The End of Apology Season: A Beyond the Gates commentary by Soap Central founder Dan J Kroll for the week ending January 23, 2025.
It’s January 23rd and there is still a Christmas tree up at Kroll Manor. To be fair, I didn’t put it up, so I am not going to be the one to take it down. I know some people keep their trees up all year round, and I know others who put Valentine’s Day decorations on the tree to extend the season.
I don’t know when the official end of “the holiday season” is, but now, thanks to Beyond the Gates, I know that late-January is the end of apology season. If your New Year’s Resolution was to make amends and you’ve done that, you need no longer explain yourself to anyone.
They say you should live your life without regrets. Maybe that means popping pills at the club to have a fun time. Or maybe it means accepting a new challenge to prove yourself at work. It could also be something like finally agreeing to move on after the end of a long-term relationship.
What people often forget about living a so-called balls to the wall life is that with it comes a lot of risk and, potentially, a lot of danger. And the fallout usually isn’t confined to just the person living dangerously.
It’s that looming risk that has had me doing something I haven’t done since the spring. I’ve been Doomsoaping. But I’ll have more on that as the column progresses.
Katherine Heartburn
In my Best of Beyond the Gates 2025 column, I awarded Colby Natasha Nixon the “Best Addition to Any Scene” award. The reason, I explained at the time, was that Nixon has an undeniable “it factor” that commands attention in every scene..
That hasn’t changed in 2026.
My favorite scenes of the week all involved Nixon’s Kat having discussions about – what else?! – her half-sister Eva. Of course, Kat would never use the S-word.
I’ve read enough social posts to know that I am never going to change anyone’s mind when it comes to how they feel about Eva or Kat. As I’ve said repeatedly, I really love both characters, even when they aren’t necessarily on their best behavior.
The scenes between Kat and Ted (played by Keith D. Robinson) and Kat and Samantha (played by Najah Jackson) were stellar. The writing, acting, and direction were absolutely top notch. While over-the-top theatrics could have been deployed – especially with Kat and her dad – they were wisely dialed back, making the conversation even more powerful.
At ‘em and Eva
Let’s start at the beginning. I get that Kat doesn’t want Eva to know anything about her life. But it seemed weird for Kat to have such a huge reaction to Ted telling his other daughter about her sister’s negative test results. It wasn’t as if Eva didn’t know about Anita’s diagnosis and that it meant her kind would need to be tested. It made sense that Ted would update Eva with the good news. Nicole even tried making this argument to Kat in a subsequent conversation, but without much luck. An argument might be made if Ted had been sharing bad news, but honestly? I don’t think even that would be worthy of Kat’s reaction.
The problem? Kat simply refuses to see Eva as her sister… half or otherwise. “She’s as much a genetic aberration as that gene that’s got our whole family in its grip,” Kat snapped when her dad tried to explain his actions.
Shocked, Ted asked how Kat could possibly make so horrifying a comparison. “Cancer creeps in, makes itself at home, and turns your body against you,” she replied. “Replace ‘body’ with ‘family’ and you’ve got Eva.”
Ted let his daughter know that her temper tantrums weren’t “cute anymore.” Kat fired back with, “Cheating on my mother wasn’t cute either.” Damn. Ted wasn’t about to allow his daughter to go unchecked. “We have come to the end of apology season,” Ted announced before reminding Kat that he’d always been a good and loving father to her. When Kat brought up Ted’s affair, Ted argued that he was a human being who made mistakes.
I found it interesting that neither Kat nor Ted thought that Tomás’ affair with Eva was comparable to Ted sleeping with Leslie. Is it because Tomás and Kat weren’t married? Isn’t cheating cheating? Kat forgave Tomás pretty quickly, especially given the identity of his bedmate. I’d say it was the magic of the ding-a-ling, but at that point Tomás’ magic wand had yet to pull a, um, rabbit out of Kat’s hat.
But I digress.
Kat then sought out Nicole because she needed someone to co-sign her feelings. She didn’t get it. Nicole told her daughter exactly what I’ve been thinking for the past however many months: Kat has allowed her hatred for Eva to completely alter her life. She’s skipped out on family functions and her light has been dimmed. Eva lives rent-free in Kat’s head. Kat needs to get to a place where she can dislike Eva and still live her life. The best way to stick it to Eva, since that is what Kat seems determined to do, would be to live her absolute best life and appear as unbothered by Eva as possible. Carrying all that negative energy can’t be good.
