Beyond the Gates: Daily Episode Discussion

[Rodney]

So Hayley's not pregnant.  Oh, my God, I am so relieved.  Bill being disappointed was not something that I expected.  But he was right that he was getting a bit old to raise another child.

I did like hearing more about Doug and Vanessa's relationship.  So Vanessa grew up rich, while Doug came from humbler beginnings.  I liked the story of their first meeting.  But Doug's now in even deeper with Joey due to the lost horse bet.

Doug is nice, but I prefer Vanessa with Joey.  If only Jon lived in Atlanta so he could signed to a contract.

Kat and Tomas were cut once again, and I like that Tomas offered to help figure out whom Eva was.  But she really should've taken him with her to confront Eva, especially with how crazy Leslie is.

Good to see Laura again.  Nice to see Nicole being a smart doctor and realizing that Laura was likely sabotaged with the potassium.

Leslie could simply throw Eva off her trail by just telling her that she doesn't tell her some things because she wants her to have total deniability for some of them.  It is true, to an extent.  But Eva keeps getting close to figuring out that her mother hurt Laura, but she keeps letting Leslie chase her away getting there.

Nice episode.  The storylines featured today felt more balanced.

[JAYJAY1979]

When an episode doesn't feature Dani nor how wonderful the Dupree's are...it gets good marks in my book.

I think I've fully recovered from the cringe/stench of Monday and the Dupree's pick me attitude.

Kat had her brain turned on, and I hope she manages to warn someone about Leslie.

Vanessa/Doug:  lots of good exposition on their history together. 

Joey: Of course he would own an escort service LoL

I'm wondering if the scene of Ashley messing up the dosage on a chart will come back now that Nicole realizes something is off with what happened to Laura.

[TiffanyNichelle]

The fact that Leslie really thought a wig was going to keep her from being recognized by people she's met before. Ted was able to see it was her from across a dark bar. How did she think she could talk to Kat face to face without the pussycat wig and the accent and Kat wouldn't realize she was the same person?

[AnimeMania]

S01.E43: Friday, April 25, 2025

[ShadowHunter]

Nicole spraying Febreze again lol. She uses it the most I mean does every room she is in stink? It's starting to feel that way.  I am glad Doug confessed to her he has a gambling problem. That is a good first step for him. Even though I feel Vanessa has better chemistry with Joey.

Ashley and Derek feel like they are on a different show. They feel isolated from the rest of the cast at times. 

Jacob and the stuff at the police station I didn't care at all about any of it.

Martin was actually bearable today lol.

[AnimeMania]

I wouldn't mind if they skipped or shortened the make out sessions, they are way too long and don't really add anything except some eye-candy. There was only one this episode (Ashley), they take too long and it doesn't add anything to the episode. They can also get rid of all the praise giving speeches, the one time that someone might have needed one (Doug), Nicole chose to keep it 100. There was so much more plot development when these things are removed.

Nicole: To get an idea of the severity of your problem, how much money did you lose gambling yesterday?

Nicole: $50,000?! Come over here so I can smack the taste out of yo mouth!

7 minutes ago, ShadowHunter said:

Nicole spraying Febreze again lol.

She didn't do it right, since she didn't turn the label towards the camera.

How long ago has Chelsea been wanting to quit modeling, if she had that conversation with her father before she knew Bill was sleeping with Hayley?

[Irlandesa]

I said a while ago that I thought Doug and Vanessa were the "best" couple on the show in that I thought they had the best chemistry and an actual story.  With more of their background, I continue to think that. 

The problem with the character of Dani isn't necessarily with the performance for me.  It's the fact that she feels like they came up with a concept to her character (unpredictable, a touch unhinged, jilted) but 40 episodes in, she doesn't really have a story.  She sleeps with Andrew every now and then.  She gets mad about her ex.  She feels left behind a little by her daughter but she doesn't do anything.  When I think of characters I think she's meant to be modeled after like Erica Kane, the difference is jarring. 

And frankly, it's almost malpractice to create a bible for a show and have no real story for the character clearly deemed to be its star. This is true for a few of the show's characters (Ashley and Derek, Chelsea...kind of) but those characters don't get the screentime Dani gets. 

Was today's episode incredibly boring for anyone else?  I know I was tired but I felt like nothing really happened. 

[JAYJAY1979]

3 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I said a while ago that I thought Doug and Vanessa were the "best" couple on the show in that I thought they had the best chemistry and an actual story.  With more of their background, I continue to think that. 

