Cristal Carrington

* Current
* Original

**Cristal Carrington** (née **Flores**, previously **Jennings**) is a main character on The CW's *Dynasty*. She was portrayed by Ana Brenda Contreras in the second season and recast with Daniella Alonso for the third season onwards.

Cristal entered the Carrington's lives following the death of Celia Machado, who Cristal was close with. She helped Blake cope and comes to terms with Celia's death and the part of her life she kept hidden. Through this, Cristal formed a bond with Blake that soon turned romantic. They were quickly engaged and he helped her assimilate to her new lifestyle. They married quickly after Blake was arrested to ensure that she would not be subpoenaed to testify against him. Their relationship was great in the beginning but, like everything in the Carrington world, lies and betrayal tore them apart.

## Biography

### Early Life

Daughter of Silvio Flores, Cristal grew up in a powerful and wealthy Mexican family that held great influence over her life. She married Mark Jennings, a professional soccer player for one of her family's teams, but after a falling out between Cristal's family and Mark, she was forbidden from being with him any longer. To get the point across, Mark was involved in an accident as well as framed for soccer match-fixing, resulting in him being banned from the soccer profession.

Cristal was patient at a hospital in Mexico when she met Celia Machado, a volunteer at the hospital. When Cristal heard about Celia's shortcomings in Venezuela, and her dream to come to America, Cristal gave Celia her identity so she could start a new life. Cristal thought her life was over and didn't think she would need her identity much longer. At an unknown point, Cristal moved to the United States and began working at a health and wellness center in Sedona, Arizona.

### Season 2

Cristal keeps tabs on Celia Machado following her marriage to billionaire Blake Carrington and her subsequent murder. When the public discovers that Celia was using a stolen identity, many women start coming forward claiming to be the "real" Cristal Flores. Cristal's coworker jokes that she should step in and claim the stolen identity, unaware that she is, in fact, the real Cristal. ("Twenty-Three Skidoo") Cristal visits the Carrington Manor and is mistaken for a nurse, allowing her to gain entry at the front gate. Once inside, she meets with Blake and explains that she knew Celia before her death, showing a photo of them together. Cristal reveals that, when very sick, she gave Celia her identity in order for her to have a fresh start. Cristal stays in town so Blake can get to know her, as well as learn more about his deceased wife. After a disastrous dinner date, however, Cristal leaves upon realizing Blake is using her as a replacement for Celia. ("Ship of Vipers", "The Butler Did It") Following the devastating reveal that Blake's son is not actually his, Cristal is called back to Atlanta and gives Blake another chance. ("Snowflakes in Hell")

As it turns out, the primary motivation for Cristal's return to Atlanta is due to her clinic being shut down, leaving her with no where else to go. She grows closer to Blake and, as a result, antagonizes his ex-wife Alexis. Alexis learns about the state of Cristal's clinic, so Cristal comes clean to Blake. Unbeknownst to Cristal, however, Blake is the one who bought and shut down her clinic. ("Queen of Cups") Cristal and Blake grow closer as Thanksgiving approaches, but Cristal soon learns that Blake was responsible for her losing her job. She chooses to forgive him when he vows to be honest with her, so he proposes marriage and Cristal accepts. ("That Witch") Understanding that the manor isn't big enough for the both of them, Cristal starts working to get rid of Alexis, eventually uncovering that she's responsible for a mysterious baby that was found on the property. ("A Temporary Infestation") Alexis avoids getting caught, but the war between her and Cristal expands further when Cristal starts to bond with Alexis' daughter, Fallon. In the meantime, Blake purchases a professional soccer team for Cristal as an engagement gift, planning for the two of them to run the team together. ("A Real Instinct for the Jugular")

Cristal learns with the rest of the Carringtons that Claudia Blaisdel is the mother of the mysterious baby found on the property, as well as that she escaped the health facility she was detained in. Cristal goes with the Carringtons to find Claudia and is present when Claudia confesses to killing Celia. After Claudia is arrested, Cristal celebrates Christmas with the family until they're alerted that Blake's son Steven has gone missing. ("Crazy Lady")

