Dynasty - Season 8, Episode 17

Sean's descent into madness takes a sharp nosedive

"The Warning"
Original airdate: 2/3/1988

Episode summary: Sean gets so annoyed at Leslie's demands that he threatens to kill her with a poisonous snake. Jesse stirs up trouble with Karen's surrogacy agreement. Alexis resumes her gubernatorial campaign.

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Recap: Alexis is enjoying a luxurious bubble bath when she phones Leslie's hotel room in Natumbe to sarcastically applaud her hard work, and sneeringly hopes that Sean too appreciates everything she's doing [for him in the sack]. She then tells Leslie to pass along the message to Sean that he's going to need to move out of her hotel suite - and pauses before explaining that she's "back in the governor's mansion" now that she's restarted her gubernatorial campaign...which is nonsensical, 'cause she wouldn't actually be in the governor's mansion unless she were actually elected governor. After ending the weird call, Alexis stares at the bracelet Leslie somehow doesn't yet realize she lost and hisses, "This little trinket was very costly for you, Leslie." Leslie, meanwhile, tells Sean she got a really bad feeling from the way Alexis sounded, like she knows they've been hitting the sheets together. Sean just shrugs disinterestedly and attempts to calm her nerves by smooching her hand.

Russ Kelton arrives at Alexis's suite to inform her that a group of reporters [with nothing better to do today] is downstairs, anxiously awaiting a statement from her regarding her campaign. Alexis dismissively tells him she's not in the mood to talk to them - but Russ strongly advises her to continue to foster a good relationship with the press in order to maintain her popularity. Alexis mulls that over and agrees that, yes, staying on the media's good side is probably a wise strategic move.

Krystle urges Blake to cancel his upcoming appearance at the State Bar Convention in Vail 'cause of how afraid she is for his safety. He tells her he's not willing to live in fear, assures her he'll be just fine with the added security, and reminds her that he has a campaign to run.

Alexis decides 'why not deck myself out in a luxurious fur trimmed coat and silky hat ensemble for my press conference?', which turns out to be more of a Q&A wankery on the hotel's staircase about how courageous she is for returning to her campaign so soon after suffering a bullet grazing. She wryly tells the press that nearly getting shot wasn't part of her political strategy, but that nonetheless she's determined to forge ahead and win the election. She then says she's off to Vail for a conference, and flounces off with Russ Kelton in tow.

"You are the bravest, most awesomest candidate we've ever had the privilege of fawning over."

"If I were a humble woman, I'd humbly thank you all."

Jesse tells Karen that he's working on "a big deal", then warns that 1) she may not find it so easy to give up her surrogate baby after it's born, and 2) Adam and Dana are only befriending her 'cause they think of her as their brood mare. Karen argues that Adam and Dana are good people, then angrily orders him to get the hell out of her house.

Over lunch, Karen informs Dana that Jesse is back in town, and that technically they're still married. Dana looks alarmed by that and worries aloud that his presence is going to impact the surrogacy, wailing about how she and Adam don't have a legal agreement with Jesse...even though it remains unclear why they'd actually need one. Karen assures them that the baby belongs to her and Adam, and that she's determined to hand the tot over.

Dana tells Adam about Jesse's sudden reappearance in Karen's life. Adam scrunches his face concernedly and assumes that Jesse must be after something, and breathily vows to find out what that might be. 

That evening, Karen arrives at Carrington manor to have dinner with Adam and Dana - and collapses a few seconds later. Adam races over to where she's laying and hovers over her uselessly while Dana rushes off to call the doctor.

​Krystle calls Blake in blizzardy Vail to let him know about Karen's collapse - but that the doctor has assured them all that she's merely suffering from exhaustion. Blake tells her he'll be home as soon as the snow storm lifts.

