My View From Beyond The Gates: Blue Christmas

Blue Christmas: A Beyond the Gates commentary by Soap Central founder Dan J Kroll for the week ending December 19, 2025.

Well, we did it. We’ve reached the end of another year, but this year there was something decidedly different. For the first time since the 1900s we had a brand-new soap opera to watch and celebrate. The real celebration will get under way next week when I kick off a special two-part look back at the Best and Worst of Beyond the Gates 2025.

For now, however, it’s business as usual as I Iook back at all of the action that took place over the past week in and around Fairmont Crest. Things were admittedly a little slow in terms of advancing plot, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t still things that deserve some analysis.

I had planned to title this week’s column “Bloom In the Sunshine,” after some words of wisdom that Eva offered Izaiah. But as the week unfolded, it became clear that there might be very little sunshine this Christmas in Fairmont Crest.

Anita A Little Christmas Now

Come on, Beyond the Gates! The holidays are supposed to be merry and bright and you have us all worried that there might be something seriously wrong with Anita Dupree.

It’s time for a little truth. I can’t help but roll my eyes at myself when I find myself being concerned for the wellbeing of the fictional characters that I’m watching on television. But how can you not have some sort of attachment when you spend fiveish hours each week welcoming these characters into your home?

My heart ached for Anita as she chose to go through her breast biopsy alone. I may or may not have said something like, “Call him!” to the screen while watching as I hoped Anita would reach out to Vernon.

I understood Anita’s decision to not tell anyone. She doesn’t want to make anyone worry about her until, God forbid, there is reason to worry. I’ll admit that I’m the same way.  And… wait. Do you hear that? Is it the bells on Santa’s sleigh? No – it’s the hypocrite alarm! It’s been so long since it’s rang that I forgot what it sounded like. But like Anita, I keep my personal woes a secret, yet get angry when others keep theirs from me. I wonder if Anita is a Pisces?

I need a little angel sitting on my shoulder

I thought the hospital scenes were really well produced. They were understated and that proved to be incredibly powerful. It was difficult to watch Anita try to be strong and emotionless. I wished someone had been there to hold her hand. I also thought the imagery of the procedure was well done. The show didn’t try to be Grey’s Anatomy with an onslaught of equipment or medical jargon.

As I no longer run a soap opera web site, I have been able to avoid nearly all Beyond the Gates spoilers since the show’s launch. When I started drafting this column on Thursday, I had no idea if Anita’s biopsy would reveal that she has breast cancer or would prove to be a “cancer scare.” With so much loss and sadness of late, I wasn’t sure that I was emotionally prepared for bad news.

I was relieved to learn at the start of Friday’s episode that Anita had reached out to Sharon and Tracy to ask them to be with her while she awaited news from the hospital. The three women were even able to share a few laughs. And then came the call.

I know that bad news doesn’t take a vacation, but to have Anita learn that she had breast cancer less than a week before Christmas and as the Friday cliffhanger seemed like cruel and unusual punishment. Talk about the Grinch stealing all the Christmas joy.

Santa Con Is Coming to Town

Don’t you just hate it when another con unexpectedly shows up in town and messes up your plans to kill your husband?

I think we all knew that there was some sort of connection between Hayley and Lynette based on Mrs. Hamilton’s reaction last week. The big question was whether the two women were in cahoots or rivals. This week we learned that the ladies formerly to run cons together or, as Hayley put it, they “used to engineer coincidences.”

Even though they used to be somewhat close, it’s clear that Hayley doesn’t trust Lynette anymore. Why else would Hayley lie about her intentions toward Bill? There was no mention of Bill being a mark, only talk regarding how much Hayley had turned her life around when she met and (supposedly) fell in love with Bill. I guess when you know someone runs con jobs you kind of have to be suspicious of them.

He Sees You When You’re Scheming

Does Lynette know that Hayley is playing Bill? Does she want in on the action? Would Lynette consider exposing Hayley’s sketchy past unless her former partner-in-conning doesn’t agree to cut her in?

In a second scenario, I can see Lynette’s presence scaring Hayley straight. Perhaps that is how they keep Hayley on the canvas — her close encounter with Lynette will make Hayley reconsider her plans to kill Bill.

There’s a third scenario that, while unlikely, could be a lot of fun to watch play out. I noticed that Bill has been staring curiously at the mugs of tea that Hayley has been plying him with. At first, I thought it was just him dreading that he had to drink the concoction. Now? Maybe there’s more to it.

What if Bill figured out that Hayley has been poisoning him? Maybe Bill had his private investigator do a deeper dive into Hayley’s life and he uncovered her scammer past. Bill or the PI could have reached out to Hayley’s old partner to get her to drop by the DMV and stick it to Hayley. If you recall, Bill made it a point to say that he wanted Hayley to help work on Lynette’s case. Bill has never asked his wife to do any work.

You Better Watch Out

In last week’s column I had questioned what would be next for Bill if Hayley’s con were to be exposed. The easy answer seemed to be that Bill would try to woo back Dani. In an unexpected development, there’s a new possibility courtesy of Joey Armstrong: Bill could become a politician.

For me, I’d rather get to see Bill practice some of the lawyering that he supposedly does so well. The idea of him running against Martin is actually kind of fascinating. Challenging Martin could reignite some of that red hot disdain that the Duprees had for Bill.

Meanwhile, it was funny to hear that Bill finds Hayley’s black nail polish “creepy.”

According to Lynette, Hayley’s real name would appear to be “Val.” I wonder if her last name is Jean.

All I Want For Christmas Is You… and Maybe You, Too

I’m not really a fan of Carlton, but this week I finally got a glimpse into why Nicole is attracted to him. Rather than doing some sort of macho caveman routine about Nicole going to Winterfest with Kial, Carlton stepped up his game and invited her to a living room picnic.

