My View From Beyond the Gates: I Have Been Awakened

I Have Been Awakened: A Beyond the Gates commentary by Soap Central founder Dan J Kroll for the week ending October 31, 2025.

Fall isn’t typically thought of as a time of renewal. Trees lose their leaves, flowers prepare for their winter nap, and it’s dark in the 4 o’clock hour. Ugh. They must do something different in the DMV because things are blooming and all sorts of juices are flowing on Beyond the Gates.

I’m not just talking about the obvious urges that Samantha seems to be exhibiting or Kat seems to be perfecting. There are other, more subtle things going on. Leslie might (and that’s probably more like an italicized might) be backing away from her scheming ways. Ted and Eva have entered a new phase of their father/daughter relationship. We’ve learned new things about some of the non-Dupree families. And there seems to be a whole heaping of trouble set to pop up at any time.

Let’s Talk About Sex

If Beyond the Gates has taught me one thing it’s that I’d be a horrible parent. Watching Samantha’s little bad ass self get sassy with her parents? Nope. I’d toss her down a well in an abandoned mine shaft until she was 29 years old. Bonus points if you understand the reference.

Being that I am not a parent, I have no idea what it’s like to raise a teenager – or how accurate the portrayal is on Beyond the Gates. That said, I’ve been out in public and have heard things come out of children’s mouths that would have resulted in my losing all of my teeth had I said the same thing to a parent when I was their age.

I like that June, Martin, and Smitty all seem to be on the same page, even if they don’t know it yet. I think I identified most with Martin’s reaction to walking in on “Samathan.” (Not sure that the kids have a smooshed name or even need one, but I like the way it looks. Anyway, it was June’s reaction that had me laughing hysterically. Jasmine Burke is comedic gold. At the risk of offending Kelis, it looks like June’s milkshake sends all the boys to the bathroom.

If you’ve already watched the Monday, October 27, episode of Beyond the Gates, do yourself a favor and rewatch the Samantha/Nathan scenes at Orphey Gene’s. Instead of focusing on the kids, watch June in the background. I guarantee you’ll get a good laugh.

The girls are talkin’

Sam citing her Auntie Kat as the reason for her sudden desire to have sex with Nathan actually rang true to me when using the warped logic of an underdeveloped teenage brain. Kat and Chelsea knew that Samantha was around when they started their sex talk. They definitely should have kept their girl talk for some other time when there were no impressionable minds nearby.

I’ll Stand By You

I give Tyrell major props for standing up to Nathan the way he did. I was almost sure he’d pop the jock in the eye and get into trouble himself, possibly tanking all the scholarships he’d amassed. He didn’t. [Insert deep sigh of relief here.]  Instead, he used his mind to read the hell out of Nathan. My particular favorite was when Tyrell said, “With your [football] stats you have better shot at becoming an astronaut than going pro.” Oh, snap!

I don’t see Samantha realizing the errors (or maybe dangers) of her ways, so I don’t expect things to improve any time soon. It’s my hope that Tyrell has a heart-to-heart with his sister and manages to get through to her. My backup hope is that Samantha hears Nathan’s trash talking for herself.

I Am A Man Who Will Fight For Your Honor

With apologies to Emily Post, it appears that you cannot teach manners. I cannot begin to tally the college tuition costs for Carlton, Nicole, and Ted, but they’ve collectively spent enough money on schooling to know better than to act like fools in the corridor of the hospital. Shanice suggested on more than one occasion that they find a quiet room elsewhere to have their “conversation.”

Do you hear something? It sounds like… wait. Is it? It is! It’s the hypocrite alarm!

For as much as it was completely unprofessional, I kind of enjoyed it. It marked the first time that Eeyoredore (That’s my working nickname for the mopey, low-energy Eeyore version of Ted that we’ve been seeing for the past few months) actually showed a spark of life. Violence is obviously never the solution to a problem, but Ted growling about putting his “fist upside” of Carlton’s head marked the first time that Ted seemed truly willing to fight for the woman he claims to love.