Later, Karen wakes up with Adam and Dana nervously hovering over her, with a nurse on standby. Adam tells her she fainted last night, but that she's OK...and when Karen suddenly looks panicked about her daughters' whereabouts, Dana tells her they're downstairs and perfectly safe, playing with Kristina. A few seconds later, a hapless Gerard is unable to stop Jesse from bursting into the room and insisting that he needs to take Karen home asap. Adam snappishly retorts that she's staying at Carrington manor until the doctor gives her the OK to return home...and the two bicker back and forth until Dana tells them to take it outside, 'cause it's stressing Karen out. The men dutifully shut it and agree to meet up tomorrow during Adam's morning run.

Across the globe in Natumbe, Sean is increasingly bored with Leslie's constant hand-wringing about whether or not Alexis knows they're bumping uglies. Leslie bitchily decrees that if she's going down, she's dragging him down with her...then demands specifics about the Vitron deal. When he declines to reveal anything, she haughtily warns, "You can't afford to ignore me" ... so Sean cryptically promises to tell her everything she needs to know before they return to Denver.

​Back in Vail, Alexis runs into Blake in the hotel lobby and offers a proposal: he should withdraw from the gubernatorial race and instead run for lieutenant governor. Blake stares back at her incredulously and says he's never heard anything so pompously ridiculous...and when she accuses him of not thinking she should be governor 'cause he's a big ol' sexist, he clarifies that he doesn't think she specifically has any business being governor.

Leslie returns to her Natumbe hotel room and finds a pretty gift, wrapped all in pink, atop her bed. She opens it and pulls out a slinky black negligee...and a few seconds later, a small black snake starts slithering of the box. Sean enters the room at that moment, tells Leslie not to move, then reaches out and grabs the snake...which by this point has been swapped out for a rubber toy snake. He ominously holds the toy snake inches from Leslie's face and tells her it's an African mamba, whose venom results in a slow, agonizing death. A terrified Leslie's all, "Ack!" and begs him to not hold the thing so close to her face...and tearfully promises to stop pestering him about their unsavory affair and/or needing to get a cut of the Vitron Oil deal.

"If this rubber snake doesn't terrify you, I have a whoopee cushion that'll do you in."

"Please no. I can't bear simulated farts."

Back in Vail, Alexis apologizes to Blake for suggesting he run for lieutenant governor, then hands him a copy of the local paper that features an article on her rising popularity in the polls. She smugly urges him to quit the race to leave the field clear for her, and Blake responds by remarking on how she mostly seems to like campaigning - but probably wouldn't want to actually govern. 

During his morning run, Adam meets up with Jesse and offers to give him however much money he thinks he should get in exchange for taking a break from his marriage until well after the surrogate baby is born and the adoption papers have been signed. 

Later at Carrington manor, Adam tells Dana he's pretty sure that Jesse won't be giving them any more trouble, given that he offered the man a bribe to leave town until well after the baby is firmly in their custody. Dana scrunches her face concernedly and says she's not sure that bribery is really the best way to go - but Adam argues it is if it gets Jesse out of their hair. 

Steven and Fallon inform Adam (who missed the Denver Carrington board meeting 'cause of all the Jesse drama) that there's a serious problem: some unknown investor has made a huge purchase of Denver Carrington stock, and that it's making the stockholders nervous. Egads! 
​
Over at Delta Rho, Sammy Jo tells Jeff she's reconsidered accepting his capital infusion and has decided instead to get a bank loan. When he's all, "Say wuh?", she explains that she hates the thought of always having to be rescued by him and would like to run the ranch independent of anyone else's personal cash. Jeff tells her he gave her the money 'cause he believes in her ability to run a horse farm - but also mostly 'cause he likes the cut of her jib. He then leans in for a kiss, shoots her a happy smile, and saunters off.

​Jesse is in Adam's office, looking over a 'get lost until after the baby's born' contract that Adam has had drawn up. He explains to Jesse that the paper is a simple declaration guaranteeing that the baby couldn't possibly be is, and that he promises to not contact Karen until after the child is born. When Jesse says he's not sure he can agree to that, Adam opens his briefcase filled with stacks of cash, and urges him to think it over more carefully. Jesse looks longingly at the cash before grabbing the nearest pen to sign the contract. He then clutches the briefcase while beating a hasty retreat - just as Dana enters the room. She correctly assumes that Jesse has just been successfully bribed and unhappily tells Adam she feels as though they're buying a baby. Adam's like, "Well duh" and points out that that's basically what they've been doing in terms of funnelling cash directly to Karen since the minute she announced she had his bun in her oven.

