My View From Beyond the Gates: Logic has left the building (and feelings are running the show)

A Beyond the Gates commentary by Soap Central founder Dan J Kroll for the week ending October 10, 2025.

With apologies to a popular donut and coffee shop with an orange and hot pink logo, America runs on emotions. I don’t think that’s a new development (I’m looking at you, Boston Tea partiers), but it does seem more and more that people have just stopped thinking. They’ve stopped thinking before making rash decisions and they’ve certainly stopped thinking about the consequences of those actions.

Not every bad decision is revolutionary. Some are just dumb. Some are both, like Hayley barging into Dani’s house FBI raid style to look for Bill. I’ll get into the specifics of that later in this Beyond the Gates commentary.

Four sides to every story

Being a so-called soap opera expert implies that you have an unparalleled knowledge of soap opera characters and history. While three decades of covering daytime dramas has given me a particular skill set, I’ll be the first one to admit that I have absolutely no idea what’s going on between Andre, Bill, Dani, and Hayley. I do, however, find solace in knowing that Andre, Bill, Dani, and Hayley also have no idea what the hell they are doing.

To help make some sense of it all, I think it’s best to just focus on this wacky foursome in alphabetical order.

The story of us

A few months ago, Andre was concerned about the amount of alcohol Dani was drinking. So much, in fact, that he staged a one-person intervention. Fast forward to last month when he saw absolutely nothing wrong with Dani (and himself) getting so drunk on drinks named after their exes that they flew to Las Vegas and got married. Overindulgence be damned!

Andre got exactly what he wanted… at least to a degree. It’s pretty clear to me that Andre just wanted to be in a committed relationship with anyone. Think of it as relationship pin the tail on the donkey. He was tired of being called a playboy and decided that whoever was closest to his, um, pin was going to be the one he chose to settle down with.

I think that Andre’s feelings for Dani are greater than her feelings for him. I think a fringe benefit in their relationship is that Andre really, really likes being able to flaunt his marriage in Bill’s face.

I struggle to see why Andre is torn between Dani and Ashley. If I had to guess I’d say that Andre is in love with the idea of being able to show Ashley the world. Dani has been everywhere and done everything at least twice. To Ashley, the world is a blank canvas and I think Andre likes the idea of being able to lean into all of the stereotypical roles that come with being a man.

The smallest man who ever lived

I think Bill is having something akin to buyer’s remorse. Not that I am saying that Bill bought Hayley, but there is an element of truth in that.

I absolutely love my car — shout out to all the Honda CR-V owners! — but that doesn’t stop me from checking out the new models when they are released each year. That’s pretty much what Bill did. He traded in his fully operational wife for a newer model.

For the past year or so, that’s been working out well for Bill. The sex has kept him feeling virile and parading around Fairmont Crest with his trophy wife has been good for his self-esteem. But I think Bill is realizing that there is no real depth to his relationship with Hayley.

Even though Bill has moved on in his head, his health crisis and Chelsea’s kidnapping made him realize the depth of the connection he and Dani still share – in spite of whatever happened in the waning years of their marriage.

A Bill Hamilton shaped relapse

It’s admirable, I guess, that Bill wants to have that connection with the mother of his children. But you don’t get to have your cake and eat it too.  Bill is entitled to his feelings. He can feel however he wants to about Dani or Hayley or anything else. What he doesn’t get to do is to try to play protector of his ex-wife. He gave up that role when he slipped a ring on Hayley’s finger.

I do think that Bill’s whatever-he-has for Dani has been heightened by the fact that she has moved on with Andre. Andre is Dani’s Hayley —  younger, a good time in bed, and fun to look at. It was okay for Bill to move on, but Dani doing the same? No, that’s not okay in Bill’s eyes.

Does that mean that Bill and Dani are Beyond the Gates endgame? It’s hard to throw away 20some years of life together, but things do happen for a reason. Too many hateful things have been said by Dani and Bill in the aftermath of their marriage ending. I don’t think you can just forgive and forget. Some things don’t need a second chance.

I can do it with a broken heart

At first glance, Dani seems to be very happy being a married woman. Unfortunately, I don’t think anything has changed in her relationship with Andre since Fauxnita (that’s the nickname I’ve given Jackie Tyree, the Anita Dupree impersonator) declared them husband and wife.

I don’t doubt that Dani cares about Andre. She has said over and over that she has no intention of hurting Andre. Of course, not planning to hurt someone doesn’t mean that you won’t still end up hurting them.

Dani has always been something of a wild child. Being married to Andre when everyone in the free world is against the idea falls very much in line with her raison d’être. I could be wrong, but I have to imagine that the thrill would have worn off by now if everyone supported the marriage.  

