The party of the other part: Beyond the Gates Two Scoops for the week of March 17, 2025

The kids – and adults – are all right on Beyond the Gates

Are y'all ready to go beyond the gates? This week Dani definitely looked like she was ready to replace her boo with booze, both Tomás and Ashley ended up at the center of the show's first triangles, and Naomi had to decide whether or not to sue her estranged father because his partner at the law firm is a perv. Oh. And Leslie. Just Leslie! Let's review the footage from our ring cameras and take a deeper look at what happened inside and outside the gates of Fairmont Crest!

We are family

This coming Monday marks one single month of Beyond the Gates' existence. As I've mentioned before, it's not an easy thing to world-build a whole soap from scratch, and there are inevitable ups and downs involved when you have to introduce 20+ characters to viewers. But one thing that really seems to be forming like a new archipelago in the ocean is the concept of family at Fairmont Crest.

Let's start with Tyrell and Samantha. The Richardson-Smith adopted kiddos we met last week. It's so easy to get soap kids wrong, but Martin and Smitty's kids, are basically just normal adolescents. Even having two gay dads doesn't make them particularly remarkable, and I mean that in the best possible way. They just are. This week, we got our second interaction between the teens and their parents that was just as heartwarming and dorky and cringe and stable as anything you'd see in your average family.

We saw that Tyrell had a secret, which Samantha, while encouraging him to open up to their dads about, kept for him; she pivoted when Smitty started asking why the sibs were so obviously sneaking knowing looks at each other, putting the focus on herself and why, as a 16-year-old, she isn't allowed to date. Smitty and Martin did come off as overprotective, but they did share some valid rationale for their stance before agreeing to revisit it.

I guess when Martin and Tyrell go to a father-son night at his high school, they'll be able to bond over the dark secrets each of them is keeping! Taking a right turn from their DC condo and heading up to Fairmont Crest, the Dupree elders told Nicole, Kat, and Dani the story of their meeting that they'd heard a thousand times before, but which we were getting for the first time.

We found out the girl group Anita sang in (before she went solo) was called The Articulettes, and in the '70s, they were sent to perform at a civil rights demonstration. Vernon just happened to be there and lost his ability to articulate, his heart was beating so fast for Anita. He tailed her to Chicago and caught another of her shows, and the rest was history.

Now, talk about world-building! This is all half a century into this couple's past, but the retelling gave them more layers than they already built up this past month. If Vernon hadn't ultimately passed all the tests laid out by her pop, Anita mentioned to her daughter and granddaughter, “Y'all wouldn't be here.” Gold! Like the gold record that Anita probably has in her house gold!

Speaking of granddaughter Kat, her cousinly relationship with Chelsea is becoming just wonderful. At first, I found them both to be on the self-obsessed side – or is that selfie-obsessed side, being influencers and non-stop posters and all – but they've developed something genuine between them. Last week they discussed Chelsea being gender fluid, and this week Kat gently advised Chelsea to finally own up to Dani about not wanting to model anymore.

They're almost girlfriends more than cousins, and I wasn't expecting to like them so much. Finally, as families go, Ted and Nicole got some rapport enhancement, with hubby winding wifey up about taking an anniversary trip across the country to visit major league baseball fields. It was so much fun, and Nicole good-naturedly harangued Ted about it when Eva came by to drop off Kat's borrowed dress.

These all feel like real people, and their dynamics are so far feeling quite realistic. They don't just live in their universe, they could easily exist in our universe. Sure, it's a soap, and we like some over-the-topness, but it's nice to see some daytime denizens not coming off like two-dimensional caricatures. Kinda like another soap I know...now, hmm...which one is it?

Case of the ex

It's official: Dani just changed her last name back to Dupree, but it looks like she's considering a switch to Smirnoff. The short March Madness week started with the ex-Mrs. Hamilton passed out on Bill's couch and ended with her passing out on her kitchen floor. I should have seen this coming. In the first episode, Dani had already poured herself a big glass of vodka. But it seemed normal enough.

Now I can see that was already foreshadowing for what's starting now – and GATES is proving to be great at foreshadowing – which appears to be Dani becoming dependent on the liquid courage. Maybe she was blasted when she became a gunmoll at Bill and Hayley's wedding! Andre had to rescue Dani from a love affair with her floor tiles and sober her up. They didn't match her ensemble, anyway!

