Beyond the Gates: Daily Episode Discussion

[dubbel zout]

How long is it supposed to have been since Dani and Bill divorced? I can't get any sense of the time here. (If it was mentioned, I definitely missed it.) If it's less than six months, I can sort of excuse her actions, but more than that? Bill has made it abundantly clear he's all in with Hayley. Dani needs to start living her life for her. Given that one of the daughters is a model, she's still got connections in that world, so why not do more there? She could see about reestablishing her own modeling career, start her own agency—she has options.

Edited Saturday at 09:04 PM by dubbel zout

[Melgaypet]

14 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

How long is it supposed to have been since Dani and Bill divorced? I can't get any sense of the time here. (If it was mentioned, I definitely missed it.) If it's less than six months, I can sort of excuse her actions, but more than that? Bill has made it abundantly clear he's all in with Hayley. Dani needs to start living her life for her. Given that one of the daughters is a model, she's still got connections in that world, so why not do more there? She could see about reestablishing her own modeling career, start her own agency—she has options.

Nicole and/or Anita mentioned Bill moving out "months ago." I definitely get the feeling that it's been less than a year.

I think Dani's journey - after getting out of whatever trouble she'll be in now - will be building a life of her own. She's just not there yet.

[Crashcourse]

3 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

I'm mostly using this show as background noise now. I'll probably watch a full episode once a week but mainly I'll be keeping up via the soap forums and recap sites. I just can't do two hours of daytime soaps every day.

Yeah, I'll come here to read what's going on, just like I do with B&B.

[Rodney]

3 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I am guessing the Maid of Honor (Olivia?) jumped in front of the bullet, that should get her a week off with pay.

Her name is Caroline, actually.

[Lois Sandborne]

On 2/26/2025 at 3:42 AM, JudyObscure said:

Eva and her mother seem out for revenge, so I'm guessing Eva's father used and abandoned her mother

This was the main storyline on Our Kind of People, a primetime soap on ABC. They didn't stay on long enough to make anything of it, so I'm intrigued by what this show will do.

I haven't watched a soap since Passions went off the air, but with this being black-cast I had to check it out. I'm getting re-adjusted to the dialogue and the pacing and meeting fifty-leven characters all at once. But the people, places, and things are all gorgeous, and the storylines are juicy, so I'll keep tuning in

 

[Joimiaroxeu]

12 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

Our Kind of People

Oh yes, I think its star, Yaya DaCosta, would be a great get for BTG. She might not want to return to daytime TV though. (Plus she's on a Netflix series.)

[cleo]

I'm trying to give this show a month, more than I typically would, bc it's a soap.

Jury still out for me, but one thing I don't buy is the Dani we saw all week going back to Bill like that. 

Andre with Dani - all the stuff he said- so over the top perfect it was kind of nauseating. Although I did think it was funny he spent like 5 mins explaining how he wasn't a Dupree before they slept together - like I assume Dani would have known all that, but I guess they wanted to spell it out for the audience.

I kind of thought they were hinting at Dani having a drinking problem at times, maybe will come to light later. Or maybe I'm over thinking.

I love Nicole's outfits.

Overall I prefer families sniping at/competing with each other like the Quartermaines and Spauldings. I am hoping the cracks will show soon.

I knew the psycho thst caused the accident was a villain almost immediately.

If I were Chelsea, I wouldve told Dani to FO ages ago. But I never had a family with rules so I can never relate to that kind of overbearing stuff.

Hayley- I dunno. Is anyone that naive? Again, just a bit over the top.

 

[wonderwoman]

2 hours ago, cleo said:

I'm trying to give this show a month, more than I typically would, bc it's a soap.

Jury still out for me, but one thing I don't buy is the Dani we saw all week going back to Bill like that. 

Andre with Dani - all the stuff he said- so over the top perfect it was kind of nauseating. Although I did think it was funny he spent like 5 mins explaining how he wasn't a Dupree before they slept together - like I assume Dani would have known all that, but I guess they wanted to spell it out for the audience.

Overall I prefer families sniping at/competing with each other like the Quartermaines and Spauldings. I am hoping the cracks will show soon.

Hayley- I dunno. Is anyone that naive? Again, just a bit over the top.

