Dynasty - Season 8, Episode 18

Karen cancels the surrogacy agreement

"Adam's Son"
Original airdate: 2/10/1988

Episode summary: Alexis confronts Sean about her suspicions that he's been unfaithful to her. Jeff resigns his role as Blake's campaign manager. Karen births a son and tells Adam and Dana that she's changed her mind about giving him up.

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Recap: Alexis is glowering at the bracelet she gifted Leslie...and then a few seconds later, she's informed by her maid that her breakfast is ready. Soon after she seats herself at the table, Leslie drops by with some important papers to sign. Alexis lays it on thick about what a valuable employee she is, then admires the bright red (Alexis-like) blazer she's wearing. She remarks on how the bracelet she gave her would go beautifully with it, and Leslie nervously natters that she's not currently wearing it 'cause the clasp has gotten loose and needs fixing. Alexis offers to have it repaired for her, then smarmily asks her if she lost it and is too sheepish to admit it - but Leslie faux assures her that, nope, she hasn't lost it, and that she'll deal with fixing the loose clasp herself. 

Adam learns that Jesse is still in Denver and is worried about him giving the briefcase o' cash back - but Dana points out that it's all for the best, 'cause the money was a black cloud. Adam argues that Jesse is the black cloud hovering over them, putting their surrogacy agreement with Karen at risk. He stares worriedly into space and says he's very upset that he could lose "my child, conceived with seed from my body". Ew. He declares that he'll be damned if he lets that happen, then abruptly storms out of the bedroom.
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Leslie enters Sean's office and asks him if he's seen the bracelet Alexis gave her, then recalls in real time that she was wearing it in his/Alexis's hotel suite the night he got all date-rapey with her. Leslie contorts her face into a look of horror and wails, "She's onto us!" and Sean angrily orders her to shut it - otherwise he might just terrorize her with another scary reptile. Leslie's all, "Ack!" and calmly assures him that she's going to take a deep breath and do her best to chillax.

"If you don't shut it, I'll go to the nearest toy store and buy the first rubber iguana I can find."

"Consider my mouth permanently zipped shut."

Over at Denver Carrington, Jeff unhappily reminds Steven, Adam, and Fallon that the pipeline project is three months behind schedule. He proposes putting Dex back in charge, with total authority...and everyone glumly votes yes. A frustrated Adam yells at Jeff that he has no right to throw his weight around, screeches, "You and your stock can go to hell!", and reveals his weird daddy issues when he complains about how Blake has always loved him (Jeff) like a son, even though he's taken so much from him with this stock buying stunt. An unfazed Jeff responds by mutely gazing into space.

Over breakfast at Carrington manor, Blake tells Jeff he's disappointed by the sneaky manner in which he bought up all that Denver Carrington stock. Jeff points out that he needed to light a fire under Steven's ass to get the pipeline project moving again, then contritely offers to resign as his gubernatorial campaign manager. Blake mulls that over and decides that, yeah, it's prolly for the best.

Alexis flounces over to Sean's office, tosses the bracelet (she gifted to Leslie) at him, and snippily tells him she found it under their bed. Sean mutters, "That's bizarre..", then asks her if she's insinuating that he's cheating on her. She's like, "Uh yeah..?", and he denies the allegation and weakly attempts to turn the tables by counter-insinuating that she's the one who's been cheating...on him with Blake during out-of-town campaign events. Alexis makes a seriously? face at the ridiculous accusation and asks again how Leslie's bracelet got under their bed. Sean recalls that the night she (Alexis) was shot, Leslie was at the suite, hurriedly putting away various documents and valuables in the safe for safekeeping...and suggests that perhaps she dropped the bracelet during that chaos. Alexis decides that that sounds at least somewhat plausible and apologizes for accusing him of cheating, and he declines to accept her apology and bitchily storms out of the room. [Please let this be the last time we ever hear about Leslie's fucking bracelet.]

Over in a Delta Rho meadow, Steven tells Sammy Jo he continues to be annoyed that she went to Jeff (instead of him) for financial help, and asks her if there's something more than just a platonic friendship going on between her and Jeff. Sammy Jo snappishly retorts that that's none of his business, then climbs atop her horse and gallops off.

At campaign headquarters, Blake tells a puzzled Krystle that he had no choice but to accept Jeff's resignation as campaign manager, 'cause of the underhanded manner in which he went behind everyone's back to buy up a shit ton of Denver Carrington stock. He then wonders if his three idiot children are actually capable of running the company, and worries that their incessant bickering is going to ultimately destroy it. Krystle's all, "Nooooo" and assures him that they love him too much to ever let him down like that. 

Krystle returns to the mansion and finds Dana looking over some of Kristina's old baby things. Dana asks Krystle if she might borrow the christening gown, and Krystle scrunches her face concernedly and wonders aloud if maybe she's being premature in assuming that Karen is actually truly 100% going to hand over the baby to her and Adam. Dana irritably insists she will, and that she's also getting really really tired of Adam's constant (though well founded) predictions of doom. 

"Adam and I are definitely getting custody of Karen's baby."

"You keep believing that."

