Turn to the left, now turn to the right: Beyond the Gates Two Scoops for the week of April 7, 2025

Behold the arrival of “Lulu” on Beyond the Gates

Are y'all ready to go Beyond the Gates? This week, teenager Samantha went from Tyrell confidant to airtime hogger as her lightning-quick modeling ambitions took center stage – and is Dani being dissed by a charity really a compelling plot? Yet, on the other side of D.C., Eva's been putting it together about Leslie (again) and Ted broke photographer Andre with the picture of how he cheated on Nicole! Hit “record” and let's find out what happened inside and outside the gates of Fairmont Crest!

Sucker M.C.s

Remember in last week's column when I said that I was starting to find the pacing of this new show a little clunky? Things were a little different these past five episodes – there was movement, but we also got bogged down in a few story tangents that I don't think served the overall momentum as well as it could have. Sure, not everything needs to be burning hot every second. I'm just scratching my head a bit, that's all.

First off, let's talk about Kat and Eva. Wasn't there sort of an unspoken truce between them last week? Eva asked Kat to back off, and Kat told her fam that she was done with her crusade against Eva. So why, this week, when Nicole found Kat's security camera, did Kat's dander shoot up again? For that matter, why was the camera even still there? Nicole had supposedly told her daughter to eighty-six it days ago. Yet Nicole was surprised that it remained on her shelf.

Eva and Tomás run into each other a lot – that's fine, and for once, Eva wasn't turning up levels of raunch that would make Cardi B blush. But when Tomás mentioned having a client who would need cake to soften a legal blow, Eva said she'd try that next time Kat acted up...by shoving cake down Kat's throat. The peacemaking last week was as vague as the resumed hostilities were this week.

Then there's Andre, who had nurses flocking to him to be in his documentary so fast that he could barely load new SD cards into his camera. Now they're all ghosting him? Ted offered up some rationale about confidentiality, but that certainly didn't apply last week. Then Ashley got busted for putting a decimal in the wrong place regarding medication on a patient chart, and Andre...filmed it. Why?

No wonder Ashley demanded that he delete the footage. But he somehow charmed her into talking about the incident as the pixels rolled, and, during the inquisition, Derek showed up, only Andre didn't see him. Ashley took the moment to say how scared she'd been that the firefighter would end up in her hospital one day; she just hadn't vocalized it. Then Derek and Ashley had a quick convo about accepting each others' callings while Andre looked uncomfortable watching them canoodle.

It didn't feel like any of this was necessary. And the more I see Andre functioning outside of Ashley and Derek, the more I feel he doesn't need to be in their orbit. He's exciting, and they're a little boring, and him being around doesn't make them more exciting. I think GATES would do itself a bigger solid by calling this triangle a wash and writing Derek and Ashley troubles that don't have anything to do with Andre.

Then there's Hayley's increasingly pointless desire to be accepted by the froo-froo faction of Fairmont Crest's country club. Hayley should be glad that the snobs are avoiding her, and Bill should be trying to build a different world around her that doesn't involve his ex's family. While it was fun watching Bill scold a server for not taking Hayley's order...well, where are the stakes in all this?

I had the same thought when, out of nowhere, Dani got kicked off a charity board for her gun-toting behavior at the Hamiltons' wedding...which happened six weeks earlier. Yes, I was Team Dani as she chewed out the pink-slipping lady for using her to finish the fashion show and make the organization lots of money. But really...doesn't Dani have bigger fish to fry than being dissed from some snooty committee?

I also didn't see the point of Bill and Hayley taking the moment to run Dani down. None of this pushes any kind of major story forward – and neither did Anita creating her own charity to cancel out the woman who sacked her daughter. All it did was make La Dupree come across ruthless, and for something that was really relatively minor. I'd rather see Anita stage a comeback of her singing career!

Now don't get me wrong – I am actually loving this show. It's just that, now that we're basically seven weeks into this journey, I'm seeing developments that don't quite match up with the must-see-ness of the early days. I will say, I am very much grooving on the family interactions and the new combinations of characters sharing scenes – the world-building getting more intricate is doing it for me.

Phresh out the runway

The fashion show was a big, soapy, umbrella story event. Most of the cast got their moments – I think my favorite was Tomás getting ganged up on by Kat's grandfather, father, brother, and brother-in-law. They weren't so much trying to intimidate Mr. Navarro, they were toying with him. It was fun. Who couldn't feel for the guy when Kat finally showed up to rescue him?

Andre being on hand to keep Dani focused before the event and champion her during it was just further proof that the shutterbug doesn't need to be wasting his time with Ashley. And the glamour gala itself was entertaining – the clothes were certainly more fashion forward than anything B&B's had on its not-runways the last several years (when was the last time they had a proper fashion show?). Even if GATES' whole collection wasn't more than four or five dresses.

