My View From Beyond the Gates: Whiplash and Déjà Vu

Time waits for no one — even in Fairmont Crest. Last week may have been reruns, but life marched on for all our Beyond the Gates favorites. A Beyond the Gates commentary by Soap Central founder Dan J Kroll for the week ending July 10, 2026.

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One week later, time marches on. Joey and Vanessa flew to Napa and back. The Richardson Smiths made it to the Bahamas and back. To date, we have yet to see a photo of a vineyard, an ocean, a dolphin, or anything else vacationy. Meanwhile, Eva is snacking on lots of tasty baked goods (jealous!) and Kat is purchasing property.

I guess it really is true: time waits for no one. In this case, I think that was a good idea. It would have been really weird to come back from a week of reruns and pick up right where things left off. This was a really good way for Beyond the Gates to make a soft reset – to move on from the show’s current stories and advance to a point where other things could start to take place.

There’s just a small issue with all of that. Even though I didn’t post a column last week due to the reruns, I did record a new episode of my podcast. I invited the Evil Richard Simms (the executive editor of Soaps.com and former overseer of Soaps In Depth magazine) to join me to talk about why we love Beyond the Gates. If you missed it or didn’t even know that I have a podcast, you can listen for free on these streaming services: Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and iHeart.

Break Away

The writers were obviously aware that a week break was coming. Otherwise, their choice to skip ahead one week after a one-week break is the most psychic thing to happen since Miss Cleo told us to call her now. On the podcast, Richard lamented that there should have been a better cliffhanger on the week before the week of repeat episodes. Don’t remember what it was? It was Deanna hugging Vanessa after saying that she supported Vanessa and Joey’s relationship – and flashing a devious smile.

When Days of our Lives was still airing on NBC, the show was preempted for several weeks by the Olympics every other year. One year, they had the entire town leveled in a gas explosion. Fairmont Crest was already heavily damaged by a tornado, so an explosion would be overkill. But I am inclined to agree that something more than that hug would have been a better way to go into a one-week summertime break, if for no other reason than creating a reason for fans to want to tune back in when the show resumed. It’s summertime and there are oodles of things that people can choose to do other than watching a television program. Beyond the Gates ratings are at near-all-time highs and I’d hate for a week of reruns to ruin that momentum. Fortunately, for those of us that faithfully watch, there was plenty of action when the show returned from its summer vacation. So let’s get into all of that.

Diamonds Aren’t A Girl’s Best Friend

There’s a term for taking pleasure in other’s misfortune. It’s schadenfreude. Now, I’ve never thought of myself as a schadenfreudist (which probably isn’t a word and something that would upset the entirety of the German-speaking world), but in the case of Tomas I think I just might be.

Let’s start with some of the basics. When Tomas first started telling people that he wanted to propose to Kat, he should have gleaned from their reactions and responses that it wasn’t such a good idea. As a lawyer, he should be able to read the room. We’ve seen time and time again that he cannot.

Still, Tomas decided to push forward with his plan to propose. On top of that, he decided that it would be a good idea to make this always “sus” proposal in front of the entire Dupree family. What could possibly go wrong?

My Way

If Tomas wasn’t already setting himself up for utter humiliation, he upped the ante by interrupting patriarch Vernon’s speech. Again, people tried to tell him that it was tradition for Vernon to speak first. On top of that, it’s just plain rude to go into someone else’s home – particularly if you don’t know them like that – and essentially tell them to sit down and shut up because you have something to say.

As a quick interjection, the only time that would be an okay thing to do would be if you were launching some sort of surprise for the person that was speaking. And even then it would still need to be done in a way that was respectful.

I’ll admit that going into the proposal, I felt that there was a good chance that Kat would say yes out of some weird sense of obligation. Then, at least in the scenario I cooked up in my head, she’d take him to the side after the party and say that she couldn’t really accept his proposal.

Listen To Your Heart

But let’s rewind back to the beginning. After Tomas shoved Vernon into a chair and told him to shut up, Tomas demanded the attention of the entire room. As he presented his opening arguments, he didn’t see Juror #1 (Chelsea) shaking her head in the negative. She tried to tell him to abort. Ted took a huge swig of champagne. Nicole took a deep breath and cast a gaze toward her ex-husband. Chelsea tried a new approach: mouthing the word “No.” It was so awkwardly uncomfortable and I loved every single moment.