The problem with the character of Dani isn't necessarily with the performance for me.  It's the fact that she feels like they came up with a concept to her character (unpredictable, a touch unhinged, jilted) but 40 episodes in, she doesn't really have a story.  She sleeps with Andrew every now and then.  She gets mad about her ex.  She feels left behind a little by her daughter but she doesn't do anything.  When I think of characters I think she's meant to be modeled after like Erica Kane, the difference is jarring. 

And frankly, it's almost malpractice to create a bible for a show and have no real story for the character clearly deemed to be its star. This is true for a few of the show's characters (Ashley and Derek, Chelsea...kind of) but those characters don't get the screentime Dani gets. 

Was today's episode incredibly boring for anyone else?  I know I was tired but I felt like nothing really happened. 

For me, a Dani free episode is a win for me.

 

[Elizabeth233]

5 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I said a while ago that I thought Doug and Vanessa were the "best" couple on the show in that I thought they had the best chemistry and an actual story.  With more of their background, I continue to think that. 

The problem with the character of Dani isn't necessarily with the performance for me.  It's the fact that she feels like they came up with a concept to her character (unpredictable, a touch unhinged, jilted) but 40 episodes in, she doesn't really have a story.  She sleeps with Andrew every now and then.  She gets mad about her ex.  She feels left behind a little by her daughter but she doesn't do anything.  When I think of characters I think she's meant to be modeled after like Erica Kane, the difference is jarring. 

And frankly, it's almost malpractice to create a bible for a show and have no real story for the character clearly deemed to be its star. This is true for a few of the show's characters (Ashley and Derek, Chelsea...kind of) but those characters don't get the screentime Dani gets. 

Was today's episode incredibly boring for anyone else?  I know I was tired but I felt like nothing really happened. 

Honestly most interesting scenes today for me was bill and martin.

[Rodney]

Good thing that Doug finally admitted his addiction.  But he's making it worse by not wanting to go to the support group.  Nicole told him like it was, so he should listen.  He did listen to an extent, as he confessed something to Vanessa, but he didn't tell her the whole thing.

Diego actually rejected Vanessa this time.  Wow.

Even though Naomi's on speaking terms with Bill again, I'm glad that she still hasn't fully forgiven him for his affair.  And I liked her scenes with the homeless woman, June.  Although June's actress could be a bit too much at times.  I wonder if that was her first job?

Bill and Chelsea's flashback scene was nicely done.  But the fact that he'd already had a foot out the door with Dani at the time that Chelsea had confided in him . . . wow.

Was Bill subtly threatening Martin with his secret?

Tyrell and Jessica are cute.  But I don't know why he won't admit that, yeah, they're working toward something.  Samantha called him out right.

So Tyrell and Samantha's school is called Forten High School.  Good to know.

Bill clearly has health problems, giving his shaking hand while talking to Tomas.

Derek and Ashley do sometimes feel like they're part of a different show.  But at the same time, I do enjoy them well enough.  But this living together thing is clearly meant to make things even more intense when things between Ashley and Andre really start heating up.

Kind of a sedate episode, but that's okay.  Not every episode of any soap has to be exciting.

But next week . . . shit.  Looks like Leslie and Eva finally drop the bomb.

Edited 2 hours ago by Rodney

[drivethroo]

8 hours ago, ShadowHunter said:

Ashley and Derek feel like they are on a different show. They feel isolated from the rest of the cast at times. 

Because they are. Derek mainly only interacts with Ashley. Ashley at least interacts with the hospital people. I was thinking perhaps they should make Ashley Joey's daughter but maybe they can make her Mike's daughter instead. Maybe Jan had enough of Mike's misogyny and left him with baby Ashley or maybe Mike slept with Jan and left her when she got pregnant.

Even this story is not about Ashley LOL.

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

How long ago has Chelsea been wanting to quit modeling, if she had that conversation with her father before she knew Bill was sleeping with Hayley?

I don't think Chelsea ever actually wanted to model.  She was the cuter of Dani's children* so Dani tried to relive her modeling heyday through Chelsea.

The 3 musketeers continue to get on my nerves as they implement how they think Bill's company should be run. Bill needs to figure out a legal way to get rid of them, starting with the one who is a lawyer.

*Naomi is also beautiful but she's a bit plainer and more under Bill and more studious.  Chelsea was Dani's little doll she could dress up.

 

Edited Saturday at 06:57 AM by drivethroo

[YaddaYadda]

I totally understand why Chelsea will not speak to her father. It's not just that he betrayed her mother by sleeping and marrying her sister's best friend. Those flashbacks of her and Bill talking about Dani while he was very clearly already cheating on her with Hayley were super cringy because he was lying to his daughter. And it seems like Dani was volatile because she might have known there was something happening.

