Ted Richardson Gave Good Face: Beyond the Gates Two Scoops for the week of June 23, 2025

Sisters were doin' it to themselves on Beyond the Gates

Are y'all ready to go Beyond the Gates? This week, the girl Chelsea rebounded from came bounding back, Ted delivered some tough love to a shrink, and Kat didn't get the first time she suddenly asked for. Meanwhile, Ashley got her chance to go for it with Andre, Dani got some closure with Bill, Anita got an earful from her family, and Leslie almost got away with running Laura down – again. But lo! The unofficial Justice League serving Martin turned up new members, and Ted proved that loyalty really is skin deep! Let's fill up those Two Scoops and find out what happened inside and outside the gates of Fairmont Crest!

Jungle fever

TIDE WATCH: 0

FEBREZE WATCH: 0

I don't know what to do with myself. Two weeks straight with no products? Perhaps Beyond the Gates realized that pushing smell-good-ables in our faces was the wrong step to take. I may have to cancel my Tide and Febreze watches!

Well, Dani's journey back up from the depths of heartache regarding Bill has certainly gone back and forth, and I will say that it's more realistic to have this vacillation than it would be to have Dani just do a straight line between broken and healed. This must be why Dani found herself thinking about Bill again in the past few episodes. I thought it odd at first, but maybe it's a reaction to how well telling Nicole about Andre didn't go.

Even ride-or-die Pamela told Dani to get over it and focus on Andre. It's just that Dani felt like Bill had been behaving differently towards her since his stroke. Like the addict she once said she was, she finally couldn't resist picking up the phone, though she eschewed leaving a voicemail once Bill's outgoing message said he was currently unavailable. “But you will be,” Dani told his ether, and us.

Girl, don't do it! Although I'm not sure how much stock we can put in Bill and Hayley's marriage after last week. Hayley got a rare scene with Vernon (four months in, we're still getting cool and unusual mixes of characters!), then ran straight to Dani's after Caroline finked that Bill had peaced out of his office hours before. I don't know if Hayley's luxurious high pony was done up too tightly, because she made a very transparent move with the absolutely wrong person.

Hayley mixed it up with Dani, with Dani once again insisting that Bill would get bored with his new wife, especially once she was so ballooned up with their baby that they couldn't have sex. Now wasn't that the moment Hayley stooped over in pain with spasms! I was still with her, sure she was having a problem with her pregnancy. Oh, dear! Dani even took her rival to the hospital!

But Dani had only gone to Garland to hear someone say that Hayley wasn't really expecting. When Ashley has to rustle up the courage to tell you to back off, you know it's serious. Bill came rushing to Hayley's side, but he was relieved to learn that his bride had just undergone some first-trimester cramps. And worry not – the ultrasound revealed the presence of a healthy, growing fetus.

Except hold up, Bill! No need to see that ultrasound for yourself, even though you just asked Hayley to have another one done for your benefit. The staff will email your wife a video. Know what really made me suspicious? The new face of a Dr. Perkins. Granted, real-life hospitals have dozens, if not hundreds, of practitioners, but there are only so many who are going to show up on a soap.

I just had this weird twinge that Perkins was helping Hayley somehow – and I didn't start to think I was right until Ashley told the other nurse on staff that Hayley had refused to have an ultrasound performed. Oh, Hayley...why would you pull this? It's not sustainable, and when Bill inevitably finds out you scammed him, it's not going to bode well for your marriage. Worse, you'll just prove Dani right. Loosen that ponytail!

The apparent pre-pre-pre-prenatal event reverberated into Andre's life, too. It was bad enough that his beloved auntie Nicole gave him s**t about sleeping with his not, unequivocally not, most assuredly not, auntie Dani. But then Nicole spouted off about telling Dani that her thing with Andre was a mistake, and our shutterbug was bugged, all right. He only felt worse once he got to the hospital and saw Dani all up in Bill and Hayley's business and repeating her theory that Hayley was faking her pregnancy.

Andre was so down, he made the down elevator seem like it was going up as he ended up descending with the Hamiltons to the lobby. And I think Dani is on her way to blasting a hole not through another wedding, but through one of her many designer shoes. The next day, Andre found an emboldened Ashley, answering her question about his true status by saying he wasn't currently into anything exclusive.

And then, Ashley acted on what she'd wanted to do since pretty much the first episode – she asked Andre out! She figured he would be good for – wait for it – popping her dating cherry. Ashley, girl, you did not just say that! It was supposed to be cringy, but for real. Plus, can we just say, Ashley got dumped by Derek a week ago. There's more rubber in her rebound than one of Garland's wheelchairs. This Dani/Andre/Ashley triangle is a mess for all involved!

