“Dynasty” left its fans hanging off some major cliffs back in February. Alexis’ attempted suicide became an attempted murder of Cristal, which led to the reboot’s take on the classic “Dynasty” moment when a pregnant Krystle was dragged by a horse. Plus, the dragging Steven subplot called from Paris, not Paraguay, seeking help. “Parisian Legend Has It...” and “Motherly Overprotectiveness” deal with all that, as well as pivoting several players on and off the soap’s canvas.
As “Parisian Legend Has It...” begins, Cristal wakes up in the hospital and it’s all bad news, as both her baby and her ex-husband Mark are dead (and sidebar – I’ve come to really like Ana Brenda Contreras, but her portrayal of Cristal’s devastation in this moment was underwhelming). Cristal leaps to the conclusion that her family – who we’ve heard have a grudge against Mark and took violent steps to keep him and Cristal apart – were behind this tragedy, but of course Blake thinks it was the guy he sicced on his romantic rival. Meanwhile, the real culprit is scrambling for an alibi. Alexis sees her opportunity to shift the blame when she spots Blake’s fixer Mac arriving at the manor, eavesdropping on them arguing and then “innocently” informing Blake that she saw Mac hanging around the stables the day before. Blake starts beating the horsecrap out of Mac, who continues to protest his innocence, when Cristal walks in on them. Now, what I expected was for Cristal to put a stop to the beatdown, or even for her to erroneously conclude that Blake was responsible for her losses. But no! Instead, she spits in Mac’s face and leaves, closing the door behind her! And then Blake freakin’ kills the guy! And then Blake and Cristal watch while a jauntily-hatted Anders dumps the body! A surprising plot turn indeed, but yikes, kinda dark.
While all of this is going on, Fallon, Sam, and several soapy fur-trimmed outfits are jetting off to Paris to find Steven. They don’t have to search too hard, however, because he’s sitting around Chateau Carrington when they arrive. Steven is acting very squirrely – he can’t keep his story straight, is defensive about his drinking, and keeps talking about a new friend named George, who he claims helped him during his bad ayahuasca trip. Sam and Fallon are both immediately suspicious of George, the former because he suspects an affair, the later because “Steven has always been an easy target for gold diggers.” But George might represent a different kind of danger because, when he disappears seemingly into thin air during a conversation with Steven, it seems like he might be the symptom of a mental break. Unable to present George, Steven becomes more and more unglued, finally conceding to his family that he needs help and checking himself into a Parisian mental hospital.
But oh boy, not only is George real, he’s the real Adam Carrington! Showing up at his brother’s bedside to gloat, Adam explains that he saw Steven as the way in, the “wounded bird, so far from home.” But he grew to resent that Steven kept rejecting the life that Adam was denied and took advantage of Fallon and Sam’s arrival in Paris to gaslight him so he could take him off the chessboard. Looks like Steve-o, in possession of this secret, is gonna be drugged and locked up for a while. See you in the season finale!
After a quick flashback showing Adam, a.k.a. Michael Harrison, learning of his real parentage, “Motherly Overprotectiveness” surprised me by having Adam show up at the manor with no subterfuge and present himself to the shocked family. Here’s where I’ll note that I thought the actor playing Adam looked familiar, but it was only after I Googled him that I realized he’s Sam Underwood, who gave great performances on another show I reviewed, “The Following.” He also, in my opinion, looks kinda young to be Steven and Fallon’s older brother (for the record, Underwood is 31, James Mackay is 34, and Elizabeth Gillies is 25).
Anyway. Blake – reeling from losing his unborn baby with Cristal on top of Hank’s betrayal and the Steven paternity reveal – is all too quick to believe Adam’s story. Fallon, however, is worried about Blake's well-being and isn’t buying what “Mr. Ripley” is selling (“The Adam ship has sailed, docked, and already set fire to the loft.”). Alexis too insists that this Adam is a fraud, but only because she’s covering her own ass re: the Hank con. So while Blake and Adam are bonding during the blood draw for the DNA test (with Blake hilariously spilling all the Carrington tea in front of a bemused nurse), Fallon is dragging Sam all over Billings, Montana trying to dig up dirt on him (and sidebar – both of these episodes pair up Fallon and Sam and I really like their dynamic).
Just as Adam and Blake are celebrating that the DNA test confirmed their relationship, Fallon storms in to expose Adam’s past as a disgraced doctor who was fired for stealing drugs. He spins a sob story about taking them for his addict “mother” and, in doing so, manipulates the conversation so Fallon is forced to come clean about Steven being institutionalized. Conceding, Fallon asks Adam to stay, admitting that he might be the best person to help Blake right now. But after a semi-creepy conversation with him, her doubts seem to resurface. Underwood and Gillies have really fun sparring chemistry, excited to see them keep squaring off.
Before I get to the bananas closing scene, some quick words on Culhane and Jeff’s snoozy storyline, which was somewhat saved by Cristal. Jeff is still preaching positivity, making plans for a community arts and music center in Atlanta. But that same parcel of land is also vital to Blake and Culhane, who need it to build their stadium. With Blake mired in the Adam drama, Cristal and her fur sleeves awesomely step in and step up, deliciously putting Culhane in his place in the process. She ends up circumventing Jeff by contacting her estranged family for help, but it comes at a price – her father wants an in-person audience with her. Also, there’s a tease in “Parisian Legend Has It...” that the show might pair up Culhane and Kirby, which is such a boring idea.
Back to the good stuff, the episode ends with Adam coming to see Alexis. He admits that he pieced together, via both Steven and snooping around the hospital, that Alexis was behind Hank. She comes clean, admitting that it was a despicable act, but that she “had to do something to get [her] family back.” Adam appears to forgive her, but Alexis can’t see what we see – a flashback showing him purposely killing his "mother” with an overdose. Given I knew this was Nicollette Sheridan’s last episode, it made for a very tense scene. Did he poison the cup of tea he brought her? No. Did he stab her when he insisted on a hug? No. Instead, he freakin’ shoves her face into the fireplace! So it looks like we will be getting a recast via facial reconstruction surgery after all!
Did you like how “Parisian Legend Has It...” advanced the Steven storyline? Was “Motherly Overprotectiveness” a good swan song for Nicollette Sheridan? What do you think of the addition of Adam? Come share your thoughts on these “Dynasty” developments and more in the comments section.
