Beyond the Gates: Daily Episode Discussion

[Kerri]

I'm a few eps behind but Sharon seems like a bitch, regardless of what happened with Barbara.

There is no guarantee that group would've stayed together regardless. If Sharon had gotten the offers Anita did to go solo- I think she would've done the exact same thing. 

Leslie is over the top and everyone chatting with her is dumb but it was the search warrant stuff that bugged me. Have that cop sit her down and take that place apart systematically. Or stand her in the hallway. So unrealistic. Although I'm not done this ep yet.

[Zemiar]

On 6/6/2025 at 3:15 PM, Rodney said:

So Chelsea's new woman of interest is named Madison.  Madison Montgomery.  And she's a doctor!  I wonder why it was so hard to tell Chelsea that?

She's closeted and playing hard to get. I don't see this ending well for Chelsea.

Edited Sunday at 10:22 PM by Zemiar

[Lois Sandborne]

The Articulettes saga is getting kind of dry. The big Barbara reveal could've been interesting, but they're writing it just like any old Dreamgirls B-plot.

I'm catching up so this might have been a week or two ago, but the family reunion in Bill's hospital room with Hayley on the outs had me weak. Bill is a terrible man, and I kind of like Dani and Andre together, but I will still be there with bells on when Bill and Dani hook up.

5 hours ago, Kerri said:

Leslie is over the top and everyone chatting with her is dumb but it was the search warrant stuff that bugged me. Have that cop sit her down and take that place apart systematically. Or stand her in the hallway. So unrealistic.

This really got on my nerves. I know it's a soap opera. But that was a lot. Especially since Leslie has been wilding and generally getting away with everything. Even though we know Jacob wasn't going to find anything, I would've at least liked to see somebody sit her down for once.

[Badsamaritan]

12 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

This really got on my nerves. I know it's a soap opera. But that was a lot. Especially since Leslie has been wilding and generally getting away with everything. Even though we know Jacob wasn't going to find anything, I would've at least liked to see somebody sit her down for once.

This is the part that's really bugging me, that they're letting Leslie just run through unchecked. She hasn't shown any fear of being discovered or afraid the police could find something. She's becoming one of those untouchable Big Bads that primetime shows have that loom across seasons and are smarter and better at evil than any of the good guys. I hate those kinds of characters because you have to make every single character around them into an idiot. Case in point - Leslie running around in everybody's face and they just keep giving her info when by rights, they should tell her to get bent and then call the cops to arrest her for harassment. When she showed up in the hospital using a fake French accent, Shanice should've immediately called security and we should've seen Leslie get strong armed up outta there. 

As I've said, I know the character is probably a blast to write for, and the actress is great and looks like she's having a ball. But characters like this need an expiration date precisely because they're ridiculously over the top. It's all fun and games, until it isn't. 

[Rodney]

8 hours ago, Badsamaritan said:

This is the part that's really bugging me, that they're letting Leslie just run through unchecked. She hasn't shown any fear of being discovered or afraid the police could find something. She's becoming one of those untouchable Big Bads that primetime shows have that loom across seasons and are smarter and better at evil than any of the good guys. I hate those kinds of characters because you have to make every single character around them into an idiot.

I agree, for the most part.  I generally don't mind having "untouchable" Big Bads for a while.  It makes it all the more worthwhile when they're finally brought down.  But they kind of need to be brought down eventually, and not have things take too long to make it happen.  It's why I have such frustration with the way that the writers at Days of our Lives let E.J. and Kristen get away with their crimes for way too long.  I don't want them to do the same thing with Leslie.

Edited 13 hours ago by Rodney

[AnimeMania]

S01.E69: Monday, June 9, 2025
S01.E70 (Canada)
 

[Rodney]

Oh, hi, Caroline!  Haven't seen you in months!  And apparently, quite stereotypically, her last name is Lee.

Nice to see Chelsea show up at the hospital for Bill this time.  Not surprised that Bill tried to bribe his way out.  At least he agreed to the CT scan this time.  But damn.  Naomi and Chelsea not wanting to deal with Hayley?  I felt that.  But they knew that they had to, to know what was wrong with their dad.  Naomi's reluctant hug with Hayley made me titter.  But she was right to tell Hayley that what happened wasn't her fault.  But Dani looming after her arrival . . . eesh.  It was obvious that she didn't want to deal with Hayley.  Dani was right, though, that Bill should've stayed there.

All things aside, it was nice to see Bill's daughters still caring for him in spite of his recent behavior with Hayley.

