My View From Beyond the Gates: Gold flakes and unicorn tears

We’re often told to dream big. But what happens when lofty dreams cause us to lose sight of what’s right in front of us? When do dreams turn into nightmares? For several Fairmont Crest residents and those living beyond the gates, the nightmare is already here.

If it seems like there is a lull in the action on Beyond the Gates, I have two thoughts. The first is that we must not be watching the same show because on the show I am watching there is enough drama for you and your momma. The second, if we agree to disagree, is that you need to be careful what you wish before, because I fear that we are hurtling towards a whole lot of drama in the very near future. And your favorite character might be swept up in that wave of mess.

Beyond the Gates continues to do an amazing job of mixing humor, drama, and unexpected twists. In the course of five episodes, we had an R&B concert, a messy love quadrangle, a hint of a possible future fling, a medical emergency that might be have been the work of Spirit Halloween props, and the return of someone I think we all thought was gone for good.

This isn’t to say that every story will be loved by every viewer. I scroll through various social media sites and know that some of my opinions are not shared by other viewers. Yes, I know that some characters are less tolerated by others. I don’t think this means the honeymoon is over for Beyond the Gates. Rather, I think it shows that viewers have become so invested in the show that they are now expressing their feelings in a more realistic, if not always constructive, way. I try to be objective and constructive with each of my columns… so let’s see how I fare this week.

Pregnant women aren’t made of glass

If you’re regular reader of this column, you’ll know that I have often praised the writers for keeping us in the dark about characters’ motivation. Briefly, modern soaps have sort of conditioned viewers to expect to be told why a character is doing something – and then to be beaten over the head with that reason for weeks and months. On Beyond the Gates, we often have no idea why something is happening. For example, the details of what happened to Martin were shrouded in mystery for four months.

The same is true of Hayley’s “pregnancy.” I think we all pretty much agreed that Hayley was faking her pregnancy, despite never having been given conclusive, incontrovertible proof to back up our accusation. No ultrasound? Fishy, but not really proof that she wasn’t pregnant. Phone calls to a mystery person? Sketchy, but certainly not a smoking gun. Not wanting to immediately head to the hospital after faceplanting from tripping over a box? Totally suspect, but still not proof.

As I suspected, Hayley claimed that she hadn’t had an ultrasound done on her first hospital visit because she was afraid it would show something was wrong with her baby. That’s similar to how some people won’t get an HIV test because if they don’t take a test no one can tell them that they’re HIV-positive. And, yes, this is shockingly common. A similar phenomenon happened during the peak of COVID. But now I am getting off topic.

“I actually worked hard to get to where I am“

Since I’ve been taking online courses from the Katlock Institute for Nosy People and Wannabe Detectives, I now seek out clues everywhere I go. While Hayley’s Uptown breakdown was an Emmy-worthy performance from Marquita Goings, the moment Hayley “randomly” chose a stranger in the restaurant to take her to the hospital I knew something was up. What I didn’t expect is that the random patron would be someone we knew… and that that someone would be Randy. Whaaaaat?!

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to comment on one of Dani’s hilarious lines during Hayley’s rant. Hayley objected to being called a gold-digger and insisted that she had worked hard to get to where she is in life. Dani fired back, “You call spreading those little ankle-free tree trunks for a man old enough to be your Pee-Paw work?”

Dani now believes that Hayley was always pregnant and even feels guilty for causing the miscarriage. I don’t think Hayley is out of the woods just yet. In spite of Naomi’s decision not to blow up Hayley’s spot, I still think she suspects something is up.

I mean, what hospital discharges a woman who has suffered a miscarriage in less time than it takes someone to get home from the airport?! I once had to get stitches because of a freak gardening accident (don’t ask) and they wanted to keep me around for an hour for observation. Hayley being curled up on the sofa made zero sense. None. And Hayley deftly but specifically avoiding naming the doctor she saw at the hospital is also highly suspicious.

So, what’s the game here? I’m not sure. How are Hayley and “Sammy” connected? Hayley claims to be an orphan with no family, which has been mentioned frequently. It’s safe to assume that’s a lie. Are they sibling grifters who will try to kill Bill for his fortune or otherwise bilk him out of his money? Is Hayley the wife that Randy once spoke of? If so, where’s the child that they supposedly have?

Think bigger… like murder!

Randy wasn’t just roped into one scheme this week. Doug also seemingly convinced his old, supposedly on the run friend to help him take down Joey. I thought Doug was at his least brilliant when he took his winning lottery scratcher winnings and bet them on a horse. That was equaled by his drunken mouthing off to Joey at the casino. But I think his plot to take down Joey might be a new biggest dumb-dumb move.

Doug is a loose canon at the moment. Quitting his job at the hospital in a snit? I know I wouldn’t want him operating on my loved one’s heart. He’s no Cristina Yang. The drinking is what concerns me. I fear Doug will do something stupid and someone will end up dying as a result. Since Randy is roped into another storyline at the moment, that leaves Doug himself as my mostly likely to die candidate.

