Dynasty (1981 TV series, season 5)
The fifth season of "Dynasty" originally aired in the United States on ABC from September 26, 1984 through May 15, 1985. The series, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, revolves around the Carringtons, a wealthy family residing in Denver, Colorado. Season five stars John Forsythe as millionaire oil magnate Blake Carrington; Linda Evans as his wife Krystle; Jack Coleman as Blake and Alexis's earnest son Steven; Gordon Thomson as Blake and Alexis's eldest son Adam; John James as Blake's former son-in-law Jeff Colby; Pamela  Bellwood as Steven's wife, Claudia; Heather Locklear as Krystle's niece and Steven's ex-wife Sammy Jo; Michael Nader as Alexis's husband Dex Dexter; Catherine Oxenberg as Blake and Alexis's youngest daughter, Amanda; Michael Praed as Amanda's fiancé Prince Michael of Moldavia; Diahann Carroll as Blake's half-sister Dominique Deveraux; Billy Dee Williams as Dominique's husband, Brady Lloyd; Rock Hudson as Sammy Jo's biological father, Daniel Reece; Ali MacGraw as photographer Lady Ashley Mitchell; and Joan Collins as Alexis Colby, Blake's ex-wife and the mother of Adam, Fallon, Steven, and  Amanda. The season also introduced recast Emma Samms as Blake and Alexis's daughter Fallon. Development. Driven by the new head writer and producer Camille Marchetta, who had devised the wildly successful "Who Shot J.R.?" scenario on "Dallas" five years earlier, "Dynasty" hit #1 in the fifth season. During the season, "Dynasty" attracted controversy when Rock Hudson's real-life HIV-positive status was revealed after a romantic storyline between his character Daniel Reece and Evans's Krystle. Hudson's scenes required him to kiss Evans and, as news that he had contracted AIDS broke, there was speculation Evans would  be at risk. The event led to a Screen Actors Guild rule requiring the notification of performers in advance of any scenes that require open-mouth kissing. Undoubtedly the most famous "Dynasty" cliffhanger is the so-called "Moldavian Massacre" which occurs in the May 15, 1985 fifth-season finale. Amanda and Prince Michael's royal wedding is interrupted by terrorists during a military coup in Moldavia, riddling the chapel with bullets and leaving all of the major characters lying seemingly lifeless. Esther Shapiro later said, "It was a fairy-tale terrorist attack. It was beautifully shot, like a Goya painting ." It became the most talked-about episode of any TV series during the calendar year of 1985, with a viewership of 25.9 million. In 2011, Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" named it one of the seven "Unforgettable Cliff-Hangers" of prime time dramatic television. Plot. In the story, Alexis is exonerated for Mark's murder and her secret daughter Amanda comes to Denver and discovers that Blake is her father. Steven has married Claudia but leaves her for another man, and Claudia starts an affair with Adam. The marriage of Blake and Krystle is in crisis after the birth of  their daughter Krystina; Dominique struggles to be accepted as a Carrington, and loses her husband Brady Lloyd in the process; and Sammy Jo discovers she is the heiress to a huge fortune. At the end of the season, an amnesiac Fallon reappears while the rest of the family go to Europe for the wedding of Amanda and Prince Michael of Moldavia. Episodes. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Reception. In season five, "Dynasty" was ranked #1 in the United States with a 25.0 Nielsen rating.