Given the event being Chelsea's modeling swan song gave Dani one more reason to pout – and, I'll admit, she's rather been getting beaten up with stuff ever since the soap debuted – it was a really nice touch that Chelsea (and her purse) used the moment to amplify Dani and credit her for Chelsea's career thus far. Was the sight of Chelsea and Dani's raised, joined hands not gratifying? It certainly was.

And let's face it – Smitty and Martin not only allowing but arranging for Samantha, who has had nothing to do but prop up Tyrell until now, to shadow Chelsea and Kat backstage was really sweet. And hella surprising when Samantha tried on a dress at her cousins' behest and came out workin' it! That Sam's turn on Dani's wannabe catwalk advanced into the real thing (though the original dress was better!) felt like a satisfying capper to the arc.

Except, it was only the beginning. And for a show that, for the most part, has been pretty good about its rotation of characters, we sure got Samantha on full display for four episodes straight. I found her instant desire to be a model grating...though I realized that it was a very teenager thing for her to do. But rather than her elders getting her to slow her roll and give this huge step proper consideration, the argument became whether or not she should actually take that step.

Yes, the point was that models generally get their starts before they're out of high school, so I can understand the immediacy. It's just that...don't Martin and Smitty have enough to deal with without adding Samantha's overnight modeling ambitions into it? There's Martin's nightmares, his problem with Smitty working, his overriding everyone about running for president...hmm. D'ya think maybe Martin's the issue here?

When Bill snarked that Martin was always in a bad mood, I didn't laugh – I nodded in recognition. And, out of the mouths of babes: the 17-year-old Tyrell had to be the one to point out that Smitty and Samantha were always having to walk on eggshells around Martin. If Martin had simply objected to Samantha becoming a model, it would have been one thing, but on top of his general buttholishness, he just seemed even more like a control freak.

I do have to give “Smarty Marty” credit for going to Dani with his concerns, because auntie was certainly the right person to approach. Plus, I don't think they'd ever had a solo scene together before. Dani agreed with Smitty that Chelsea – whom Samantha wanted as her manager – would keep an eye on things so the teen wouldn't be taken advantage of. Dani's support of Samantha was heartwarming.

As to the pros and cons, Smitty had a good idea in suggesting that Samantha take smaller, local jobs to start, but I'm wondering why nobody broached what I thought any parent would – that Samantha take some time to really think about all this. The key word being “time.” If, when summer vacation rolls around, Samantha still wants to model, then let her participate backstage again and have Chelsea and Dani introduce her to people. Why is this being treated like it all needs to be decided now, one way or the other?

We also learned this week that Chelsea's just a girl who can't say “no.” It took her a month to finally tell Dani she wanted to quit modeling, and now that her new purse line has finally gotten some traction...she's agreed to be Samantha's manager. Hasn't Chels been going around saying how glad she is that she can devote all her energies to her burgeoning company? Why didn't she put her foot down with Sam from go?

Then, rather than be done with Dani's smother-mothering, we brought her back for Round Two. Only now, she was under the impression that she would be managing Samantha's career. Interesting twist that Chelsea tried to defer to Dani but Samantha held to her choice of Chelsea. And at least Dani got over that snub quickly and moved on to telling Chelsea how to be a manager. Classic Dani, I guess.

I will give big, big points to Dani for catching herself and admitting, “I'm doing it again,” which is where we left things. But getting back to fish and frying – Dani is on the precipice of alcoholism, which went ignored all week (not that she has to stare at bottles all the time, but still), and she's got her obviously-more-than-sex affair with Andre and moving on from Bill on her plate. Did we really need to throw her into Samantha's more-important-than-it-should-be insta-career?

Even Tyrell was smart enough to tell his sister that her “dream” had come up very, very suddenly. I don't mind seeing it progress, and I'm sure the fallout when Martin and Smitty find out she went ahead with it behind their backs is going to be “fiyah.” But can we better balance this tale with the others needing time on the canvas? That way, I don't have to spend so much time writing about it.

It's all about the Benjamins

You wouldn't think part of one episode would be enough to move a separate and unrelated story along, but on Friday, it was. Doug was at the poker tables again, apparently winning hand over fist even though Joey had inflicted him with rigged cards? Maybe the deck went on a lunch break. Anyway, Joey was not happy that “Dougie” was racking up the chips.

However, he did crack a smile when the surgeon got called away to the hospital for emergency heart surgery on an accident victim. I guess, since Dr. McBride is Joey's only mark, or the only mark he cares about, he used Doug's absence to arrange a get-together with Mrs. McBride – who blew Diego off when he texted wanting some awww sookie sookie now! Yes, Vanessa, Joey is the zaddy you say he is, but you turned Diego down? Hey, Diego! My number is...

