommy issues, in addition to knowing that it would infuriate Fallon.
The truth is, there are times when Adam is great and tolerable, but overall, he’s problematic, and I hope the series finally does something about it.
A gentle reminder that he still never paid the price for what he did to Steven!
This was one of the first episodes that really got every single cast member a decent storyline. The cast can be bloated, so it’s nice when the writers figure out how to get everyone involved.
Culhane connected with Geneva, the widow of Leo, the man he and Sam killed with Adam’s assistance.
Culhane deserves to find love, and Geneva was his perfect match, so, of course, it would be a relationship that was doomed from the start.
Unless Culhane copped to what he did, the secret was always going to drive a wedge between them. And telling the truth would only get the cops involved. Even if Geneva was relieved that Leo died because she knew he was involved in shady things, I don’t think she’d ever look the other way and date his killer.
Telling Geneva the truth would land them all behind bars, so Culhane’s only choice was to pretend to be an asshole and break up with her. It was for the best.
Though, part of me was kind of disappointed that Geneva wasn’t there to get revenge on him.
There have been so many “almost” soulmates in Culhane’s life that he has to be on the cusp of finding a forever partner, right?
Elsewhere, Dom won the contest to become NordicStar’s new uniform designer, while Liam reconnected with his asshole professor to get some inspiration for his new novel. My gut tells me that writing the story for Jasper is going to come back and bite Liam, but I also don’t feel personally invested in the storyline either way.
I do, however, want to see him get rid of that writer’s block and write another hit right before he becomes a dad. As someone who lives in the Carrington mansion and is privy to all the insane and ridiculous drama, he should have more than enough inspiration for an upcoming novel. Use your crazy family, Liam!
What did you think about the episode? Do you feel like the series is taking a turn in a positive direction again?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!