'Dynasty' season 3: Will James Mackay's Steven Carrington return to the CW drama despite announcing his departure from the show?
The role of Steven Carrington on the original 80's soap opera 'Dynasty' was hailed for being one of the first gay main characters on American television. When Steven returned to our screens in CW's 2017 reboot of the show, portrayed by James Mackay, he was declared as "the best character so far" in the show by Vulture. However, James Mackay would not stick around to continue playing the legacy character, leaving the show during its second season, stating "while Steven had a choice to leave, unfortunately, I didn’t" on his Instagram post.
However, The CW's synopsis for Season 3 suggests the return of old characters and fans are hoping that Steven is one of them. Many were disappointed by Mackay with Steven's abrupt exit in Season 2 which led to the addition of Sam Underwood's Adam Carrington as he made his way into the Carringtons' lives. To recap, in Season 2, Steven slept with Melissa Daniels (a former fling during his teenage years) played by Kelly Rutherford after seeking her help for Sam to get a proper visa to stay in the USA. Steven is later informed by Daniels that he is the father of her unborn baby, only for her to recant this when it is revealed that Steven's father is not Blake Carrington, but Joseph Anders, the Carrington family butler. Steven, in a bid to deal with his issues, leaves for Paraguay to work with his foundation. Steven later goes missing from Paraguay and resurfaces in Paris where he asks Fallon's (Elizabeth Gillies) help after his passport is stolen. In Paris, while Fallon and Sam (Rafael de la Fuente) try to get Steven to return to Atlanta, he tries to get them to meet his friend George. Convinced that George is a hallucination resulting from a drug-induced breakdown, Fallon and Sam help Steven check into an institution in Paris to recover. However, 'George' is real and turns out to be Adam Carrington, the long-lost Carrington sibling who has nefarious intentions.
Mackay has not been confirmed to return in Season 3, but should Steven appear again, this would lead to Adam's actions from the beginning being exposed. After all, Adam did pretend to be someone else (and pretended to have slept with Steven), he also used Steven to learn all the family secrets after drugging him. There is hope for Steven's return since his role has not been recast, unlike the roles of Cristal Flores (twice) and Alexis Carrington. Further, on the IMDb page for the first episode of Season 3, 'Guilt Trip to Alaska', Mackay is listed in the cast credits. However, it is unclear at this point whether we will be seeing Steven in the present or during flashbacks sequences.
Further, Rutherford is set to reprise her role as Mrs. Daniels in the season 3 premiere. Not only was Rutherford spotted at the table read, de la Fuente also shared news of her return on his Instagram page. Fans believe the character of Mrs. Daniels cannot return without Steven as her plotlines heavily involved him in Season 2. However, Mrs. Daniels might also be showing up to blackmail the newly-rich Sam who has just bought a hotel.
Former head writer Paula Sabbage also teased that she would like to see Steven's political ambitions explored in further seasons should the show be renewed. Fans have been expressing their hopes that Steven returns to Dynasty in the show's future season(s).
Though Mackay has not been very active on Instagram over the last few months, but the only new addition to his acting credits on IMDb being the season 3 premiere episode is raising fans' hope that one of the best-developed characters of the 21st-century would return to television and perhaps find happiness with Sammy Jo.