 

i’m hoping for a month, as well. we’ll see how this week goes. 

on the surface, dani going to bill’s hotel seems out of character with what we’ve seen — and certainly, her pulling the gun at the wedding — but emotions are complicated. irna phillips used to talk about how people can experience conflicting emotions, often at the same time. 

and yes, the exposition seemed excessive — not just in that scene — but in general. hope it start settling down this week. 

i think we’ve seen some of the cracks — let’s hope the dialogue catches up soon. up thread someone described the interactions among family as “Half the show is people blowing smoke up each other's butt.”

as for haley’s naivete, she’s young and came from a difficult childhood. i think there’s a lot to be revealed.  

[dubbel zout]

9 minutes ago, wonderwoman said:

as for haley’s naivete, she’s young and came from a difficult childhood. i think there’s a lot to be revealed.  

I can see her being naive about how the wealthy live, but her emotional naïveté seems unrealistic to me. I think she should be tougher than she is.

[cleo]

I think Dani going to Bill seemed unrealistic to me bc all week her reaction came across more like he owed her than she loved him. And then when she went to him it seemed like she cared.

But maybe I missed it, I admit, I don't like Dani very much nor am I super sympathetic to her baed on hownshe has acted. Even before Friday's eps.  I'm a lot more interested in watching Nicole's carefully crafted life fall apart, as it seems like it's going to, possibly through no fault of hers.

Also on the fashion front- I really don't like the guys in turtlenecks. And the green dress Caroline was wearing was fugly. 

Maybe I'm late with these comments, I just got to this ep today

 

Edited Sunday at 09:49 PM by cleo

[Melgaypet]

I can buy Hayley's naivety, at least so far, but I'm hoping to see some different shades before long.

What does strike me as odd is that there has been several mentions that Hayley and Naomi were best friends, yet Hayley hasn't had any actual interaction with her. She sought Dani out multiple times, no matter how hard she got shut down or punched, but didn't try with her former friend. I mean, I doubt very much it would have gotten her anywhere - Naomi seems to be as angry as her mother, if less loud about it - but I do wonder why Hayley didn't try that route of rapprochement.

[Rodney]

1 hour ago, Melgaypet said:

What does strike me as odd is that there has been several mentions that Hayley and Naomi were best friends, yet Hayley hasn't had any actual interaction with her. She sought Dani out multiple times, no matter how hard she got shut down or punched, but didn't try with her former friend.

The closest thing they've had to an interaction was at the end of the premiere, when the family took turns glaring Hayley on their way out of the country club.  Naomi was the last one to glare at her, and she gave her the longest one before ultimately leaving herself.

Since then, though . . . no.  No more interactions between them just yet.

[Irlandesa]

On 3/1/2025 at 3:04 PM, dubbel zout said:

How long is it supposed to have been since Dani and Bill divorced?

I don't think they've said but given the fact that he has cheated before but this is probably the first time they separated, he probably left Dani so he could marry Haley.  That usually means that he planned to get married as soon as the divorce was final, however short or long of a time period that is. 

10 hours ago, cleo said:

Hayley- I dunno. Is anyone that naive? Again, just a bit over the top.

I think it's a bit harder believing since she's supposed to be the same age as Naomi who I believe is supposed to be about 30.  Maybe if she were even younger, it'd be easier to believe she is that naive.  Or maybe she's a former nun. 

7 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

Yes, the exposition seemed excessive — not just in that scene — but in general. hope it start settling down this week.

I was curious about other first episodes of soaps so I went to see if I could find the first episode of some of the 'modern day' soaps.  I was able to find Santa Barbara, B&B, and Passions.  None of them had as much exposition as this show did.   Passions came the closest but it still did a pretty decent job of starting the stories. 

I think Santa Barbara's first episode was far superior and I wish they would have used it as a template.  I'm usually not a fan of time jumps but sometimes it's really effective, especially for slow deveoping shows like soaps.  It had a murder in the first five minutes then jumped five years in the future and almost recreated those first five minutes but with different characters or the same characters in a different place.  They used flashbacks and a great song choice (or maybe that's just my 80's nostalgia talking) to set up who they wanted to be their main couple.  They may not have known whether or not Joe & Kelly would work but they set up the fact that they loved one another deeply but now couldn't be together because of circumstances.