Chelsea's quiet shock at seeing that Madison is a doctor was a funny moment.  But it turns out that Madison is a fan of Chelsea and has followed her career.  Ans she's a fashion-loving neurologist.  It was polite of her, too, to not indicate that she knew Chelsea due to not knowing whether or not she was out to her family.

Andre and Dani are going to get it on again.  Nice to see Nicole and Dani interact.  But Andre and Dani had to hide things from Nicole just in time.

Derek and Andre's scenes were okay.  I liked Derek's confusion over Leslie still walking around free.  I did like that they both agreed that Leslie's dangerous, especially after each of their run-ins with her.  Derek was also smart to go to Jacob with his concerns about Leslie.  Now he has a vested interest in her going down because she came after Ashley, so that makes sense.

Ashley and Andre . . . still don't care.  But sheesh.  Her spiel about Dani, Bill, and Hayley were very clearly meant to mirror what Andre's feelings for her while she's with Derek.

I think that Eva was being truthful with Nicole.  At least about the Laura stuff.  But I don't blame Nicole for having suspicions after Leslie's intrusion in her life.  But she's right that Eva's not immune to Leslie.  Interesting to hear that Eva still won't give Leslie up.  Interesting . . . and frustrating.  But I appreciated Eva trying to urge Nicole to forgive Ted.  And I appreciated even more that Nicole forgave Eva, even if she hasn't yet forgiven Ted.

Kat showing up at Leslie's took a lot of ovaries, but her trying to trick Leslie into a false sense of security was admittedly smart.  Too bad for her that Leslie saw right through it.  But what business does Leslie have with Tomas?! . . . Oh!  She wants him to be her fixer like Bill was to the Duprees?!  I'm glad that Tomas turned her down, because there's no way that he should work against Kat.

Derek and Jacob putting pressure on Leslie was nice.  Derek works so much better in scenes with Jacob.

So Kat stole the evidence to put it back in Leslie's place, into which she snuck because she unlocked the windows while she was visiting her.  Maybe she should've had a lookout, though, in case Leslie came back.  She got lucky that no one did.  And she found a logical way around the "illegally obtained evidence" by making Jacob think that Leslie had taken them out.

Leslie and Eva's confrontation was tense.  But I praise Eva for maintaining her defiance in the need of her mother's demanding attitude.  Too bad she only just found out that the evidence is gone, though she doesn't know that Kat's close to turning the tables on her again.

Great episode.

[drivethroo]

On 6/7/2025 at 2:25 PM, Sake614 said:

When Hayley told Bill she was going to see her stylist, the first thing I thought was ‘wait, you actually have someone who lets you walk out of the store with those clothes? And that person still has a job?’

She told Bill she was going to Tyson's Galleria which is one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive mall in the area. So Hayley is shopping at expensive stores but she doesn't have any taste. Hayley probably has an Instagram stylist and not a real stylist.

On 6/7/2025 at 4:11 PM, Sake614 said:

And trying to fuck him while he’s supposedly working. 

That's her job.

On 6/7/2025 at 11:22 PM, Irlandesa said:

I don't know why Joey slept with Vanessa.

Joey is attracted to Vanessa and I think he wants Doug out of the way (one way or the other). 

On 6/8/2025 at 10:06 AM, mbluecpa said:

I do realize that $250K is a lot of money, but Joey had previously described the then-unknown amount as one that would take a near lifetime for Doug to repay.

For most people that would be an unsurmountable sum of money to pay back. Don't forget, Joey is also running up Doug's debt with a bunch of interest. Doug should be able to pay that back but he may have always been bad with money and I feel like his and Vanessa's money has always been separate. 

Plus, Doug KEEPS running up his debt.  He's not stopping and repaying Joey, he keeps running up the tab.

On 6/8/2025 at 1:04 PM, Kerri said:

There is no guarantee that group would've stayed together regardless. If Sharon had gotten the offers Anita did to go solo- I think she would've done the exact same thing. 

The group had a problem with Anita leaving but I also think the group had a problem with how Anita left.  Sounds like Anita was quite nasty and rude.

4 hours ago, Rodney said:

It's why I have such frustration with the way that the writers at Days of our Lives let E.J. and Kristen get away with their crimes for way too long.  I don't want them to do the same thing with Leslie.

Leslie's about to get away with it too because Kit Kat Brat* isn't going to be able to keep her mouth shut and she's going to brag about how the helmet and gloves were in Eva's room, which invites the question ---how did you know that? Which then opens the door to discover how Kat broke in to both Eva and Leslie's places to steal/plant evidence.