Yesterday reinforced just how absolutely shady Bill is. That overt threat to Martin because he wouldn't give him the time of day, the meeting with his little spy, the lying to his youngest daughter as he was sitting there looking sweatier than usual . . . Hope the jazz hand is brutal. 

And then we have those previews for next week, Hayley and Bill laughing about Ted cheating on Nicole. That was something. Hayley, you empty-headed dumb dumb of a little mistress. Remember. You married a serial cheater. What goes around comes around.

[Kerri]

I think I dislike Hayley the most out of all the characters. She is just insufferable. She didn't give a shit what Mike may have done to those women, tried to get Naomi to drop the suit, and then was all - oh I might have a daughter so suddenly this affects me? 

The affair, the lying, the poor me, the I want a baby to solidify my position, she and Bill are both terrible self centered people, not hard to see why they made a match.

[ShadowHunter]

1 hour ago, Kerri said:

I think I dislike Hayley the most out of all the characters. She is just insufferable. She didn't give a shit what Mike may have done to those women, tried to get Naomi to drop the suit, and then was all - oh I might have a daughter so suddenly this affects me? 

The affair, the lying, the poor me, the I want a baby to solidify my position, she and Bill are both terrible self centered people, not hard to see why they made a match.

Hayley is very blah. Honestly that's her true Sin being boring.

I didn't care how Bill was almost pushing Tomas to have a drink of alcohol when he didn't want too.

[AnimeMania]

It is funny how people say the food at all the restaurants on the show is so delicious, yet I haven't seen anybody eat everything on their plate by the time they are about to leave.

[Kerri]

For those that dont know- just read this is being pre-empted I think Tues and Wed for some sports event.

Edited Monday at 05:54 PM by Kerri

[AnimeMania]

S01.E44: Monday, April 28, 2025
Next New Episode: Thursday, May 1, 2025
 

[drivethroo]

On 4/26/2025 at 1:01 PM, Kerri said:

I think I dislike Hayley the most out of all the characters. She is just insufferable. She didn't give a shit what Mike may have done to those women, tried to get Naomi to drop the suit, and then was all - oh I might have a daughter so suddenly this affects me? 

 

Hayley should lean into being a terrible person.  The main problem with her is she's trying to pull a Steve Urkel Did I Do That? when Yes, you did that and we don't like you because you did that and you just need to charge it to the game.

On 4/26/2025 at 2:22 PM, ShadowHunter said:

I didn't care how Bill was almost pushing Tomas to have a drink of alcohol when he didn't want too.

He was schooling Tomas on how to handle alcohol on the job, around high dollar clients and partners.  He even told Tomas to order the expensive stuff and "sip" (or pretend to) and claim he wants to savor the taste. I didn't take it as Bill pushing alcohol on Tomas.

54 minutes ago, Kerri said:

For those that dont know- just read this is being pre-empted I think Tues and Wed for some sports event.

It will be pre-empted for several days next week, too.

[AnimeMania]

Eva: We can't afford to have dessert.

I have never heard anybody, no matter how poor, say something like that. Who wrote this dribble?

I have no idea what Mona does for Nicole and Ted, or why she works from home most of the time. They should have made Mona,  Nicole and Ted's housekeeper. Vernon and Anita have a housekeeper that they always mention, but they never show.

Nicole and Ted should start locking their door the way Ashley and Bill does. Tell Dani to do the same. Chelsea is the only person we have seen knock on someone's door.

[ShadowHunter]

Lesley, you are doing too much lol. The fake smiles and politeness that Martin and Vernon were doing while she rambled on was funny.

That being said when Lesley told Mona and Jan she valued the friendship they had I believed her. She knows that Friendship will be ruined once the truth is out. 

[Rodney]

1 hour ago, ShadowHunter said:

That being said when Lesley told Mona and Jan she valued the friendship they had I believed her. She knows that Friendship will be ruined once the truth is out. 

Of course.  Mona is very loyal to Ted and Nicole, so she will not approve of what Leslie's doing.  Especially if she also finds out what she did to Laura.

I don't see how she'll lose Jan over it, though.

Ted and Nicole failing to get their private time was titter-worthy.

Oh, boy.  Chelsea is catching feelings for Allison, the wife half of the couple she's been seeing.  And now she wants to be more exclusive with her, and have less of her husband, Craig.  Uh-oh.  Surprisingly, Allison was cool about her admission, and she and Craig are actually open to seeing other people, as long as they tell each other.  But it sounds like Allison still wants to be with her husband

Hearing Anita talk about her time with the Articulettes makes me wonder what went wrong to make them break up.  How did she treat Tracy and Sharon to make their breakup "far from amicable?"