It's why I do think they could have started the show with a bit more oomph.  Perhaps showing the power couple that Dani and Bill were and then show her discover his affair with Hayley.  Then we could jump to the wedding.

[Badsamaritan]

Given that the last soap opera premiered decades ago, I'm fine with the exposition dialog. TV watching has changed considerably just in the last 20 years so I don't expect BTG to follow the same blueprints, not if they're trying to hook young viewers in so they stay and age with the soap. Those of us in the Gen X and beyond age groups remember the soaps of old, but a lot of the newer generations have never watched a daytime soap in their lives. If BTG is to survive for the long haul, they have to appeal to more than just us regular soap watchers. Like, the guy that plays Ted has been live tweeting some of the eps this week, similar to how Scandal actors used to do, and I think that's a really great use of social media and appealing to those viewers who spend a lot of time on those platforms.

This was never gonna be our grandmother's and mother's soap opera. And honestly, I'm glad it's not. I'm ready for some new ways of storytelling, most of the current crop are so stale and stuck in their heyday of 25 years ago. They've got the AARP crowd driving stories with their 40 year old children acting like they're 25, and no actual 25 year olds with any presence or charisma to take up leading status. The world has moved on and I'm excited for this show to not only break that mold, but grind it into dust and toss it in the trash heap. 🤷🏽‍♀️

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Badsamaritan said:

I'm ready for some new ways of storytelling, most of the current crop are so stale and stuck in their heyday of 25 years ago.

Sure but they're not doing anything different yet, other than having a majority black cast.  And that's great but the stories are similar to what has been told before.  I don't think younger viewers have more patience for expository dialogue.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E06: Monday, March 3, 2025

[Rodney]

Looks like it wasn't a dream at all.  Dani really did come packing with a gun.  At least she let the innocents go.  But all she wanted was Bill and Hayley's apologies, it seems.  But then, she got nothing at all, as they got married, anyway.  But no arrest for her troubles?  Seriously?

Not liking that Martin cared more about bad press than his aunt possibly harming or killing somebody.  Even Smitty looked exasperated by that.

Oh, shit!  Chelsea livestreamed Dani's breakdown.  At least Dani didn't blame her for it.

So Naomi supported Dani's actions.  Interesting.

At least Dani felt shame for what she did.  Good for her for acknowledging that she did the wrong thing.  And I liked the moment between Dani and Nicole.  I believe them as sisters.

I'm getting the feeling that Ted didn't know about Eva.  But Leslie is making it sound to Eva like he did.  So Dana was Leslie's first name, while Leslie is her middle name.  Oh, shit!  And Eva doesn't know that Leslie purposely caused Laura's accident.  I wonder what she'll do when she finds out that the "accident" was on purpose?

I do like Ashley, but they're pushing very hard at the idea of how good of a nurse that she is.  Granted, she did well with Alix, the pregnant woman, but no need to keep beating the drum.

On other fronts, Derek seems to be noticing the connection between Ashley and Andre.

I didn't recognize Cady McClain as Pamela!  Her dyed hair threw me off!  With just one scene together, I could buy her and Dani as friends.  They had good high-society girlfriends vibe between them.  But how are she and Vanessa connected?

Good episode.

[JudyObscure]

Haley's such a dope -- Crazy Lady's holding her at gun point and she wants to quibble about what name Dani calls her.  Bill spent a long time standing just behind Haley like she was his little shield -- not a good look Bill.

I thought the police guy was taking Dani straight to jail, but a few seconds later she was back in front of Bill making more speeches and then at the bar.

I need to see Dana-Leslie at least once every show, her face is stunning. I usually can't hear a few of her lines though.  

After the cop was told to go home because Bill "deserved" it, and then Nicole made excuses for Dani, while Dani said she only went to the wedding intending to look good (with a gun in her purse) and Nicole told her  it all was making her  stronger?  Ugh.  I'm starting to dislike the entitled Duprees.  Except for Grandma.

[Js Nana]

On 3/2/2025 at 1:40 PM, cleo said:

I did think it was funny he spent like 5 mins explaining how he wasn't a Dupree

I thought it was more a case of Andre saying he wasn't like the Duprees, rather than him reassuring Dani that they weren't biologically related.

