Dynasty Series Finale: Get the Story Behind [Spoiler]’s Overdue Return, What Would’ve Happened in Season 6 (2024)

Warning: We’re about to spoil the Dynasty series finale. Haven’t watched yet? Make like first Cristal, first Alexis, second Cristal and Steven and get lost.

Carrington Manor closed its gates on Friday with the series finale of The CW‘s Dynasty, which welcomed back a beloved character from seasons past for a long-overdue reckoning.

Let’s get right to it: After kidnapping Adam at the end of last week’s episode, interim majordomo Graham (Dan Amboyer) pulled off his mask to reveal that he’s actually — wait for it — Steven! The sanitarium where Adam had been keeping him apparently burned down, and it didn’t take Steven long to figure out that his evil “brother” had been covering up his disappearance for years.

A classic Dynasty fight ensued between them, but instead of killing Adam (which is what he deserved!), Steven told him to disappear and never return. This paved the way for several beautiful reunions between Steven and Sam (that chemistry!), Fallon (those voices!) and eventually the rest of the family. Kirby awkwardly explaining to Amanda that they weren’t related, despite both being Steven’s sisters, was especially delightful.

Meanwhile, Alexis insisted on helping Blake in his rescue efforts, ultimately reuniting with Dex in the middle of a storm; Culhane informed Sam that he’ll be moving to Los Angeles (and leaving the hotel business) after marrying Nina; Amanda received a tempting job offer from her ex, an opportunity too good for even Kirby to deny; Jeff released his top-secret ideas on a public server for all to enjoy; and Fallon and Liam welcomed their baby girl into the world.

Following a six-month time jump to Culhane’s wedding day, we learned that Liam has a new line of children’s books inspired by his daughter, Fallon is rebranding her company as Carrington United, Jeff is setting up ColbyCo’s new headquarters in Nigeria, Dominique and Alexis are both opening stores on Manhattan’s famous Bleecker Street, and Kirby is moving to London to be with Amanda. As for Adam, let’s just say that he’s back to working as a veterinarian, so his future is pretty much just… cat butts.

Your thoughts on Dynasty‘s series finale? Vote in our polls below, then read on for our interview with showrunner Josh Reims, who breaks down some of the biggest moments from the finale (and beyond). When you’re finished,drop a comment with your review of the show’s final hour. Was it a sendoff fit for a Carrington?

TVLINE | Where were you in the production process when you found out that this was going to be your last season?
We’d already started breaking the last episodes, so it was relatively late for the writers. We were probably somewhere in the middle of the season, shooting wise, but we certainly had to adjust.
TVLINE | How did that news change the characters’ trajectory?
It changed a bunch of things. The first call I received was that they didn’t know what was going to happen, so they asked me to write it as if it was going to be the series finale… but to make sure I was able to change it if it’s not. So we basically broke the last episode in two different ways, one if it was a season finale and one if it was a series finale. Different people were on the disappearing plane at different times, depending on which way we went. So we definitely had to adjust.
TVLINE | Was Steven always going to come back now, or was this just a series finale thing?
This was just a series finale thing. We had discussed at the beginning of the season bringing Steven back, whether it was going to be James or someone else was always up in the air, depending on whether we could get him and have it all work out. Once we knew it was the series finale, we felt like it was only right to try and get James to come back and make everybody happy and whole again.
TVLINE | For everyone’s sake, I’m glad James was available. The unmasking wouldn’t have worked if we didn’t recognize the face underneath.
[Laughs] No, it definitely would not.
TVLINE | Was there ever talk of bringing Steven back sooner? There was so much story to be mined with that character.
It came up every once in a while, but really not a lot. We had a show with 13 regulars at one point, maybe 12 by the end, so we were focused on telling as many stories for as many of those people as we could. The writers’ room always felt that Adam would need to pay for what he did to Steven, and it would be great if Steven was the one to make him pay. It was always in the back of our minds.
TVLINE | I won’t lie, I think Adam deserved a more severe punishment. How could you let that little bastard get away?!
You know, that was also something discussed in the writers’ room. Originally, my suggestion was that Steven should just come back and kill him. It seemed only fair. From what I recall, the room was split 50-50 on that. It didn’t seem quite the character of Steven to run around murdering people, so we ended up deciding that it was even more pathetic that Adam would have to go back to being a vet and pretending to be someone else. It’s more the tone of the show than Steven sticking that hook into Adam’s chest.
TVLINE | We didn’t see Steven explain the situation to everyone. Do they all know what happened, and that Adam is gone for good?
The idea was that he left and there was no way he could ever come back — even into the country. Deep down, I’m with you, but I like where we ended up.
TVLINE | Potentially dumb question: Was there any significance to Fallon and Liam naming their baby Lauren?
Yes, I think Lauren was actually the name of Fallon’s baby in the original Dynasty.
TVLINE | OK, phew. For a second, I thought they named their baby Laura, but no one would want to honor thatlunatic.
[Laughs] No, definitely not.
TVLINE | Since I’m sure you have ideas, if not a full pitch, what would we have seen in a sixth season?
We would have seen more of the same, and that was why we ended the finale as we did, with everybody back to bickering and fighting for power. We wanted to show that the more things change, the more the stay the same. Although they’re all in better places, deep down, they’re still the same people who want to be conniving and backstabbing and scheming.
TVLINE | So for all of the characters who made plans to leave town, like Culhane, would they have been back for Season 6?
We probably would have moved Culhane to Los Angeles, but we’d have him come back and forth. We loved the Sam-Culhane relationship, so we would have found a way to keep them working together. It would have been a different feel, of course. All of the characters are maturing and getting married.
TVLINE | It was so nice to see Steven again. Did you ever try to get any of the other actors back who left over the years? Like maybe a dream sequence with all three Cristals?
I think it definitely did come up at one point, having all of the Cristals together somehow. Obviously that didn’t pan out, but we tried to get as much history as possible. It would have been funny to see them all together.

Dynasty Series Finale: Get the Story Behind [Spoiler]’s Overdue Return, What Would’ve Happened in Season 6 (2024)

References