As a random aside, Jon Lindstrom (Joey Armstrong) made a recent social media post saying that he was taking some time off from playing Joey to tackle another project. That could mean absolutely nothing, but the Conspiracy Theory 101 course at the Katlock Institute has me wondering if maybe Joey isn’t long for this earth – or gets locked up.

Stand in the spotlight

It looks like the curtain has come down on the Articulettes story. This storyline didn’t go anything like I thought it would go, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I was totally blindsided by the Barbara reveal, and Anita reciting the letter her late friend had written before her death remains one of the most powerful and moving moments not only in Beyond the Gates’ history, but also in recent soap history.

The pace of the storyline was a little uneven between the reveal and my much-wanted concert. All of the rehearsal in Chicago took place off-screen – that is, until Anita wanted to hire a new choreographer and things fell apart. Before we knew it, the women had communed in the DMV, patched things up over diamond infinity bracelets, and somehow booked and sold out the Howard.

The concert was more than I expected to get out of cash-strapped daytime. We got three original songs, fun production, and some hilarious audience moments (complete with real-life extras in attendance).

A long distance dead-ication

The tribute to Barbara was just a wee bit clunky. I don’t think Beyonce, Janet, Whitney, or Miss Dionne have even interrupted one of their concerts to announce that they’d killed someone (or been the reason for someone’s death). Still, it was touching and very much needed for the three surviving Articulettes to heal. Side note: I love when shows use actors’ real-life photos for “historical” purposes.

I honestly thought Anita would “see” a young Barbara because, again, soaps have conditioned me for that sort of thing. The phantom spotlight was a much better acknowledgement from beyond.

I liked that Anita chose to step out of the figurative spotlight and have it shine on Sharon and Tracy. Now that the other two Articulettes are going to be on the road doing concerts, I’m guessing that this is the end of the line for this particular storyline. Parting is always bittersweet, but I’ll always be glad that we got to experience an Articulettes concert!

The concert was a triumphant success, but the afterparty did provide some highlights on its own. My favorite was Kat stopping Leslie and Eva from entering the festivities. “Last time I checked, the club doesn’t have a mother-daughter homewrecker night,” Kat sassed. Ooh, I laughed… and laughed.

Something else that happened wasn’t nearly as funny.

The shrink needs to be shrunk

I have thoughts about whatever this thing is that may or may not be happening between Nicole and Carlton. I will admit that I am holding out hope for a Ted and Nicole reconciliation. It is my hope that it happens before Nicole does something that she will regret.

An argument could be made (and has been made on social media) that since Ted had an affair, Nicole should get some sort of Boink One, Get One deal. Yes, that is a good argument for the streets, but it would be wildly out of character for Nicole. Nicole presents herself as principled and having a higher standard than most. For her to hop into bed with Carlton to even the cheating scorecard just doesn’t fly with me. She needs to formally end her marriage before moving on.

Plus, how could Nicole ever want to be with a man who is afraid of rabbits?! Though I have zero confirmation that it has anything to do with me being a lifelong bunny parent, I am taking ownership for that whole bunny reference making it into the show. But seriously?! Afraid of bunnies? Nicole can do better than some leporiphobic.

Then again, Nicole storming out of the Articulettes afterparty to follow LSD (That’s Leslie/Sherry/Dana to new readers) to Orphey Gene’s was also really sort of wild to me. Ma’am, stop intentionally putting yourself into the same orbit as someone “with all of the wigs and none of the commonsense.” That’s a Shaniceism, so I cannot take credit for that one.

Dipping your toes in the water that is Lake Andre

Jan might not be on-screen very often, but when she does make an appearance, she’s usually speaking a whole lot of sense. I might not agree with all of the reasoning behind her points, but I was fully in agreement with her summation. Ashley is chasing shiny objects.

Jan was absolutely right: Ashley didn’t even give herself and Derek a chance to make living together work. They cohabitated for maybe a week before deciding that they couldn’t stand to share the same space as one another.

I was shocked to hear Ashley say that she and Derek do not share the same “values.” Let’s be honest, in 2025 that is usually code where “values” replaces something like “political beliefs.” But no, not here. Ashley looked down her nose as Derek wanting to “settle down and get married and… retire with a pension.” It was a bit rude for Ashley to talk down about stability, knowing how Jan struggled to make ends meet as a single parent.

Yes, Ashley is correct that there “is so much more out there” in the world to experience, but she seems to think that settling down precludes doing all those other things that she wants to do, like vacation in Paris. Here, the “so much more” to do is code — and it’s code for Andre’s penis. I’m not judging Ashley for her carnal desires, but I am questioning whether she is thinking rationally here. Is a little abracadabra from Andre’s magic stick worth making her future disappear?

