Battle of the loose cannons: Beyond the Gates Two Scoops for the week of March 10, 2025

There was no shortage of arresting behavior on Beyond the Gates

Are y'all ready to go beyond the gates? This week we made the further acquaintance of several more characters who needed fleshing out and met a few new ones – but you don't wanna know about that! You wanna hear about how loopy Leslie nearly blew her own revenge scheme by entering the Richardsons' orbit. And Dani is still on the scene, getting arrested and invading Bill and Hayley's home. Does she need to slow her roll? All right, Scoopers – let's unlock what happened inside and outside the gates of Fairmont Crest!

This is how we do it

I have to make some more overall observations before getting into character-specific topics, as, so far, Beyond the Gates has only fifteen episodes under its glittery belt. I have to say – this is some soap. I've been covering B&B (columnizing for you since 2009!) for so long that I'd become used to their leaves-a-lot-to-be-desired plotting and pacing (though their cast is always stellar). I'd forgotten what a well-rounded soap is like!

Glory be, our Fairmont Crest inhabitants do not engage in repetitive dialogue. Sure, there's still a little hinting here and there to further cement the characters' relationships with one another, but they say what they say and move on. If you don't watch it, you miss it. And that leaves more room for development – both of the plot and character varieties. This by itself is so damn refreshing.

There's also a wonderful rotation of characters, whether within a soap week or even within the same episode. Main stories take the spotlight, of course, but we still see folks not moving in those circles getting their due. Instead of honing in on half a dozen faces, GATES lets us see everybody. If there's a backburner, no one has ended up on it yet. That's an example B&B could certainly learn from.

I'm also loving how characters not in the same story intertwine with each other. In three weeks, this new sudser has already woven quite the tapestry, and the mixed appearances are making that tapestry quite colorful. It's mostly in group dinner or party scenes, but it helps to make us feel that these guys all live in the same universe instead of existing separately in isolated universes.

The show's ability to foreshadow is deserving of applause as well. For example: Eva innocuously brings Ted and Nicole beverages. In the next episode, Eva gives the straw Ted used to Leslie for her to pull DNA from. There was no indication, no close-up or ominous music, to tell us the straw had any significance whatsoever. But boom, there it was, and suddenly it became important. There are more examples than that, but that's a particularly good one.

Then there's the plotting. There's no rushing, appealing to shortened attention spans everywhere. The show keeps things moving, but at a pace that generates intrigue and not frustration. And the psych-outs! I was sure Leslie had tampered with Andre's video tribute of Ted and Nicole, but the clip ran normally. Then I was sure Leslie was going to disrupt the gala, but she got dragged out – because Eva had reported her! That's how you tell a story. I hope B&B is watching their former writer Michele Val Jean's efforts – and takes notes. Copious ones.

Vivrant thing

Okay, now – on to story. Please don't take my laudatory stance toward GATES as me saying the show is perfect. Of course, it's not. Damn good, yes. My one major gripe so far is Dani. If you've heard anything about this soap, it's her. I get that she's still bitter about Bill dumping her (after cheating on her mega times) for the mistress who won, Hayley. I just fear Dani is becoming a little monotonous in her rancor.

As the week started, Dani was arrested for attempted murder, even after no charges had been filed against her before for whipping out a gun at Bill and Hayley's wedding and playing target practice with the flower arrangements. I think this was only right; Dani committed a crime. If she had simply gotten off scot-free, as it seemed was going to happen, it would have set a poor precedent, especially these days where certain people face no accountability at all.

Dani didn't need to serve a sentence; she didn't actually hurt anybody. It was enough that she got fingerprinted. And of course, Bill had to stop by to be a party to his handiwork, since he was the one who had had Dani indicted. Well, surprise! Hayley, who has been punched and held at gunpoint by Bill's ex, was the one to demand that Dani be set free. Hayley! Now that was a good twist, y'all.

