Okay, I am totally copping out with my first write up on the worst/most annoying characters on Dynasty. But, I like to ease into things. Lady Ashley was definitely one of the most universally reviled characters on the show, and for good reason.
Lady Ashley was some sort of high society individual from New England who immediately set her sights on Blake. And Blake, for some reason, did not sense it (unlike with Tracy - who he nailed right away - wait that doesn’t sound right). Blake played dumb on this one, while all the time punishing Krystle for her relationship with Daniel Reese (who clearly had his sights on Krystle and Krystle wasn’t as naive about it)
Lady Ashley tried to spar with Alexis, and try is the best you can say about that. Alexis always got the best of her - which was not that hard. That did not stop Lady Ashley from constantly embarrassing herself and being the show’s punching bag.
I am shuddering
Once Lady Ashley realized she did not have a chance with Blake, she moved onto Jeff. Ugh - who thought it could get worse. Come on Jeff - I prefer you with the fake marriage to Nicole. Thankfully, our long nightmare of Lady Ashley ended at the royal wedding where it was clear that Lady Ashley was dead (we didn’t need to wait until the opening of Season 6 to find that out).
One final thought - what also made Lady Ashley so horrible was Ali MacGraw’s acting. There was just something about MacGraw that was off. She delivered her lines in a weird tone (I couldn’t even tolerate the way she said Dominique) and made these odd, robotic facial expressions and head movements. MacGraw was definitely out of her league on this show, and she knew it.
This is a lot of hate for someone who appeared in only 14 episodes - but it felt like so many more.