My View From Beyond the Gates: Lights! Camera! Potassium AF!

A fashion show that was supposed to be nicely wrapped up in a bow-shaped handbag led to superstar dreams, lies, and revenge. An adulterous affair and an attempted murder were both shockingly revealed. Two patients almost died and another new wig was set loose into the DMV. Isn’t living beyond the gates supposed to keep all this drama out?

I learned something this week: if ever I find that my access to Fairmont Crest is revoked, I can simply head over to Garland Memorial and claim to be a new hire. Sure, you might get a few pointed questions from the nursing staff about who you are and why you’re there, but the perfect wig and fake accent will quickly convince everyone that you’re the real deal.

Another observation: My images for these My View From Beyond the Gates columns are getting more and more like Lucy Ricardo trying to get into Ricky’s show. That means this can only end one way: I need to be seen eating some sort of tasty dessert at Orphey Gene’s. Hopefully it won’t involve any Lucyesque disasters.

In all seriousness, though, I’ve found that with each passing week Beyond the Gates gets better. They’ve found their footing and now it’s about all the accoutrements and accessories. Speaking of accessories…

A fashion show with no fashion? Not here!

The glitz. The glamor. The fashion. No, this isn’t The Bold and the Beautiful — it’s Beyond the Gates. Daytime has seen its share of models. Erica Kane. Brenda Barrett. Drucilla Barber. But when we talk about fashion in daytime, we typically think of The Bold and the Beautiful.

B&B has hosted fashion shows around the globe, but something about upstart Beyond the Gates‘ fashion show kind of upstaged its lead-in. Shots fired, Forrester Creations.

I especially liked the mother/daughter moment at the end of the show. It was really touching to see Chelsea thank Dani. I even saw some comments on social media from people that I’ve always perceived to be fairly stoic admit that they got a little choked up by the runway finale.

My only criticism of the fashion show was that the producers didn’t flood the set with a bunch of extras. For all the hype about how big the show was going to be, to have only a few dozen people in attendance seemed like a let down. Yes, I am aware that in this age of technology a fashion show can be streamed to a worldwide audience. Still, where were all the country club members?

Also — and this is just my opinion because style is subjective — I hated the handbag that Chelsea and Kat chose to spotlight during the event.

Continuing on the style tip, Dani looked amazing. I’ve never questioned Dani being a supermodel, but in that incredible, flowy, hot pink dress she didn’t look like a supermodel. She looked like the supermodel.

Swarm! Swarm!

One of the absolute best moments of the week was Dupree men “talking” to Tomás. It started off innocently enough with Vernon recognizing Tomás as the “young man who was having breakfast” with Kat. Tomás played it off coolly by introducing himself and saying that he and Kat were “friends.” Vernon, beaming widely, called out to Ted to make him aware that Tomás was “Kat’s new boyfriend.” Ted stepped up to say that he was Kat’s father. But wait! There’s more. Then came Martin with the, “And I’m Kat’s brother,” followed quickly by Smitty stepping over to reveal that he was Kat’s brother-in-law.

Tomás said nothing and sort of spun around to look at all four men. He was then asked about Bill Hamilton. The lawyer struggled to come up with the right response: Bill was a great boss, but maybe not the best husband. Ya think?

This scene was another example of how I think Beyond the Gates embraces reality more than the other soaps. It was funny, soapy, and yet real. I can’t recall the last time something like this happened on another soap. I can, however, tell you the last time I saw something similar happened in real life and the last time I saw something like it scripted in a primetime show.

Part of the reason it might not be done in daytime is because so many shows have decimated their core families. That, though, is a topic for another column.

Little Jackie Samantha wants to be a star

For the past couple of weeks the teen’s dialogue seemed like it was trying to hard to be “contemporary.” Insert as many fire, rizz, lit, slay, and cap mentions into a conversation as possible et voilà — teen af. That seemed to get toned down a bit this week and something clicked for actress Najah Jackson. Everything she did on-screen really worked for me. From giddy teen excitement to spoiled brat.

There is something about Samantha that just… wasn’t working for me until this week. I know that some fans on social media have been critical about the actress playing the part. Much of the ire seems to be directed at the fact that the actress isn’t actually a teenager in real life. News flash: a lot of television and movie actors playing “teens” are actually older in real life. Beyond the Gates did not “invent” this.

But you walk one runaway at a country club fashion show and now want to be a model? Girl. Girl. My reaction also gives me a chance to make a comparison to something that I feel equally passionate about. Every year around this time of year, misguided parents buy bunnies for their kids because… Easter bunny. An estimated 95% of those bunnies don’t make it to age 1. Bunnies aren’t novelties. They require very specific care and are a 10-year (or longer) commitment.

Hop along, little girl

Modeling is Samantha’s Easter bunny. She thinks it’s cute and, for now, is totally into it. Until, by my guess, it doesn’t live up to the fantasy she’s crafted in her head. Her lemming attitude of “everybody else did it” is also annoying. I do like that Samantha and Tyrell do that divide and conquer thing. It feels very really to me.