Cristal discovers that she's pregnant, but she's unsure who the father of the baby is due to having slept with her ex-husband during the brief time in which she was away from the manor. She decides to keep this a secret from Blake, who is ecstatic about having another child. ("A Champagne Mood") Cristal goes away with Fallon and her friends on a girls' trip where Fallon plans to win back her ex. Fallon's schemes result in a bar fight where Cristal sticks up for her soon-to-be stepdaughter, and she later confides in Fallon about not knowing the paternity of her unborn child. Fallon insists Cristal tell Blake the truth. ("The Sight of You") Cristal obtains Fallon's DNA to send for a paternity test, but Alexis sabotages the results by switching the mouth swab. The lab calls, needing a new DNA swab, and Blake discovers the truth. He confronts Cristal for her lies, unsure how he can trust her again. ("Filthy Games")

Blake ultimately decides that, regardless of the DNA results, he wishes to raise Cristal's child as his own and keep the true paternity a secret should the child not biologically be his. Plans change, however, when Alexis calls Mark Jennings to the manor. Cristal tells Mark the truth and they await the DNA results together, Blake agreeing to work out a custody arrangement should the child belong to Mark. Cristal is alerted that the child belongs to Blake and, having received closure, she and Mark decide to part ways after one final horseback ride. During their ride, a drunken Alexis goes out to the field to commit suicide. Seeing Cristal and Mark happily riding, Alexis instead aims the gun at them and fires. Mark is shot, and Cristal's horse is startled, knocking her off and dragging her through the mud. ("Even Worms Can Procreate") Cristal wakes up in the hospital to find out Mark is dead and that she lost the baby. Alexis frames Blake's hitman, Mac, who Blake proceeds to torture to death, with Cristal's blessing. Cristal and Blake later watch the body be disposed of in the lake. ("Parisian Legend Has It...")

In order to distract from her recent losses, Cristal starts to devote more of her time to assisting Blake in the development of their co-owned soccer team, The Atlantix. In order to secure the desired land to build the stadium, Cristal reaches out to her family for assistance, opening the door to having them back in her life. ("Motherly Overprotectiveness") Cristal's brother, Beto, arrives in Atlanta to force Cristal to hire a rigger for the team, used to throw games in order to make a profit from gambling. Cristal works to keep her family at bay, but Beto ultimately decides to help Cristal by giving her a file with information obtained by their father on all of the Carringtons. ("Miserably Ungrateful Men") Believing the family to be in danger, Cristal goes to Blake about her father, only for him to brush off the Flores' threats. Wanting to protect Blake, Cristal works to get the message across that the Carringtons are in danger. ("How Two-Faced Can You Get?") Cristal starts to have regrets when Blake's paranoia about her father causes him to incite war against the Flores. She invites her father, Silvio Flores, to the manor to broker a truce between him and Blake. The couple then decide to go into business with Silvio. ("Life Is a Masquerade Party")

Having looked into sports betting and the profit that can be made for The Atlantix, Blake seeks to have a bill passed through the senate to legalize gambling in Georgia. Cristal assists by helping Blake blackmail the final senator whose vote needed to pass the bill, and the two come out victorious when the bill is ultimately passed. ("This Illness of Mine") Michael Culhane, a partner at The Atlantix, goes to the FBI about Blake's crimes and warns Cristal to leave town while she has the chance. Cristal goes to Blake about Culhane's betrayal, but both of them are outsmarted when the FBI arrests Blake, thanks to recorded evidence from the senator about Blake blackmailing her. ("New Lady in Town") Though initially loyal to Blake, Cristal starts to have her doubts when he wants to frame her father. The two come to a compromise by pinning their crimes on Culhane, staging the dissolution of their relationship in order for Cristal to earn Culhane's and the FBI's trust. ("Thicker Than Money") Keeping their relationship a secret, Blake and Cristal hold a private wedding ceremony by the Carringtons' lake that Fallon crashes, having discovered their criminal activity. She confronts Cristal for her lies, having thought her to be better than Blake, but in the midst of multiple revelations, divers uncover two bodies in the lake, one of which is Mac's, the hitman believed to have caused Cristal's miscarriage. ("Deception, Jealousy, and Lies")