Joey had a new angle to work with Vanessa, who seemed to be completely over Joey lying to her about his mother being alive. If I read the soapy tea leaves right, the casino owner was trying to determine whether Vanessa was cool with infidelity, because he regaled her with a tale about a love-of-my-life wife who had cheated on him back in the day when he was so busy getting his businesses going.

Vanessa was strangely intrigued by how Joey had run the interloper out of town – strange when you consider she's heard enough rumors about Joey and his practices. Plus, by her own admission, read some online! He advised Van-Van not to believe everything she saw on the Innerwebs...especially the lies. Oh, no problem there. Vanessa's so color-blinded by lust, she can see the flags – just not that they're red.

And ya know? I kinda don't mind. Doug and Vanessa are boring together, and I believe they're supposed to be. They're the poster children for marital ennui. Vanessa and Joey have far more chemistry, and I find myself rooting for them to end up in bed. Of course, I also very much want to see the repercussions – and exactly to what end Joey is moving these chess pieces called the McBrides.

Doug got a wake-up call in the form of not being awake during his urgent procedure. In the middle of it, he couldn't hold his scalpel still, and he kept having visions of poker chips. It was so bad that he had to have another doctor take over for him, and afterwards he told BFF Randy that he couldn't keep trying to subsist on four hours' sleep a night – he was quitting gambling!

I'll admit, putting a patient in jeopardy was quite the bottom for the addict to hit. But do we really believe it's as simple as him putting the cards away? Doug will need Gamblers Anonymous or some other kind of treatment – and then there's the fact that Doug still owes Joey up the wazoo for covering his earlier casino debt. My chips say that Doug is going to be the one on the operating table next!

Secret rendezvous

Let's circle back to the Richardson-Smiths for a moment. The week started with Martin – who seems to take naps at odd times of the day – having another full-blown nightmare. Only this time, instead of just a blurry dark night and soft-focus red lights, we got the sight and sound of a tire iron being used and dropped. Something tells me Martin wasn't just playing Mr. Goodwrench. The congressman was clearly involved in a murder somehow.

Despite my pearl clutching about the pace of other stories, I still don't mind hints about Martin's nightmares only being dropped like slo-mo bread crumbs in Hansel and Gretel's forest. I do want to know what Martin's secret is – and I know a lot of you do, too – but I'm okay with remaining in the literal dark, for a while longer, anyway. At least the storyline took its next big step with Martin going to his grandparents about the dreams.

It makes sense! Martin won't tell Smitty...but then, Smitty doesn't seem to be connected to anything that happened, whereas the elder Duprees are; they helped him cover up whatever went on. Anita also broke off some cold, hard truth by signaling that Martin's nightmares were his subconscious warning him not to run for president. Did Martin listen? Nah. He had another snit, wondered why he'd gone to his betters in the first place, and jetted. And he calls Samantha childish.

I still say Smitty is going to be the one to put all this together, and Martin knows it – when Smitty talked about having done “quiet recon” at Tyrell's school to figure out what was going on with their son, Martin said, “You're smart like that.” And now that Smitty's investigative milk is back up, so to speak, from working at reporting again...well, I will be all too glad to have Smitty on the case!

Tyrell looked ready to share with Martin his own secret about how his accidental underwear modeling was causing a meme-filled ruckus around him, but it was just a deflection tactic so that Samantha could wear Smitty down about her own modeling. Tyrell actually Krazy Glued his mouth shut once alone with Martin, despite dropping the tantalizing tidbit that he was ready to explain his true sitch.

Both Smitty and Ted had to remind Martin not to go charging into Tyrell's school without having all the information. Based on how his fam had to stop Martin from attacking Bill when Dani was arrested, I'd say Martin is a hothead with impulse control problems. Ironically, both Martin and his son are harboring important secrets about themselves. Too bad they can't confide in each other!

Me and Mrs. Jones

Another week, another Leslie disguise! Hey, it's become a running thing, and I think it's pretty amusing. This time, Leslie got into nurse drag to pay a special visit to the recuperating Laura – you know, the innocent girl Leslie ran off the road so that Eva could take Laura's job with Nicole? Well, Laura was all better. In fact, she was thisclose to being released from the hospital and reclaiming her position from Eva!

I was curious to see where it was going to go when Nicole floated the idea of having two assistants or even setting Eva up with a hairdressing gig at the club – but y'all know Leslie had other ideas. She snuck into Laura's room while she was sleeping and jabbed something into her I.V. We didn't find out what it was until two episodes later...and we were denied the suspenseful pleasure of seeing Laura's reaction to the injection for ourselves.