From the conversation Martin was having with Dani, I almost expected Dani to step in and say she’d manage Samantha. She probably wisely didn’t go that far because she could sense that Martin wasn’t about to let his little girl become a model. I was fooled a bit, though, because when father and daughter had their little we need to be “more reasonable” talk, I thought for sure that Martin had reconsidered.

That turned out to be a big no — but also a big yes. I knew the moment Samantha stomped off that she was going to either sneak out or lie about getting her dads’ permission. It wasn’t until the next episode that Momager Dani swooped in to try to seize the reins of Samantha’s not-even-fledgling-yet career. I was expecting a little more Dani versus Chelsea headbutting, but that could still happen in the weeks ahead.

I do have to ask… didn’t Chelsea want to walk away from modeling because it wasn’t her thing any more? It would make more sense for her to let her mom manage Samantha so she can be free and done. I admit that I am more than a little intrigued to see how Chelsea does as a manager. There is all kinds of messy drama that can come out of this.

New world order

Samantha isn’t the only one that grew on me this week. I’ve written about how unlikeable I’ve found Martin to be on more than one occasion. This week, though, I feel like I’ve gotten to understand him a little better. I still think he has ass tendencies (Hush!), but I’ve found him to be fully likeable at times. In addition to his role in swarming Tomás, many of his other conversations and interactions showed him as a man who cares deeply about his family.

Maybe he is “misunderstood.” Like a lot of other soap opera characters, he is so worried that something bad might happen to someone that he loves, he overcompensates and comes across as an obnoxious blowhard. Whatever the reason, I at least feel like I now have a better understanding of Martin.

Charity begins and ends at (the Dupree family) home

I found it a little tacky for Hannah to pull up to the Dupree family table at the country club and tell Dani that she’d been booted from the board of the “first-gen” charity. I have absolutely no disagreement with the reasons Hannah presented. What I take issue with is doing so after Dani put in all of the work to put together the fashion show.

If Dani’s “morals” were an issue to your organization before the fashion show, why would you want to take the money she helped to raise? Wouldn’t that money be immoral? Sure, you can say that the money was important to their cause and they decided to hold their noses and take the money for the greater good, but I’m not here for that hypocrisy. I also don’t know that I totally buy their “we wanted to allow you to see it through” and “going out on a high note” explanation either. Is it at least partially true? Probably. I just have a really big issue with people not being okay with you, but being okay with your money.

It seems like Dani serves on a bunch of other boards, so I am sure she will not miss this one obligation. From personal experience, serving on a board has been… way too dramatic. While serving on my former home owners’ board, I received threats of physical harm because I could not make the outside, wild birds stop singing before a certain time. Two of the other board terms also were filled with extraness, but I am not sure if I can talk about those because I think the offending people might read this column!

Hannah 2: The Duprees Strike Back

Fast forward to Vernon and Anita inviting Hannah over to the Dupree manse. Hannah was beaming ear to ear. Could she be really that clueless that something wasn’t up? Was she so proud of herself for “unceremoniously” dumping Dani that she couldn’t tell what was about to happen?

The looks on Anita and Vernon’s faces were priceless as they told Hannah, “we’re getting rid of you.” Then Hannah’s mouth opened up to call Anita “petty.” Oh, boy. Anita continued to gather Hannah, calling her “deadwood.” The only thing missing was Anita telling Hannah that she could show herself out.

Lunch and a show

I was giggling a bit as Hayley and Bill watched the Dani and Hannah situation like they were Statler and Waldorf on The Muppet Show. I want there to be a “director’s cut” of the episode where Hayley and Bill are making snide commentary as they look on.

Equally amusing was Taylor fully, wholly, and totally ignoring Hayley. When he walked away after Bill put in his lunch order I laughed out loud. The laughs continued when he repeatedly addressed only “Mister Hamilton.”

Ted, the Snapping Turtle(neck)

It always seems to happen on soaps. The minute we learn that an actor is leaving a role that actor ends up turning in an amazing performance. That was the case with Maurice Johnson, also known in some circles as Teddy Bear or Turtleneck Ted.

I’ve compared Ted to a used car salesman in a past column. He’s just always so smiley and upbeat. That got flipped on its head when Ted followed LSD (Leslie/Sherry/Dana) back to her apartment to pay her the “50 stacks” that she had demanded. There was a level of anger and danger that we’ve never seen before. It was kind of hot.

There was one thing that had me riled up, though. I found myself yelling at the television. It was something like, “Turn around and look at the damned photo on the table, you dummy!” Of course, on a soap it’s a 50/50 chance that a character will do what they should do. The first 50-percent of my brain knew that having Ted see the photo was too easy and be too good to be true. The other half knew that Ted has to find out at some point — so why not now? And there was another 50-percent (this is soap math) that thought that Eva might saunter in to the apartment and have to explain why she was there.