Deliver Me From Eva
The second highlight of the week came later in the same Wednesday, January 21, episode, when Kat popped by Martin and Smitty’s as part of her Deliver Me From Eva world tour. We haven’t gotten to see nearly enough of Martin and Kat doing whatever brothers and sisters do. As an only child, I can only imagine what it is like to have that sibling bond.
As much as I liked Martin and Kat talking, the standout moment came when Samantha joined them. Remember when Kat overheard Eva and Samantha at the diner and thought Eva was encouraging Samantha to have sex? Right after that, it was Samantha who was the one to point out that Kat wasn’t fun and happy any more. We got another dose of that and this time around it was ever more impactful.
She might only be 16 years of age, but Samantha offered sage advice well beyond her years. Fun note: I accidentally typed 126 instead of 16. Apparently, my fingers got jokes. Anyway, Samantha urged Kat to Freaky Friday life with Eva. She thought trying to see life through Eva’s eyes might help Kat get to a point where she can let go of the hate.
Samantha even brought up her own experience with June. In Samantha’s story, she got her mom back. Knowing that Kat didn’t really want Eva in her life, Samantha again hammered home that forgiveness can give you back yourself.
If you missed the scene, it happened within the last eight minutes of the episode. It’s definitely worth a watch.
Putting Mess Into the Universe
There was something in the Ted and Kat discussion that stood out for me. For a second time, Kat was told that one day she might need Eva. It’s a common thing to say in an argument something like, “You’ll need me some day!” But this being a soap, the remark hits a little differently. In my mind, I thought, “Foreshadow much?” Then I tried to figure out what the foreshadowing could be, um, foreshadowing.
With Nicole’s genetic testing coming back okay, I will assume they’re removing any sort of cancer diagnosis from Kat’s future. What did come to mind what that Kat could potentially need some sort of organ or tissue donation in the future, even though Kat made it abundantly clear that she would never accept an organ from Ted’s “spare heir.” My first thought would be a possible kidney donation.
Black men and women have a significantly higher rate of kidney failure than their white counterparts. There is a genetic component, as well as other things like lack of equitable health care. Yes, I know this is the second column-in-a-row where I’ve become Dr. Dan and started spouting medical information from my days as an almost-physician. Here is why I am not sure that we’d see that sort of storyline right now. First, I don’t know that the show would do two medical storylines at the same time – especially since there do not appear to be more than a couple hospital sets. Second, I don’t know if the show wants to have another discussion about genetics.
As an aside, if I remember correctly the genetic risk for non-diabetic kidney failure is highest among those of West African descent. I could see this become part of story if someone on the show wanted to do an ancestry-related DNA analysis.
Love In The Afternoon
Back in the 80s and 90s, ABC’s daytime lineup prided itself on bringing “love in the afternoon” to its viewers. Little by little that seemed to fade away across the daytime spectrum. After the Super Bowl halftime show wardrobe malfunction, a lot of shows decided to cut back on the romance so as not to upset “sensitive” viewers. Ironically, around the same time a Procter and Gamble-produced soap showed an actor’s bare butt. Later, a pandemic understandably cut back on on-screen intimacy. And there have also been shows that have been rocked by sexual harassment allegations.
Love in the afternoon was alive and well this week on Beyond the Gates. We saw Carlton hoist Nicole into the air, press her against the wall, and… go to town. Elsewhere, Ted and Shanice were getting busy in his hotel room. That was a much better look than their clunky, almost-sexing session in Ted’s office.
What I like about Beyond the Gates is that the writers are not afraid to spice up the dialogue, too. Yes, most of us like a good soap lovemaking scene. But often what gets lost in translation is having characters talk about sex in a way that can get by the network censors. “Golly gee, I’d like to pull your panties down” doesn’t work in 2026. At the same time you also can’t have characters saying, “Hey $@#$, I want you to #$%#$% my *#*$ and #@*#*$@$ $%^%$^ @#$@#$!!”
I don’t think I’ve ever used that many symbols in a sentence in my life.