Once home, Dani encouraged her daughter Naomi, whose husband, Jacob, had been called upon to Mirandize his mother-in-law to kiss and make up. Naomi had put Jacob on blast and cried that she'd never be able to trust him again. Dani agreed with Jacob that he had just been doing his job and advised Naomi to not let her actions ruin Naomi's marriage.

It was the Hawthornes' first crisis and one that was maybe over too quickly. I was also a little confused in that Naomi had labeled herself a daddy's girl before, only to tell Jacob that the way Bill had treated her had left her unable to trust other men. That seemed a contradiction. Still, this couple did appear a little too perfect as we started things out, so it was good for them to have a conflict, even a brief one.

With the marks from the handcuffs still on her wrists, Dani led her family to believe that her beef with Bill was now done. And it looked to be! When Nicole's TV interview was sabotaged with the news that Bill had deemed Dani mentally unstable in his own competing presser, Dani sat down quietly for the camera and took responsibility for herself, handling things with calmness and grace. So far, so good.

Then, with the family concerned that attention whore Dani would do something to upstage Nicole at her own awards gala, Dani stuck to the script as the night's emcee and was the epitome of charm, putting all the focus on Nicole, right where it should be. Had Dani been humbled by the humiliation of her arrest? Nope. Her nearly effecting a discus throw with her tablet after seeing pics of the “Shamiltons'” Italian honeymoon should have been our red flag.

Lying to the fam jam that she had a business meeting, Dani wrapped up a big ol' box, took it to Bill and Hayley's crib, and talked a security guard into letting her in so she could install the gift in the house personally. Dani next took the step of disabling Bill's security camera, guzzling from a rare bottle of wine that wasn't hers, and smashing the Hamiltons' wedding photo with said bottle. Oh, Dani. So much for moving on.

On the one hand, I can see Dani faking us all out by acting like she had risen above, only to continue sinking to vindictive levels. And after a 30-year marriage, no one could be expected to flip a switch and just get over the pain of it ending. Still, after punching, slapping, golf clubbing, gun-toting, object throwing, and unofficial breaking and entering, it feels like Dani's shtick is getting a little old after only three weeks.

I feel like Dani staying stuck in her acrimony is too much in our faces at this point. Might she not have waited two or three weeks before pulling her next stunt? After all, grief is not linear; backsliding would have been understandable. It's just that her constant antics are becoming a norm and therefore starting to lack the ability to shock. After Dani sobers up (on Bill's couch!), maybe it's time for her to either really make an effort to grow or simply direct her anger at other people, in other ways. Or both. Don't worry, Dani. Love you, boo.

Cool it now

For all of Dani's continuing shenanigans, the once-again Ms. Dupree looks like Shirley Temple next to her brother-in-law's long-ago fling, Leslie. This woman! I love it. Some have compared her to Genoa City and Los Angeles career criminal Sheila Carter, but I think it's too early for that. However, tell me that Leslie's troublemaking alter ego, Sherry Carter, wasn't inspired by and named for the naughty nurse.

Leslie started her week by faking a suicide attempt on a roof to lure psychiatrist Nicole up there. “Sherry” just wanted to get a look at the competition, the woman whom Ted had chosen over her. Now, this was after Leslie had sicced Eva on the Richardsons by planting Eva as Nicole's assistant (how's Laura and her broken leg doing?), with the understanding that Eva would do the heavy lifting and Leslie would hang back.

I guess it's the mark of a psychopath that they just can't help pushing things. Not content for her audience with Nicole to be an audience of one, Leslie did not try to slink out of things when Ted realized who she was. Not our Leslie/Dana/Sherry! No, Leslie used the moment to inform her former lover that she had the power now, and even Ted's threats to destroy her if she approached Nicole again weren't enough to wipe the smug smirk off of Leslie's face.

Unlike Dani's needs-to-be-dialed-back shenanigans, watching Leslie act out beyond the very parameters that she had set for her own plan was as fun as hell. Trisha Mann-Grant is having the time of her life with this and having me itching to see what Leslie is going to do next. Another nice touch: Eva calling Leslie out for her hypocrisy when Leslie, who had just confronted Nicole and Ted, deemed it too risky for Eva to be talking to Ted about her father. It was exactly what I had been thinking!