Like Andre, I think Dani loves that her marriage is driving Bill nuts. What I have yet to figure out is if she is using Andre to get back into Bill’s life or just using him to get back at Bill. Neither of the two options is healthy. Dani told Pam that she doesn’t want Bill back because she has “the ideal” relationship with “respectful, considerate” Andre. Being able to send your husband back to his own home doesn’t sound much like a marriage. But it’s 2025 and maybe I am just out of touch with the times.

You need to calm down

Of the four people in the love square, Hayley is the one whose intentions are the hardest to figure out. Andre, Bill, and Dani are all messed up in their own ways, but at least I can sort of figure out what they are thinking. Hayley, though, seems to have the most nefarious reasons.

Since Beyond the Gates debuted back in February, we’ve repeatedly heard Hayley say that she never meant to fall in love with Bill. That heart does tend to want what the heart wants. I believed that things happened and Hayley fell for a man who was not available… and then he fell for her.

I don’t believe that any more.

I’ve come to the conclusion that Hayley set out to land Bill any way she could. I think breaking up his marriage was a calculated decision. I don’t have any hard evidence of this, but the circumstantial evidence makes me believe that Hayley is a homewrecking hussy.

No body, no crime

There’s something that just doesn’t sit right about Hayley’s pregnancy. Even though an alleged professional backed up Hayley’s claim that she had been pregnant, I still don’t buy it. Nothing about her actions makes sense. Could it be that something in the storyline changed from the time it was initially conceived and that’s why things don’t add up? Yes, but I don’t think that’s the case.

If you add in Hayley’s odd “random” encounter with Randy at the Uptown, things just get weirder. It could be that Randy gave a fake name because he was still technically in hiding (and not doing such a great job of it). I think these two know each other and have some sort of connection, but I haven’t figured out what that connection is.

Hayley’s attempts to make Bill jealous are juvenile, but they’ve also been really kind of pathetic. Maybe her “youth” hasn’t given her the mental means to craft a better scheme.

Wait… do you hear something? Could it be… it is! It’s the hypocrite alarm!

While incredibly immature, I absolutely loved crazed Hayley showing up at Dani’s house and practically tearing the place apart to look for Bill. Prior to this total meltdown, Hayley had become really kind of annoying. Her whole “bad bitch” persona that she had in the early days of Beyond the Gates morphed into some whiny, possessive, sex-crazed pushover.

In case you were wondering, I don’t think that Hayley showing up at Dani’s house proves that she loves her man. I think it does prove that she doesn’t want to lose her man. And the lifestyle that comes with having that man as her husband.

Hayley hates that Dani and Bill have a connection because they have two children together. But that hasn’t stopped her from wanting to create the same thing with Bill by having his child. It comes off as desperate. It’s giving gold digger.

Ruin the friendship

Something I noticed this past week is that everyone was a relationship expert. But none of those experts were taking their own advice.

The way I loved you

I was inundated with messages from folks who were moved to tears by Martin and Smitty’s decision to get back together. Or stay married. I’m not sure what we’re calling it. But I know what it was: anticlimactic.

For as much as I wanted Martin and Smitty to work through their differences, I wasn’t moved by their date-night-turned-epiphany. I didn’t get misty-eyed. I wasn’t touched by some sappy, sentimental trip down memory lane. There was no grand gesture. Sorry, but remembering your spouse’s drink of choice or wearing the same outfit you wore on your first date doesn’t make the grade in my book.

That said, I am glad that they are not headed for divorce court like everyone else.

For the first time in what seems like an eternity, Eeyoredore (it’s a nickname I’m playing with for Ted) actually had something insightful to say. Ted understood why Smitty had feelings of mistrust for Martin. As it turns out, Ted saw a similarity in his situation with Nicole. Then, when Smitty was in full agreement, Ted lowered the boom. Ted claiming that Smitty needed to give Martin reason to believe that he could tell him the truth without the constant fear that Smitty would end their marriage.

You’re not sorry

Nicole, who doesn’t take any of her own advice, had previously downplayed Martin’s withholding the truth and urged Smitty to essentially get over it and put his marriage back together. Of course, Nicole is biased because Martin is her son. But did she ever listen to her own words and think about applying them to her own situation?

The good doctor got a bit of her own medicine when she was helping Kat. Nicole railed against Tomás for cheating on Kat. But when Kat admitted that she still loved Tomás, Nicole changed her tune and encouraged her daughter to “work on the issues” that were causing the trouble in her relationship with Tomás.

Wait… could it be? Have I ever sounded the hypocrite alarm twice in one column? There’s a first time for everything! It’s the hypocrite alarm – and it’s for someone other than me!

Does Nicole listen to the words that come out of her mouth? Thankfully, Kat was listening because she promptly asked if her mother ever intended to forgive Ted. If she didn’t, Kat suggested that Nicole might want to stop giving relationship advice. “At least I can admit I still love the guy,” Kat said before walking away.

I knew you were trouble

I really wanted Kat to swoop on over to Leslie’s hotel room to give her the same speech. Why? Because LSD’s (that’s the nickname I’ve given to Leslie/Sherry/Dana) advice to Eva was atrocious. Horrendous!