No, for real, Andre was the first to catch Dani inebriated, and the first to see the effects of Dani drinking (not to mention the first to sound an oblique alarm for Nicole, simply advising the older Dupree sis that Dani was lonely). Andre tried to convince Dani that she had been knocking quite a few back lately, but, in classic denial, Dani tried to either joke or minimize her way out of it.

But as soon as Dani slept this latest intoxication off and was alone, she stared longingly at her Absolut. She did make a mad dash for the bottle, but in a moment of clarity, she dumped its remains down the sink. I don't think it's over and done with, though. Dani can't handle her feelings and everyone is telling her to get over them. Numbing them with alcohol, especially on a soap, is a logical next step.

And can I just say how much I'm loving Andre and Dani as a “couple”? I know, Andre's focus – and most of yours – is Ashley, but Dani and her brother-in-law's nephew are doing it way more for me. Their romps hit the highest temperature on the show, but this week they cooled things down by comforting each other through bad moods and cuddling. Even Dani asked what she would do without him. I see love comin' 'round the bend for these two!

Don't leave me this way

Hayley can't really be blamed for thinking her marriage to Bill sucks so far. She's been punched, shot at, and backburnered while her husband tussled with his ex-wife in a police station and on television. Then this week, the clever paralegal realized that, despite Dani's efforts to cover the tracks of her wannabe breaking and entering, Dani had indeed violated the newlyweds' space.

Bill wanted to go over and rip Dani a new one, but Hayley decided to do the ripping instead. And while Dani did her best resting innocent face, Hayley announced she and Bill were back, baby, because, oh dear, who liked rude surprises? Like the framed photo of the bride and groom for which Dani had to replace the glass, Hayley helped herself to a glossy magazine pic of Dani's — and oops! She “just happened” to drop it. Hayley smash.

“I know you were in my house, bitch!” Hayley roared, making me think we were about to watch Cookie and Anika throw down on Empire. Hayley, who had stood on the sidelines as Dani tormented her, finally had enough and threatened to get a restraining order against Dani if Dani didn't knock it off – plus throw Dani in jail if she violated it.

That's some soap, y'all! I could have done with Hayley maintaining that level of resolve as the week went on, but she then went back into long-suffering mode when she tried to get breakfast at the Fairmont Crest Country Club, only to be ignored by the entire staff. Host, waiters, all. Probably the custodians, too. It was kind of sad watching the new Mrs. Hamilton slump into a chair next to an uncleaned table. But also kind of pathetic.

Hayley did a bit of this to herself; she should have known the place was Dupree territory. She wants to be accepted by them and to be able to eat there, but she should have known, right? Pissed, she stomped to the exit and ran into Dani...but didn't say a word to her! That was a nice touch. Back home, Bill was surprised that Hayley had gone not to Orphey Gene's, but to the snooty eatery of his former in-laws.

Bill promised to get the respect for Hayley she wanted, even if he had to bring the whole town to his knees to do it – his words – but instead of Hayley feeling energized by this, she felt it was time to give up the entire marriage. Whoa, what? Maybe that's just to add some peaks to the valleys of her arc, but I was surprised she was so ready to 86 everything.

As surprised as I was that Hayley got her mojo back over a Door-Dashed dinner with music Bill piped in from Italian musicians they had seen in concert during their abbreviated honeymoon. Hayley's eyes lit up a little too brightly over the bling earrings Bill presented her with. The paradigm shifts made me a little dizzy, and yay, I'm glad she acknowledged that she's strong enough to fight for Bill at the end, but did we need to replace those Italian jams with Madonna's Material Girl after all?

Baby, don't forget my number

One thing I especially like about this soap is that it's not all love in the afternoon. Even more, I like that we're not bombarded with triangles. Having been fed a steady diet of them on B&B, being overwhelmed by them on this newbie sudser would have given me PTSD (Post Triangle Stress Disorder). Conversely, I'll readily admit that it wouldn't be a soap without the three-sided trope, and this week an existing one went in a different direction while we watched a new one born in the delivery room.

Up until now, Andre's growing interest in nurse Ashley seemed only of the unrequited variety. Even when he tried to kiss her, she pulled away immediately and declared she loved Derek. And I had no reason to believe otherwise. Not until Derek ditched his firehouse lasagna for the actual firehouse, leaving Ashley with the parmesan cheese and the collage of photos Andre had put together for her that she'd had hidden away.