There is a lot of talk about whether Nicole and Ted are truly interested in their new romances or if they are simply using those new lovers to make each other jealous. I’d like to think that Nicole and Ted aren’t just using Carlton and Shanice as part of some twisted mind game, but I’m sure there is an element of make ’em jealous in the mix.
Where’s Waldo Kial?
Last week I almost put in a “Where’s Kial” blurb in the Speed Round section. The reason? There had been so much hype about Greg Vaughan joining the show that I couldn’t believe we’d seen him for all of 5 minutes since his debut.
This week more than made up for Kial’s missing-in-actionness. I thought the scenes between Kial and Vanessa were a lot of fun. Maybe a little too much fun. The chemistry between them was palpable, even if there has been absolutely no indication that the show is headed in that direction.
I am sure I am not the only one that thought Vanessa had slipped Kial one of her “Heart Attach” business cards. I completely forgot that Vanessa had business cards for her non-escort – I’m sorry – non-dating service real estate company.
Another highlight was Nicole returning to the hospital and finding Carlton, Kial, and Shanice standing behind the nurses’ station. That was so deliciously messy that I couldn’t look away. I like that the two men now know about each other. I want to see how they try to outdo one another when it comes to winning Nicole’s heart. You know, I always hate to say someone has “won” another person because that makes it sound like a person is one of those ratty Styrofoam ball-stuffed toys you win at an amusement park.
And thirdly, Kial had his name brought up during Ted and Carlton’s unplanned run-in at Orphey Gene’s. Ted took pleasure in “watching him get blocked by a guy who spells his name K-I-A-L.”
DMV Undercover
If you’re mind works anything like mine, you probably had just one question when Jacob announced that he wanted to go undercover: Is there really a black-market plasma trade or is this something that was created due to its soapiness?
Well, it turns out that there is. I made some calls and found out that it’s much more common outside of the United States, but it still happens here during times of supply shortages.
Joey claims to know nothing about the blood ring other than the name of its boss: Vlad the Impaler. I’m inclined to believe him, but I do wonder if someone in his orbit is part of the gang. Remember how Randy secured blood when Hayley needed to fake her miscarriage? We never learned if the “blood” was actually real blood or not, but if it was… could Randy have had a connection in the world of black market blood?
I also have to wonder if Grayson might be in on the action. After all, this out-of-the-blue newcomer does work in the hospital lab. If anyone would have easy access to blood products, it would be him.
Doomsoaping Revisited
The impending snowstorm here in the East has me “Doomsoaping” more than usual. If you missed my April 19, 2025, column, I described Doomsoaping as watching a soap and fearing that something terrible is about to happen. In this undercover operation, I am particularly worried about Jacob and Smitty.
The danger posed to Jacob is obvious. He’s a cop who is putting his butt on the line to infiltrate what is probably a multi-million-dollar operation. I don’t know about you, but Jacob seems a little “soft” for something like this. I suppose that could work for him if the blood cartel is looking for someone who could easily integrate into more mainstream operations. Still, I’m worried about him.
Smitty has no real reason to wedge himself into this undercover operation. That alone is enough to make warning sirens go off. The second reason I’m worried about him is that Smitty has yet to have a storyline of his own. He’s been a wronged spouse and a dad, but those have all supported others’ stories. In fact, we don’t really know much about Smitty other than that his parents were traveling over the holidays.
Has the show skimped on the details of Smitty’s world for a reason? Will Smitty go nosing around somewhere he shouldn’t and get seriously hurt or killed? I hope not because I actually really like the guy.
The Bitches of Chadison County
Well, Chadison was fun while it lasted. I have always thought that Chelsea and Madison were a cute couple, but that ended this week.
When Chelsea ran into her old dealer at Uptown, she was more than happy to take a free sample. Drugs aren’t my thing, but Chelsea is an adult and can make her own decisions. Where she totally lost me was when she copped a really bad attitude to Madison’s concerns about Chelsea taking street drugs.
Madison is a neurologist. I am sure she’s seen patients who have suffered negative effects of drug use. Even if she hasn’t, she’s probably heard the statistics and the what ifs. She was absolutely right: Chelsea had no idea what was in the pill that Malik had given her. Chelsea was visibly annoyed that Madison didn’t want to have “fun” and pop pills with her.