Plastic off the sofa

It was obvious from very early on that Martin is a hothead with a temper that can barely be held back. The signs were there when Martin rushed Bill after Dani's arrest, and when “Little Brownie Man” had to be restrained from attacking Leslie. And don't forget Martin motioning like he wanted to strangle Bill right in front of Smitty. How a dude who clearly needs anger management ended up in Congress, I don't know, but here we are.

Martin's not-superpower flared up again, this time when “Kenneth” came around demanding $100K from his extortionee. Not that I blame Martin for rising up to defend his teen daughter's honor when “Kenneth” got all leering about her, but he was ready to punch the guy out even before that, when “Kenneth” basically suggested monthly payments like he was a car dealership.

And if we really needed confirmation that “Kenneth” is a son-of-a-bitch bigot, his prejudice was on full display this week. He accused Martin of looking down on the help like “your kind always does” (Martin didn't make things better by calling “Kenneth” “some backwoods nobody”) – and then “Kenneth” called his future income “reparations!” Just wow! And how ballsy and timely for GATES to have some of its characters facing the racism that is trying to multiply in the U.S. right now.

It's hard to watch, but it's so necessary. Yet, to paraphrase Janet Jackson, “ain't no racism in this house!” That's ultimately the message in putting out a soap with an almost all-Black cast. Drama doesn't see color! And drama is what “Kenneth” is bringing to the Duprees. Is anybody else picking up on some possible gaydar between him and Martin?

First, “Kenneth” smirked that he wanted to “have fun” with Martin, then he put his hands on Martin's upper arms and reminded him, “You know better than most what happens in the dark.” Was the incident between them a hookup that went wrong? I wouldn't put it past Martin to cheat on Smitty; he treats him so shabbily. I could be way off on that one. Just something pulling on my Spidey senses, that's all.

Vernon had told Martin that, when “Kenneth” presented his demands, they would take action. So why, when Martin reported those demands, did Vernon switch it up and say they had to be patient? “Kenneth” already made his move! Vernon needs to sip a ginkgo smoothie. Anyway, the real shocker of the week (not that the previous Friday's preview didn't give it away) was that Ted has been aware of all this the whole time!

Ooh, is Nicole gonna be pissed when she finds out another giant secret was kept from her – by her husband, brother, and both of her parents. I think divorce will be coming down after that, and, given Nic's current attitude, she'll probably disown some relatives while she's at it. But let's get back to Ted – I was right! “Kenneth” did have plastic surgery, and Ted was the one who performed it. Oh, the satisfaction!

What I really love about so many of GATES' revelations is that they're not treated like revelations. Sure, we have big, dramatic moments like Leslie exposing Ted at his anniversary party, but a lot of the critical info we receive is just natural parts of the dialogue. You have to really pay attention to get the clues. It wasn't so much Martin busting up a meeting of Vernon, Elon, Marcel, Bill, Ted...and Joey (how does he fit in?), only to find out about his father's collusion that was the kicker...

...it was Martin essentially going catatonic at the sound of Marcel's voice. And this was after Smitty again tried getting the truth out of his husband and watched Martin become all animated at the mere mention of Marcel. Another bread crumb there. And if that weren't enough, Smitty got into the action with his own flashback! As he told Jacob about the recollection, we saw Smitty remembering how Martin came home super weirded out and wearing disheveled clothes obviously not his...clothes he didn't have on when he left.

I didn't foresee a GATES tale outpacing the race to find Leslie guilty of attacking Laura, but this thing with Martin just gets bigger and more complex and detailed – and I still can't fully figure out what happened “that night!” I love it. This has been building for four months, and it's only just getting started. If this were B&B, they'd have blown a story like thisin the first two weeks. And if you're not watching GATES, you need to be!

Will you still love me tomorrow

After Ted flaked on his tiramisu dessert with Eva to suddenly run off, she didn't want to know specifics. She just sensed something bigger going on, and, after Ted talked to Eva about it, he came to feel that Nicole had a right to know. Good call; Martin is only Nicole's son, too. But Nicole did that soap thing of blowing a good confession by thinking she knew what the confession was about and running her mouth!

Nicole was so upset about Dani shagging Andre that Ted was all, “Huhhhhh?” “I thought I could trust you people!” Nic wailed after feeling like “everyone” had lied to her. Dani, Andre, and Ted are “everyone”? Ted must have a direct line to my mind, because, as if I put words in his mouth, he reminded his estranged wife that she's a psychiatrist. She's not supposed to be acting like a baby and being unwilling to give her own family the same slack she would give her patients!