### Season 3

Cristal denies any knowledge of the bodies discovered in the lake, but Blake is ultimately arrested for killing Mac. Cristal remains by his side but winds up in conflict with Adam as the two compete to keep Blake's winery afloat in his absence. In order to gain the upper hand, Cristal marries Blake in jail. ("Guilt Trip to Alaska", "Caution Never Won A War")

### Season 4

Blake is waiting for Cristal at La Mirage, and he apologizes for prioritizing work over Cristal constantly, and says he wants to make their marriage work. Cristal puts her foot down and says she deserves a husband that will show up when she needs him. Blake says she deserves that and more. Breaking the tension, he gushes once more about his unwavering love for her, and Cristal says that despite her being a mess about the situation like he is, it’s gonna take more than a salad and an apology to make things right.

At Fallon and Liam's rehearsal dinner, the new officiant walks in. Kirby is fiddling with the microphone and talking to Fallon at the same time, letting her and the entire room know that Cristal has been sleeping with him. When Blake points fingers at Cristal, she points it back to him and his affair with Liam's mother. Everything begins to escalate, fights ensue, and Blake punches the priest in the face. Fallon has had enough, leaving to go home.

In a heated argument, Cristal and Blake are airing out their dirty laundry that has come to light. He says she needs to take responsibility and that they both made mistakes. She says she knows what she did was wrong, but she thought she married a man that would choose her over his company. Blake says they need to do the hard work and rebuild their trust.

In Blake's office, he’s on a business call. He's secured more barrels of oil to fill an order, but still needs a good chunk. Blake says it’ll be easy as he knows a supplier by the name of Cliff Wilson, who could do the job for him. Cristal interrupts, holding her dress for the ceremony. She asks if she’d be able to change at the manor, because doing it at La Mirage just isn’t the same. Cristal however sets some boundaries. The first being that there be no discussion of Laura Van Kirk and Father Collins, or where they stand. Today is all about Fallon.

Blake walks in just as Cristal is finishing her makeup and she asks him if he put a hold on the foundation’s funding for the hospital. He says yes, but it’s only temporary and he will pay it back when he can. Cristal then begins asking if something is happening, she saw all the monitors in his office. Blake confesses the truth, and he says that’s why he needs to talk to her. Blake wonders if it would be possible if he could borrow some money from her father, which he will pay back before he even knew it was gone, of course. Cristal gets heated and tells him nothing would make her happier than to see Carrington Atlantic fall, because it may be the only way they can save their marriage.

Cristal meets up with Caleb and he apologizes for ruining the rehearsal dinner, but she claims it was all Blake. She lets him know that even though she’s still technically married, she isn't sure she wants to be anymore.

Cristal and Caleb have woken up after their late night rendezvous, but Caleb says as much as he likes seeing her again, he's breaking his oath to God. However, he lets her know that if what is going on between them is real, he will leave the church for her.

Cristal and Caleb are at dinner, apparently celebrating Cristal finally telling Blake she's leaving him. Unfortunately, Alexis walks past the two undetected and sees the two of them together.

Cristal has shown up to the manor, seemingly to tell him about her leaving him. Blake, however, has other plans. After seeing his condition and his recovery process, Cristal offers to help him with his physical therapy, but this doesn’t mean she’s moving back in or that they are back together. When Cristal leaves the room, his “nurse” comes back in and he hands her an envelope. As it turns out, he’s hired someone to pretend to be his nurse who is bad at her job, so Cristal would agree to help.

