Steven Carrington

The role of Steven was originated by Al Corley in the show's first episode in 1981; Corley left at the end of the second season in 1982 after complaining about Steven's "ever-shifting sexual preferences" and wanting "to do other things." and remains one of the most well-known of the earliest gay characters on television. Suzanna Danuta Walters writes that because of the character, "in the annals of gay TV history, the '80s will be remembered as the Dynasty years." Dynasty co-creator Esther Shapiro noted in a 1981 Esquire magazine article that the character of Steven "was, is, and always will be gay", but explained that she initially intended for him to be confused about his sexuality for two seasons before ultimately becoming a "well-rounded gay character". With Dynasty becoming one of the 20 highest-rated American prime time series by the end of its second season and eventually rising to #1 in 1985, Steven "had great potential for breaking through the usual stereotypes" and his life "could have been explored in storylines in which [his] sexuality did not necessarily have to be problematized." Corley also lamented Steven's "ever-shifting sexual preferences", Commenting on Steven's romantic relationship with Luke Fuller (played by Billy Campbell), Coleman noted, "It was very much The Donna Reed Show in terms of four feet on the floor, nobody actually ever touching.") sparked a backlash from "fundamentalists who complained to advertisers", and by the spring of 1991 there were no gay characters in evidence at all. This ultimately paved the way for a reversal of the trend and Ellen DeGeneres' watershed coming out in 1997, the subsequent "steady stream of ... well-developed, three-dimensional gay and lesbian characters" on television, and the relative "open door" of the 2000s. To Blake's chagrin, Steven goes to work for Walter Lankershim (Dale Robertson), a small-time oilman and rival to Blake, and his new business partner Matthew Blaisdel (Bo Hopkins), Steven's old friend and Blake's former employee, who had previously been involved with Krystle. Though Walter brings Steven to a brothel in a fatherly attempt to resolve his sexual confusion, he and Matthew are unfazed by Steven's supposed preference for men, and Matthew even defends him against the homophobic glares of other oil rig workers. Steven finds a kindred spirit in Matthew's fragile wife Claudia (Pamela Bellwood), who is trying to put her life back together after a mental breakdown, and they secretly kiss in "The Chauffeur Tells a Secret". Steven is framed for an accident at Walter's oil rig and fired. He is offered his job back when his innocence is later proven, but declines; after beginning an affair with Claudia in "The Necklace", Steven decides to work for Blake at Denver-Carrington. Despite Fallon's machinations to keep him away, Steven's ex-lover Ted Dinard (Mark Withers) appears, hoping to reconcile. Steven spends the night with Ted, soon deciding he must break it off with both Ted and Claudia. As Steven and Ted are saying their final goodbyes in "The Separation", Blake enters to find them in a chaste embrace. Blake, whose discomfort with Steven's sexuality manifests itself in rage, angrily pushes the two men apart. Season 3 In the eighth episode of the season, "La Mirage", Fallon finally receives a letter from Steven, who is working on an oil rig in the Java Sea. Jack Coleman debuts as Steven (his face unseen) in the December 1, 1982 episode "Acapulco" as the oil rig explodes. Blake and Alexis rush to Indonesia to search for him, but Steven is presumed dead; Blake refuses to believe it. In "Samantha", Sammy Jo reappears with a baby, who, she claims, is her son by Steven. Announcing her desire to seek fame as a model in New York City in the January 5, 1983 episode "Danny", Sammy Jo hopes that Blake and Krystle will take baby Danny off her hands. Meanwhile, Steven is alive in a Singapore hospital, his face bandaged after extensive cosmetic surgery. Alexis wants custody of Danny herself but is soon distracted by greedy Adam's machinations. Several episodes later in "The Mirror", Steven's bandages are removed. He considers letting his family continue to believe that he is dead, but Steven's doctor contacts Blake. Blake recognizes his son despite the surgery, but Steven refuses to return to Denver. He reconsiders when Blake tells him about Danny. Steven makes an emotional return to the Carrington mansion in "Fathers and Sons", reuniting with his loved ones and meeting his long-lost brother Adam and infant son Danny for the first time. Alexis admits that she had paid Sammy Jo to leave Denver and suggests that Blake had bribed her to leave Danny behind; Steven visits Sammy Jo in New York in "The Downstairs Bride" but returns alone. Steven finds himself in the middle of his parents' fight over a potential merger of their companies initiated by a plotting Alexis. Blake is dismayed when Steven accepts a job offer from Alexis and makes known his plan to move out of the mansion with Danny. In the March 30, 1983 episode "The Dinner" Steven visits Claudia, who had returned to the sanitarium after another breakdown during his absence. Tensions between Blake and Steven escalate further thanks to Alexis, who manages to keep Steven away from a dinner planned by Krystle to mend fences between father and son. In the third-season finale "The Cabin", Blake learns that Steven is living with his attorney, Chris Deegan (Grant Goodeve). Suspecting that the men are more than friends, Blake decides to sue Steven for custody of Danny. Steven's affair with Luke strains his relationship with Blake, especially when Steven invites Luke to be his escort to Amanda's wedding to Prince Michael of Moldavia. Season 6 Steven is heartbroken when Luke is killed in the terrorist attack at Amanda's wedding. The Reunion By the time of the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion, Steven is an environmental lobbyist in Washington, D.C. and is in a long-term relationship with Bart Fallmont, who returned to Denver during the three years between the series finale and the miniseries. Steven and Blake finally reconcile when Blake formally accepts Steven's and Bart's committed relationship. ==Reboot==