[Crashcourse]

I checked in just to see what happened at the wedding. 

Dani is batshit crazy, and now I'm beginning to see why she and Bill divorced.  Who knows what he went through with her?  Looking at Karla Mosely and her crazy eyes is tiresome, and it's too bad that the show has focused mainly on her ass.  There would have been so many better stories to focus on. 

Edited 11 hours ago by Crashcourse

[Js Nana]

37 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

her face is stunning. I usually can't hear a few of her lines though.  

My guess is that the work that Trisha Mann-Grant has had done on her face to keep it looking stunning at 55-years of age also makes it difficult for her to enunciate her lines.

[Irlandesa]

Today was probably the best episode of the series so far.  More action and actual dialogue.

First, I liked that exposition came from gossippy nurse.  That's a clever way to do exposition.  We don't know if the person on the other end is familiar with the people or relationships so it'd make sense she'd give a little more background.  It sounds like Vanessa's Doug also has a secret.  I'm betting on an open marriage.

So Eva didn't know Leslie was behind Laura's accident.  I'm suspicious of Leslie's story.  I bet we're supposed to think Ted is worse than he is.  If Eva is his daughter, I doubt he knew.  But I'm not even betting on that.

I thought the scene with Anita and Dani was great.  I love that Tamara Tunie got something juicy to sink her teeth into.  She was powerful and commanded the screen.  This was probably the first time we saw Dani scared. 

1 hour ago, Rodney said:

Not liking that Martin cared more about bad press than his aunt possibly harming or killing somebody.  Even Smitty looked exasperated by that.

And he didn't even appreciate Smitty's private joke.  I thought it was clever. 

1 hour ago, JudyObscure said:

I thought the police guy was taking Dani straight to jail,

I get it's tricky since she's his mother-in-law but one would think he'd lead her out in cuffs.  I do get why Bill wouldn't want that to happen.  Whatever his end game goal is, it's not to see Dani in jail.

[Badsamaritan]

That wedding was crazy, in the absolute best possible way lol! I LOVE the Duprees, in all their luxurious entitlement. It's no different than any other rich family on soaps. The Newmans, Quartermaines, Corinthos, Forresters, and DiMeras have all been written as entitled over these many years. They've killed people, had people killed, done crimes, and still walk around their towns happy to throw their last names out at any given moment. So I expect the Duprees to act the same. Just because the family is Black, doesn't mean they all have to walk around humble. 

Mother Anita....whew! I just know there's some stories coming about her in her singing days. She made me straighten up in my chair! Poor Dani, you can tell she feels like she's been a disappointment most of her life. I really liked the scene between her and Nicole, I want to see more of their bond as sisters. 

When Vanessa and her husband came to the restaurant and sat with Pamela, Pamela mentioned about Vanessa being Nicole's best friend, so I assume that's how they know each other. And it appears each woman has been besties with the sisters for a while so it's natural they would know each other as well. 

Bill and Hayley - y'all brought all that shit on yourselves. Why in thee fuck would you want your ex-wife's entire family at your wedding? Y'all got froggy, and had to deal with the leap. Oh well. Enjoy your honeymoon, Hayley. Bill will be cheating on you soon enough, if he isn't already. 

[AnimeMania]

I blame Nurse Lemonhead, she must have used all the 5G bandwidth for her gossip, so there was none left to reach the elevator 5 feet away. Then she knew the elevator was stuck and was yapping so loud she couldn't hear all those people screaming for help, maybe next time they will remember to push the "Alarm" button.

Good thing that strong handsome fireman was there to rescue them from the elevator.

[Js Nana]

1. This show is on my watch list, although I do have to say that I wish it didn't focus on materialism - the older characters talk about having been in the movement, back before most of the show's viewers, excluding me, were even born, does kind of ring hollow coming from super-rich residents of an exclusive gated community.

2. My wish for Bill Hamilton is that he contracts a rampant case of antibiotic-resistant Diffuse Lepromatous Leprosy (DLL) from a Mexico City quickie with an infected prostitute, and that this appearance altering disease costs him his high paying clients, which costs him his highflying lifestyle, which causes Hayley, his child bride, to run for the hills because that's not what she had signed up for.

