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Dynasty · A Viewer's Companion

Two women named Cristal. Two men named Adam. A mother with three faces. Welcome to the Carringtons.

The CW's Dynasty doesn't just tangle its family tree — it recasts people mid-plot and dares you to notice. Two different women marry Blake under the name Cristal, an imposter plays long-lost son Adam for a season before the real one shows up, and Alexis is played by three actresses (one of them her own on-screen daughter). Pink borders are Carrington blood, emerald borders the rival-but-secretly-related Colby–Deveraux clan, and champagne borders everyone who married in or ran the house. Every card lists every actor who played the part.

Carrington blood Colby–Deveraux — the rival clan married in · household marriage (Blake's are numbered) parent → child secret parentage / imposture † dead — across all five seasons
Thomas’s secret daughter — revealed in S2 m. · div. one night m.1 · div. m.2 m.3 — the other Cristal Steven’s real father — the S2 reveal m. · div. m. ×2 raised secretly in London same name — only one is really Adam born in the series finale Thomas † Carrington patriarch Bill Smitrovich † S1 · his will causes chaos Cecil Colby Colby patriarch · Blake’s foe Hakeem Kae-Kazim out of prison in S2 Dominique Deveraux · née Millie Cox Michael Michele Blake’s secret half-sister Anders † the majordomo Alan Dale ran the manor · † S4 Alexis the ex-wife from hell Sheridan · Gillies · Hendrix three faces, one schemer Blake Carrington the patriarch · the money Grant Show 3 weddings · 2 Cristals “Cristal” No.1 † really Celia Machado Nathalie Kelley stolen name · † S1 finale Cristal No.2 the REAL Cristal Flores Contreras · Alonso same name, new woman Jeff Colby tech mogul · Fallon’s ex-fiancé Sam Adegoke later married… Alexis Monica Colby Jeff’s sister · singer Wakeema Hollis Fallon’s on-off best friend Kirby Anders Anders’ wild daughter Maddison Brown back from Australia in S2 Steven the idealist son James Mackay not Blake’s — Anders’ son Sam “Sammy Jo” Celia’s nephew · hotelier Rafael de la Fuente runs La Mirage Adam kidnapped at birth · back S2 Sam Underwood the real one — and unhinged Hank Sullivan con man hired by Alexis Brent Antonello played “Adam” for a year Fallon the heiress · the show Elizabeth Gillies also plays Alexis, briefly Liam Ridley writer · b. Jack Lowden Adam Huber paid husband → real one Amanda the London secret daughter Eliza Bennett arrives S4 · lawyer Lauren Ridley Fallon & Liam’s daughter a newborn the next Carrington
Hover over any portrait to enlarge it. Gold lines are marriages — Blake’s are numbered 1 to 3, and yes, two of them are to women called Cristal. Grey lines run from a marriage down to its children; dashed pink lines mark the show’s secrets: Dominique is Thomas Carrington’s hidden daughter (making the rival Colbys family), Anders — not Blake — fathered Steven, and Hank Sullivan spent a year impersonating the real Adam. Where a role was recast, the card lists every actor. Covers all five seasons.

Why the tree matters: five twists live inside it

Dynasty runs on switched identities. Each of these is a line or a border color on the chart above.

The two Cristals

Same name, different women — on purpose

Season 1’s Cristal (Nathalie Kelley) wasn’t Cristal at all: she was Celia Machado, a Venezuelan who stole the identity of a real woman named Cristal Flores. She dies in the Season 1 finale fire — and in Season 2 the actual Cristal Flores (widowed name: Jennings) walks in, meets Blake, and marries him too. Two wives, one name, zero coincidence. Then the real Cristal was herself recast: Ana Brenda Contreras in Season 2, Daniella Alonso from Season 3 on.

The fake Adam

Adam vs. Hank

Baby Adam Carrington was kidnapped decades before the show starts. In the Season 1 finale a long-lost “Adam” appears — but he’s Hank Sullivan, a con man Alexis hired to squeeze money out of Blake. The real Adam (Sam Underwood) is found at the end of Season 2: a smiling, scalpel-wielding menace who spends three seasons trying to earn Daddy’s love.

The recasts

A mother with three faces

Alexis arrives in Season 1 played by Nicollette Sheridan. When Sheridan left mid–Season 2, the show didn’t quietly recast — it gave Alexis plastic surgery, and when the bandages came off she had Fallon’s face: Elizabeth Gillies playing her own mother. From Season 3, Elaine Hendrix takes over for good. It’s the show’s fondest wink at the recast-happy soaps it descends from.