The moment Chelsea offered that condescending “Later, baby” blow off to Madison, their relationship was over. There is absolutely no coming back from that, at least for me.
Some folks on social media felt that Chelsea’s reaction was out of character, but I disagree. I think this is exactly how a spoiled, celebrity influencer would act.
Since I am sharing my Doomsoaping scenarios, here’s something that crossed my mind about Chelsea and her “party favors.” I think this will happen again, and I can see Madison going against her better judgment and popping a pill to “save” her relationship with Chelsea. Yes, she’s a doctor and yes she knows better. But we’ve all done dumb things for love.
Unfortunately, I think a cosmically tragic twist will have first-time pill popper Madison getting something from a bad batch. Maybe Madison suffers irreparable harm to one of more of the various parts of the brain that she had rattled off when citing the reasons not to take drugs. And there’s always the possibility that something even worse could happen.
Beyond, Behind, and Beside The Gates: Speed Round
Here are some of the thoughts and observations about other things happening on Beyond the Gates.
Who’s Gonna Check Me, Boo?
I am happy that someone has finally stepped up to keep Leslie in check. I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting it to be Joey Armstrong. What was on Joey’s USB drive? I’m guessing it has to be something that would implicate her in one of the attacks on Laura. The only other possibility – other than it being some sort of criminal activity that none of us know about – is that it’s a copy of a real DNA test that shows Eva isn’t really Ted’s daughter. I always thought the DNA test provided after the anniversary party debacle was a little sketchy.
Whatever is on the drive definitely rattled Leslie, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. I still don’t see the free clinic ever opening its doors, but I don’t really mind that because I am enjoying the Joey/Leslie antics.
Boom! Boom! Shake the Room
Jacob and Naomi finally have a living room! It was one of the things I asked for in my Worst of 2025 column because I was tired of having Naomi’s visitors have to hang out with her in the bedroom. My fear? They took away the bedroom completely and replaced it with a living room.
It wasn’t really a surprise that Naomi had lied about her BRCA test results. I like that we also got to hear Naomi explain why she’d lied. She is doing what’s best for her, but I can’t help but think that the bad news will sting even more when she finally does admit the truth.
Also, I still can’t shake the feeling that there is more to Naomi’s false pregnancy test than meets the eye.
You’re Givin’ Me A Heart Attach
I am worried about Lance, the husband who accosted Vanessa because his wife was using the Heart Attach “dating” service. I understand his anger over his wife sleeping with other men. That gives him no right to put his hands on Vanessa – or anyone else for that matter.
I don’t see this ending well. My initial thought is that Lance is going to kill his wife and blame the escort service as part of his defense. That will, of course, bring scrutiny to the company and, by extension, Vanessa and Joey. It could expose the money laundering and open the door to the Feds looking into Joey’s other businesses.
Kiss Your New Partner Hello
I knew that someone was going to see Bill and Dani’s smooch – and of course it had to be Tomás. I suppose this means that Tomás has secured himself a partner position. We still haven’t found out how much of Hayley’s phone conversation with Randy that junior partner overheard.
Silver Lining to the Chemo Cloud
The importance of remaining positive is high when battling any sort of malady. That said, walking around in denial is also not healthy. So what exactly is the middle ground?
I think Anita may have found that with Sharon in her most recent chemo treatment. For just a moment, Sharon allowed Anita to think of the worst case scenario. There was a moment of levity as Anita talked about a service she found that somehow turns a person’s ashes into a living tree. There was also a moment of mixed emotions as Sharon talked about how Anita’s children and grandchildren would continue to have amazing lives even after Anita was gone. It’s nice to know that they will find triumph even after a great loss, but it is also sobering to hear that the world will not stop when you die.
The scene was capped off with Sharon singing “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.” Anita drifted off to sleep and I found tears welling in my eyes.
Quick Takes
Shanice going off, or awf as the Internet seems to spell it, on Anastacia was a laugh riot. Just when you thought Shanice would take a breath and end her read, she kept going… and going… and going.
When Smitty said, “Actually, there is something that you can do for me.” The line itself isn’t funny, but Jacob thinking that Smitty was propositioning him was hilarious.
I was tickled by Naomi and Chelsea huddled up and hoping that Dani and Hayley would get into it to liven up the ho-hum genetic test celebration party.
