That Unfortunate Dinner

That Unfortunate Dinner
Season 4, Episode 1

Air date	May 7, 2021
Written by	Libby Wells
Directed by	Michael A. Allowitz
Viewers	0.24 million (240,000)^[1]
Episode Guide
previous My Hangover's Arrived	next Vows Are Still Sacred

“	Yeah, no, mom, see. you lost that privilege after lying about my half-brother, almost getting us killed in Moldavia, and trying to sabotage my relationship with Fallon. Multiple times.	”
	— Liam reminding Laura why he disinvited her.

That Unfortunate Dinner is the first and premiere episode of the fourth season and the sixty-fifth episode overall of the drama television series, Dynasty on The CW. It aired on May 7, 2021.

Synopsis

SEASON FOUR PREMIERE - Fallon and Liam plan their wedding, with some unsolicited input from Alexis, which leaves Fallon questioning if Alexis could be right. Alexis and Jeff have a photo shoot to announce their new "power couple" status. Dominique runs into hiccups with her new fashion line and turns to unexpected sources for help. Meanwhile, Blake is determined to work on his relationship with Cristal and Culhane advises Sam on his current state of affairs. Lastly, as Anders does some digging and is shocked by what he finds and Adam's confession to Kirby is met with surprising results.

Plot Summary

SPOILERS AHEAD

At someone's funeral, Fallon is sitting in front of the casket and appears to be paying her respects.

Six months prior, at the Carrington Manor, Fallon is going through different arrangements for her and Liam’s wedding.

Meanwhile, at the Colby’s, Alexis and Jeff are having a photoshoot to prove they’re a “power couple”. Alexis tells him that it’s important to show the world this, because Carrington Atlantic is finally going under.

Adam walks in, furious, and asks Alexis why she told Anders about the fire accident. She claims she didn’t tell him everything, such as information pertaining to the accident. Adam then claims Anders is on his trail because of his relationship with Kirby, and Alexis tells him he needs to get him off his scent then.

Later, Dominique meets with her business partner Barbara about Domisleek. Barbara tells Dominique they need to chat about the House of Deveraux cancelation. Dominique wants to rebrand as a fashion focused company with her name to expand the sleepwear line into an empire. Barbara lets her know that because the show is canceled, so is her investment into the business. Dominique then says she can scrape 25% but Barbara wants double, and Dominique has no idea how she’s going to do it with three days until production begins. Barbara reminds Dominique she is a Carrington-Colby, and she's sure she can get something done in that time or less.

At the manor, Adam and Blake are discussing the loan proposal to cover what they lost in the explosion… but they only have 48 hours to do it. Blake is stuck between a rock and a hard place because he wants to save his marriage with Cristal who he is supposed to meet, but the loan proposal meeting is the same day. Adam inquires about Anders helping, and Blake claims he’s out of town at the explosion site so he’s essentially MIA.

Sam is at La Mirage signing his annulment papers with his soon to be ex-husband Ryan. They share one final goodbye after Ryan quotes Casablanca.

Back at the manor, Alexis has shown up for the rehearsals, and with all the mishaps already she says these are omens and Fallon needs to keep the tradition, which outdated as it may be is important for a family theirs.

Unfortunately, a pipe bursts at the church so Liam got in contact with Melinda who said it is possible to move everything to the manor. The happy couple get in a scuffle and with everything going downhill, Fallon is on the hunt for her “somethings” (borrowed, blue, old and new). Her something “new” ends up being a self driving car which of course Liam can’t say no to.

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.

Meanwhile, Sam and Culhane are talking about the Atlantix event at the hotel. Culhane is stressing about the situation so Sam puts his input in. Ryan interrupts saying his flight was canceled, and asks if they can have a drink. Culhane wants to finish his appointment first and Sam begrudgingly tells Ryan that they can’t do it today. Ryan assures him that it’s ok, because his flight doesn’t leave for another few days.

Dominique meets with Blake to try and secure the funds for her sleepwear launch. Blake tells her that even if he wanted to, his finances are tied up. She leaves her proposal with him just in case, and Blake says she’s milked the Carrington cow enough. This sets Dominique off, even though they have the same father, Blake was given everything, while she was always seen as less than. She tells him that perhaps if things had worked out with her mother and their father, she would have been given the privilages Blake had, and Blake in turn would have been the bastard child. Instead, he is just a bastard.