Nicole claimed to be embarrassed by the two men’s childish penis-measuring contest and she also blasted Ted’s behavior as not being in line with the man she fell in love with. Still, I can’t help but feel that on some level Nicole liked the attention even if she claims she did not.

By definition, soap opera relationships are messy. The Bold and the Beautiful has had siblings dating each other’s partners for nearly four decades. There is absolutely no way that Nicole dating her ex-husband’s friends and business partner would work. I know that the heart wants what the heart wants, but Nicole’s heart needs to want something else.

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

I thought Ted’s apology was much more heartfelt than Carlton’s. Carlton barged into Nicole’s home and his apology came off as presumptuous and even a little cocky at times. Yes, he said he has waited this long to be with Nicole and he can wait a little longer, but it didn’t feel like the romantic flex that I think he thought it was.

Ted, meanwhile, seemed humbled by the confrontation with Carlton. He apologized for his macho outburst, accepted that Nicole moved on, and claimed that he would no longer be an obstacle in Nicole’s fledgling relationship with Carlton. It was all well and good until Nicole spotted Ted and Leslie embracing at the nurses’ station. I’m gonna need this man to stop hugging that woman in public places!

I Love Your Smile

I talked a bit about how funny I think Jasmine Burke (June) is a little earlier in the column. There is another recurring character who is also good for a laugh: Shanice. Ernestine Johnson was absolutely hilarious with all of her background nosiness and facial expressions. If you’ve already watched the Tuesday, October 28, episode of Beyond the Gates, do yourself a favor and rewatch the Carlton/Nicole/Ted scenes and just watch Shanice flitter about in the background. You’ll get a good laugh.

Speaking of Shanice, how long before she has another one of her brilliant ideas (Bonus points if you get the reference) and decides to “date” Ted to help make Nicole jealous. Even though it happens off-screen, Shanice doesn’t seem to be hurting in the male companionship department based on some of the things that she’s said. Still, there’s always room for Jello another date, real or otherwise.

Family Matters

We learned a little bit more about the Hawthorne family this past week. Izaiah is definitely the proverbial black sheep of the family. I feel like Jacob may have referenced a sibling in the past, but now we’ve learned that Jacob has two siblings: Izaiah and another brother named Luke. On top of that, we learned that Luke and Jacob’s mother, Darlene, are also (or were) in law enforcement. Izaiah sorta kinda followed in their footsteps… he was getting arrested while the rest of his family was making arrests.

The way that Kat kept talking about Izaiah during her lunch meeting with Chelsea made me wonder if Kat might have a thing for him. And that immediately led to the questions, “Are Kat and Eva going to fuss over another man?!” Maybe it’ll be Eva’s turn to break a penis. I’m an only child so I don’t know how the rules work.

I am also wondering how long it will be before his now-ex-girlfriend Yolanda pops up in town.

Keeping Up With the Smiths

We learned a bit about Smitty’s family, too. He mentioned that his mom and dad were out of town on a trip and that’s what kept them from attending Martin and Smitty’s vow renewal. I don’t know if and when we’ll meet them, but for the moment the Smiths appear to be happily married.

There has been some speculation that incoming soap vet Greg Vaughan (Eric Brady, Days of our Lives; Lucky Spencer, General Hospital; Diego Guittierez, The Young and the Restless) might be playing Smitty’s dad. The ages of Vaughan and Mike Manning (Smitty) don’t quite work for them to be father and son. Of course, that’s never been an obstacle to the mighty soap opera. At one point on All My Children, an actress was hired to possibly be another character’s mother – except that the actress playing the faux mom was younger in real life than her on-screen child.

Anyway, I’ve wandered off topic again. The point of this totally random mention was to say that it would be fascinating if Smitty’s parents split and then his dad started dating Nicole who, of course, is Martin’s mom.