Derek and Ashley's previous scenes, in which they'd spoken of not having much time for each other, might have slipped our minds because the subject was blink-and-you-miss-it – but now we're seeing it in practice. And we're also seeing it weigh on Ashley for the first time. Ashley's attracted to a talented, handsome, funny guy like Andre not because Derek isn't those things, but because Derek is hardly there.

Talking of Derek, he might bravely run into burning buildings to save cats, but he's been a bit of a wuss when it comes to Andre. Not that he needs to blow up in some kind of Ridge Forrester-style jealous tirade, but I could have seen him taking Andre aside by now and having a bit of a man-to-man with him, gently but firmly marking some territory. Instead, Derek has bottled up his worries to the point he's having bad dreams about them.

As shrink Nicole might say with the meter running, set some boundaries! Nephew Andre got his advice for free, though, with Nicole telling the shutterbug that Ashley was off-limits, and don't go laying your lips on her! Why they basically had the same convo twice, I don't know, but Andre got his own new layer when he admitted he didn't know why he was jonesing for an unavailable girl...and Nicole remarking that it must be weird for the Casanova to have a girl not interested in him.

I will again acknowledge that I realize the ranks are swelling in terms of shipping Andre and Ashley. For my part, I saw chemistry through the whole baby delivery thing, but I'm not seeing it now. Ashley's actually kind of too much of a wuss herself for a charismatic guy like Andre. But the twist came when Ashley started talking up Andre to her mother, Jan, and longingly gazing at the collage, which Jan saw. Ashley only thinks of Andre as a friend, huh? “Sure, Jan!”

The new triangle that sprouted up like a baby blossom in a garden – appropriate since it's now spring – was the trio of Kat, Tomás, and Eva. The still-forming character of Tomás only got his first spotlight during his first date with Kat, where he showed some character by not running away when Kat revealed she was a virgin. He met with her for breakfast the next day, telling Kat that other guys were fools for dissing her over her purity. That totals two points for Tomás.

Granted, we'd already seen the low-temp flame that is the embryonic rivalry between Kat and Eva, but as rivalries go, it'd been pretty much one-sided. Kat decided – perhaps too quickly – that Eva was some kind of opportunist instead of simply her mother's assistant. Kat even labeled Eva evil — and all she caught Eva doing was going through one desk drawer. Bit of overkill, innit, Kat? She wore your dress? Big whoop.

But throw a man into the mix, and these girls cranked that flame up. Kat's had one date with the guy, and Eva propositioning him with a come-on that would have made Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct blush was rather out of nowhere. But damned if it didn't multiply the Eva/Kat antagonism a hundredfold. Instead of Kat doling out insults to a demure Eva, the latter proved herself Leslie's daughter by giving as good as she got!

It was as if Eva, who we suddenly realized was sexually active, had spotted the buried “weakness” of Kat never having had sex and was taunting Kat with it. The tables seemed to turn as Kat became meek under Eva's control, and it was fascinating to watch. And let's not forget...these two are half-sisters! But only Eva knows this. These two could end up being the Katherine and Jill or the Brooke and Stephanie of this soap. The groundwork is certainly being laid!

Fight the power

Bill's best man. If you can't remember who that was, you won't be penalized. We saw him smiling and laughing at Bill's wedding (in between gunshots) and in one or two business situations with Bill. This week, we found out three things about him. His name is Mike Davis. He's Bill's partner at the law firm. And he's a scumbag! The scene was innocuously set when Mr. Davis wanted Tomás to describe having sex with Kat and when he, in the same conversation, drooled over Hayley.

By itself, meh. As a precursor to three women meeting with attorney Naomi and detailing how Mike had sexually harassed each of them? Oh, yeah! We now know who Mike is and what he's about, and it's gonna drop some major drama into the Hamilton hierarchy. These ladies described how Mike had grabbed them and made lecherous comments about them. We even learned that Hayley got the promotion to paralegal that one of the women would have gotten if she hadn't refused to go out with Mike.

Yeah, Mike now has #MeToo written all over him. And leaving it there would have been enough of a storyline, one that is unfortunately far too relevant. But the story progression went for the heart. These victims wanted Naomi to represent them in a lawsuit...against her father's law firm! They knew that simply talking to Bill would be for naught since he'd be more likely to side with Mike over them.