Later, Fallon surprises Liam with pocket squares that match his father’s old pocket square. Fallon says she stole the photo of him wearing it from Liam’s apartment and she says she had one made for him as well as his groomsmen. That subsequently checks off the “something blue.”

Adam is on the phone, asking where Anders has wandered off to. He hangs up just as Kirby walks in and asks if everything is okay. He lies to her, telling her it’s about his suit. Kirby says he’s been nonstop trying to reach her. Adam begins snooping on her phone and finds out exactly where Anders is. He quickly cuts her off and sends her out so he can make a phone call.

Blake is getting his suit fitted when Fallon walks in asking him if anyone in their family has ever had a happy relationship. She needs her “something borrowed” from a lasting relationship. Blake says her great grandfather and his third wife were solid, until he met his fourth wife. Blake asks if this is important to Fallon and she says yes, she wants things to work out between the two. He hands over his butineer from his prison wedding with Cristal, and tells her she can borrow it.

Sam and Ryan are at Club Colby for drinks. Sam sparks a conversation about why Ryan’s flight was delayed and after a long winded explanation that included a brief discussion about their moms, they reach for a glass and knock it over, but Ryan says maybe it was fate after all.

Blake is in a meeting discussing the proposal. Carrington Atlantic doesn’t have the collateral to cover the loan, so an alternative was drafted: to stake his personal assets.

Meanwhile, Anders is in Billings, Montana meeting with Shelly Duncan who he believes shares the same concerns he does about Adam.

At the rehearsals, Liam says Melinda was able to secure another officiant that’s available for the wedding.

Adam is on the hunt for Blake, while Culhane tells Kirby he’s happy for her as she dishes out about Anders. Kirby thanks him for being one of the good ones. Blake sees Cristal and they talk about the butineer. Blake claims its a symbol of their relationship because if it can survive anything, so can they.

Before the toast, Dominique pockets the “something old” and after they clink their glasses, one of the wait staff falls into the photograph of Liam and Fallon just as his mother shows up.

Just as Dominique is leaving, she runs into Jeff. Her purse begins ringing and he snatches it to see what’s inside, pulling out the clock. Jeff asks her if her plan was to sell the clock in hopes of getting a pretty penny from it and hoping nobody noticed. Dominique says it was her time to fight back.

Just as everything seems to be settling down, 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. 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.

Sam is on the phone with with Ryan’s airline to validate the story he was told. Sam finds out that Ryan’s flight wasn’t canceled, but that he canceled it himself. When he asks if he’s still booked for the next flight out tomorrow, they tell him no.

Kirby walks into the room and sees Adam packing his things, ignoring her, she grabs his arm and he confesses that yes, he did push Alexis into the fire, yes he was responsible for his mother’s death, and he believes that Anders knows something. He says he didn’t want to tell her because she would think of him as a monster, but she reassures him that he’s not the only one with secrets.

Dominique is at her mother’s house in an effort to apologize while also talking about Thomas and how painful that situation must have been for her to keep Dominique away from the Carrington name. Her mom hands her a key that opens a safety deposit box, she doesn’t know what’s inside but hopes it will help Dominique heal.

Blake officially decides to put up his personal assets and thanks Eric for his help.

Once off the phone, Alexis is seen in Eric’s office and she is stunned that he decided to do it. Now that all of his personal assets are leveraged, that loan has been sold to Alexis and Jeff.

Back at the manor, Fallon just wants to have the perfect life with Liam. He’s convinced that the rehearsal dinner proved how strong their relationship really is. He hands her napkins from every date they have ever been on, and that can be their something borrowed because they can clean up their own messes.

Melinda and unbeknownst to her, Trixie’s brother Evan, apologizes for not being able to fix the pipe on time for the dinner. She tells him it’s fine because they were able to move everything over to the manor.