3. Is Hayley Lawson actually the starry-eyed Pollyana she appears to be or is she a wolf in sheep's clothing who's in it to con some super rich middle-aged lawyer undergoing a mid-life crisis out of every asset in his portfolio, leaving him a broken man trying to get himself back into the good graces of the Dupree family.

 

[Js Nana]

36 minutes ago, Js Nana said:

This show is on my watch list

. . . and I salute AnimeMania for that hilarious post - LOL x 101

[JudyObscure]

1 hour ago, Badsamaritan said:

Just because the family is Black, doesn't mean they all have to walk around humble. 

 Okay.  I'm out of here.

[Melgaypet]

Okay, I hate Martin. He sucks. For someone who expresses such disdain for his former Uncle Bill, he sure shows a lot of the same self-obsession and ambition, just not the cheating (that we know of) (yet). Not one thought of how his invisible teenage children will react to this viral video? Free Glasses!

I like Gossipy Nurse. I was surprised that they didn't show her seeing the video. What does she know about Doug, who possibly has an open marriage with Vanessa the blonde realtor, who Dixie from AMC has informed us is Nicole's best friend, even though it sure seemed like she was closer to Dani, but whatever, Doug is up to something shady, possibly.

I'm also betting that Dana/Leslie is lying about Ted abandoning her and Eva. I think he never knew she was pregnant. Assuming Eva actually is Ted's daughter. Which she probably is, but Dana/Leslie has something darker going on. Why wouldn't she have gotten child support, since Ted is rich? And we know she's dangerous.

Poor Dani. I really liked her and Nicole's sister moment.

[ShadowHunter]

This was definitely the best episode so far. Family or not James who is a Cop let Dani hold a gun on Bill and Hayley far too long. He should have stepped in sooner. Later on it seemed like Naomi almost dismissed him. 

Bill allowed Hayley to be his shield. Honey he never stepped in front of you while Dani was holding the gun. 

Martin sucks. For someone who had a secret he is very blah. He also didn't seem to understand a live stream means it already was seen lol.

Derek at least noticed the vibes between Andre and Ashley. 

I like the gossip nurse lol.

Eva doesn't know her mom actually caused the accident to Laura. That's interesting.

 

[Badsamaritan]

I'm taking bets that Pamela slept with Bill while he was married to Dani. It's such a soapy thing to do. 

Yeah Leslie/Dana is full-blown crackers. Total bunny boiler. But I agree that I don't think Ted knew about Eva. Someone upthread suggested her father is actually Ted's brother that died, and that they were twins and that's why Leslie/Dana thinks it's Ted, and I like that idea a lot. Either way, I don't think Nicole would have mistreated Eva if she did know, she would want Ted to have a relationship with her. But it seems like Leslie is placing equal blame on Nicole, I'll be interested to see why. 

[wonderwoman]

On 3/2/2025 at 4:57 PM, Melgaypet said:

I can buy Hayley's naivety, at least so far, but I'm hoping to see some different shades before long.

 

agreed. 

[ByaNose]

Cady McClain looks out of place here. She’s a Emmy winner and been in the game since the 80’s and now she’s an extra with a bad side pony tail.  Of course, it’s only been 2 days for her but I don’t even buy her as Dani’s bff. Just sayin……

[Giuseppe]

5 hours ago, ShadowHunter said:

James who is a Cop

I think it's Jacob?

I don't know if I'm into this yet or not. i'll keep watching, but some of the writing and acting seems a bit amateurish. I know many of the actors are green, so I'll give it a while. Also don't like some of the scene cuts/transitions. They feel very abrupt at times.

One thing I do love...the sets are fantastic. I love good set design. So few shows do it well.

I did not enjoy the Ashley/Andre/Alix elevator baby scenes. First of all, way too cliched. Second, Alix goes into labor literally as soon as the elevator stopped? I guess the jolt induced her contractions? Lol. And then! the elevator magically opens again (on the same floor, mind you, despite that they seemed to have gone down at least a couple floors when it stopped) just as gossipy nurse informs Derek that there was a stuck elevator and he rushed to the doors? That whole sequence was just weirdly paced.