And that left Naomi in a place harder than bread left out too long at Orphey Gene's. As the ladies suggested, such a case would give Naomi a chance to make a name for herself. On the other hand, as Naomi later discussed with Jacob (who had his own troubles with veteran partner Marcel figuratively castrating him during a stake-out, which quietly threw in sleazy casino owner Joey for good measure), taking on the battle could make Naomi seem petty and unethical since she'd be battling her estranged dad.

Though Naomi hadn't made the decision by the end of the week, Jacob spelled out that the choice was clear: either Naomi wanted peace, or she wanted to do the job she'd been trained to do. I think we know Naomi will end up facing off against her own father in court, because how soapy would it be if she didn't? But it's quite the potential for conflict. The deep-rooted, satisfying kind. Go for it, Naomi!

Partyman

Like the Voyager spacecraft hurtling further and further away from our solar system, the chasm between the increasingly reluctant Eva and the increasingly calculating Leslie grew to be about as wide. Eva found herself in the impossible situation of having to make calls to track down “Sherry”, the unofficial “patient” whom Nicole had talked down from the hospital roof and seen as her gala's wait staff.

Nicole felt that “Sherry” had been seeking her out again, but the employee had disappeared before the party was over. Little did she know, Eva was the one who had gotten rid of her. Little did Leslie know the same. Leslie thought Ted had had her booted out! Ted ended up being Eva's savior because as she forced herself to follow Nicole's instructions to track down the mystery woman, Ted was also working to throw Nicole off the scent of “Sherry.”

In fact, it was the first instance of Nicole and Ted almost arguing as he became insistent about her just forgetting about the woman she'd “saved” from suicide. Ironically, both Ted and Eva know who Leslie is, but neither knows that the other knows. Delicious. Eva listened in as Ted did a song and dance to convince Nicole that “Sherry” was fixated on her, making it inappropriate for Nicole to take her on as a client.

Whew! Close call! Ted got Nicole to forgo her search and let Eva know as much. But Eva's problems weren't over yet, outside of scrapping with Kat over Tomás. Leslie was ready to get back to her revenge plan against Ted – however, Eva cried “Squirrel!” and tried to distract her mom by binge-watching and even going into the particulars of her Kat fight. But ooh, Leslie didn't want Eva macking on Tomás. ¡No bueno!

Leslie didn't care about the Latino lawyer one way or the other; she just didn't want Kat to get so pissed off that she got Eva fired. (Come to think of it, Leslie doesn't even know that Kat has already tried more than once to do exactly that.) Leslie just wanted to keep Eva at Casa Richardson for the next iteration of her TED Talk – an anniversary party that he and Nicole weren't having.

Easy enough to fix, Leslie waved off in that delectable way she has about fully enjoying her villainy. All Eva had to do was plant the seed. It doesn't work? Hell, talk Martin and/or Kat into throwing their parents a surprise party! Eva announced that she would rather walk through fire barefoot than talk to Kat! Plus, Kat wouldn't listen to her about a party anyway. So there.

Leslie knows that Eva ain't about this anymore, essentially calling her daughter a coward for being so hesitant in putting her latest collection of ideas into action. Leslie is near-ready to coerce Eva into doing her bidding; it shouldn't be long before Leslie turns on her. For Eva's part, she's playing both sides against the middle, her connection to her father and his family growing all the more genuine while helping to plot against them.

And those who play both sides against the middle traditionally get crushed. That is Eva's fate that is getting more and more inevitable as these episodes pile up. (Have there only been 18 so far? Hardly seems like it!) Eva made herself sow the seeds of Ted's destruction by installing visions of an anniversary party in Nicole's head. In fact, Nicole decided that if Ted and Eva were with it, they could organize the shindig however they liked!

Leslie loved that and purred that this was one party for which she would gladly provide the fireworks. And knowing Leslie as we already do, those fireworks are going to be the glitter kind that makes the sky look like it's filled with diamonds. Man, I'm gonna hate it when Leslie eventually goes to jail – she's already run Laura off the road and she'll undoubtedly do something else illegal before all is said and done – but I'm sure having a hell of a good time watching her.

How do you stand as a Fairmont Crest resident, Scoopers? Will Dani end up drunk in alleys before long? Does Hayley actually have what it takes to go up against her husband's volatile ex-wife? Is Ashley really a good fit for Andre...or Derek? Does Leslie need to get off the you-know-what or get off the pot already with her plot against Ted? Would you rather see Tomás with Kat or Eva? What do you think Tyrell's secret is? And should Naomi take the case that will pit her against her father? Punch in the security code for Soap Central's gates and let yourself into 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.)