A pilot for a Dynasty reboot for The CW was announced in September 2016, and James Mackay was cast as Steven. The new series premiered on October 11, 2017. Characterization Executive producer Josh Schwartz said that in the new series, "The relationship between Blake and Steven is not about [Steven's] sexuality. Steven is confidently gay, and Blake accepts him." Their conflict is instead focused on the environmental issues surrounding Blake's energy conglomerate. Executive producer Sallie Patrick said, "I wasn't interested in telling a story about a father who is not on board with his son being gay. That's not to say [Blake] was always OK with it—there might have been a moment where he struggled with it, maybe that's the back story. We'll see. I also just wanted Steven to be more confident about who he is. For us, it was much more interesting to me that their conflict had more to do with their opposing political viewpoints." Maureen Ryan of Variety noted that "like Fallon, [Steven] gets a few chances to express his exasperation with their father's manipulative ways ... Steven is less ambitious than his sister, but like her, he is pulled back into Blake's orbit". Vulture Matt Zoller Seitz wrote, "[Steven's] conflicted attitude toward his own privilege frequently shades over into self-criticism. He knows all of this luxury has warped his mind, but he can't give it up ... he learns that somebody stole a wad of $100 bills from his pants pocket [and] admits he never noticed the theft. Only a person who has never had to worry about money could be so cavalier about losing it." The series also changed Sammy Jo from a woman to a gay man named Sam "Sammy Jo" Jones, played by Rafael de la Fuente. Executive producer Stephanie Savage said, "With Steven Carrington out and proud, it makes sense for Sammy Jo to be a man." Departure On November 9, 2018, James Mackay announced via Instagram that he has departed from the series. "While Steven had a choice to leave, unfortunately I didn't," Mackay explains. "There's a lot of decisions involved in making television, and sometimes they just don't go your way and you have to live with it." Deadline Hollywood reported that Mackay would return later in the season in a surprising plot twist. Mackay subsequently appeared in three additional episodes of the second season, with Steven's storyline left on a cliffhanger at the end of the fourteenth episode and the fate of the character unclear. Steven's absence from the later seasons and the lack of an in-universe explanation served as one of the most notable criticisms for Dynasty as a whole, with his sibling dynamic with Fallon, the family's obliviousness to Adam orchestrating Steven's mental breakdown, and the show's tendency to recast other roles, being sources of frustration and confusion amongst fans regarding the character's abrupt departure. In December 2021, Mackay took to Instagram to express his appreciation for the fans' continued support of him and his role on Dynasty, while also noting that his departure was not his or creator and executive producer Sallie Patrick's choice. In addition, several cast members, including Elizabeth Gillies and Grant Show, have vocalized their disagreement with The CW's decision to fire Mackay from the series. "It was pitched to me as [Fallon's] most important relationship," Gillies explains, "and then they got rid of him out of absolutely nowhere, and he'd done nothing wrong." On September 16, 2022, Mackay ultimately reprised his role as Steven Carrington in the series finale. According to executive producer Josh Reims, Steven's return was only due to the fact that Dynasty was ending. "This was just a series finale thing," Reims explains, "We had discussed at the beginning of the season bringing Steven back, whether it was going to be James or someone else was always up in the air, depending on whether we could get him and have it all work out. Once we knew it was the series finale, we felt like it was only right to try and get James to come back and make everybody happy and whole again." Additionally, Reims admitted that writers did not discuss bringing Steven back often, due to their focus on telling as many stories as they could with the 12 to 13 series regulars they currently had. However, "The writers' room always felt that Adam would need to pay for what he did to Steven, and it would be great if Steven was the one to make him pay. It was always in the back of our minds." Storylines In the premiere episode "I Hardly Recognized You", Steven returns to Atlanta to find his father Blake Carrington engaged to Cristal, a woman instantly loathed by Steven's sister Fallon. Though close to Fallon, Steven finds himself befriending an earnest Cristal, and warming up to his father. Steven has a one-night stand with Sam Jones, who he later discovers is Cristal's nephew. Steven tries to uncomplicate matters by keeping his distance from Sam, who is staying at the mansion, but is won over by Sam's compulsive honesty and thoughtfulness. Steven is implicated in the death of Matthew Blaidsel, and again clashes with Blake, who he suspects may have been involved. In "Private as a Circus", Steven works with Sam to retrieve Matthew's phone, which Blake had obtained illegally and was subsequently stolen. Steven channels his father as he coerces Chief Stansfield into clearing him for Matthew's death, but is uncomfortable with the apparent suicide and confession that exonerate him. Soon, Steven is furious when a repentant Sam admits his complicity in the robbery. Reception Maureen Ryan of Variety called Mackay "suitably droll and engaging", and Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture deemed Steven "the best character so far". ==Notes and references==