What’s even more telling is that while Ashley had mulled this possible life with Andre… she still had a photo of herself and Derek displayed prominently in her apartment.

A warm blanket, a soft pillow

Whoever wrote the dialogue for Dani Dupree on the Wednesday, August 6, episode of Beyond the Gates needs to be given an award. Is there a Nobel Prize for Zingers and Shade? If not, allow me to create the inaugural Krollbel Prize for Zingers and Shade.

But before we get to that… wait, what’s the sound? It’s the hypocrite alarm! For as much as I still dislike this Madonnaesque accent that Pamela has, it worked perfectly for all of the shadiness that she and Dani were casting at the Uptown. I think what I love about Dani and Pamela’s relationship is that it reminds me so much of the relationship that I had with my Pam(ela). Only I was the one that used to fake a hoity-toity accent for comedic effect.

Back to this year’s Krollbel Prize for Zingers and Shade. There were so many nominees that they had to get their own special section. In between wishing Ashley “nothing but the best,” Dani let loose with some total solar eclipse shade.

“She can’t handle that level of sexiness. She would burst into flames – and not in a good way,” Dani said of why Ashley and Andre could not work as a couple.

“A man like Andre could destroy Ashley’s uncomplicated mind,” Dani further explained. “It’s like climbing Everest and thinking it’s just a pretty hill. There is Andre miles above and the poor kid would die of altitude sickness before she even dug her feet in good.”

What would happen if Ashley did experience some of Andre’s hokey pokey? Dani had the answer: “She’d have to move to Virginia and take care of rescue goats.”

Even “antiquing on the weekend” caught a stray during Dani’s rapid-fire snark.

Appetite for destruction… bland destruction

Earlier in the week Dani teased Andre for having “an appetite for the bland” and referred to Ashley as a “delightful, but unseasoned woman.” I have filed that away in my memory bank for future use.

I don’t understand what everyone in this quadrangle sees in each other. Ashley was in love and talking about a future with Derek… until he asked her to marry him and then suddenly she didn’t want that future. Andre has said that he wanted a future with Dani, but Dani insisted that she wasn’t ready to jump into a new relationship. What is it that Andre sees in Ashley? No, really. I need someone to tell me. And Derek is still in love with Ashley (which I do understand) but he is repeatedly getting his heart broken by professing his love for a woman who clearly doesn’t want him.

Now, Ashley has made it clear that she and Derek will never be a thing again. I had been rooting for them, but now I feel like Derek dodged a bullet and needs to move on – preferably with Shanice. Andre was about to tell Dani that he was ending their situationship so that he could start something “real” with Ashley – but then Ashley walked in on Dani and Andre kissing.

Ooh, this messy and so weird.

Beyond the Gates Speed Round

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

FOMO

Based on one of my TwitterX posts, I am not the only one that wished I had been able to score a ticket to the Articulettes reunion concert. Noel (djsoapbubble) lamented that we only got a couple of actual songs, but noted, “Thankfully, the Articulettes didn’t have their fans waiting… unlike a Madonna concert.”

Good patrons

When Hayley had her medical situation at Uptown, I was glad to see that some of the other patrons gathered around the see if she was okay. All too often on soaps, the people in the background go about their lives as if they exist in a bubble. Occasionally, we will get a reaction shot. Here, about five of them actually put down their forks and knives to show that they cared.

SnuffHub

Naomi entered her dad’s house and asked him, “Have you had anyone murdered lately?” That was… definitely a choice. The way she carried on, it almost sounded like he got onto one of the mobile food ordering apps and selected a “murder” option. I’m sure something like that exists on the Dark Web. Sigh.

Meanwhile, Naomi’s reaction to seeing her other making out with Andre at the concert was hilarious. It was a rough week for the young barrister on the parental front.

Lines of the week

The Beyond the Gates writing team is once again 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 been mentioned in this column).

“When you walk into a room, a party breaks out” — Pamela to Dani, one of the lesser shady comments made at their Uptown meeting.

“A flirty pal is a terrible thing to waste.” — Shanice, who apparently used AI to generate a Lou Rawls quote.

“Men like that don’t change their flight patterns.” “Some men are like hurricanes. They blow through your life, leave everything in shambles, and they move on to the next city.” — Two of the many pearls of wisdom dropped by Jan.

“I don’t want to be the crumbs off of someone else’s plate. I want to be the whole meal.” — Another Shaniceism.

“Maybe you’re underestimating the size of my couch.” — Vanessa, explaining to her accountant that the extra money in her books was found under the cushions of her couch.

“I don’t trust you, but I enjoy you.” — Joey to Vanessa.

“I didn’t think the great Dani Dupree did domestic.” — Andre, as he watched Dani make breakfast for them.

That’s all I have for this week’s My View From Beyond the Gates column.

I’ll be tuning in and 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. Liz is on deck with week with a new column called, True Lies.

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