Dynasty - Season 7, Episode 1

Alexis finds mansion living lonelier than expected

"The Victory"
Original airdate: 9/24/1986

Episode summary: Alexis declares ownership of Carrington manor and evicts Blake and Krystle. Adam is devastated when he learns that Claudia perished in the La Mirage fire. A newly recast Amanda is rescued from the flames by a handsome, familiar stranger.

---

Recap: As Blake does his best to strangle the life out of Alexis, Krystle extricates herself from Ben's grasp, runs up the staircase and physically separates the two screeching, "It's not worth it!" As Alexis rubs her injured neck, Blake growls, "You can thank Krystle for your life. I would have killed you", then comes face-to-face with Ben, who chides Blake for his willingness to murder someone simply for crossing him. Blake growls, "Get out of my way", to which Ben haughtily retorts that he doesn't take orders from a nobody like him...and Blake responds by punching him in the face, an assault that sends Ben rolling halfway down the staircase. Alexis shrieks at Blake and Krystle to get out of her house or she'll call the police and report an attempted murder...so Blake tells Krystle that they have no choice but to leave, so they therefore need to fetch Kristina from the nursery, pack an overnight bag, and head over to La Mirage. After that, they'll put their heads together and figure out how to legally reclaim their mansion home.  

The La Mirage, meanwhile, is engulfed in flames as the fire trucks begin to arrive.

Blake gets a phone call informing him that the La Mirage is on fire, and he's like, "Ack!" and asks Jeannette and Gerard to drive Krystle and Kristina to the Carlton Hotel and get them settled in while he races over to La Mirage to survey the carnage.

Dominique yells at a fireman that she neeeeeeeeds to go back into the burning La Mirage 'cause her daughter's still inside...and Dex rushes over at that moment to ask her where she last saw Jackie, bellowing, "Where?! Think!" LOL. A few seconds later, he races into the flames, finds Jackie lying unconscious on the floor, and carries to her to safety. Elsewhere, Sammy Jo finds Clay lying on the floor, helps him up, and leads him towards the nearest exit...while former Carrington chauffeur Michael Culhane, who hasn't been seen on Dynasty since Season 2, spots Amanda (a character that was recast due to a salary dispute with Catherine Oxenberg and somehow no longer speaks with a British accent) pinned under some furniture, so he quickly frees her and carries her out. A few seconds later, Blake arrives at the scene and identifies himself to the fire captain as the owner of La Mirage...and when the captain tells him it'd be super helpful if he had a blueprint of the hotel, Blake says he can get it from the office. The captain forbids him from entering the hotel on account of it's currently on fire, and Blake snarls, "The hell I can't!" and scampers in the direction of the inferno. 

Michael places Amanda on a stretcher, dabs her face with his monogrammed handkerchief ['cause who doesn't carry around a monogrammed handkerchief?], and coos that she's going to be fine. She regains consciousness long enough to thank him for saving her...and when she promptly passes out again, he suddenly recognizes who she is and murmurs to himself, "Amanda Carrington...how about that?"

Over at the Carlton Hotel, Krystle paces nervously when she's unable to get through to anyone at the La Mirage. Jeannette tiptoes into the room to tell her that Kristina, aka the most beautiful child who's ever been born, is asleep...then wanks Krystle about how she and goat daddy have always been so wonderful to all of their servants. She tells Krystle she has no desire to return to the mansion while it's under Alexis's regime and would much rather serve as her in-hotel maid - but Krystle urges her to return to Carrington manor until they can sort through their discombobulating housing situation.

"I live to serve only you and goat daddy."

"Your kowtowing will be amply rewarded."

Alexis is making herself at home inside Carrington manor as she walks up the staircase and stares down from the top landing while imperiously toasting her luxurious surroundings. She then wanders over to the master bedroom and finds Ben sitting in one of the sofa chairs, and he applauds her big victory. She tells him it actually feels overwhelming, not least 'cause Blake threw her out of this house - this very room! - when she cheated on him twenty years ago. Ben points out that Blake also exiled him, and that being outcasts has brought them together. He gets up and sashays over to her, purring about how unimaginably beautiful and desirable she is, then pants, "I want you, Alexis. I'm not going to wait any longer than I already have." Alexis gently shoves him away from her as she makes clear that there's currently no room in her life for personal involvements. She tells him to pick one of the many available bedrooms in the mansion to sleep in...and soon after he saunters out, she places a series of framed photos of her children on the nightstand - excluding Fallon, for some odd reason - and gazes at them lovingly.

Blake finds Amanda laying on the stretcher, and she tells him that a handsome stranger saved her from being burned to death and left behind his monogrammed handkerchief in order to move the subplot further. A few seconds later, a distraught, disheveled man gets all in Blake's face to wail about how his wife was just killed in the fire, yelling, "Murderer! You killed my wife!", an exchange that a roving news crew just happens to capture on film. 

