Claudia Blaisdel

**Claudia Blaisdel** is a supporting character in The CW's *Dynasty*. She is portrayed by Brianna Brown.

## Biography

### Early Life

In 2016, Claudia experienced a car accident and then began to fake brain injury. She received fake prescription medication in an effort to keep her husband, Matthew Blaisdel, busy taking care of her after finding out he was having an affair.

### Season 1

After finding out that her husband, Matthew, was planning on leaving her for Cristal, Claudia used her engineering skills to create a malfunction in machinery which led to his death. After his death, Claudia blamed The Carringtons and tried to act innocent, while also convincing herself that they forced her into what she did. She continued to fake her brain injury symptoms as a way to get sympathy from Cristal, who took her in as a houseguest at the Carrington mansion. Soon after, Sammy Jo finds out that the pills she'd been taking had different contents inside than the label showed, which led Cristal to find out that she had been faking her symptoms.

At the Carringtons' Thanksgiving dinner, Claudia locked Sammy Jo and Joseph Anders in the basement to prevent them from intervening in her plan to kill the Carringtons. She then revealed to the family that she caused the explosion that killed Matthew but admits that she only wanted to hurt him. She also admitted to faking her mental illness, while aiming a gun at Cristal and Fallon. However, Blake was able to take the gun from her in a moment of distraction when Sammy Jo and Anders escaped, and she was arrested by Officer Stansfield.

Fallon visits Claudia looking for incriminating information on her father in Trashy Little Tramp, and promises to get Claudia released in exchange for the records Matthew kept. Claudia is later visited by Matthew, who is seemingly alive and vengeful toward the Carringtons. In Dead Scratch, Matthew helps Claudia escape the sanitarium, and they infiltrate the mansion. Claudia snaps and confronts Cristal with a gun. Matthew steps between them as Claudia fires, except that Matthew is a figment of her imagination, and Cristal takes the bullet. Claudia flees with Hank Sullivan, Alexis Carrington's lover who has been pretending to be Blake and Alexis' long-lost firstborn, Adam Carrington.

### Season 2

Claudia and Hank stay off-grid in her late husband's secret apartment, and Claudia delivers her newborn son, Matthew, named after his deceased father. ("Queen of Cups", "Crazy Lady")

The duo concoct a plan to extort money from the Carringtons, but Hank nearly falls victim to a sting operation, if not for a tip-off from fallen matriarch Alexis Carrington. Claudia berates Hank for his failure; having given him three shots to get the money his way, "it's my turn." ("Queen of Cups")

Realizing that Claudia is unhinged, Hunk cuts her out of his payoff from Alexis and takes baby Matthew and leaves him on Alexis's doorstep. ("That Witch") Alexis leaves Matthew to be found by Sam, who names him Little Blake. ("A Temporary Infestation")

Sam sees a pregnant Claudia in his wedding photos to Steven Carrington, and Alexis makes the connection that she is Little Blake's mother. Sam learns that Claudia has escaped the institution, and wonders if she killed his aunt Cristal and set the fire. Claudia rages over her missing child, and Little Blake disappears from the nursery. ("A Real Instinct for the Jugular")

Claudia hides out in a hotel with baby Matthew, but a televised plea by Blake and Alexis leads the authorities to her. A hysterical Claudia has the baby on the roof, and Blake, Fallon, Sam, and Cristal Jennings try to coax her away from the edge. Claudia admits to killing Blake's late wife Cristal, and then trips and accidentally tosses the baby off the building. It is only a doll, and Kirby Anders discovers that Manuel the nanny actually kidnapped the baby. After Little Blake/Matthew is recovered, Claudia is arrested for murder, and Sam decides that the baby should be raised by his grandparents, the Blaisdels. ("Crazy Lady")

### Season 5

Sam visits Claudia when an old enemy appears to be targeting Blake. On parole and working with inmates as a corrections counselor, she denies any involvement, but when Sam leaves she calls someone to report that all the Carringtons will be in the same place for Alexis's wedding to Dex Dexter. Blake, Cristal and Sam are rattled when Claudia appears at the event, but she only has good wishes and a gift for Alexis: a mug, something she learned to make in prison pottery. ("Vicious Vendetta")

## Trivia

* Brown's casting was announced by *TVLine* on March 21, 2017. On August 7, 2017, *Deadline Hollywood* announced that Brown, who guest starred in the pilot, would continue to appear in a recurring role.
* In the original series, Claudia is a main character and there is much more focus on her backstory.
	+ In the reboot, she is known as the first recurring villain of the series.
* Brianna Brown (the actress who plays Claudia), and Grant Show (Blake Carrington) previously worked together in the series "Devious Maids".
* In the original, Claudia did have a daughter, Lindsay, who died in a car accident.
	+ In this reboot, Claudia has an son instead named Matthew Jr. born sometime between Season 1 and Season 2 after her late husband.
* On March 16, 2018 Brianna Brown tweeted about having one more scene to shoot in Atlanta (hinting at **Claudia's** return).  Which was confirmed in the trailer for *Trashy Little Tramp* that aired on April 28, 2018.

## References

1. ↑ https://tvline.com/casting-news/dynasty-pilot-brianna-brown-cast-claudia-809867/
2. ↑ https://deadline.com/2017/08/dynasty-brianna-brown-recur-the-cw-reboot-1202144317/
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/BrownBrianna/status/974513144184815616