Dynasty shocker: James Mackay officially out as Steven Carrington

After hinting at Steven’s departure, Dynasty officially parts ways with James Mackay as a series regular. How will Season 2 handle his exit?

You might have seen this coming, but maybe you held onto that small glimmer of hope like Sammy Jo. TV Line reports that the powers that be behind Dynasty have officially let actor James Mackay, who played Steven Carrington since the reboot’s premiere in 2017, go as a series regular. The news comes after Steven announced last week his plans to move to Paraguay without husband Sam. He said he’d be back by Christmas, but that doesn’t seem likely now.

It’s not an unfamiliar move for Dynasty to abruptly drop a series regular actor, as last season, Nathalie Kelley’s Cristal died in the finale’s fire. Like Kelley’s departure, which she announced to E! News this summer, Mackay similarly announced his shocking exit on Instagram.

“While Steven had a choice to leave, I didn’t,” he wrote alongside a photo of himself with onscreen sister Elizabeth Gillies. Since Mackay’s exit wasn’t his decision, it begs the question: What’s going on behind the scenes?

Apart from a slight deceleration in narrative pacing, Dynasty shows no real signs of discord. Its ratings are low but stable and on par with last year. The Carringtons have literally risen from the ashes. But what’s behind Mackay and Steven’s sudden exits? The CW hasn’t commented, though executive producer Sallie Patrick appears to disagree with whomever chose to fire Mackay.

In response to a fan’s tweet lamenting Mackay’s firing and Steven’s irreplaceable heart on the series, Patrick simply responded, “Couldn’t agree more.” It’s unfortunate that Dynasty seems to be a victim of “notes from the network,” a disorder that can throw a series off course. Not to mention, the series just lost its sole queer couple. Let’s hope Steven’s leave of absence is temporary.

A brief recap:

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You didn’t think we’d leave you hanging, did you? While we’ll return to our regularly scheduled power rankings next week (barring anymore impromptu firings), we’ll offer a run down of what went down in “Queen of Cups.” Per the suggestion of Cristal, Sam calls on the talents of a psychic to offer insight on his future with Steven.

Turns out, Sam thinks he should pursue having a child via surrogacy and ultimately asks Kirby to carry his and Steven’s baby.

Culhane and Jeff execute their plan to catch Ada Stone for her crimes, but she manages to double cross them and push them back into a corner. Meanwhile, Fallon believes Culhane’s cheating on her, which prompts her to get a little too close to Liam at their iconic divorce party. Fallon, who definitely would be at the bottom of the power ranking, got the psychic’s reading wrong. She betrayed Culhane and ended up kissing a bare-chested Liam. Falliam for the win?

But Steven’s official exit wasn’t the only shocker of the episode. Alexis threw herself into Blake’s crosshairs to keep Hank from getting arrested, but she probably shouldn’t have. Hank teamed up with Claudia, who wanted to extort the Carringtons with the painting. Wait, there’s more! Alexis has another chat with the psychic, who reveals Alexis will get married and her groom will soon “expire.” As in, die. So, if someone’s about to die, why did Steven have to leave?

What did you think of the latest episode? Are you disappointed to see James Mackay and Steven go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Dynasty airs Fridays at 8/7c on The CW.