Carlton was charming, funny, and his swaggy assertiveness was somewhere between creepy/clingy and sexy. When Nicole said she hadn’t heard one of the songs that was playing, Carlton immediately declared that it was their song. Sir, I’m gonna need you to slow your roll. This was your first date and you don’t get to have a song yet. I admire his confidence, but it’s a little red flaggy to me.

Dance of the Sugar Plum Food Fairy

Meanwhile, Ted and Shanice are still making me smile. The minute Ted gave Shanice the gift bag, I knew it had something to do with birds. I thought it was going to be some sort of plush stuffed animal, but Ted dropped a couple of dollars to get her a really good gift.

It was funny to watch Shanice initially reject the gift only to later warm to the idea that birds would come to love her if she were the provider of food. Things started to get a little spicy as Ted talked about how he’d need an invitation to Shanice’s house so that he could mount it for her. Shanice turned up to the heat by asking what she could possibly do to thank Ted for the thoughtful gift.

Ted and Shanice are the couple that I didn’t know I needed. In fact, I even started using “T-Nice” as their smooshed couple name. I don’t know if this will be some sort of lasting relationship or just a temporarily placeholder until Nicole and Ted rekindle things, but I am going to enjoy “T-Nice” for as long as they’re on my screen.

Stocking Stuffers: Beyond the Gates Speed Round

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

Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)

I like that Beyond the Gates takes time to explain some of its seemingly glaring mistakes. During Winterfest, fans were very vocal about not seeing Martin, Smitty, and the kids enjoying the festivities. During a chat with his mom, Martin revealed that he and the kids all had previous commitments that they could not get out of.

I Saw Mommy #@*%ing Santa Claus

Chelsea snooping for Christmas presents in Dani’s house was actually kind of fun. When she heard Dani and Andre’s voices, she had to duck for cover where she was promptly pelted with bits and pieces of her mom and stepdad’s wardrobe. Fearing that Andre was about to slide down Dani’s chimney, Chelsea closed her eyes and screamed for them to stop. It turned out that they were just trying on some outfits for a Christmas photo, but the cringe factor was absolutely hilarious.

I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm

I’m not sure when it happened, but Madison and Chelsea are actually kind of boring to me. Don’t get me wrong… I still like them together, but I’m sort of feeling the way that Kat was when she texted the daydreaming Chelsea three vomiting emojis. As an aside, it was really funny to me that Kat had to text Chelsea, who was sitting at the same table, to get her attention.

You’re A Mean One, LSD Grinch

Leslie has done a lot of things that are not very nice, but the way she dismissed Samantha being the originator of the free clinic idea ranks pretty high on her naughty list. LSD (that’s Leslie/Sherry/Dana if you’re a new reader) doesn’t even seem to actually care about what a free clinic would do. She just wants everyone to know that it was her money that made it happen. Oh, and for her name to be plastered on the building.

Please Come Home For Christmas

For someone with a questionable moral compass, it was nice to hear Marcel Malone offer up some sound advice to Chief Hawthorne. In a nutshell, he told Elon that he needed to put his pride aside and make amends with Izaiah. Across town, Eva was offering some similar advice to her new beau. In the end, while it wasn’t a warm and fuzzy moment, it was nice to see that father and son were willing to put their differences aside for the holiday.

Holiday Bowl Game

There is a bowling alley in the basement of the Dupree home. It seems the Duprees have everything that they need in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Except, of course, a way to keep interlopers out of their house.

Beyond the Gates: 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).

The Naughty List

“The only feelings I’ve caught from Bill Hamilton is a whole bunch of annoyance and a crick in my neck from having to look up all the damn time.” — Hayley, when Randy questioned if she was backing off of her con job.

“We had other ways to duet.” — A naughty Anita when Vernon expressed regret that he and Anita had never sang together.

“You can’t peck out the eyes of the food fairy.” – Shanice when she realized that Ted’s gifted birdfeeder wasn’t really a terrible gift.

“I knew carpet picnic meant something else!” — A giddy Dani when she learned that sissy Nicole’s date with Carlton involved some kissing.

“I do the kissing and you get the glory.” — Nicole responding to Dani taking credit for Nicole’s successful date with Carlton.

“We could swing from the chandelier at home for free.” — Naomi in response to Jacob’s suggestion that they spend another night at the hotel.

The Naughtier List

“One minute you’re Bonnie to my Clyde. The next, you’re cashing in your chips.” — Joey’s assessment of Vanessa’s constant threat to cut and run from their situationship.

“Hearing the story and living it are two different things.” – Tomas, pushing back on what he perceived as Kat not understanding his drive to continuing working under Bill Hamilton.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch… or a free clinic.” – June after she saw how dismissive Leslie was of Samantha.

“I love all my children” – Elon Hawthorne. He was referring to his actual children, but I echo the sentiment in a soapier way.

“I don’t want to overburden the force that makes miracles come true.” – Ted

“I’m a lawyer like my dad. Chelsea’s a model like her mom. Jacob’s a cop…” Naomi when Izaiah claimed that children, particularly Eva, weren’t like their parents.

“No matter how far from the tree the apple falls, it’s still an apple.” — Jacob with another jab directed at Eva.

“I’ve been running game since naptime and juice boxes.” — Leslie

Follow my Random Acts of Dan

That’s all I have for this week’s My View From Beyond the Gates column. Remember that next week I will be posting my Best of Beyond the Gates 2025, and the following week it’ll be the Worst of Beyond the Gates 2025. As always, 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.

To keep up with all of the shenanigans I engage in on social media, please consider giving my a follow on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, and TwitterX.

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, Port Chuckles is Grieving.

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

dan