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allegre
I think one of the un-sung heroines of the show was little Jessica Player.She simply stole every scene she was in, not just because she was so cute,but also a great little actress as well especially during Krystina's Illness/recovery/kidnap story line.





bibi
Couldn't agree more. She was so comfortable around the cameras and the grown up cast members. It;s a pity she didn;t pursue an acting career.She would have been great.
DCR
I like the actress as much as I hate the role. Blake and Krystle became soooo utterly boring after Jessica Player joined the cast. Krystina's Illness/recovery/kidnap story line is by far the worst storyline ever of the show. Even the UFO is better, at least you can laugh of it!
allegre
QUOTE (DCR @ May 26 2008, 05:09 PM) *
I like the actress as much as I hate the role. Blake and Krystle became soooo utterly boring after Jessica Player joined the cast. Krystina's Illness/recovery/kidnap story line is by far the worst storyline ever of the show. Even the UFO is better, at least you can laugh of it!



You are kidding me right !! I thought they were some of the best.I loved all the emotional / mushy scenes featuring John and linda,better than endless rounds of will,they won't have affairs and all those,long, cold silences followed by constant bickering & long seperations !



Linda has got such expressive eyes and John has got such expressive hands wub.gif wub.gif A combo made in heaven. Come on dcr you must admit they look fantastic together !!! e_winking.gif
DCR
Oh no, I'm not kidding. I dislike season 8 and the first part of season 7 but I HATE the second part of season 7. That extremely boring and embarassing moment has nothing to do with the show that I'm found of!
Sure, Linda Evans and John Forysthe did a great job, just like Gordon Thompson did with the unbelievable story "I'm may not be Carrington after all" or Jack Coleman and Heather Locklear with their "no love affair" but what a nice acting uses for when the writing is so desesperately poor and insipid?
Who cares of that little girl who was still a baby three episodes before? Who could really believe that she could die? Who didn't forecast everything Sarah Curtis did for 7 episodes? What a miracle Sarah lost her daughter exactly the day she met Dex Dexter after several years without seing him! What a miracle Krystle and Blake are enough stupid to let Sarah taking care of their daughter...

On E!, they show a part of an article published at the end of that season (even though it is wrongly showed when they talk about season 9...):

"Joan's drone, Blake's bleak and that whiny Krystle... quick, find me a pistol. ABC's Dynasty, once a camp marvel, is now a travesty. The Carrington mansion (...) has became a mausoleum for middle-aged (...) Alexis trades her champagne-and-caviar charisma for a milshake and hot-dog at a roadside stand? Uh-uh..."

It's not that the rest of the show is particularly well written (excepted seasons 1 and 2) but at least there is some distance between what's going on and the tone of the narration. There's an awareness of not being too much serious (especially in the first part of season 6, that may be unintentional for the rest of the show) which is underlined by the permanent irony of situations and dialogues. No cancer, no children killed, the "hardships" that the Carrington experienced provoked tears and laugh at the same time. The show plays on both the specific identification of tragedy and the need to put distance in order to enjoy the implausibilities and excesses without blushing. At least, that's my vision of "Dynasty".

Like season 1 and most of season 2, the second part of season 7 is supposed to be extremely serious. OK. But the two first seasons are excellently written whereas those 13 episodes are not. Every moment is supposed to be dramatic but fails to be moving. I guess that's why the writers return to campiness in season 8, being unable to write a good piece of work like in the good old days. Unfortunately for us, in 1978-1988 they turned to be also unable to write that "camp marvel" and the "travesty" continues. But at least, it was less boring to watch...
allegre
Linda did say that the writers ran out of things /ideas for them to do after both John and her decided that they wouldn't let their characters stray and of course a lot of it was a tad contrived,but I did enjoy seeing the soft, vulnerable side of Blake taking care of his wife being strong for her.I guess there are only so many business take over stories and oil rig explosions you can have.But I do understand your point of view,even if I don't whole heartedly agree. Now how's that for a little bit of diplomacy. And as everyone knows I'm a sucker for the romantic Blake,So basically what ever excuse the writers came up with for them sharing lots of tenderness and kisses and cuddles ( all too short !!) Is good enough for me ( sorry ) well i'm not really.

Angiebaby
I agree that Jessica Player was a good actress - she was definitely cute but she could also deliver her lines and act around Linda, John and the other 2 kids convincingly. She definitely seemed to have a good, comfortable rapport with Linda and John, though I think mostly Linda. However, while her acting was natural in the series, I think by the time they made the Reunion, she was more self conscious and the acting wasn't so convincing. But saying that, anything better than the kid they used to play Danny - he was sooo bad!!!!! She was by far the best of the bunch biggrin.gif
Jay!
When Player was first introduced, she was really good, but the whole mess that Dynasty had become by season 7 was too much for a child to carry, LOL. That quickly faded as she matured. I started FF through Kwystina's scenes.