A dirty, haggard looking Blake arrives at the Carlton Hotel...and a relieved Krystle hugs him and asks him if he's OK, and he gives her the following updates:

• The La Mirage has been completely destroyed by the fire 
• Jackie is in the hospital with minor burn injuries
• Amanda is fine - but is staying in the hospital overnight for observation

 He then tells her about the distraught rando who accused him of murdering his wife, and Krystle clucks sympathetically and assures him that the fire was not his fault. Blake mutters about the weirdness of the evening, specifically getting kicked out of his mansion and then watching the La Mirage burn down...and Krystle agrees that, yeah, it's really weird to be staying in a hotel when they're in their home city. 

 The doctor tells Dominique that Jackie's recovery will include skin grafts and physical therapy...and when Jackie makes moaning noises, Dominique hovers over her and assures her she's going to be A-OK. A distressed looking Jackie asks where her bio dad is, so Dominique tells her he left the La Mirage shortly before the fire broke out...then declares that since he's proven himself to be a liar, she no longer has any desire to marry the dullard.

Blake is on the phone with someone at The Chronicle, saying he has no comment about the La Mirage fire at this time, then explains that the Fire Department is currently investigating the cause. He finishes the call - just as Adam enters the office to report that Claudia perished in the fire and that her charred remains are currently at the morgue, with her wedding ring still on one of the burned fingers. He laments that he's lost every women he's ever loved while on Dynasty - Kirby and Claudia - and Blake summons as much sympathy as he can muster and grumbles that when bad shit happens in life, the best a person can do is rise above the pain, make funeral arrangements, and be like 'next!'. Adam tells him that Claudia made it clear that she wanted her loved ones to celebrate her life and not mourn her death, and Blake's like, "Perfect! All the better to move on from quickly." Amen to that.

"I'm completely devastated by the death of my beloved Claudia."

"Move on already."

Back at the mansion, Alexis gets snappish with the maid for not serving her a large enough portion of caviar - just as Dex bursts into the room to ask her what in blazes she's doing here. She tells him she's the proud new owner of Carrington manor and, as was her right, evicted Blake and Krystle from the premises last night. Dex rails at her for not caring about anyone but herself, including the poor sods who perished in the fire...and when Alexis is like, "What fire?", he informs her that La Mirage was set ablaze last night. She  looks momentarily alarmed as she asks if her children are all OK, and he assures her they're fine, but that her takeover of the mansion is "a sick trick" and warns that her feud with Blake is eventually going to destroy her. Alexis argues that, on the contrary, she won the war, and that she'd very much like to continue that winning streak by convincing him to sell her his shares of the Lex-Dex Corporation. Dex adamantly refuses and says that holding onto the shares is the best way he can keep an eye on her while continuing to look out for his own best interests, and a miffed Alexis warns that if she ever finds out he's, in any way, double-crossing her with Blake, she'll bury both of them. After she huffs off, Ben appears in the doorway, and Dex is all, "What the hell are you doing here?" Ben smugly replies, "I live here. Jealous?" - just as Gerard informs him he has a long-distance call from Australia. The caller looks to be a mysterious woman from Ben's past who mockingly calls him lover and needles him about what the preacher said at her funeral. An incensed Ben demands to know who he's speaking to, then barks, "Hello? Hello?" when the mystery woman abruptly hangs up.

Alexis tells Jeannette that because she helped transport Krystle to the Carlton Hotel and unpack her stuff, she's being fired with two months' severance pay. Jeannette's just kind of like, "Er, OK" and ambles off - just as Amanda enters the room and chides her mother for the cruel firing. Alexis tells Amanda that she doesn't make it a habit to shelter or feed traitors, and insists that Blake has done a lot of bad shit in his life and totally deserves to be evicted from his home. She tells Amanda she'd much prefer her to focus on the wonderful future she can have as a brilliant heiress, with a mother who truly loves and respects her - but Amanda argues that Blake also loves her, then admonishes her for hating Blake more than she loves her. She then abruptly decides she'd much rather be on Team Blake, and rushes upstairs to pack up her things. 

Clay drops by Delta Rho carrying a large bag and several bunches of bananas. He explains to Sammy Jo - who's decked out in some supremely tacky animal print leisure-wear - that he was going to shower her with roses as a thank you for saving him from the fire, then thought it'd be way more fun to make the world's biggest banana split. He empties his large bag o' ingredients, and Sammy Jo squeals with delight at the plethora of sugary toppings, but soon suggests they forget about the banana split in favor of indulging in some sexy time...and Clay's like, "Can do" before the two start going at it. 

"I bought 1,000 bananas and a bagful of toppings so that we can spend the evening gorging ourselves on the world's most massive dessert."

"It's like you can see into my soul."