Is there an actual term for bad advice or do we just call it “bad advice?” Everything that Leslie said to “help” Eva came out of LSD’s own tired, winless playbook. Okay, I will admit that Leslie did have one useful piece of advice. She urged Eva to “fight for what you deserve.” Other than that, though, everything she said was trash.

It almost seemed like Leslie was trying to live her life vicariously though her daughter. She encouraged Eva to throw herself at Tomás even though Tomás was involved with someone else and in love with that someone else. It’s literally Ted and LSD, part deux. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, then call me Dr. Dan J Kroll-Richardson because I am officially diagnosing LSD as insane.

Better than revenge

Okay, as quickly as I got my doctoral degree, I am going to need to give it back because I am not sure how to diagnose Joey Armstrong. Is Joey so completely pathological that he is unaware of how twisted his actions are? Or has he seen the error of his ways and is now trying to atone for them? Or maybe assuage some of his own guilt so he can sleep at night?

It was breathtaking to watch Joey sit at the same table as Vanessa and Donnell and wax on about how his mother had died because of an addiction to plastic surgery. The story was true, but for the life of me I cannot figure out why he was telling the story. Was he really trying to make Donnell feel better? Maybe Joey saw himself in Donnell’s grief? If not, was the story a way to ingratiate himself into Donnell’s life… so that he can later swoop in and be a father figure to Donnell?

I am in no way trying to whitewash Joey’s crimes, but it would be really nice to have some insight from the show’s execs about how they see Joey’s actions. Maybe I am way too analytical and looking for things that aren’t really there.

Beyond the Gates Speed Round

Here are some of the other things on Beyond the Gates that made an impression.

One of the funniest moments of the week came with the reboot of When Harry Met Sally. I was certain that the nosy country club member was going to alert the management to Tomás and Kat’s sex romp in the supply closet. Instead, she flagged down an employee and asked, “Can you find out what those two were having… and make an order to go – for two?

I was amused that Jackie Tyree invited Anita and Vernon to see her Las Vegas show. I kind of wish the Duprees had accepted the offer because that could have been comedy gold.

Ted referring to Smitty as “Clark Kent” also tickled my funny bone.

I can’t decide if Leslie’s sporadic use of Spanish words and accents is offensive or if she is trying to appear as an ally.

There was a weird glitch in my Monday broadcast that had Chelsea sounding like Max Headroom. If you were born after the 80s, you’ll probably need to Google that reference.

I was disappointed that the service for Doug wasn’t shown on-screen, especially since such a big deal was made about the eulogy that Nicole delivered.

I did enjoy the fake-out of having Joey say that he needed to get rid of Marcel Malone. Based on some of the live tweets, I wasn’t the only one that thought that Joey meant he was going to off Malone. Turns out he just needed the detective digitally deleted from the security camera footage.

Anita sharing her “scandalous” past of having “five gentlemen callers” at the same time was juicy!

Speaking of sexytimes, after LSD finished talking to Tomás and left Bill’s office, I could not help but notice a little smirk on Tomás’ face. Why do I feel like he and Leslie are going to have sex in the near future?

Lines of the Week

The Beyond the Gates writing team seems to be having a little too much fun. Here are some of the lines of dialogue that tickled my funny bone or that I found memorable over the past week (and haven’t already mentioned in this column).

“I wasn’t naked. I was wearing a towel.” — Tomás

“Two confliced peas in a testosterone filled pod.” — Leslie, trying to draw some sort of comparison between Ted and Tomás.

“You’re opening your own doors now? I will never do that!” — Leslie, when she arrived at the Dupree house and Vernon answered the door.

“The Duprees’ euphemisms are less kind.” — Vanessa, when Joey referred to the departing Leslie as “a live one.”

“Have you considered obedience school? He does run off and hump anything that moves.” — Dani’s response to Hayley showing up and wanting to know where Bill was.

“I could have cheated years ago and saved my marriage.” — Dani, explaining to Pamela how Bill was jealous of Andre.

“I couldn’t convince Dani to give up on her first marriage and that guy was the worst.” — Pamela when Bill asked her to tell Dani to end her marriage to Andre.

Follow my Random Acts of Dan

That’s all I have for this week’s My View From Beyond the Gates column. Thank you for reading and, as always, please feel free to share your thoughts on my column or Beyond the Gates in the Comments section below.

If you’ve enjoyed my column this week and want to see what I have written about Beyond the Gates in previous weeks, you can check those out in the My View From Beyond the Gates archive.

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Life outside the gates

Two of my former Two Scoops columnists from Soap Central, Liz Masters and Tamilu, have joined me here on my personal web site — and they are still writing about General Hospital. Tamilu is on deck with week with a new column called, Ruin the Friendship.

To read more thoughts, opinions, rants, and raves about daytime television, be sure to check out our Editorial section.

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