Ashley and Derek actually managed to have some good scenes.  At least once Jan got added to them.  I had no idea that Ashley was so neurotic.  And did Derek say the word "anal" on daytime television?

So what is Mona to Ted and Nicole?  Is she their housekeeper?

Damn.  @ShadowHunter was right.  Leslie was doing too much with Vernon and Martin.  Might as well get it in, since the Duprees, Richardsons, and Hamiltons are going to hate her once her secret is out.

What did Martin do?

Ooh.  So Leslie is no longer willing to blow the secret right away.  She wants to blackmail the Duprees for a while first.  But that flashback of hers and Eva's explains more of why she's doing this.

Good episode.  Hate that we have to wait till Thursday to see more.

[JAYJAY1979]

52 minutes ago, Rodney said:

Of course.  Mona is very loyal to Ted and Nicole, so she will not approve of what Leslie's doing.  Especially if she also finds out what she did to Laura.

I don't see how she'll lose Jan over it, though.

Ted and Nicole failing to get their private time was titter-worthy.

Oh, boy.  Chelsea is catching feelings for Allison, the wife half of the couple she's been seeing.  And now she wants to be more exclusive with her, and have less of her husband, Craig.  Uh-oh.  Surprisingly, Allison was cool about her admission, and she and Craig are actually open to seeing other people, as long as they tell each other.  But it sounds like Allison still wants to be with her husband

Hearing Anita talk about her time with the Articulettes makes me wonder what went wrong to make them break up.  How did she treat Tracy and Sharon to make their breakup "far from amicable?"

Ashley and Derek actually managed to have some good scenes.  At least once Jan got added to them.  I had no idea that Ashley was so neurotic.  And did Derek say the word "anal" on daytime television?

So what is Mona to Ted and Nicole?  Is she their housekeeper?

Damn.  @ShadowHunter was right.  Leslie was doing too much with Vernon and Martin.  Might as well get it in, since the Duprees, Richardsons, and Hamiltons are going to hate her once her secret is out.

What did Martin do?

Ooh.  So Leslie is no longer willing to blow the secret right away.  She wants to blackmail the Duprees for a while first.  But that flashback of hers and Eva's explains more of why she's doing this.

Good episode.  Hate that we have to wait till Thursday to see more.

I believe Mona is the house manager and Laura/Eva was Nicole's assistant for her charity and practice.

Today's episode was magical!

- Team Derek.  Ashley seems like a nightmare..even her mother Jan thought so.

- I'm going to miss the Leslie/Mona/Jan friendship scenes :(

- Chelsea finally getting some character development.

- No Dani!  Happy day indeed.

- Sounds like Anita pulled a Diana Ross.

[Badsamaritan]

My poor Nicole, she's about to have her world turned upside down. 😭

I'm sick of Leslie's logic, Nicole and her family have nothing to do with the decisions she made in life. Nobody told her to have an affair with a married guy, or keep his child, or keep it a secret, or marry a mediocre man (Side note - she totally killed Alan), those are all decisions she made with her grown up draws on. And Eva trying to justify and go along with the crazy - gurl, what? Leslie has taken all her disappointments and bad judgement calls in life and laid them at Nicole's feet. Again I ask, gurl, WHAT? This is how you know the character is crazy crazy. She's fixated and it needs to end badly for her. Yes, I want full Dupree vengeance cuz they ain't have nothing to do with what happened in that woman's life. Leslie has walked around gloating and like she said, rubbing it in their faces. She needs to be dealt with harshly. 

[ShadowHunter]

18 minutes ago, Badsamaritan said:

My poor Nicole, she's about to have her world turned upside down. 😭

I'm sick of Leslie's logic, Nicole and her family have nothing to do with the decisions she made in life. Nobody told her to have an affair with a married guy, or keep his child, or keep it a secret, or marry a mediocre man (Side note - she totally killed Alan), those are all decisions she made with her grown up draws on. And Eva trying to justify and go along with the crazy - gurl, what? Leslie has taken all her disappointments and bad judgement calls in life and laid them at Nicole's feet. Again I ask, gurl, WHAT? This is how you know the character is crazy crazy. She's fixated and it needs to end badly for her. Yes, I want full Dupree vengeance cuz they ain't have nothing to do with what happened in that woman's life. Leslie has walked around gloating and like she said, rubbing it in their faces. She needs to be dealt with harshly. 