When Eva's smack talk against the Richardsons turned into praises, Leslie demanded to know if Eva was going soft on their plot. Eva defied the predicted answer by producing the aforementioned straw that she had gotten Ted to slather his DNA on. But Eva was horrified when Leslie wanted to get an immediate DNA test to back up exposing Ted at Nicole's conference.

I've been enjoying the chinks forming in Eva's armor. I get the feeling Leslie will end up in jail eventually, with Eva becoming a true but messy part of the Richardson household. In another instance of not leaving well enough alone, Leslie told her daughter she'd stay away from Nicole's gala, only to show up as wait staff. Man, the suspense was thick. And it was only a Thursday!

As I said before, I fully expected Leslie to bulldoze the entire evening in front of every Dupree (except Kat, who was out of town for some reason), but the show decided to up the tension even more by making it seem like Leslie would succeed, only to be thwarted...by Eva, of all people! Now it's not just the conflict between Leslie and Ted, but the growing conflict between Leslie and Eva, and I am here for it, here for it, here for it.

I'm coming out

I had said in my previous GATES column that I felt the outlying characters who had been introduced – those who were not able to sign their checks with Dupree or Richardson – had kind of gotten short shrift. That changed this week when the soap decided to backburner their main peeps for a day and spend an episode (Wednesday's) highlighting these so-far-underserved characters.

We'd already seen hottie boomalotti Vanessa cheating on her husband Doug – first, a random hookup that Dani unwittingly sprayed cold water on, then not one, but two...ahem...workouts with country club trainer Diego. As Vanessa readied herself for the next round by eyeing Diego hungrily (and really, who wouldn't; he's a fox!), Doug came up from behind and surprised her. And us!

Doug, who we discovered last week was a gambling addict, was on a high thanks to casino owner Joey paying off his debts. Doug wanted to share at least the emotional wealth with his apparently estranged better half. Seems he was always busy, and always distracted even when with Vanessa, which gives us a better understanding of why Vanessa has been looking for love in all the hot places.

Not that it excuses adultery, mind you, but it explains the rationale. Vanessa seemed caught between being touched by her husband's sudden attention and wanting to be touched again by Diego. However, we also found out Diego doesn't like being treated like a piece of meat. He shooed away another muscle bounder Vanessa was flirting with and wondered just how many men it would take to satisfy her. And she slapped him!

Not only was Diego jealous, but he appeared to indicate that he would like a relationship with Vanessa instead of just being her plaything. And while we're on the subject of playing, Doug ran right back to the casino and lost everything, while Joey (played by the always affable General Hospital/Port Charles veteran Jon Lindstrom) kept loading Dr. McBride up with chips. And I don't mean Tostitos.

Nay, Joey was on a mission to make Doug so beholden to him, that Doug would have to do what Joey wanted. What that is, we don't know yet, but that's part of the build of what would be considered a secondary story. It may be secondary, but we're still getting the intrigue. I actually want to see what Joey has in mind for Doug and whether or not Vanessa is going to be there when Doug hits the bottom he is so clearly headed for.

Jacob, though tied to the Duprees through wife Naomi being the granddaughter of one, got his own moment outside of the dust-up he had with Naomi over arresting Dani. We'd been told from the first episodes that newbie detective Jacob was getting a partner, and he finally emerged in the form of one Marcel Malone. But Marcel wasn't about Jacob's hero worship. He burst every bubble Jacob might have had in five seconds flat.

All right, so the gruff Marcel fell into a bit of a stereotypical hole by commanding Jacob to get him coffee and warning the rookie to stay out of his business. He didn't want Jacob's Dupree dramas to get him injured or killed if Jacob couldn't stay focused on the street. But man, is Marcel a force to be reckoned with! In one scene, he emasculated the sexy Jacob and took charge of their entire dynamic. Plus Daddy Marcel is fire in that leather jacket of his! Where did Jacob put those handcuffs?