The household secret

The majordomo is Steven’s father

Season 2 reveals that Joseph Anders, the Carringtons’ unflappable majordomo, had one night with Alexis decades ago — and Steven is his biological son, not Blake’s. It also makes Steven and Anders’ daughter Kirby half-siblings. Anders keeps running the house anyway, because somebody has to.

The rival clan

The Colbys are family

Dominique Deveraux — born Millie Cox — is Thomas Carrington’s illegitimate daughter, which makes Blake her half-brother and her children Jeff and Monica Colby Fallon’s half-cousins. Awkward, since Fallon was once engaged to Jeff — and downright surreal when Alexis later married Jeff herself, briefly becoming her own daughter’s almost-mother-in-law twice over.

The love story

Fallon & Liam, married twice

Fallon first married Liam in Season 1 as a paid stranger — a spite-wedding to escape marrying Jeff Colby. It turned out the hired husband was Jack Lowden of the Van Kirk publishing dynasty, writing under the pen name Liam Ridley — and the fake marriage slowly became the show’s one real romance. They wed properly in Season 4, and daughter Lauren arrives in the series finale.

The name decoder

Dynasty reuses names, faces, and job titles like heirloom jewelry. Keep these straight:

Cristal vs. Cristal

Cristal No. 1 = Nathalie Kelley, Seasons 1–2 — an imposter (Celia Machado) who dies in the fire. Cristal No. 2 = the real Cristal Flores, Blake’s third wife — played by Ana Brenda Contreras (S2), then Daniella Alonso (S3–5). Different characters, same name, same husband.

Adam vs. Hank

Hank Sullivan = the fake Adam, Alexis’s hired con man (Seasons 1–2). Adam Carrington = the real kidnapped son, found in Season 2 — Sam Underwood, all smiles and menace.

Which face is Alexis?

Nicollette Sheridan S1–mid S2 · Elizabeth Gillies (yes, Fallon) for three post-surgery episodes of S2 · Elaine Hendrix S3–S5. All the same woman; never trust her regardless of face.

Carrington vs. Colby

Rival Atlanta dynasties — except Jeff and Monica’s mother Dominique is Blake’s secret half-sister, so the feud is a family argument with better lawyers.

Sam vs. Steven — and “Sammy Jo”

Steven is the Carrington son; Sam Jones is Cristal No. 1’s nephew who married him. His nickname “Sammy Jo” is a wink at the 1980s original, where Sammy Jo was Heather Locklear.

Liam Ridley vs. Jack Lowden

Same man. Liam Ridley is the pen name; Jack Lowden is his legal name as heir to the Van Kirk empire — which is why his terrifying mother Laura Van Kirk keeps turning up.

Anders vs. Culhane

The two staff members everyone mixes up: Anders = the older majordomo who runs the manor (and secretly fathered Steven). Culhane = the young chauffeur who dated Fallon and climbed to team owner.

Amanda vs. Kirby

The two surprise daughters who fly in from abroad: Amanda = Blake and Alexis’s secret fourth child, raised in London, lands in Season 4. Kirby = Anders’s daughter, shipped off to Australia as a girl, back in Season 2.

Not family — but always at the manor

Michael Culhane as seen in the show, played by Robert Christopher Riley

Michael Culhane

Robert Christopher Riley

The chauffeur who dated Fallon, feuded with Blake, and ended up co-owning the Atlantix. Never quite leaves the family’s orbit.

Vanessa Deveraux as seen in the show, played by Jade Payton

Vanessa Deveraux

Jade Payton

Dominique’s stepdaughter and singing protégée, brought to Atlanta in Season 3 as part of Mom’s comeback plan.

Iris Machado as seen in the show, played by Elena Tovar

Iris Machado

Elena Tovar

Sam’s mother and Celia’s sister — the Venezuelan past that keeps knocking on Cristal No. 1’s door.

Roberto Flores as seen in the show, played by Geovanni Gopradi

Roberto “Beto” Flores

Geovanni Gopradi

The real Cristal’s brother, dispatched from Mexico by their father — charming, menacing, and briefly Liam’s worst nightmare.

Portraits are stills from the Dynasty wiki, cropped and served from this site so nothing hotlinks an external host. Chart covers the CW reboot (2017–2022) — all five seasons, spoilers through the series finale. Blake and Cristal’s unborn son, lost in Season 5, is remembered in the story but not drawn as a card. The 1980s original series is its own, different tangle.