Carrington family
The Carringtons are the core family of the American prime time soap opera Dynasty, which aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. The series was followed up by a two-part miniseries entitled Dynasty: The Reunion in October 1991. A Dynasty reboot premiered on The CW on October 11, 2017.
Appearances
Dynasty premiered on ABC on January 12, 1981, starring John Forsythe as millionaire oil tycoon Blake Carrington for the entire run of the series. The drama centered on patriarch Blake and his wives, children, and extended family. The original run of Dynasty ended in May 1989. Dynasty: The Reunion, a miniseries to wrap up storylines left unfinished by the show's cancellation, aired in October 1991.A Dynasty reboot premiered on The CW on October 11, 2017, starring Grant Show as Blake and again focusing on him and his dysfunctional family.
Storylines
Original series
As Dynasty begins in 1981, Carrington heirs Steven and Fallon return to Denver to attend the wedding of their father, powerful oil tycoon Blake Carrington, to his former secretary, Krystle. The Carrington family dynamic is soon established; thoughtful and sensitive Steven resists his father's pressure to step into his role as future leader of Blake's empire, while his spoiled sister Fallon, better suited to follow in Blake's footsteps, is underestimated by and considered little more than a trophy to Blake. Steven befriends Krystle, who is adjusting to life at the mansion despite chilly receptions from Fallon and the Carrington majordomo, Joseph Anders.Blake's ex-wife Alexis appears in the second season and soon stirs up trouble for the family. In 1982, their infant grandson L.B. Colby, the son of Fallon and Jeff Colby is kidnapped. Former spouses Blake and Alexis make a televised plea that he be returned, and Alexis confesses a dark secret from their past: their firstborn son, Adam, had been kidnapped as a baby and never recovered. Traumatized by the event, they had hidden his existence from their subsequent children Fallon and Steven. Meanwhile, in Billings, Montana, an old woman named Kate Torrance tearfully tells her grandson Michael that he is really the Carrington heir. Armed with items from Adam Carrington's baby carriage, lawyer "Michael" comes to Denver and is eventually accepted as a Carrington, but his selfishness, greed and ambition put him at odds with all of his relatives at one time or another.
Steven leaves town that year and is presumed dead in an oil rig explosion in 1982; he turns up alive and returns in 1983. Fallon leaves town in 1984 and is also later presumed dead in a plane crash. At the same time, chanteuse Dominique Deveraux comes to Denver and soon makes a shocking claim: she is the daughter of Blake's father Tom Carrington and his longtime mistress. Later in 1984 a young woman named Amanda Bedford appears on Alexis's doorstep; she is Alexis's youngest daughter, and it is eventually revealed that Blake is her father. Blake and Krystle also have a daughter, Krystina, in 1984. Fallon reappears in 1985.
Alexis brings Blake's vengeful, estranged brother Ben to town in 1986 to help her destroy Blake, and Ben's daughter Leslie soon follows in 1987. Ben leaves town that year after reconciling with Blake, and Leslie having reconciled with Ben follows suit in 1988 after a failed romance with Clay Fallmont, who is possibly also Ben's child.
Reboot series
In 2017, wealthy siblings Steven and Fallon Carrington arrive in Atlanta to meet their father's fiancée, Cristal Flores. Fallon and Cristal set themselves as rivals for Blake's attention, but over time they find common ground over their frustration with his machinations. In the 2018 episode "I Answer to No Man", Blake reveals to Cristal that he and his first wife had another son, Adam, who was kidnapped at six months old and never returned. Blake's ex-wife Alexis, Steven and Fallon's mother, reappears in the "Poor Little Rich Girl" after an extended exile. Alexis tells Steven about Adam, and Steven eventually finds his brother in El Paso, living under the name Hank Sullivan. Blake welcomes Adam back in "Trashy Little Tramp", not knowing that Hank is actually Alexis' lover with whom she is conspiring to amass enough Carrington Atlantic shares to seize control of the company. At the same time, Jeff and Monica Colby learn from their grandmother—the former secretary of Blake's father, Thomas Carrington —that their mother, Millie, was fathered by Thomas. Jeff and Monica reveal their Carrington heritage in "Dead Scratch"—though Blake is already aware of his half-sister—and declare their intention to force a sale of Carrington Atlantic.In season two, Blake falls in love with Cristal Jennings. Fallon visits her cousin Juliette Carrington, the French daughter of Blake's disinherited brother Benjamin. Steven is revealed to be the son of Alexis and Anders in "The Butler Did It". The real Adam also reappears, and is immediately welcomed into the family by Blake, though Fallon is wary of him. Blake's half-sister and Jeff and Monica's mother, now going by the name Dominique Deveraux, arrives in "New Lady in Town".
In season three, Blake marries Cristal, and Jeff marries Alexis after she returns from receiving facial reconstructive surgery in Europe. Fallon becomes engaged to Liam Ridley, heir to the infamous Van Kirks, a wealthy family based in New York. Liam is reunited with his supposed long-lost son, Connor, until it is revealed that Connor is Liam's paternal half-brother. Additionally, Vanessa Deveraux is introduced as Dominique's stepdaughter from a later marriage, making her Jeff and Monica's stepsister. Adam starts to date Kirby Anders, daughter of Anders and paternal half-sister of Steven.
In season four, Fallon marries Liam and Alexis divorces Jeff. Cristal temporarily leaves Blake, but they ultimately reconcile. Thomas' former mistress, mother of Dominique and grandmother of Jeff and Monica, Lo Cox, passes away in her sleep. Adam considers proposing to Kirby, but they ultimately breakup when the return of her ex-boyfriend causes a drug relapse. With their lives in peril, Alexis and Dominique make final confessions to one another, Alexis revealing that she had another affair that led to the birth of a daughter who she gave to her cousin to be raised in London, and Dominique revealing that she is still legally married to a man that she met after her divorce from Cecil. Alexis' daughter, later revealed to also be Blake's daughter, Amanda Carrington, arrives in "The British Are Coming". Dominique's husband, Brady Lloyd, arrives in "Everything Looks Wonderful, Joseph". The revelation of Dominique and Brady's marital status nullifies Dominique's marriage to Vanessa's father, so she is not legally step-family to Dominique, Jeff, and Monica. Toward the end of the season, Fallon and Liam separate.
In season five, Dominique and Brady finalize their divorce, while Fallon and Liam reconcile and try to conceive a child. It is revealed that Fallon is infertile due to her gunshot wound, so the couple seek out a surrogate, Stacey Moore, to carry their child. In "How Did the Board Meeting Go?", Alexis reconnects with Blake's former business associate, Dex Dexter, and they are married in "Vicious Vendetta". Additionally, Blake's estranged brother, Ben Carrington, crashes Alexis and Dex's wedding to exact his revenge against the Carringtons. In addition, Ben is expecting a child with his fourth wife. Amanda starts to date Kirby, and they take their relationship public during Alexis' wedding. Adam starts to date Fallon and Liam's surrogate, Stacey, but their relationship comes to an end when Stacey discovers that Adam drugged her. Steven makes his grand return in "Catch 22", exiling Adam from the family and rekindling his relationship with Sam. Fallon and Liam also welcome their newborn daughter into the world, Lauren Morrell Carrington-Ridley.