Say my name

More familiar — though not exactly main — characters got their due this week, too. Martin had already been gifted with some gripping plot seeds with that business about his nightmares and his grandparents turning themselves into pretzels trying to make sure Bill didn't reveal whatever Martin's done that's causing them. But we discovered something else about Martin, too. He's a jerk!

There's a little bit of a risk in casting one of the two gay characters on the show as a jerk, but then again, it gives Martin layers. He was absolutely, adamantly against husband Smitty going back to work as an investigative reporter. Martin's claim was that their adopted teenagers, Tyrell and Samantha, needed one of their fathers at home. But there was a definite vibe of there being something deeper behind Martin's disapproval.

Maybe Martin doesn't want Smitty to find out what he did that's causing the night terrors. Smitty already knows that something's up, and every time Smitty tries to help by asking about the cause of the dreams, Martin shuts him down. Hell, after Martin had to be stopped from charging Bill like a ram at the police station, Smitty saw Vernon's concern and had a chat with his grandfather-in-law about it.

Martin basically told Smitty that he was not allowed to follow his own star, and it made me hope divorce is as easy for we LGBTQ+s to get as it is for straight people. Thankfully, GATES chose that moment to introduce us to the kids we had been told about. Samantha and Tyrell are both a bit on the entitled, indifferent side, apparently at that stage where everything their parents do is dorky. But they had Smitty's back.

Indeed, they wasted no time siding with Smitty and undermining every argument Martin tried to present to them for why Smitty shouldn't take a job again. They were so persistent that Martin finally had to give in; he compromised by suggesting Smitty take one assignment and the fam jam could go from there. Too bad Martin later told a man who approached him with a lead for Smitty that Smitty wasn't interested.

Cousins Kat and Chelsea didn't have a great amount of development, but what they got was certainly “less is more.” Kat asked into Chelsea's social life and had to drag details out of her. We already saw Chels picking up a stranger at Uptown (named after Prince's song?). But through her convo with Kat, we learned that Kat is not only heavily involved with a husband and wife as a throuple...she's gender fluid!

Chelsea didn't use that term specifically; she just said she liked what she liked. But I think the model may be breaking some ground here. Daytime has and has had gay male characters, the occasional lesbian, and the spare trans person. (Ironically, Dani's portrayer Karla Mosley played the last one of note, B&B's Maya.) But I don't recall anyone ever being gender fluid before — or partaking in a three-way relationship. It's kinda cool. Oh, the trouble that would have been saved if B&B's Ridge had gone this way with Brooke and Taylor! Or Liam with Hope and Steffy! Throuple it already!

On the converse side, it surely seemed that the likable Kat, who has certainly shown herself to be a snob at times, was a sexually confident – and sexually active – woman. Nope! During her date with Tomás (who needs to stop dropping Spanish expressions into every other sentence; we know you're Latino, mijo!), she skittishly admitted that she was a virgin. Now that was a surprise! Just don't build a fashion line around your purity status, Katster, and we're golden.

Then there's the growing Derek/Ashley/Andre triangle, which has been chugging along from the beginning but is finally starting to build up some steam. Playboy though Andre may be, schtupping Dani and all, he's actually crushing hard on novice nurse Ashley. She can't not see it, but she's been pretty clear that firefighter Derek is the only one for her. Even if Ashley doesn't mind bonding with Andre over photos and delivering babies in elevators.

Ashley hasn't made a move on Andre, but Derek sees their connection – and some of you fans do, too, as you're finding Andre and Ashley the better potential couple, leaving Derek the odd man out. (Derek, my digits are...) I wasn't quite sure why GATES threw Derek under a collapsed ceiling and hospitalized him at first, though. It's not like Ashley was leaning toward Andre and needed a reason to be pulled back to Derek or a reason to feel more stuck between them.

Derek suffered memory loss that hasn't really played into anything yet, either – not unless he's been faking it to get Ashley's attention. Late in the week, we started to see that Derek was truly bothered by Andre hovering around Ashley like a busy hummingbird. We've seen Mr. Firefighter subtly mark his territory here and there, but this week he neared Jack-Nicholson-peeing-on-shoes-in-Wolf, territory.

