Drop it like it's hot: Beyond the Gates Two Scoops for the week of March 31, 2025

What do you mean it's time for a truce on Beyond the Gates?

Are y'all ready to go beyond the gates? This past week Chelsea agreed to end one career and start another at the same time, Dani tried a more effective weapon on Bill besides hands, golf clubs, and guns, and everybody and their grandmother – including her grandmother – tried to get Naomi to drop her suit against The Law Offices of Bill Hamilton, Esq. Oh – and after a splendiferous launch, our new soap seems to be going in circles a bit. Close up your designer purse, and let's find out what happened inside and outside the gates of Fairmont Crest!

Things that make you go hmm...

Before I get into specifics of what did and didn't go down on Beyond the Gates as March ended and April began, I must say I find myself somewhat flustered at the current pace of the show. I know we're only six weeks in, and at first, we were all heavily loaded up with information about these people and their histories and their lives as we dropped into them – all of which came with exposition to spare.

We've been shown there's no need for exposition anymore, but at least in that first month or thereabouts, there was a good rotation between the 20 main characters from episode to episode; not an easy thing to do. Sure, we leaned heavier on Dani and her dramas because she kinda seems to be the main character. But this week in particular, GATES introduced us to something we hadn't seen before: the backburner.

I'm feeling wary because we seem to be settling into focusing on certain clusters of characters and storylines, with some getting way more airtime than others. (The reason for that wariness: 15 years of writing Two Scoops columns for B&B, a show that is notorious for shelving most of its cast in favor of spotlighting about six familiar faces.) Example: Martin and Smitty didn't get a single scene between Monday and Friday.

Leslie was also absent except for a flashback sequence of Ted's, and even Eva only showed up on Monday. All right, yes, those were the only major absences, but it's also that Naomi and the yo-yo status of her case took up the whole week, as did Dani's escapades with Chelsea, Bill, and Andre (in that order). Joey cast a shadow on our fictional D.C. and other characters, while Andre's fan-favorite dilemma with Ashley felt like an afterthought.

Hey, GATES is still doing a thousand times better with rotating characters than B&B; I would just hate to see this new venture fall into the trap that B&B has. But it isn't just the number of faces that has lessened of late. The stories involving those faces, at least the past couple of weeks, have mystifyingly begun to travel in circles. Instead of real forward motion, we're rather stuck in neutral.

Half of GATES' life ago – three weeks – is how long it's been since Leslie actively tried to enact her plan to get the ultimate revenge on Ted by publicly announcing her affair with him and outing Eva as their secret love child. Leslie was going great guns for a while, but not much of anything has happened with her since. Yes, she did confront Kat as “Anna” and extort $50K out of Ted, but...

And even with that, a week and a half went by, and no demands from Leslie to hurry up and pay out? Ted just thought back to it, but you'd think Leslie would be revving the engine to get it. The next designated venue for her explosive secret, the Richardson's anniversary party, seems to get further away with time, not closer; where's that DNA-laden straw Eva nicked for Leslie a month ago? This is one of the show's biggest stories, and it's just sitting there.

Other examples will become clear as we move on with this column; it's just odd that some of these arcs feel like they're moving through molasses now. It's not that I think everything needs to whip along at a breakneck pace all the time – I love slow builds, and plenty of those are still happening. I'm just not feeling a consistent move ahead. Hopefully, this is just a new-to-air glitch and not a standard we're already setting.

Stop! in the name of love

Naomi's lawsuit is a prime example of how lots can happen in a story without anything really happening in it. The case was on! Then it was off! It was on! Off! Then – dang, this is a soap storyline, not a tennis ball at Wimbledon. I won't deny there's a certain suspense in the will-it-or-won't-nature of this saga, but I sure got whiplash from it this week.

It's one thing for Bill to try to get the suit dropped and play on Naomi's insecurities to achieve that aim. I even understand Hayley working the angles since she's personally affected by it as Bill's wife and co-worker (not that we've seen Hayley doing anything but eating and shopping; didn't she make a big deal about staying on at the firm despite her marriage to Bill?).

But I swear, it now seems Fairmont Crest's country club could be filled with only people who are trying to chip away at Naomi's resolve. Maybe that's meant as a test for said resolve, but wow. Tomás wanted the case cancelled, which again, we can sympathize with because he works at the accused firm. But Dani? She was the one who told Bill how proud she was of Naomi when Bill informed her about it!