Alexis drops by campaign headquarters to chat with Jeff as he packs up his stuff...and to explore the prospect of him becoming her campaign manager. Jeff blushingly says he's flattered, but can't accept that job 'cause of how important Blake is to him, despite their current strain. Alexis is all, "OK, whatever" and suggests they get together for lunch sometime soon - just as Blake enters the room. After Jeff quickly grabs his box o' stuff and heads out, Blake chides Alexis for trying to poach Jeff, and also for being so generally vocal about wanting him to get out of race so that it clears the field for her to become the next governor. 

Jeff drops by Delta Rho to invite Sammy Jo to dinner. At first she declines, then hems and haws about how she should maybe put the brakes on their partnership, 'cause of how sourly Steven is reacting to it. After mulling it over a few seconds more, she decides she actually doesn't give too much of a fuck what Steven thinks, and happily accepts Jeff's dinner invitation.

Adam drops by Karen's house and is annoyed to find Jesse there. Jesse tells him that Karen (and Dana) went out for a walk, and Adam snarlingly asks him if he's going to demand more money in order to keep the surrogacy agreement intact. Jesse says he won't, then angrily orders Adam to get the hell out...and then a pair of stunt doubles step in and start punching and shoving each other across the living room. When Karen and Dana return from their walk, one of the stunt doubles accidentally crashes into Karen and shoves her into a sofa chair, which in turn prompts her to moan that she's suddenly in the throes of labor. Adam, Jess, and Dana are all, "Ack!" and rush her to the hospital, stat. 

Later, in the hospital waiting room, Jesse blames Adam for Karen's (premature?) labor, and that he wants him out of his life asap. Adam reminds the dumb-dumb that Karen agreed to act as a surrogate and is carrying his child...and Dana enters the room a few seconds later to announce that Karen is expected to deliver the baby any time. 

Jeff and Sammy Jo are in Malibu to attend a horse auction...and during some down time, the two stroll together along the beach. Jeff applauds her for doing so amazingly well at the auction, and the two splash around the water and playfully chase each other around - until they plunk themselves onto the sand and indulge in some light foreplay.

Fourteen hours later, the obstetrician enters the hospital waiting room to inform Adam, Dana, and Jesse that Karen has just delivered a baby boy...and that both are doing fine. The doctor invites the father to get a first look at the infant, and Adam's all, "Hot diggity!" and excitedly rushes off to meet his spawn. 

In the next scene, Adam and Dana are standing behind the glass of the nursery, staring happily at the (rather large) newborn that's being presented to them by one of the nurses. Adam breathily promises the baby he'll always protect him and that nothing will ever separate them.

"Aw, look at what my seed created."

"Soak it up, dude."

Dex meets with Sean to tell him he got a call from Natumbe about the Vitron Oil deal, and asks why the cargo ship that's earmarked to deliver oil to Denver Carrington is only partially loaded, adding that Harry Thresher is a known slime-ball. Sean plays dumb and suggests that maybe the ship has yet to be fully loaded, and Dex is all, "Yeah, I guess that's possible...but prolly not."

Sean lets himself into Leslie's suite at the Carlton Hotel, where she's penning a resignation letter. Sean points out that if she resigns from ColbyCo, Alexis will know for sure that they've been having an affair. He reminds her of how close she came to being bitten by the (rubber) snake during the previous episode, then makes it clear that he's the one calling the shots about her life decisions. She reacts by staring back at him in mute terror.

The next day, Dex tells Leslie that she can have her old job back - but she tells him she's decided to stay on at ColbyCo. He notices how visibly rattled she looks and asks her whassup, so she confesses her affair with Sean and that Alexis is very suspicious...which means she can't leave ColbyCo, 'cause then Alexis will definitely put two and two together. She adds that Sean is a psycho-nut who recently tried to kill her, and that she knows something personal about him that's sure to destroy his marriage. 

Jesse visits Karen (who's still in her hospital bed) and tearfully apologizes for accidentally shoving her earlier and thereby bringing about her (premature?) labor. He reminds her again that she's the baby's bio mom, declares his deep love for her, and begs her to give their marriage another chance. 

Back in California, Jeff drops by Sammy Jo's hotel room to invite her to dinner at Spago. He then invokes their earlier smoochfest on the beach, and Sammy Jo kisses him and says she no longer has any doubts about hooking up with him...and the two fall atop the bed and indulge in some amorous action. 

Dex drops by Alexis's hotel suite to tell her about the suspiciously half-empty cargo ship that has departed Natumbe...then drops the bombshell (he just learned from Leslie) that Sean is the son of Joseph Anders, and that it looks as though he's out to avenge his father's suicide and the manner in which she (Alexis) forced Kirby to leave Denver. As Alexis stares back at Dex in stunned incredulity, he surmises, "He married you to destroy you" ... and somehow refrains from remarking how out of character it was for her to have so blindly trusted a man she barely knew enough to marry him. 

"Sean is the demented son of Joseph Anders."

"Do you mean to tell me that I've been bedding the son of a majordomo moron?"

Karen is cradling her baby when Adam and Dana enter her hospital room. She reluctantly lets them hold the tot and gush about how beautiful he is...but a few seconds later, she demands to have him back in her arms. She then stammers about how she carried and nurtured the baby for the last nine months before pronouncing, "I can't give him up. Not now. Not ever" ... and Adam and Dana stare back at her with looks of dismayed incredulity.

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