Dynasty (2017) is an American television series based on the famous 1980s soap opera of the same name. It tells the story of the Carringtons, a powerful family marked by ambition and intrigue.
While the modern adaptation explores themes central to the original 1981 series, Dynasty reinvents itself by incorporating LGBT diversity as one of its main narrative axes, normalizing same-sex relationships while creating new conflicts for the Carrington family.
The bi character in the series is Kirby Anders (Maddison Brown), the biological daughter of the butler Joseph Anders (Alan Dale) and an adoptive member of the Carrington family. Initially, Kirby has several romantic relationships with men both inside and outside the family, and she is coded as queer at key moments in the series. However, it isn’t until the fifth season that her character becomes more central to the story.
Kirby undergoes a gradual transformation throughout the series, becoming a more integral member of the clan, gaining self-confidence, and overcoming her initial struggles with addiction. Furthermore, her relationships with Jeff Colby (Sam Adegoke), Michael Culhane (Robert Riley), Adam Carrington (Sam Underwood), Charlie (Cinthia Quiles), and Amanda Carrington (Eliza Bennett) show her exploring her sexuality.
It’s important to note that Kirby’s story, far from being superficial or fleeting in the series, became a significant element in the final season, showing that bi experiences are worth exploring, even if her bi representation wasn’t ideal in every way.
In fact, for some, the lack of bi or lesbian representation for much of the series’ run was a point of criticism, as Kirby’s relationships with women seemed to serve merely to silence critiques about the lack of queer female relationships in the story.
While it was implied as early as the second season that Kirby had been involved with women in the past — thanks to a line from Monica, who is surprised to see Kirby in a relationship with a man — it took a long time for the story to progress before this was confirmed on-screen, finally giving us the long-awaited same-sex romances the story desperately needed.