Before that, Naomi's grandparents took their turn at stealing her legal sunshine! Now, Vernon, I get – he already didn't want to piss off Bill by not bringing his fam to the Hamilton wedding because of whatever it is Bill knows about Martin's secret. Rappin' grandma Anita confused me, though. It was because of Anita's emboldening that Naomi filed the papers in the first place! Now, Anita wants Naomi to cease and desist?

I've seen all 28 episodes of this show so far, and I don't recall a scene where Anita – privately or otherwise – changed her mind about Naomi running with the suit. Had Vernon taken her aside and reminded her of the danger Bill represented, yeah, but there was no Point B on that journey from Point A to Point C. And I'm getting annoyed with everyone (except Kat and Jacob, it would seem) working to convince Naomi to step off.

Now, I do think it's cool that GATES is folding Naomi's legal struggle against Bill into the saga of Martin's secret. We know this because, when faced with her grandparents' resistance, Naomi shrewdly pointed out that their stonewalling was much like when they insisted everybody go to Bill's wedding without saying why. It would be fun to see Naomi's case explode whatever Martin's hiding. If the thing ever gets in front of a judge, that is.

Even the clients wanted to know if Naomi was barreling forward based on their best interests or her own. Well, I'm here to say, stay strong Miss Naomi! I need this case to go to trial. Not only do we have to see consequences for sexual misconduct in this time where too many free passes have been given for it, but I haven't seen good old-fashioned courtroom chaos on a soap in ages.

As Dani herself hinted, Bill's questionable courtship of Hayley in the workplace would come up, and it would put the majority of the cast on the stand in one way or another. Talk about some major drama! And yes, part of this is because all of B&B's legal woes the last decade or so have either been handled off-screen or in a judge's chamber. Let's slow down the seesaw, GATES, and get Naomi's case on the docket soon!

Oh – there's also the “little” matter of Bill mushmouthing his words while his hand went numb while arguing with Naomi about the suit. This got buried – for now – but when it happened, it was like, is everything trying to get Naomi to forgo the case? There are just too many forces thwarting Naomi, and, as Naomi herself said, her suit has merit. Save Bill collapsing until he's in court...with the judge finding in favor of Mike's accusers!

Push it

Dani had her fingers in multiple pies this week, which is not out of line since she appears to be the reigning queen of Fairmont Crest (sorry, Anita). Now, for whatever my criticisms about pacing at the moment, I did like Dani, at three separate times over the week, thinking about or nearly taking a drink. That felt appropriate for tension building; we don't need to see her in a stupor every other episode to make the point that she's descending into alcoholism.

She's gone on to crow to just about everyone that she's fine, despite evidence to the contrary – denial and subterfuge are key components of the disease as it is. And while I did execute a perfect facepalm when Dani, without any warning, bulldozed her way into Chelsea and Kat's purse design business, it was also very much in character for her. Moving from micromanaging Chelsea's modeling career to micromanaging Chelsea's latest venture? On point.

And kudos to Chelsea – we easily could have seen her spend another several weeks sulking around trying to get up the courage to tell her mom what time it was, but I guess Chels felt empowered from her last go-round, because she was pretty quick in advising Dani to stay the hell back, thank you JJ Fad. Dani was hurt, but let's face it – this one she had coming.

I won't say that Dani's concept of having Chelsea end her modeling career by working the runway with one of her purse prototypes on her arm wasn't a good one. I'm not even all that bummed that Chelsea caved and took this compromise. But what I really wanted to see was Dani strutting down the catwalk herself. That stage was already set with one of the fashion show organizers suggesting it while on the phone with Dani.

I mean, how perfect would it have been? We know Dani was all that and a bag of chipped vases from shot-up flower arrangements back in the day, not only through her tellings of her teenage career, but her magazine covers proving them. Wouldn't it have been awesome to have Dani do the benefit's modeling herself? The only reason she was so controlling of Chelsea's career is because she'd given up her own.

It would have given Dani something to focus on that was her own, and we need all the messages that women over 40 rock that we can get. But alas, it's gonna be Chelsea, and Dani's codependent “addiction” to Bill, as Nicole phrased it, continues unabated. Dani acted all indifferent when Bill suddenly called wanting to come over, but damned if she didn't take her stairs two at a time with a big smile on her face as she ran up to change clothes.