It took Andre roping Derek into a newspaper story about his heroism to bring out Derek's true discomfort. Why did Andre offer that, anyway? Just trying a new tack to reach Ashley? And it took a sweet visitor, Lucille, whose cat Derek rescued, to reveal that Derek had run into the burning building to get the kitty knowing its ceiling was about to crash down. Because of that, Ashley realized that Derek had acted out on whatever had been bugging him by putting himself in physical jeopardy.

Again, I think Andre's overtures are blatant enough that Ashley should be cluing into why Derek's becoming sulky without the need for cue cards. And now we know Derek is really bumming, because he had his own nightmare about Ashley leaving him for Andre and getting a cat named Derek! L to the O to the L! As for Andre, he's finally given up his game by trying to plant one on Ashley IRL; there's no way Ashley can be in denial about the shutterbug's intentions now.

Celebrate good times, come on

Three weeks, two parties! Yes, Fairmont Crest knows how to tie one on, as first we had the elegant pre-wedding soirée (before Dani pulled an Annie Oakley, that is), and now we had Nicole's awards gala, which didn't seem like it would (or should) merit the kind of glitz and glamor the nuptials had, but it did. I keep saying Michele Val Jean must have been a Dynasty fan (the OG soap, thanks) because she sure knows how to Dynasty it up.

Finery and shiny things were everywhere, and if one can be dressed beyond the nines, everyone in attendance certainly got into the double digits. But it wasn't just the way the gala looked. It was another sample of how the show has disparate characters encounter each other, and it also was pure soap goodness in terms of letting plots develop between the champagne and caviar.

This was where Martin roadblocked Smitty's job opportunity, but also where Vernon came down on Martin for wanting to run for president. Whatever Martin's secret is (and again, as I mentioned in my last GATES column, the secret isn't that Martin's gay; he's already a congressman with a husband, so everybody knows about that), Vernon warned that a presidential run would expose it for sure.

Vernon called Martin's indifference arrogant (perfect word to describe him; thanks, Papa D!) and predicted it would be his downfall. In the meantime, Smitty, Tyrell, and Samantha witnessed the exchange, with the young lady deeming it “sus.” These are real kids of the 2020s, and not caricatures that soaps sometimes try to pass off as kids. Plus, I love Vernon being tied into Martin's story. Anything with Vernon is gold.

But let's face it, Nicole wasn't the main reason for the ceremony – that reason was Leslie and the would-she-or-wouldn't-she time bomb she and “Sherry” escorted into the hall. I already covered how she had that bomb defused by her own daughter and the suspense that led up to it, but that suspense was palpable. Leslie wasn't threatened by Ted at all and was ballsy enough for “Sherry” to have a hint-dropping convo with Nicole there in front of Ted and everybody. Good stuff!

This new soap had a slightly shaky takeoff, relying too much on exposition to introduce characters and their stories and introducing other characters without the benefit of names – but it already feels like this world of Fairmont Crest has been around a lot longer than three weeks. It moves forward as a unified unit and the interlacing of the canvas gets tighter every day. I'd call this show a success so far. I'm even avoiding spoilers because I want to be surprised by the developments! And that's rare for me!

How do you think Beyond the Gates is faring, Scoopers? Are the characters and plots proceeding at a good pace? Is Martin being fair to Smitty by discouraging his renewed career aspirations? How do you feel about Chelsea's sexual identity? Is Dani's pony becoming a little too much of the one-trick kind for your taste, or are you grooving on her exploits? Is Leslie doing it for you as the show's resident villain? And is this soap starting to feel like a soap to you? Write a tell-all in the comments below!

Until next we meet, my soapy reader, live your life beyond!

(Purchase Adam-Michael James' books on Amazon)

(Listen to isletunes, AMJ's podcast featuring nothing but music from the artists of Prince Edward Island, Canada.)