Plus while Kate had on gloves when she broke in Leslie's place, she did not have on gloves when she lifted the window.

3 hours ago, Rodney said:

Derek and Jacob putting pressure on Leslie was nice.  Derek works so much better in scenes with Jacob.

This is why it was dumb to have Derek be a firefighter.  Derek should've been one of Jacob's buddies down at the station.

3 hours ago, Rodney said:

And she found a logical way around the "illegally obtained evidence" by making Jacob think that Leslie had taken them out.

Too bad for Kit Kat Brat that evidence is going to get thrown out.

*Colby Muhammad either is getting married very soon or just got married, I wonder if she's taking a honeymoon and Kat will be off screen for a couple of weeks?

[One Tough Cookie]

11 hours ago, Badsamaritan said:

But characters like this need an expiration date precisely because they're ridiculously over the top. It's all fun and games, until it isn't. 

Her expiration date was several months ago.  She may have great cheekbones, but she can go now as far as I'm concerned.

 

3 hours ago, Rodney said:

I think that Eva was being truthful with Nicole.  At least about the Laura stuff.  But I don't blame Nicole for having suspicions after Leslie's intrusion in her life.  But she's right that Eva's not immune to Leslie.  Interesting to hear that Eva still won't give Leslie up.  Interesting . . . and frustrating.  But I appreciated Eva trying to urge Nicole to forgive Ted.  And I appreciated even more that Nicole forgave Eva, even if she hasn't yet forgiven Ted

Totally agree.  I don't see Nicole and Eva sitting around having tea, but  I think Nicole will somehow accept the situation.

[Rodney]

29 minutes ago, drivethroo said:

Too bad for Kit Kat Brat that evidence is going to get thrown out.

Not necessarily.  Not if she keeps quiet about how and where she got it.

[Badsamaritan]

5 hours ago, Rodney said:

I agree, for the most part.  I generally don't mind having "untouchable" Big Bads for a while.  It makes it all the more worthwhile when they're finally brought down.  But they kind of need to be brought down eventually, and not have things take too long to make it happen.  It's why I have such frustration with the way that the writers at Days of our Lives let E.J. and Kristen get away with their crimes for way too long.  I don't want them to do the same thing with Leslie.

We already have another Big Bad on canvas, in the form of mobster Joey. But he's actually much more believable and scary to me. I think he slept with Vanessa simply because he figured out he could, and also it would be another way to tie them both to him. He used both their addictions, and had absolutely no problem doing it. I don't want the mob to eat this show like it did General Hospital but the Joey character makes more sense for longer term viability as a Big Bad than the Leslie character, for me at least. She's flat out, all aboard the crazy train and will never have any allies other than her dumb daughter and I'm gonna need her to either go to prison, a mental hospital, or die. Soon. 

Ugh. Why won't Ashley go away? I have yet to find a fan of hers. They certainly don't like her on the Insta and do not hold back lol. I do wish Leslie would take one for the team and go ahead and unalive her before she goes. It would be the perfect reason to send her to the criminally insane hospital. 

I think Nicole is starting to suspect Dani and Andre been doin the horizontal tango. She gave them both a look as Andre tried to make his escape. And I'm very proud of Dani, she said something in encouragement of the wee bairn at Bill's bedside, aw. 🥹😂

And Kat. Ugh. I want better for you than this, girl. She's gonna say something dumb to Eva that will give away that she took the helmet, watch. Maybe she and Eva are twins, they making similar stupid decisions. Eva breaks in and takes the evidence but doesn't turn it over and instead uses it as leverage against her nut bar momma, then Kat steals it from Eva and breaks in to put it back to get rid of said nut bar. I feel like this might be another hint, along the veins of, when everybody was talking about how Kat just 'knew' about Eva all along. I hope this is leading somewhere besides Leslie going free, because all the criming just for criming's sake being shown by these three women is egregious at this point. 

[Sake614]

2 hours ago, Rodney said:

Not if she keeps quiet about how and where she got it.

Sadly I’m with @drivethroo on this. I think it will be too irresistible for Kat to keep quiet. She’s going to be so proud of her ingenuity that she’ll slip up and tell someone. Or a lot of someones.

[Rodney]

2 minutes ago, Sake614 said:

Sadly I’m with @drivethroo on this. I think it will be too irresistible for Kat to keep quiet. She’s going to be so proud of her ingenuity that she’ll slip up and tell someone. Or a lot of someones.

Oh, very possible.  And with Kat's personality, it's very probable.  I was just saying that it was a possibility that she'd keep quiet about it.