I felt for Nicole at first when she found out about Ted and Leslie, and how Ted's infidelity had produced Eva. I don't really fault her for still being hurt and angry, but she's getting to be a little insufferable about this whole Dani/Andre thing. Sure, they're sorta kinda only-by-marriage related, but this is a soap, girl! You knew about As the World Turns, and you know they rolled that way on that show, too!

Ted warned Nicole that it had gotten so that their own kids were afraid of letting her down (hints of Martin keeping his secret from her), and that if she didn't knock off the attitude, she'd end up losing everybody. “Come down off your pedestal, princess,” Ted snapped. Oh snap is right! I all but cheered at my monitor on that one. But of course, standing up to cheer would have meant getting off my couch, and that's going too far. Let's be reasonable.

Nicole did a bit of a “switcherooni” (to subreference her cup-smashing “stinkarooni” of a few weeks ago) when she found Eva in the hospital hallway, all spun out because the ins and outs of Ted's office were making the new employee's head hurt. Eva was sure Kat was right that she couldn't hack Kat's old job, but Nicole swooped in, told Eva that she had been a brilliant assistant to her, and impressed upon her that “the hardest part isn't doing the thing...it's believing that you deserve it.”

I love this Nicole! How come she can't be that Zen with her own sister? Maybe that Nicole could have helped Ted referee between Kat and Eva, who can't seem to get into a room without the venom flowing into their fangs. It was so funny when Ted told his daughters that they couldn't see it... “See what?” they replied in unison. And later, Ted remarked that the half-sibs even rolled their eyes in tandem. Great stuff!

But there was no way in heaven or the other place that I could have been prepared for what happened next. As Eva continued to struggle with learning how Ted's office functioned, Ted called Kat for help...and Kat actually helped! Like she had a gun to her head at first, yes, but after she and Eva stopped sniping at each other about Tomás, Kat got to work and decided that she was going to make Eva look good – even if it was only to avoid being blamed if Eva went down in flames.

Awwwww! I still think these sisters are going to be friends eventually, but it's gonna take a long time to get there. Especially if Tomás remains in their equation. Kat ordered up a whole meal with a favorite dish of his from Spain, but she could have kept the tiramisu frozen herself when Eva stopped by to ask how Tomás was progressing with the book series they liked.

Kat groused that Eva had known she had made special plans for Tomás, leading him to ask if she had just organized them to show Eva up! Ouch! The couple decided to start over, and then Kat made her own decision: she had her virginity, and she wanted it lost now. Tonight! Wait, wait, wait! Didn't she just tell Tomás last week that she still wasn't ready to take that step?

It makes you think that Kat's feeling threatened by Eva influenced that change of heart, doesn't it? Once she got Tomás home to the love shack (where Chelsea had not long before gotten it on with Madison), Kat came on pretty strong for a sexual noob – did she sneak some of Nicole's Dr. Ruth books when mom wasn't looking? But alas, there was to be no Dr. Ruth-style good sex, because Tomás's will went as limp as his...

Now, why did Tomás give up his golden moment? He said he didn't think Kat was really ready, but could Tom-Tom have been thinking about Eva? They were certainly giving off sparks during their brief encounter at Uptown. Kat may be right that she “waited herself into a friend zone.” Oh! Extra, extra points for Kat telling Chelsea she had tried to “have cake,” a throwback to the sex-as-cake metaphor the cousins threw around during Kat's birthday party in April! I love this self-referential stuff.

Scratchin' me up

Leslie saw Kat and Jacob at Orphey Gene's and assumed they were talking about her – because, of course, they were – and resorted to the bold gambit of offering to join Jacob's investigation! Her rationale was to help them find the real assailant of Laura. But when Jacob didn't go for it, Leslie implied she had Bill in her stable (right!) and told the detective and the “brat” that they could expect to be served...and she didn't mean with the diner's banana pudding.

Not sure what Leslie was trying to accomplish there, but it might have been fun for Jacob to call her bluff, since she inescapably would have tripped up and incriminated herself. Then something happened that struck me as weird. After much sturm und drang over having to potentially wait months for the test results comparing the DNA on Leslie's napkin versus her helmet...Jacob abruptly announced the results as if the long wait had never been a factor.

It turned out that the DNA was a 97.5% match. Bingo, right? No, Jacob said. It only proved Leslie had worn the helmet, not that she had worn it at the scene of the crime. So what was the point of all that, then? The DNA thing was hailed as the proof that would nail Leslie, and now we're back to square one. I'm beginning to feel like this part of the arc is being unnecessarily dragged out. Are Jacob's cops Keystone?

