Dynasty Season 5 Episode 16 Review: My Family, My Blood
It’s Carrington versus Carrington on Dynasty Season 5 Episode 16, “My Family, My Blood.”
Ben’s arrival has Blake concerned, but Fallon is completely shaken up. With her family’s future weighing hard on her heart, Fallon takes it upon herself to help Blake take care of Ben.
“My Family, My Blood” is nothing more than an okay episode. Maybe it’s because the Ben/Blake situation is front and center, but the episode merely fills like a filler.
With the series so far into its final season, it’s slightly alarming that some main characters have no natural substance or end goal in sight, especially when new characters continue to be introduced.
Besides the dramatics between Fallon and Crystal finally, hopefully, being squashed, there’s not much to cause excitement. Even Alexis finding Anders’ burn book left behind for Kirby is a weak plot point when it shouldn’t be.
Someone finding Anders’ burn book should be an event that triggers feelings in viewers that either excites or shocks them, and this does neither.
It’s simply a tacky attempt to bring Alexis deeper into the fold of Blake and Ben’s drama. As if her and Adam’s drama isn’t enough already.
There’s no way that Kirby would leave the one thing that’s basically her get out of jail free card from the Carrington’s laying exposed on top of her clothing, even in her dresser.
Alexis finding the book so easily is sloppy writing and having the burn book included in a Carrington feud is lazy. My enthusiasm for Ben is nonexistent with the series ending in six episodes and far more essential matters to tackle.
There are minimal enjoyable moments with Amanda, Kirby, and Jeff missing from the episode.
The most thrilling and entertaining plotlines of “My Family, My Blood” are Liam getting a job guest lecturing as an English professor, Fallon making Cristal the godmother to her unborn child, and Culhane’s newfound love interest.
Liam’s time on this episode is limited, but the time we spend with him is quite hilarious as we see him go through a patch of writer’s block. Dynasty gets the portrayal scarily accurate as we see Liam do what most writers do: anything they can to get the creativity flowing.
Also, Fallon and Cristal’s future looks brighter than ever, thanks to some helpful advice from Liam. Fallon’s initial belief at the beginning of the episode that Cristal has no backbone when protecting the Carringtons is, quite frankly, outrageous after everything Cristal has done for them.
However, Fallon’s idea of standing up for her loved ones is slightly altered from the normal due to being a Carrington. In her eyes, it’s not enough if you aren’t throwing hands, planning a takedown, or going for the jugular in every aspect.
Liam opens Fallon’s eyes to just how direct and sinister Cristal can get when it comes to people threatening her family. Her bounty on Beto’s head for if he ever steps foot in the country again is a staggering and brutal change to the Cristal we’re accustomed to seeing. But it showcases the lengths she’ll go to protect her loved ones, a fact that Fallon needed to open her eyes to.
The two of them conversing in the end and overcoming past animosities is endearing and leaves hope that we can see them get closer before the end of the series.
As for Culhane, well, it seems his romantic life leads supreme in his overall storyline. Geneva’s introduction to the series is, quite frankly, both a sad and thrilling moment. On the one hand, it’s upsetting because the odds of Nina making her way back to the series are low now.
But intersecting Geneva into the mix brings a brand-new level of drama for Culhane and Sam, who both need it. Currently, neither Culhane nor Sam has anything significant going for them, and this would bring that extra kick.
Geneva doesn’t seem to be someone looking to avenge her dead husband, but with Sam’s paranoid self, the news of Leon’s death is bound to slip out.
The back end of the series is proving to be underwhelming and isn’t giving much hope for a fitting series finale.
Dynasty might’ve been unaware of their cancellation when creating this season, but that has nothing to do with the nonexistent long-term storylines for half of the characters.
My only hope for the series moving forward is that it succeeds in giving us a fitting finale that wraps the series altogether. Besides the obvious plot hole the series will never address, I hope everything is wrapped up fittingly.
What did you think of this episode of Dynasty? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Dynasty airs Fridays at 9/8c on The CW.
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Cade Taylor
Cade Taylor is a television and film critic living in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV. His love for television developed at a young age, with a concentration on queer stories, sitcoms, teen dramas, and science fiction thrillers. In addition, he works full-time as a news producer, telling the stories of Missourians and helming "Produced in the Bi-State," a segment spotlighting actors, musicians, and entertainers from the St. Louis area. He can be reached by email at cade@telltaletv.com.