Bye, Wig!

LSD and her Land of A Thousand Wigs routine tickles me. To be clear, her disguises aren’t particularly great. It’s like when Bugs Bunny used to put on a wig and somehow managed to confuse Yosemite Sam. Leslie’s accents aren’t even all that convincing. Still, it’s absolutely hilarious to me.

I’ve been trying to decide if Leslie has staying power. I can easily see Ted offing her and tossing her into the Chesapeake. I am sure that will not happen, though — especially since it appears Trisha Mann-Grant is still taping scenes. It also doesn’t seem likely that the paternity secret will still be a secret when those scenes air in a couple of months.

I’m torn about what makes for a better story: Eva being Ted’s daughter or Leslie lying about Ted being Eva’s father. I’m leaning toward the latter, if only for one reason. A confrontation scene would make for must-see television. I want to see Ambyr Michelle’s Eva go off on her mother for lying to her for her entire life. This would give both actresses a real chance to show off their acting range. We got a preview of what could happen when Eva (rightly) accused her mom of trying to kill Laura. How Eva (correctly) jumped to the conclusion that Leslie was involved is a bit of a mystery, but damn! She was spot on. I wonder if this isn’t the first time that Leslie has gone “de-lulu.”

Buy wigs

I cringed a little when Nicole and Ted decided that they’d set up Eva at the country club salon once Laura returned to work. I know that they meant well — Eva was (allegedly) a hair stylist prior to filling in as Nicole’s assistant. Something about it seemed dismissive or patronizing. Maybe it just seemed that way because Eva overheard everything and I could see the heartbreak on her face.

Beyond the Gates Speed Round

Here are some rapid fire thoughts on other action from the week gone by.

Grey’s Morgan’s Anatomy

Maybe the turmoil of tariffs and stock market fluctuations has shell-shocked me into a new mellowness, but I also found myself liking Ashley this week, too. As I mentioned with the actors that play Samantha and Martin, something just meshed this week between Jen Jacob and her character. The scene where Ashley broke down while talking about her fear that boyfriend Derek puts himself in danger every day? The show of genuine emotion won me over. And then there was the transposition of a decimal point in her chart notes. For the first time, she felt like a real person to me.

That said, I really do want the show to go a little more Grey’s Anatomy with her. We’ve gotten a bit of it with Andre’s behind-the-scenes documentary. I think seeing “real person” Nurse Ashley is far more interesting than “I might like two guys” Ashley.

To tell the truth

I was shocked when Ted opened up about his affair to Andre. Though he eventually got around to asking, I couldn’t believe that the first question out of Andre’s mouth wasn’t whether or not Nicole knew about the affair. Now we know that Nicole does not know — or at least Ted believes that Nicole doesn’t know. There also seems to be a little fuzziness about whether Ted encouraged Dana to “take care” of things. He claimed that he didn’t order her to have an abortion, but he didn’t seem to be upset that she did. Or rather, that she said she had an abortion. I remain unconvinced that Ted is actually Eva’s father, but that’s another issue.

Gambling with a life

Though I don’t think he is going to stop gambling cold turkey, it was a relief to see Doug finally realize that juuust maybe he has a problem. Then again, I don’t think he saw the gambling as the problem. It was more like his lack of sleep was the problem. I suppose it doesn’t matter how he reaches the decision that he needs to stop gambling… just as long as he gets there.

I wonder if Beyond the Gates has an entire operating room set that we will see in the future, or if this very condensed view is all we’ll get.

If it’s boring I won’t tell a soul

Shanice still amuses me. I cracked up when she told Andre that she wouldn’t tell his secret to a living soul if the secret was boring — but would change the names if the secret was juicy. Note to Mister Andre: If you have to ask someone if they can keep a secret, you probably already know the answer.

Beyond the Gates has found an interesting use for Shanice. They use her telling gossip as a way to keep viewers informed of things that have played out on the show. If you miss a day or two, Shanice will catch you up as she blabs people’s business all over the DMV.

Go directly to the hospital — do not pass Go

Poor Laura is never going to get out of the hospital. LSD has run her off the road and injected her with potassium. All this poor girl wants is to be an assistant to Nicole.

Since I mentioned bunnies earlier in the column, I should probably share a photo of my little guy. He turned ten last month, but he doesn’t seem to know it. He keeps me on my toes as much now as he did when he was two.

I feel like Fairmont Crest is a powder keg ready to explode. With May almost here, I suspect the spark that will ignite the fire is just a couple of weeks away. I’ll continue to share my thoughts on Beyond the Gates as long as you’re interested in reading them. 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.

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Life outside the gates

My former Two Scoops columnists Liz Masters and Tamilu have joined me here on my personal web site — and they are still writing about General Hospital. Check out Liz’s latest GH column, General Hospital: Criminal Intent.

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

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