Leslie could have killed Alan it wouldn't surprise me. He probably trashed her wigs lol.  I did appreciate Eva pointing out that the Dupree family especially Anita and Vernon didn't actually do anything to them. 

[mbluecpa]

11 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

I believe Mona is the house manager and Laura/Eva was Nicole's assistant for her charity and practice.

I’ve been wondering exactly what Mona’s job is (well, I guess that’s not uncommon for soap characters) and her comment about wanting to review garden reno plans makes me think house manager as well.

The scene was a little silly, but I did like the Leslie wig montage. I thought for a moment when she was talking to Eva about long-term blackmail that she was backing off an anniversary party reveal but then she seemed to return to it. They are definitely writing - and she is playing - Leslie as increasingly unhinged as the days go by.

Martin was more animated that I’ve seen in a while during his chat with Chelsea. I also thought that was a nicely-done scene. 

[YaddaYadda]

I'm not really feeling Allison. I don't know if it's the actress or the character, though. I did like the Martin and Chelsea scenes, though.

Leslie is unhinged AF. The blame and hate she heaps on Nicole is really out there, especially because Leslie has met and interacted with Nicole who was nothing but kind to her and worried about her and wanted to help her. You'd think she'd take a deep breath and reassess her Nicole feelings, but she's full steam ahead about trashing her life publicly. If Leslie had just gone to Nicole and spoken to her, told her about the affair with Ted, the child that resulted from it, it would be a different, but girlfriend is certifiable.

I wouldn't be surprised if she killed Alan either. We know she has it in her to do it. Plus there was that whole potassium situation with Laura. It does sound like Alan was sick and left Leslie and Eva saddled with medical bills. 

There's no money to buy dessert, but there's money to buy wigs!

[One Tough Cookie]

17 hours ago, Rodney said:

Hearing Anita talk about her time with the Articulettes makes me wonder what went wrong to make them break up.  How did she treat Tracy and Sharon to make their breakup "far from amicable?"

Could it be the same reason Diana Ross dumped the Supremes?

[drivethroo]

18 hours ago, Rodney said:

Hearing Anita talk about her time with the Articulettes makes me wonder what went wrong to make them break up.  How did she treat Tracy and Sharon to make their breakup "far from amicable?"

Anita was probably gassed up to go solo and once she caught Vernon's eye and married him there was no going back ...later for them other two (who probably remained poor and broke).  That's the real reason she doesn't want to perform anymore...the two other members would resurface and put Anita on blast.  I'm here for it!

18 hours ago, Rodney said:

I don't see how she'll lose Jan over it, though.

Jan's daughter is BFFs with a Dupree and she probably knows the familly.

18 hours ago, Rodney said:

I had no idea that Ashley was so neurotic. 

Ashley was giving Monica from FRIENDS vibes.

16 hours ago, Badsamaritan said:

Leslie has taken all her disappointments and bad judgement calls in life and laid them at Nicole's feet. Again I ask, gurl, WHAT? This is how you know the character is crazy crazy. She's fixated and it needs to end badly for her.

We don't know what Ted told Leslie about his relationship with Nicole but it obviously wasn't praise because most women with sense would be like "Um why are you coming on to me if your wife is so great?"

Leslie thinks the only reason Ted stayed with Nicole is because Nicole & her family have money and prestige and Nicole trapped Ted with Kat. (which is why Leslie hates Kat)

2 hours ago, YaddaYadda said:

If Leslie had just gone to Nicole and spoken to her, told her about the affair with Ted, the child that resulted from it, it would be a different, but girlfriend is certifiable.

Most side chicks reveal themselves to the wife after the husband refuses to leave because they figure if they can chase the wife away, that will give them a clear path to have the husband.  Usually what ends up happening is the side chick reveals herself and the wife ends up staying OR the side chick reveal themselves and the wife leaves but the husband blames the side chick for losing the wife and leaves the side chick.

Leslie thought then and thinks now if Nicole is out of the way she will be Ted's wife and she will have the money and accolades Nicole had but if Leslie really thinks this, she'd be better off trying to be with Nicole than trying to be with Ted.  Ted will be disgraced but Nicole will still have her family name and reputation and family money and her own money, as well as sympathy and support from the community.

[YaddaYadda]

1 hour ago, drivethroo said:

Leslie thought then and thinks now if Nicole is out of the way she will be Ted's wife and she will have the money and accolades Nicole had but if Leslie really thinks this, she'd be better off trying to be with Nicole than trying to be with Ted.  Ted will be disgraced but Nicole will still have her family name and reputation and family money and her own money, as well as sympathy and support from the community.

Leslie should get her head out of her ass and take a good hard look at what's going on with Hayley.