Subtle, Adam

"Where do I sign?"

Jesse heads over to a motel, where he meets up with Sean, who offers him 20K to stir up problems with Karen's surrogacy agreement with Adam/Dana. When Sean specifically instructs Jesse to start making noise about a fight for custody, Jesse says he really only wants to make a fresh start with Karen. Sean snarlingly orders him to do as he says - otherwise he'll make trouble for whatever misdeeds he (Jesse) apparently committed in the not-so-distant past...and Jesse responds by scrunching his dumb face concernedly.

The next morning, Jesse tells Karen he's leaving town for a couple of months, and that he's working on a deal that will generate enough money for the rest of their lives. He opens the briefcase o' cash he got from Adam, and Karen's all, "Wha-a-a-at is that?" and assumes he obtained it illegally. She firmly says she wants nothing to do with it, then screeches at him to take his money and get out.

Back at the mansion, Blake finds Steven doing paperwork in the library and grumbles about how he's been getting non-stop phone calls from nervous stockholders about the major stock purchase by the unknown person. When he asks whassup with that and suggests that he should maybe get involved, Steven reminds him that he's now in charge...and that if his daddy shows up at the board meeting, it'll send the signal that there's no trust between them. Steven urges him to put his faith in his ability to run Denver Carrington, and Blake mulls that over, then shakes his hand and wishes him good luck at the meeting.

In the Carlton Hotel lobby, Alexis asks Sean if they made a mistake giving Leslie too much responsibility, and Sean says she seems to be doing fine - but then offers to demote her if need be. Alexis makes it clear that she no longer trusts Leslie, but is leaving it up to him to do whatever he thinks is best. Leslie, meanwhile, enters the lobby and is able to scurry past them unseen and joins Dex in the adjoining lounge. Looking rattled, she asks him if she can have her old job back and explains that she doesn't fit in at ColbyCo. Dex presses her on what exactly has changed, and she snaps, "Forget it!" and storms off. 

Back at Denver Carrington, Steven, Fallon, and Adam are looking over the latest stock purchases that have been freaking out the stockholders as they wait for the "main players" so show themselves. Adam nervously points out that this new stock owner has enough clout to influence the board's decisions, and laments being out-manoeuvred. A few seconds later, Jeff makes his grand entrance and explains that he's the one who's been buying up so much Denver Carrington stock 'cause of how dismayed he's been by the mismanagement of the company/board when they let the pipeline deal get tanked. He then lays out his demands:

• A seat on the executive committee overseeing all pipeline operations
• The reinstatement of Dex as overlord of the pipeline project 
• Steven should consider himself told to go pee up a rope for his dismal CEO-ing abilities

"I had to step in 'cause of your gross incompetence at managing the company."

"I prefer to think of it as bossing people around in a stupid manner."

Jesse returns to ColbyCo to tell Adam he can't accept the briefcase o' cash after all, declares that the surrogacy baby belongs to Karen, and threatens to get a lawyer to sue for custody. Sean, meanwhile, has followed Jesse and spends a few seconds eavesdropping on the conversation just outside Adam's door. Adam shoots Jesse the stink-eye as he warns of his personal destruction if anything happens to the surrogacy arrangement, and Jesse snaps, "Go to hell!" as he storms out.

Sean warns Jesse against playing both sides by making a deal with him and Adam, and Jesse insists he's not and gives Sean his money back. Sean orders him to finish the job, which translates to stay in Denver and fight for the custody of Karen's baby...adding that Karen will never forgive him if he allows Adam to take her baby away. 

Sean returns to the Carlton Hotel suite looking angry and defeated. When he sees that Alexis is asleep in bed, he takes off his tie, clutches it in his hands as if he's ready to strangle his wife to death, and seethes, "No one gets away, Alexis. No one. Not even you."

Eeeeek!

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