Enter Dani in the red leather dress. Yeah, no seduction attempt there. I guess it fleshed Bill out more to show that he looked back on at least some of his past with Dani through a fondness lens, though it did rather end up being a lesson in chemistry. No wonder Dani busted out and kissed him – and don't tell me Bill didn't kiss her back. She's right; there's still some feelings caught there between them.

This was substantiated by the fact that Bill told Hayley everything else about why he had gone to visit Dani...except the kiss. Did y'all feel as bad for Dani as I did when she learned that the only reason Bill had come to see her was to get her to talk her Team Dani friends off of Hayley? Derek was right: Hayley needs to give up on trying to be accepted by the country clubbers and find some new peeps. It's not like they aren't there on this rather expansive canvas.

Dani then chose Andre over booze, and I must congratulate her on her choice because what a tall drink of water he is. These two are the best couple on the show! Well, at least in terms of bringing the heat. It might have been all about sex at first, but Dani and Andre have come to care about each other, and even if Ashley were to ditch Derek (I'll fight you for him, Shanice) and jump into a full-on affair with Andre, it would never reach the knee-weakening intensity he has with Dani. Team Dani!

No scrubs

When we met Andre Richardson, all indicators were that he's nothing but a jet-setting playboy. But this past week, we got a big clue into why the shutterbug has made an Olympic sport out of collecting frequent flier miles. It's not so much that he's moved by wanderlust – it's that this fictional D.C. tends to be a painful reminder of his parents' deaths. That was a big, welcome layer for Andre to get.

Again, I don't see the attraction that fans have for Andre and Ashley, not when he both scorches bedsheets with Dani and holds her when she's down. Ashley has been kind of a tough nut to crack, anyway. She does seem super into Derek, as she's said; her thoughts might linger to Andre from time to time, but it's not like she's giving him any serious consideration. Which is why I'm not buying the longing, not from either side.

The simmering chemistry that should be there between a couple who wants to be together but isn't doesn't really exist, from what I can see. Ashley doesn't honestly generate that many sparks with Derek, either – she's nice, and I like her, but why Andre would want her over Dani...or even Shanice!...is beyond me. This week, Ashley wanted to know why Andre was ghosting her post-almost-kiss.

“What are we, five?” Ashley asked, and she was right about that one. She and Andre pretty much re-established their friendship, though they were treated to a lingering handhold that maybe potted up the yearning to seven, but that was about it. That Shanice has been picking up on the lost looks intrigues me; she's a firecracker, and she could cause some problems for the nurse and photographer. I'm always up for that.

If we didn't already know that another major factor for Andre sticking around town was Ashley, that was cemented by Andre throwing in as soon as the hospital made him an offer to shoot a documentary...about Garland Memorial's nurses. Convenient, but we'll go with it. It seemed Ashley was the only practitioner whom Andre had avoided setting up camera time with, but Ashley got that fixed.

Here was a more interesting development this past week: Derek going proactive and inviting Andre to dinner when Andre floated around him at Uptown. It felt like these boys were making moves to size each other up where Ashley was concerned. Unfortunately, we really didn't get much play there. They not surprisingly bonded over sports, but before they could find out how the other ticked, Andre got his phone call and took off.

While Ashley has been a weak participant in this somewhat triangle, Derek hasn't shown much oomph, either. It's been that way from the beginning, even though we were told he ran into that article-inducing burning building acting out of his unspoken frustration over Andre's interest in his girl. We even saw Derek have a fun nightmare about Ashley ditching him, remember?

That's why I thought the two men dining with Ashley would have been more tense, but all it did was prove that Andre is the only one with a passionate vibe in the group. The show could drop Andre out of the equation and let Derek and Ashley go forward on their own, and I'd be okay with that. Because, while there's a triangle on paper here, I'm not seeing any future in it.

Whatzupwitu

Like dark clouds building over the plains of Kansas during a thunderstorm and accompanying tornado warning, Joey Armstrong and his influence cast even deeper shadows over this make-believe District of Columbia. He even made his way into one of Naomi's convos with her clients; apparently, the FBI has been wanting to nab Armstrong for years, she reported.

We'd already learned that Marcel is tied to Joey through the almighty dollar, but this past week, we saw that in practice – Marcel met with Joey and accepted two stuffed manila envelopes...the same kind Marcel watched another of Joey's stooges accept with Jacob next to him in their stake-out car. Marcel's not very bright, is he? Why did the supposedly veteran detective choose to meet Joey pretty much right next to the station, which is the only way Jacob could have seen them when he parked?

