Dynasty: The Second Season

"She's lying," an outraged Blake Carrington (John Forsythe)—on trial for murder—tells his attorney. "She" is Blake's despised ex-wife, who has resurfaced to testify against him. And Blake might as well get used to it, because as Dynasty's second season unfolds, perjury will be the least of Alexis Carrington's offenses. Joan Collins joined the cast as the vengeful, scheming and manipulative Alexis, which immediately put Dynasty on the map as a formidable ratings rival to Dallas. It doesn't take long for Alexis to literally make herself right at home, moving back into her former art studio on the Carrington estate and insinuating herself in the tumultuous lives of her ruthless ex-husband, his "ever so noble" new wife Krystle (Linda Evans), Blake's sexually confused son Steven (Al Corley), and his spoiled, resentful daughter Fallon (Pamela Sue Martin). Events transpire over the 22 episodes of the 1981-82 sophomore season—presented on an extra-less six-disc set—at a fast and furious pace, beginning with Alexis' divisive return, and proceeding with familial estrangement, calamitous accidents, shocking revelations, pregnancies, sexual shenanigans, temporary blindness, a suicide attempt, and a kidnapping. And did we mention the introduction of luscious Heather Locklear as golddigger Sammy Jo, who marries Steven, or Alexis and Krystle's first "cat fight," a pillow-walloping, vase-throwing, furniture-crashing smackdown? For all its scandalous goings-on, Dynasty seems almost quaint today, but even though it's hardly an essential purchase, it's still wicked fun. Recommended. (D. Liebenson)