Trouble in the Cosmos

It looks like Madison and Chelsea have hit a rough patch. It is interesting that Chelsea and Willow Montgomery’s phone call took place off-screen. That sort of lets us all make up our own version of what went down. I do think Chelsea’s heart was in the right place, but her inability to see how Momma Montgomery’s actions are undermining Madison’s career is a big no-no. I suspect that Willow will breeze into town with some moon water before the year is out. I know that visit will be drama-filled, but I kind of look forward to seeing more of Madison in action.

Beyond the Gates Speed Round

Here are some of the other things on Beyond the Gates that have me thinking.

LSD Trip: Part Deux

In last week’s column I mentioned that I was beginning to suffer from an LSD overdose. LSD, of course, is my little nickname for Leslie/Sherry/Dana. This week, the writers must have been anticipating my critique because they penned a softer, gentler, albeit fleeting side of Leslie. I appreciated that she finally had some good advice for Eva. The advice? “You will never get what you want if you just keep making space for people who are not making space for you. Sacrificing for people who don’t give a damn about you.” Granted, she tossed in a bunch of anti-Kat rhetoric at the end of the advice, but… the advice part still rings true.

And I thought her Halloween chat with Ted was actually sort of sweet. Not sweet enough for me to want to see her and Ted get together, but sweet enough to make me see what Ted might have seen in her all those years ago. Leslie even alleged that she had engaged in all of her over-the-top antics because she believed that Ted would never accept Eva as his daughter. I have no idea how long LSD Lite will stick around, but it would be nice to see how this kinder, gentler version of her would fit into the canvas.

That’s What Friends Are For

I liked that there is now a détente between Dani and Vanessa. It has been painful watching Vanessa think that all of her friends were out to get her, when they have only been trying to watch out for her. Having Dani be the one to break through made sense since Dani has also made some questionable life decisions. I hope that Vanessa and Nicole can also find some common ground moving forward.

Hay Hay, Goodbye

Last week I mused that Hayley might ditch her Kill Bill plan and set her sights on Leslie once she learned that Leslie is newly rich. That didn’t quite happen, but Hayley sure did plant seeds that Leslie would be the prime suspect should anything bad happen to Bill.

I did have a moment while Hayley was celebrating her new Caribbean homestead when I thought that maybe Hayley will realize that Bill truly loves her and back off of her plan to unalive him. I might just have been feeling a little high from all the Febreze fumes.

The confrontation between Hayley and Joey proved interesting. I think Hayley came off as believable because, of course, she was telling the truth about not sleeping with Randy. He is, after all, her cousin. What I think could prove problematic is if Joey believes Hayley. Randy is already on thin ice and this could be just the thin that makes Joey want to make Randy disappear.

Bend It Like Beckham Navarro

I don’t know how Bill found out about Tomas’ accident, but it was very funny watching him tee-hee and making jokes about it. My favorite zinger was Bill telling Tomas not to “get bent out of shape.” I do feel bad for Tomas since it appears that all anyone wants to talk about was the mishap.

A Fish Housekeeper Called Wanda

Who in the world is Wanda and where did she come from? I do not remember ever hearing Ted or Nicole mention her name. Also, she’s about as terrible at keeping unwanted guests out of the house as Nicole is. Nicole made a bunch of hoopla over her new technology that allows her to open her front door remotely. What she failed to remember is that you need to actually look to see who is at the door before you open it.

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).

“In politics, we like to call this a reach around.” – Martin, who clearly doesn’t understand the other meaning of the reach around.

“He tipped very well.” – Vanessa offering some naughty praise of Joey’s sexual technique.

“Should I learn to chisel my homework into stone tablets, too?” – Samantha being sassy after she was grounded and her electronic devices were confiscated.

“Danielle Dupree, the hubbub of the country club.” – Dani acknowledging that she is usually the one that makes a scene.

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.

Have a penchant for gardening, interior design, or fixing up old houses? Check out my Manor Makeover series where I write about all of the things I’ve been up to here at Kroll Manor in Allentown, PA, over the past decade.

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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. Liz Masters is on deck with week with a new column called, Tricks and Treats.

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

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