Marcel could have taken his cash next to the Washington Monument in broad daylight, and he would have been less conspicuous. This is assuming the envelopes actually did contain money, but what else would be in there – Joey's tortellini recipe? Elon (again, any name except Donald would have been better) covered when Jacob ran to him to narc on Marcel for cashing out like Joey was a Vegas slot machine.

Elon managed to convince Jacob that Joey was functioning as an informant for the station; the bills Joey had given Marcel were marked and would be used to track whoever it was they wanted to arrest. The precinct was, as Elon stated, using a supposed criminal to nab a real one. I guess Jacob wouldn't have any reason to mistrust his pop on this one...but didn't he also seem a bit gullible at the same time?

Joey had other fish to fry, one in particular named Doug McBride. We still don't know exactly what Joe-Joe has in mind for the heart doc, but I'm sure it isn't rolling an industrial-sized defibrillator machine out of the hospital. Joey started tightening the noose around Doug, too: when Doug lost another one of his shirts at the gambling table, presumably thanks to those rigged cards Joey installed, Joey wasn't charitable. Doug needed to start paying up...”for both our sakes.” Doug, to paraphrase Tootie on The Facts of Life...”You are in troubbbbblllllleeeee!”

Joey's main mark was Vanessa, and I liked how Nicole got roped into this saga. I didn't realize Nicole was Vanessa's bestie; I'd thought from the premiere ep that Dani filled that role, but whatever. We got some real talk from the ladies; turns out Vanessa isn't the only one who knows about Vanessa stepping out on Doug, because Nicole knows, too.

And both McBrides acknowledged this past week that they have a kind of ships-passing-in-the-night marriage that works for them. Well, hey, why not; for as much as Vanessa is cheating with Diego and who knows who else, plus trying to cheat with Joey, Doug has been getting it on with Lady Luck. If this checks the boxes for them, great, but Nicole had a point that it was rather sad they'd settled for this kind of union.

Nicole managed to squeeze out of Vanessa the fact that she had a female woody for Joey, which didn't thrill Nicole. It wasn't the straying so much as it was the rep that Joey had, though nobody knew exactly how real or extensive Joey's crime biz was or wasn't. Nicole advised Van to be careful, but when the shrink got home and relayed to Ted how Joey was looking for a crib for his moms, didn't Nicole get the earful.

Doctor's circles being what they are, Ted knew the doctor who had brought Joey's mother in for plastic surgery the year before, and Mrs. Armstrong had died on the table. Ted's contemporary, though not at fault, was so afraid of Joey's response that he took off for parts unknown. And when Nicole got the whole scoop, she took off for the country club to warn her sudden, or maybe not-sudden BFF.

Not to lump Vanessa into the dumb blonde stereotype, but soap gods love her, when Nicole told her that Mama Armstrong had croaked, Vanessa thought Nicole meant now and picked up her phone to deliver the bad news to Joey. That was cute. Thankfully, Vanessa's strong-woman persona wasn't far behind. She called Joey, all right, but to demand he meet her right away. And if he was playing her, Vanessa promised Nicole, she would throttle him.

Vanessa shooed the protective Nicole away and decided to fly solo in conference with Joey. He caught on pretty much right away that Vanessa had figured him out, and he wanted to know how. Vanessa, on the other hand, wanted to know why he had tried to fake her out. And that was when he went into a song and dance worthy of Billy Flynn in Chicago, talking about how the house he was looking to buy was really for him, but he was too embarrassed to admit that he was the one who needed the discussed elderly-focused amenities.

And Vanessa not only bought it, she invested in it ten shares on the dollar. Well, what fun would it have been if she hadn't? Joey and Vanessa are strangely hot by themselves – even firestarter Diego noticed – and methinks the casino owner's interest in the realtor is no longer just a way to get at Doug. Though, am I also of the opinion that both McBrides are going to find themselves in harm's way because of Joey? You betcha! Can't wait!

What are you and are you not groovin' on with GATES, Scoopers? Do you find the pacing too hot, too cold, or just right? Are you good with honing in on certain groups of characters, or would you rather see everyone getting a turn like they did in the first few weeks? Should Dani be the one strutting her stuff at the fashion show? Does the potential pairing of Andre and Ashley still work for you? Do you think Leslie needs to get on with it already? And are you finding the back-and-forth motion of Naomi's case satisfying, or would you rather the courtroom doors start opening? Present your evidence in the comments section 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.)