Laura had a heart attack...off screen! Why even bother putting Laura through that and then not show it to us? I found the choice rather bizarre. I'd also like to know how Leslie knew that too much potassium could trigger a heart attack (she was a waitress/bartender, we found out this week; does she binge-watch House when nobody's looking?) – and where Leslie got her hands on this apparently medical grade stuff.

I admit, I Googled potassium's connection to “myocardial infarctions”, one of which Laura suffered, but I'm not clear on why she has an infection as a result of it. I'm also not clear on why Dr. Flannery and his team aren't investigating how come Laura's potassium levels were normal before her heart crapped out and why they were so high afterwards. What, they're just shrugging their shoulders about it? And why would Leslie do something so easy to detect?

Even Eva started piecing it together once Shanice told her about the “new nurse” taking care of Laura...a “nurse” whom Shanice doubted one second and okayed the next. Doesn't “Lulu” need a valid badge to even be at the nurses' station? Why did Shanice just let it go instead of digging into Garland's employee files? She could have found out in a second that “Lulu” wasn't legit...to say nothing of seeing what the security cameras running in the public areas had caught.

As for Eva, I want to give her her propers for confronting Leslie about being “Lulu” – but this wasn't the first time the hairdressing assistant held suspicions about her mom that her mom manipulated her out of having. “You mus' be Boo-Boo the damn foo'!” Leslie spat. I don't know what that means, but I had myself a good smile at that one. Unfortunately, Eva backed down again...or did she?

Later, when Eva saw Andre at Uptown, she asked him if he'd seen this “new nurse” at the hospital as he worked on his documentary. He hadn't, but I wonder if Eva's going to start doing more of her own “quiet recon” to out Leslie? For her part, Leslie/Dana/Sherry/Anna/Lulu was ready to drop her bomb at the Richardsons' anniversary bash, slated for April 29, according to the invitation. Are we really gonna have to wait that long? And will Eva get enough proof to stop Leslie before then?

The big shock of the week came not in Ted following Leslie to her apartment – where she had to knock over a photo of her and Eva so Ted wouldn't see them together – and not in giving “Dana” the “50 stacks” she had demanded. It came when...well, first, we got some really big info about Nicole via Andre's unedited doc dailies. Nicole had a miscarriage between the birth of Martin and the birth of Kat!

And the psychological healer had to heal herself – she had gotten so worked up about Ted not being there when toddler Martin was sick that the shrink sought out therapy. Ted, you see, was stuck in snowy traffic, and Nicole had started obsessing on losing her ailing boy and her husband on the same night. The clues started coming together. We knew where Teddy was, didn't we, soap sleuths?

Ted stopped by, but when Andre kept going on and on about how cool Uncle Ted was and what a bastard Bill was for cheating on his wife...this is where we got the shock! I thought Ted was only dropping a cryptic crumb when he said he wasn't the man Andre thought he was...but then Ted scorched earthed himself by telling Andre absolutely everything about having stepped out on Nicole!

I was absolutely not expecting that. But how delicious it was. Plus, Ted needed to unburden himself to someone. Ted filled in Nicole's blank by confirming the miscarriage for us, but also added that his wife had become so fixated on having another baby, Ted had withdrawn from her. That's when Ted had found comfort in the arms of the carefree “Dana.”

Then Ted explained how things had gone horribly wrong, and how he'd paid his mistress to have an abortion and go away. Doc Richardson even added that “Dana” was back and, whereas she was amusing before, she was cray-cray now. Andre suggested that Ted 'fess up to Nicole and take the bullet out of Leslie's figurative gun! But Ted didn't want to mess up the big anniversary.

Again, Andre is so much more interesting when he's not in story with Ashley. He was clearly thrown by his hero having feet of clay, but honored his promise not to judge Ted. And, as Ted, Maurice Johnson got his first real serving of meaty material, yet it made me sad, too, because Ted has been recast; the denouement to this saga is going to happen with another actor behind the wheel. Dunno why; Johnson could totally have handled it.

Ultimately, as I said, I am enjoying GATES very much. (I think my fave character is Vernon; his “somebody chip one of your new nails?” when Anita stormed in was hilarious, and his self-deprecating “And that was just me” when Anita described teen Dani's tantrums about wanting to model was sublime.) I'm just questioning some of the choices now that the soap is on its feet. I can do that. I've been writing for Soap Central for over 15 years, and with SORAS, that's about 33!

What do you think needs to stay within the GATES and what do you think needs to be locked well outside of them? Does it matter to you if Dani gets to be on a charity board, or if Hayley gets to be in a country club? Do Martin and Dani have enough going on without layering unrelated stories over it? Should Ted indeed tell Nicole he cheated to take the power out of what Leslie is holding over him? Would you have liked to have seen Laura and Eva working together? What do you think Martin's secret is? And did Samantha's without-warning modeling aspirations – and their amount of airtime – work for you, or not? Serve 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.)