At Oasis, Anders meets up with Cristal who is ordering dinner. He says he’s stopped by to introduce her new neighbor who is none other than Blake. When she asks for an explanation he tells her he moved out of the manor and into La Mirage. When he asks to accompany her at dinner, she tells him she’s meeting someone.

Caleb shows up to dinner and asks Cristal if he just saw Blake leave, assuming she still hasn’t taken the opportunity to tell him about them. She says she will after his physical therapy is done, she will have a talk with him. Cristal also tells Caleb that Blake has moved into La Mirage, but has promised not to bother her. Caleb isn’t convinced and tells her she’s being manipulated.

Blake and Cristal are chatting. They both have things they need to discuss but she first says the clinic got an anonymous donation to keep it running, and she knows it was Blake. Cristal tells him she knows about his manipulations, and that she’s leaving him. Blake adds that he knows it’s for the priest she was supposed to stop seeing. He says he will honor her wishes and leave her alone, as much as he hates it.

## Personality

Cristal is a kind-hearted woman with a soft demeanor. She wasn't interested in money when she came to Blake, and helped him cope with the death of his wife. She encouraged Blake to be the best version of himself and to stop having illegal activity. She felt for Sam and helped him cope with the loss of his Aunt. She believes in spiritual activities such as ghosts and psychics. Cristal played nice with Alexis, despite Alexis' racist remarks and rude attitude toward her.

However, the longer she was around the Carrington family, the harder she became. She began looking the other way and even partaking in the illegal activity that she once sought to stop. When Aleixs returned to the Manor, Cristal became jealous and schemed to expose Alexis for her treacherous behavior. During a murder-attempt that caused a horse-back riding accident, Cristal's ex-husband Mark Jennings was murdered and Cristal miscarried her child. She became jaded after the incident and was hell-bent on finding out what happened to her child and ex. She was heartbroken and spiraled into a pit of depression. When she walked in on Blake beating Nathan Macintosh, she turned her back and even helped to cover up his murder at the hands of Blake.

After Nathan Macintosh was proven innocent of murdering Mark and Cristal's unborn baby, she became hell-bent on finding out who did. When she found out Alexis was behind the murder, she wanted Alexis to pay the same price Mac did - death. Blake's refusal to harm Alexis or punish her in any form drove Cristal to take matters into her hands. She hired a hitman to murder Alexis, and when their plan failed, she recruited her brother to do the job. Despite her morals and religious beliefs, Cristal went through with her plan. However, Alexis wasn't harmed but Berto was. This lead Cristal to finally let go of some of her anger regarding the situation and try to become a better person.

Part of her redemption was opening a veterans clinic at Atlanta General. Her role quickly became complicated when she began to harbor reciprocated romantic feelings toward the hospital's priest. She had conflicted feelings about Collins, her loyalty and vows to Blake, and her religious beliefs as a Catholic woman. Upon discovering Blake's affair, Cristal gave in to her desires and cheated on Blake.

## Relationships

* **Mark Jennings**
* **Blake Carrington** - Cristal Jennings entered Blake and the Carrington's following the death of Celia Machado, Blake's first wife whom Cristal was close with prior to Celia moving to America. Cristal helped Blake cope and comes to terms with Celia's death and process the part of Celia's life she kept hidden. Through this, they formed a bond with one another that soon turned romantic. They were quickly engaged and he helped her assimilate to her new lifestyle. They were married after Blake was arrested for murder. They married quickly to ensure that she would not be subpoenaed to testify against him. Cristal is often the only person pressuring Blake to be the best version of himself and to stay out of criminal activity. However, Cristal's complicated relationship with Blake's ex-wife Alexis often seeps into Cristal's relationship with Blake. The majority of their fights are either over suspicious business deals by Blake or Alexis's involvement in their lives. Their relationship has slowly become more distant, leaving both of them to have affairs.
* **Caleb Collins**