Later in the week, Leslie decided she was all sad and whatnot about having booted Eva out of her apartment and life, so she asked her set-free daughter to dinner. No wonder Eva considered the invite sus. Leslie declared she was lonely, but y'all, she fully deserves to be. She was the one who ostracized her own kid, hinted to the cops that Eva had attacked Laura, and dissed Eva on her birthday. No tears, like the baby shampoo.

However, the scene was worth it for Eva, standing up to Leslie and asking her if she even had an identity beyond her dreams about Ted, be they vengeful or romantic. Leslie replied that she had been a lot like Eva before she'd met Ted, and had viewed Ted as a rescuing lifeline from her life of waitressing and bartending. When Ted rejected her, her escape route had been cut off. One can almost understand it.

Then we had a moment of Leslie and Eva talking about the warmer moments of Eva's childhood that they had shared, and it was hard not to be moved by it. Leslie was genuine, and Eva responded in kind. It didn't even seem like Leslie asked Eva about her job with Ted just to get intel like usual; her interest appeared genuine. Did you evah? Except Kat, who had already taken Eva to task for still having a connection to Leslie, saw the mother and daughter bonding.

Well, wouldn't you know, Jacob had a new out-of-nowhere possible breakthrough: he had discovered a scratch on Leslie's helmet. If the scratch showed up on the warehouse security video that had captured Laura's assailant, Leslie could be placed at the crime scene. I don't think I'm gonna hold my breath this time. Leslie's been almost caught too often for me to get too invested in this detail. Let's jail her already and move the story along.

Superwoman

I wonder if Anita, at one point, felt like she should have stayed in Chicago with The Articulettes? The Dupree matriarch made a quick trip home and allowed each in her brood private time with her – but she soon got pulled into the Andre drama between Dani and Nicole. Dani and I were both shocked, however, when La Dupree actually greenlit “Dandre” (“Anni”?) and offered to talk to Nicole on Dani's behalf!

I kinda wasn't expecting that! While I was sure Anita would take Nicole's side, Anita proclaimed that Dani and Andre were consenting adults – and not related, she was sure to remind us – plus, Nicole was projecting her own feelings of hurt and betrayal about Ted onto her sister. This was something Anita was quick to point out to her older daughter, who, in comparison, came off like a petulant little kid.

Nicole pleaded her case, but Anita advised the shrink to focus her anger on the people who had earned it: Ted, Leslie, and Eva. Nicole was certain that Dani had spun the whole literal affair to get Anita on board, while Dani reinforced Ted's position that Nicole was only going to alienate everybody with her attitude. The two points Nicole had that I agreed with were that Dani might be using Andre, and that Dani wouldn't have hidden her thing with him if she hadn't, on some level, known it was wrong.

As for Anita, my cynical heart melted when she expressed joy over Chelsea finding love with Madison. And my soap heart thrilled to hear Anita cryptically telling Martin that, sometimes, family secrets were necessary. They both knew they were talking about the Martin/”Kenneth” incident, but never directly addressed it. Also cool was the quick moment Vernon took with Martin to remind him that Anita was not to know about the further developments with “Kenneth.”

I think I now know where Smarty Marty gets his evasiveness from, though. When Anita shrewdly asked Vernon if there was something going on in the fam that she should be told about, he totally pivoted and started getting all lovey with her. Senator, you know you need Anita's brand of whoop-ass for this. And her line “you can't get three divas in a room and not expect to risk some hair extensions” was a hoot and a half!

1, 2, 3 (U, me, and her)

Much of Friday's episode was taken up by Chelsea's love travails, and I felt like we lingered a little too long on them. It has nothing to do with it being two women...I just felt like we were treading water. Madison rushed in upward of two hours late (Chelsea, I would have gone home after an hour), talking of how a kid had barfed on her fit and how she had gotten cleaned up after dealing with him.

Then Madison went into a dance about how she tended to jump from first dates into sex, only to get dumped. She and Chelsea reiterated that they're crazy about each other, which still feels like it's happening too fast. The real story here, I think, is the fact that Madison said she wanted to know everything about Chelsea. Innocuous enough at face value, but this isn't the first time Madison has made a statement like that.

During said first date, Madison chirped that all of Chelsea's secrets were safe with her. I dunno, guys; my sense is that Mads is up to something. She wanted nothing to do with Chelsea until after she found out Bill was her father, and she kept turning conversations from herself to Chelsea and her family. Maybe I'm wrong, but so far I'm not buying Madison having all these feels for our Chels.