I don't find Cathy's death the same time as Kwystina's need for a heart as being too ironic. It's just not handled properly. Dynasty's exec's were trying to steer the ship into more realistic waters but were at the same time sinking it. Linda Evans was proving she couldn't act, or had forgotten how to, and was being upstaged by a toddler. Her scenes are neither moving nor sympathetic, but are, at times, embarrassing. The Curtis family should have been introduced earlier. We should have gotten to know them better. There should have been more of a connection between them and Dex. We should have seen their friendship instead of being told about it. We should have seen Cathy instead of all this being off camera. It should have been revealed that Cathy is Dex's daughter, thus increasing the emotional drama. Instead it's all a cop out. It is too convenient. Season 7 was the year the writers threw everything in a blender. There are too many short story arcs that don't fit and are not connected in any way.

I know I'm in the minority here. I love Blake and Krystle, and I love a good romance and a good soap couple, but I truly feel that Forsythe and Evans hurt the show and their characters more than they did anything else. Scarlet and Rhett, Bo and Hope, and other classic couples, you cheer for them when they're together, cry with them when they're apart, and root for them to get back together and celebrate when they do. There was none of this with Blake and Krystle. They were boring.

For me, seasons 1, 2, and 9 were the best written. Season 1 is so fully fleshed out with interesting, dynamic characters. It wasn't a rip off of Dallas as its fans want to suggest. This was one dysfunctional family. The balance between rich and poor, have and have not is so beautifully explored here. I love how the whole season centers around the Blake/Krystle/Matthew triangle. Was Blake truly evil? Was Krystle melting his icy heart? Or did she really love Matthew? Or, as suggested by Fallon, was she just a gold digger? Was Blake intimidated by Matthew? The characters were so much more convincing. Season 2 the relationship is explored much more deeper with the appearance of Alexis. Previously just a haunting presence, like in Rebecca, Alexis now makes presence felt. If Krystle had doubts before, she certainly has them now that Alexis is there in the flesh. Alexis is much more a threat this season than later. She's on the grounds. She barges in whenever she wants. It's as if the creators go to great extremes to build this story and then trash it. Alexis suddenly inherits wealth and power. It's perfectly acceptable if she enters the business world as a school dropout, but Blake won't permit Krystle to work? She's shackled to the mansion. Alexis' barges in are totally ridiculous now that she isn't living on the grounds. Blake can call the dogs on Walter and Steven has to go to the gates to let Matthew in, but now Alexis manages to come and go as she pleases. Blake becomes a whimp at business. He's unable to defeat the high school dropout whore of an ex-wife. He's condesending to Krystle, and she takes it. Seasons 3-6 are the comedy years to me. It's the years when everything becomes both cartoon and routine. Acting is boring, and static. Scripts are exaggerated and over the top. On the other hand, 7-8 tries to regain credibility by grounding the Carringtons with real life situations. The only problem is that they have been out of touch for so long that a story like Kwystina's heart transplant becomes laughable. What makes season 9 work is that David Paulsen found a way to balance camp with drama. Dynasty had gotten back to storytelling. Dynasty had gotten back to story-driven instead of character-driven which in turn made the characters more believable.
allegre
QUOTE (Jay! @ May 27 2008, 07:13 PM) *
Linda Evans was proving she couldn't act, or had forgotten how to, and was being upstaged by a toddler. Her scenes are neither moving nor sympathetic, but are, at times, embarrassing.

The I know I'm in the minority here. I love Blake and Krystle, and I love a good romance and a good soap couple, but I truly feel that Forsythe and Evans hurt the show and their characters more than they did anything else. Scarlet and Rhett, Bo and Hope, and other classic couples, you cheer for them when they're together, cry with them when they're apart, and root for them to get back together and celebrate when they do. There was none of this with Blake and Krystle. They were boring.


I am speechless ! I couldn't disagree with you more if you said Black was White.
Jay!
To each his own.
allegre
QUOTE (Jay! @ May 27 2008, 09:03 PM) *
To each his own.


Amen to that brother !
Abby Cunningham
deleted
Jay!
Well, it was poorly written and poorly executed during Dynasty's "blender" season when too much was going on in an effort to find itself.

For starters, everyone knew nothing would happen to Krystina. So, basically, it's a waste of space. Even if the static acting ban had been lifted, it wouldn't have helped the story. It's sloppy. Maybe it would have worked if it had been reversed. What if Cathy was Dex's daughter and it's Krystina who's killed? Yes, it's okay for the peasants to offer up their little girl but would the high and mighty Carngtons sacrifice their dead daughter's organs for Dex, a family friend.

It just didn't work. Dynasty was trying to get down to earth as the 80s were winding down. Getting in touch with more drama and less glitz. So, this story was concocted -- and rather haphazardly. It posed no real threat, and certainly no threat to Blake and Krystle who by now had become stale and boring. The feeble fireside chats had become cliche by the third season, about the time Krystle became robotic.

The saddest part was that Jessica Player was out acting them all.

I think the story would and could have more impact had Krystina died. It would have given Blake and Krystle new characterization. It would have been more controversial. It could have injected new life into the series. It would have gotten rid of Sarah Curtis a lot faster and spared us some painfully ridiculous scenes.
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