## Trivia

* On August 6, 2018, The CW announced that Ana Brenda Contreras was cast to replace Nathalie Kelley (Celia Machado) as the "real Cristal Flores." According to network president Mark Pedowitz, when asked about the decision, "it's a wild soap, these are things you do in a walk soap," explaining that the plan to go that direction with the character began midway through the first season. Allegedly, the decision started as a recasting, with the producers using the soap form as a creative way to do it.
	+ On September 5, 2018, ahead of the second season, executive producer Sallie Patrick described the real Cristal as "here to clear the air. Some mistruths have been circulating, so she's coming to set that story straight. She's not going to un-complicate things."
* On July 29, 2019, Daniella Alonso was cast as Contreras's replacement for the role of Cristal.
	+ *TVLine* released a first-look at Alonso as Cristal on September 4, 2019. Executive producer Josh Reims spoke of the recast, promising a seamless transition," and that she's being written "a little more real and a little less scary, which is how we were writing Cristal last year."
* Cristal is one of the six characters (along with Mrs. Gunnerson, Tony, Alexis, Lo, and Jeanette) who were recast.
* Cristal's favorite ice cream is mint chip. ("Parisian Legend Has It...")
* Cristal is allergic to pork. ("You See Most Things in Terms of Black & White")
* Alonso was pregnant when filming the first six episodes of the fourth season, so her pregnancy bump was concealed via coats, handbags and other strategically placed objects, along with camera angles.
	+ Though Alonso's pregnancy was not written into the series, Cristal suspected she might be pregnant in "Your Sick and Self-Serving Vendetta". Ironically, this is the first episode Alonso filmed after returning from maternity leave.
* Cristal practices boxing. ("A Good Marriage in Every Sense")
* Cristal looks to the right and bites her lips whenever she doesn't want to tell Blake about something. ("That Holiday Spirit")
* Cristal's preferred alcoholic drink is whiskey sour with maple syrup. ("How Did The Board Meeting Go?")
* Cristal's favorite coffee is caramel macchiato. ("A Little Fun Wouldn't Hurt")
* Cristal's favorite restaurant is Bacchanalia. ("Devoting All Of Her Energy to Hate")

## Gallery

* Season 2
* Season 3
* Season 4
* Season 5

Cristal as the Wicked Witch

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 In "How Did The Board Meeting Go?", Cristal's mother is stated to have two siblings, Javi and Rosa.
2. ↑ In "A Good Marriage in Every Sense", Cristal's cousin calls to inform her of Silvio's arrest.
3. ↑ Ship of Vipers. *Dynasty*. Season 2. Episode 2. The CW.
4. ↑ That Witch. *Dynasty*. Season 2. Episode 6. The CW.
5. ↑ Caution Never Won A War. *Dynasty*. Season 3. Episode 2. The CW.
6. ↑ Even Worms Can Procreate. *Dynasty*. Season 2. Episode 13. The CW.
7. ↑ The Butler Did It. *Dynasty*. Season 2. Episode 3. The CW.
8. ↑ Twenty-Three Skidoo. *Dynasty*. Season 2. Episode 1. The CW.
9. ↑ ("That Unfortunate Dinner")
10. ↑ ("Vows Are Still Sacred")
11. ↑ ("The Aftermath")
12. ↑ ("Everybody Loves The Carringtons")
13. ↑ https://deadline.com/2018/08/dynasty-ana-brenda-contreras-cast-real-cristal-the-cw-nathalie-kelley-1202440782/
14. ↑ https://tvline.com/gallery/fall-tv-2018-season-premiere-spoilers/dynasty-fall-tv-preview-2018/
15. ↑ https://tvline.com/2019/07/29/dynasty-recast-daniella-alonso-cristal-ana-brenda-contreras/
16. ↑ Dynasty Season 3: Daniella Alonso Debuts as New Cristal — First Look