That would be enough on its own, but in the middle of it all, Allison showed up. You know, Allison, the chick Chelsea rebounded from with Madison – and also the chick Chelsea herself admitted she was involved with “for five minutes”? Now Ally comes rolling up saying she only rejected Chelsea because hubby Craig demanded it...and he may even have threatened violence to make it happen.

I feel like Chelsea/Madison by themselves is enough of a story that we don't really need to bring Allison back into it. Plus, it's not like Chelsea and Allison had this great love that is suddenly a danger to Chelsea's new great love with Madison. Chelsea's had insta-relationships with both these ladies, so there's kinda no there there. Again, I wanna know what Madison's deal is. 'Cuz I know the neurologist ain't on the up and up!

Gangsta lean

Conversely, the Martin plot has been getting more intriguing by the day. Bill continued to refuse to let Martin in on the plan to rid themselves of “Kenneth,” only assuring the congressman that the busboy wasn't going to be whacked. All Martin had to do was make sure that the payoff happened at the casino. “Kenneth” wasn't about it at first, but Martin, who, despite his bluster, is a bit of a wuss, got a backbone and told “Kenneth” that it was the casino, or no dough. Good on ya!

Over at the diner, Jacob was telling Smitty that he should just outright ask Martin what the deal was with Marcel. Smitty was all, “Nah,” because he knew that Martin would just dodge the subject. And the reporter wasn't wrong: Martin seemed ready to tell Smitty what he knew about Marcel, only to get kissy and sentimental...and Smitty freakin' fell for it. Really?

I would personally love to see Smitty divorcing Martin's ass. All Martin does is gaslight Smitty and lie to him. His latest? That he'd actually contacted a therapist like Smitty commanded him to. Man, Bradley deserves better than this. Jacob took his own advice about being honest with a spouse and filled Naomi in on everything – and when Jacob described what Smitty had told him about Martin's mysterious, different-clothes homecoming, Naomi got chills. Girlfriend knows!

Naomi, who's not even immediately connected to any of this, added another layer to this terrifically layered story when she said she had the feeling that Marcel may have hurt Martin somehow. This tracks with Martin's PTSD episode at the casino. It's gonna get good, too – the Hawthornes agreed they should seek answers from Vernon, since the senator had supposedly been out with Martin that night. This is an inquisition I have to see!

“Kenneth” was supposed to show up to the casino, but, for whatever reason, he was still working, then took the time for a workout. Was his lack of appearance a means of toying with Martin? I'm also not sure why Martin was following his tormentor around the country club, but at least we got to see Diego for a brief moment. Where ya been, man? You are missed! Give this stud a storyline!

Remember when Leslie described how Bill had cast his long shadow on her by promising he'd kidnap her baby with Ted if she gave birth instead of having an abortion? We got to see how such a threat might have played out when Bill went into fixer mode and “fixed” “Kenneth.” The busboy seemed to catch on right away that Bill meant business, because he looked terrified during his entire audience with the lawyer.

We were treated to even more detail as Bill stated that “Kenneth” had been “out of it” after interfacing with Martin – and had “needed work done.” So the plastic surgery is no longer in question, and it explains why the dude uttering “what color's your money” in Martin's flashback had the same stubble, but not the same chin. Bill gave “Kenneth” two days to split town; “Kenneth” feared Bill would kill him if he stuck around D.C., but Bill growled that his work was done, and he left the extortionist alone with his cash.

Y'all remember what they say about counting chickens? “Kenneth” thought his newfound wealth had hatched when Randy – who had forced himself to agree that he would do whatever Joey directed him to – intruded on “Kenneth”'s calculating and showed him another number: 38, or 45, or whatever kind of gun that was he had pointed at “Kenneth's" worked-over face!

Annnnnnnndd...now we have to wait until July 7 to find out what happens next! AAAAAHHHHHHHH! CBS is taking next week to rebroadcast the first five episodes of the soap, but I'm not clear why. To get late-to-the-game viewers up to speed on its beginnings? Do we really need another momentum killer after two soccer interruptions? GATES is sooooo good (it even ranked as one of the Top 25 shows of 2025 according to Entertainment Weekly!)...why y'all gotta harsh my mellow by making me wait?

This brings us to the end of another Two Scoops, D.C. Edition. Like Madison with Chelsea, I want to know all your secrets...about what you think of this show! So get to sharing them thoughts in the comments below. And, until next we meet, Scoopers, live your life beyond!

(Purchase Adam-Michael James'” Bewitched” books on Amazon.)

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