Proving yet again that Ashley is better single than coupled, I thought her silly locker room talk with Shanice was fun to watch. Later, Ashley provided a shoulder when Naomi needed to reveal that truth about her genetic testing. In both situations, Ashley was a whole character with something to offer. When she started flirting with Grayson? I lost all interest.
Creepy Stalker Derek is really uncomfortable to watch. I absolutely love it. We need to start a pool and have everyone pick what day we think he will finally snap and do something dark and twisted.
The Clip Show
I liked the special episode that aired on Monday, January 19. This was really the first time that we’ve gotten to see the entire cast talk about the show in an official, non-social media capacity.
If I am being picky, I would say that some of the segments were a little choppy. Maybe it would have helped to have it in more of a talk show environment with a host to guide things along. I also would not have minded if they’d shown bloopers and outtakes.
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).
“Was it my cologne?”
“If it was, let’s bottle it and bathe in it daily” — Andre and Dani when Hayley suddenly scurried away upon his arrival.
“The customer gets to choose the length…” — Vanessa offering up the similarities between a manicure and her dating service.
“I respect the hell out of her, like any active threat.” — Jacob when Marcel asked that Jacob “put some respect” on Leslie’s name.
“She’s a genetic aberration” — Kat with a vicious assessment of half-sister Eva
“Beep beep! Toot toot!” — Madison channeling her inner Donna Summer seconds after saying she didn’t want to toot her own horn.
“Interrogation with a vampire” — This quip by Marcel about the illicit blood and plasma trade was almost the title of this week’s column.
“I have love for all my children.” — Me, too, Ted. Me too.
“Hayley will have a stroke if she sees me eating this.”
“Promise?” — Bill and Dani upon him seeing the celebration food his ex-wife had brought him.
“If cancer wasn’t intimidated by Anita Dupree, what hope do I have?” — Dani when Bill joked that cancer wouldn’t dare fight her “crazy ass.”
“We’re not doing that! I give you a name and the next thing I know you’re off digging in your magic box full of wigs and trench coats.” — Eva when momma Leslie asked who Ted was dating.
“Well I never“
“And you never will!” — Anastacia after being “read for filth” by Shanice, and Ted’s response to her reaction. In the interest of disclosure, I said the same thing Ted said at the exact same time he said it.
Gatecrashers: Reader and Viewer Feedback
I love interacting with other Beyond the Gates fans. So I thought I’d create a section to share some of the comments I’ve received on my columns and social media posts. If you’d like to see your comments shared here, you can scroll down to the Comments section below this column and post away. You can also chat with me on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, and/or TwitterX.
Chelsea and her “party favors” had a lot of people talking on my TwitterX feed.
Others were happy to see Leslie take an L — even if it was a temporary one.
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 is on deck with week with a new column called, Dial K For Killow.
To read more thoughts, opinions, rants, and raves about daytime television, be sure to check out our Editorial section.
dan
“ Kat’s genetic testing came back okay”
Kat didn’t have genetic testing done – Nicole did. Once Nicole tested negative for the BRCA gene variant, there was no need for Martin or Kat to get tested, which meant everybody fussing at Kat for days about doing so was moot because she didn’t need to anyway.
Otherwise, nice column and I agree with some of your theories (especially Randy being somehow connected to the plasma ring even if Joey is not).
Always love your insights, Dan!
The gray area known as what is a breakup: Kat’s conundrum and forgiveness of Tomas and Eva’s ODS. Tomas thought Kat had broken it off with him. She wanted out on him instead of talking it out.
He thought it was over. And he in less then 12 hours, had sex with Eva, the hald-sister and bane of Kat’s existance. But what was Kat thinking? She did not apparently think they were broken up. She was apparently having her own pity party and got the shock of her life – he moved on.
If Kat had not gone over to Eva’s apartment, would she have known? Would Tomas / Eva have continued their sexual relationship?
Kat is proprietary: her father, her parents, her family and….her man. We know she had sex for the first time because Eva was already active sexually. There was not going to be any one-upmanship. (did I just type that?). And…Kat/ Tomas are not married. And Kat saw her mistake and doubled down, reclaiming what she did not realize she threw away. Everything was out in the open.
So I can see how Kat forgives Tomas, but not her father.