Blake is working the phones in a desperate effort to liquidate enough Denver Carrington assets to repay the massive loan he owes Alexis and then reclaim his mansion. Amanda drops by to declare that she'd like to work at Denver Carrington, despite having zero experience or any kind of employment history, and is refusing to take no for an answer. Blake chuckles at her "spunk" and promptly calls someone named Dana to instruct her to put Amanda on the payroll and contrive some kind of made up job for her in the PR Department. He then asks Dana if she's had any luck locating the benevolent stranger who rescued Amanda from the La Mirage fire, and Dana tells him she hasn't...and when he gets off the phone, he tells Amanda he really really wants to personally thank her rescuer. 

Back at Carrington manor, Danny asks Steven where his grandma and grandpa went - just as Alexis enters the room. Steven moodily tells the tot that his grandparents abruptly moved out, then rushes him off to bed so he can privately rebuke his mother for so callously ousting Blake and Krystle from their home. Alexis says she doesn't appreciate his rude 'tude, reminds him that the mansion was once her home, and insists that Blake deserves to be put down by being thrown out of his home. Steven tells her that Blake is a fighter and won't stay down for long, then says he has no idea why such a smart and generous woman would stoop to this level of meanness...and as he storms out of the room, Alexis murmurs that she truly wishes he could understand her motives.

Ben phones the operator to ask if the call he received last night can be traced, then later tells Alexis he wants all of the phones at Carrington manor to be unlisted so that they don't get anymore crank calls. Alexis is like, "Whatever, just don't bother me with your problems", then is distracted by a TV news report that features footage of the distraught man accusing Blake of murdering his wife in the La Mirage fire. Alexis stares thoughtfully at the little TV and asks Ben if he could get her a tape of that footage, 'cause she'd really really like to do something nefarious with it.

Krystle drops by Alexis' office to hand her a list of personal items she and Blake want extracted from the mansion, namely several treasured paintings. Alexis glances at her list and dismissively describes the pieces as "that dreadful calendar art you bought" - LOL - and says she'd be more than happy to facilitate their removal. She then informs Krystle that she fired Jeannette for her disloyalty, and Krystle's like, "I know. I hired her", adding that she values people. She then heads toward the door - just as Ben enters the office, gives her an appreciative once over, and remarks to Alexis how gorgeous Blake's statuesque blonde trophy wife is. Alexis is like, "Yeah, whatever" while she once again fixates on the video clip of Blake being accused of murdering the distraught guy's wife...and when Ben asks her if she has nothing better to do with her time than stare at a little screen, watching and rewatching the same video clip, she murmurs, "Not today."

"I'd like my calendar art back."

"Fine but you may need to fish it out of the mansion's dumpster."

Michael Culhane is chillin' in his Denver hotel room when Amanda drops by to return his monogrammed handkerchief and reveal that she managed to locate him by calling every hotel that had guests with the initials MC and fled the La Mirage fire. It's interesting that the staff at every Denver hotel a) could systematically generate a list of the guests who had fled the La Mirage fire, and b) would be willing to violate whatever privacy policy they have in place to give out guests' room numbers. Michael flirtily tells Amanda he thought she was a total smoke show [no pun intended] when he saw her lying unconscious under furniture and in need of rescuing, and that he couldn't help but wonder what she'd look like after she showered off all that soot. A smitten Amanda [refrains from remarking on the total weirdness of that thought process and] tells him that her father wants to personally thank him for his heroic act, and invites him to drop by Denver Carrington in an hour. 

Later, Amanda escorts Michael into Blake's office, and both men react by glowering at each other, prompting a bemused Amanda to ask if they know each other. They tell her that, yeah, they go way back, and Blake asks Amanda to excuse them so he can grudgingly thank Michael for saving her from burning to death and offer to write a big check in exchange for staying far, far away from her. He sneeringly calls Michael "an arrogant opportunist", and Michael sneeringly refers to him as "damned righteous" and says he's going to need time to decide how big a check he'd like Blake to write in exchange for saving his daughter.

Back at the hotel, Michael calls someone to report that he was accidentally able to get to Blake through his daughter, would like $5 million transferred to his account, and has decided to stay in Denver for awhile. After he hangs up, he grins to himself as he recalls the scene where Fallon finds him soaking in her bathtub in Season 1 - except that it's a reshot version of the flashback featuring Emma Samms and not Pamela Sue Martin. Michael grins at the memory of the saucy encounter, then murmurs to himself, "And now...Amanda."

The editor (Mr. Eckland) at The Denver Mirror finds Alexis sitting in his boss's chair and is all 'the fuck?', so Alexis explains that she just purchased the newspaper, wants him to stop the presses pronto, and rework the upcoming issue's front page so that the headline reads Blake Carrington Accused of Arson-Murder in Hotel Fire. Mr. Eckland argues that that headline is inflammatory and out of context, but Alexis nonsensically argues that that's merely his opinion, and that the juicy new headline reflects her opinion...then vows that this kind of sensationalistic, faux news reporting is only the beginning in what will, in essence, continue to be a tedious, never-ending feud with Blake.

​Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!