Cast

Starring

Elizabeth Gillies as Fallon Carrington
Daniella Alonso as Cristal Carrington
Elaine Hendrix as Alexis Carrington Colby
Rafael de La Fuente as Sam Jones
Sam Underwood as Adam Carrington
Michael Michele as Dominique Deveraux
Robert Christopher Riley as Michael Culhane
Sam Adegoke as Jeff Colby
Maddison Brown as Kirby Anders
Adam Huber as Liam Ridley
Alan Dale as Joseph Anders
Grant Show as Blake Carrington

Guest Starring

Co-Starring

Gina Hiraizumi as Barbara
Kurt Yue as Eric Fischer
Andrea Andrade as Melinda
Michaela Cronan as Shelly Duncan

Notes and Spoilers

This episode was intended to air during the third season as episode 21. However, production was shut down indefinitely due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
- The episode was later re-constructed to serve as the season premiere, with select scenes being moved to The Unfortunate Dinner as opposed to the intended Season 4 premiere.
  - This is the second episode to be shot after the pandemic. They shot The Aftermath before this and Vows Are Still Sacred after this episode.
The episode opens with Fallon sitting at a funeral, before flashing back to six-months earlier when the events of That Unfortunate Dinner take place.
The episode's opening alludes to the show continuously recasting the character of Cristal every previous season. After Fallon takes note of the crystal cake topper, the frame cuts to Filipina actress Andrea Andrade, who after a moment is revealed to actually be Melinda.
This episode marks the first time an actress played Cristal for more than one season, with Daniella Alonso continuing to portray the character after joining in the third season.

Trivia

Daniella Alonso was eight and half months pregnant during the shooting of the episode.

Quotes

Alexis: The florist, the decapitation? Make total sense now. Omens. You can't ignore tradition, at least not in this family. Great Aunt Maude dismissed the custom and broke her hip on her wedding day. Is that what you want?

Fallon: Maude was 98 when she got married. It would've been a little weird if she didn't break her hip.

Alexis: Fine. Ignore the lore at your own peril. But don't get upset when it rains on your wedding day.

[Fallon's phone ringing, vibrating]

Fallon: Well, my wedding's indoors so it can't happen. (answers the call) Hi.

Melinda: Fallon, hi. So, small setback. A pipe burst here at the church. It's completely flooded, and it won't be fixed in time for the wedding.

Fallon (to Alexis): (hangs up her call) Don't say a word.

Liam: Okay, I'm not sure why you're mad at me.

Fallon: You're the one who said nothing's gonna stop us. You and your cliché Jefferson Starship lyrics.

Liam: I think you're overreacting a little, and not just to the lyrics.

Fallon: Am I, really? The cake topper, the florist, the literal rain on our indoor wedding day, and now Monica is stuck across the world until next week. It's something about construction delays an her new school for girls. I mean, children can be so selfish.

Liam: What are you doing?

Fallon: I am looking for my "somethings", okay? And the way things are trending, I'm gonna end up like Aunt Maude. I mean, do you want me limping down the aisle?

Dominique: I know, when planning a wedding, the bride so often overlooks what she's wearing when the dress comes off.

Fallon: Mm-hmm.

Dominique: So I'm gifting you sleepwear from my exclusive collection.

Fallon: Aww. Maybe just stick to the registry.

Alexis (puts her Dala horse on Fallon's piano): You're welcome.

Fallon: Uhh... For what? A horse with an ass full of diamonds?

Alexis: That is your "something borrowed". It is a Dala horse. It's a Swedish symbol of good luck. Jeff bought it for me on our wedding day.

Fallon: Uh, that's lovely, thank you, but I need to borrow something from a couple's happy marriage, not a duplicitous sham. Plus, Blake gave me his boutonniere from his wedding with Cristal.

Alexis: The only happy marriage Blake has is with Scotch. And yes my marriage to Jeff started off as strategic, but it has grown into something more intimate.

Fallon: No. I do— I don't want to know.

Laura: Oh, dear. Sorry I'm late. Did I miss the first course?

Laura: Fallon, please, I come in peace.

Fallon: Great! Can you leave in peace?

Kirby: Uh, what's he doing here?

Fallon: Who?

Kirby (points to Father Collins): Him.

Fallon: Oh, he's our new officiant.

Kirby: Well, if you want to keep things chill and balanced, I'd rethink that choice.

Fallon: Why?

Kirby: Because I'm pretty sure that's the (her accidentally pointing the turned on microphone to herself) priest Cristal's been sleeping with.

Blake (to Cristal): Is that true?