There have been quite a few on-screen jokes about how this is Princess Kat’s world and we all just live in it. For someone supposedly so self-obsessed, Kat’s rejection was incredibly sweet and kind. She escorted Tomas from the room so that she could talk to him privately. She pointed out that they hadn’t even talked about marriage and reiterated her love for him and assured him, “I want to wear your ring – I do. But not today.” She asked that he hold on to the ring until they are both sure that getting married is what they want and not the result of tornado-driven fear. It might not have been what Tomas wanted to hear, but it was heartfelt and truthful.

When Kat and Tomas rejoined the party, Vernon got in a good lick by saying he’d restart his speech “unless Tomas has something else to say.” Ouch, but also hilarious.

A House Is Not A Home

I like the idea of Kat owning her own place, but I can’t help but feel that the only reason she decided to buy a condo was to shore up her relationship with Tomas. There was an old joke on Seinfeld about Jerry and Elaine “having sex to save the friendship.” On Beyond the Gates, Kat thinks that buying a place for her and Tomas to cohabitate is the best way to makes things better after publicly rejecting his proposal.

I think it’s a terrible idea. You know who else does? Kat. The look on her face after Tomas accepted her suggestion that they live together – with a whole host of conditions – told me everything I needed to know. It became even clearer when Mona and Jan dropped by unexpectedly to check on Kat. As a total aside here, I liked seeing Mona and Jan in a set that wasn’t Orphey Gene’s or Ashley’s apartment.

While all of these was going on, Tomas was on the phone with his mother while sitting alone at Orphey Gene’s. From the one-sided conversation, it sounded like Tomas’ mother was pressuring him to get married. He mentioned that when his parents were his age they were already married with a kid. It also was clear that Tomas wasn’t being totally honest with his mom. He didn’t mention that he had proposed to Kat. He simply said that he knew that Kat wasn’t ready for marriage yet.

Add to that the pressure that Tomas was getting from Bill to be a family man. Bill pretty much made it clear that the family man path was the only way to a thriving future at the law firm.

Poor Poor Pitiful Me

While I am not a fan of Tomas, I kind of feel sorry for him. I don’t think he is living his life for himself. He’s chasing after a dream to advance his career and to appease his mother. His success as a lawyer is tied to being able to earn enough to then be able to send money home to his family. It’s all sort of tied together and that’s sad. It makes me wonder if he’s done anything for himself.

With all this talk of Tomas going back to Puerto Rico and the Season Two status change of Alex Alegria to recurring status, I am wondering if Tomas is going to go home to Puerto Rico and not return to the DMV. Other than Kat, there isn’t much tying Tomas to the canvas. With the exception of Eva, Tomas doesn’t even seem to have any friends. I’d like their friendship more if that whole sexytimes thing hadn’t happened.

If Tomas were to exit, it would, as a lot of viewers have been demanding, free Kat and allow her to find a new relationship.  There doesn’t seem to be much lawyering at Bill’s law firm, so I can’t imagine losing Tomas would be that big of a hit. Plus, it would open up a spot for Naomi to finally join her dad’s practice.

The Secrets That She Keeps

Speaking of Naomi, she finally opened up about the secret she’s been keeping for the better part of a year: she has the BRCA gene mutation that puts her at a higher risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer.

It was interesting that Naomi chose to tell her mother first. Maybe Naomi knew that Dani would be a sympathetic ear so she wanted to start with the least confrontational person. Naturally, being a mom, Dani was focused almost entirely on what her daughter had been feeling while keeping such a massive thing to herself.

Even more interesting, when Naomi claimed that she’d been lying to everyone for months, Dani immediately assumed that Naomi had cheated on Jacob. Project much, Mrs. Dupree-Richardson? Things get even stickier when Naomi said something to the effect of, “No, mom. I’m like you. I would never cheat on the man I love.” Oops.

Mad World

Then it came time to tell Jacob. I saw a couple posts on social media that wanted Jacob to be angrier with Naomi. Not every man – or every person, for that matter – is an “angry” person. I don’t see Jacob as a door-slamming, wall-punching kind of guy. No, I think he is a little more complex than that. I think that Jacob internalizes a lot of what he’s feeling. Even when he and Naomi were at odds over a potential pregnancy, he never screamed, cussed, or pounded his fists. I think whatever anger Jacob is feeling right now is overshadowed by fear.

That said, I do worry that Jacob is reaching a breaking point. He still hasn’t recovered from the death of his friend (Derek). He is still on a mission to capture the Impaler. And now he has this latest twist where he has to worry about the health of the woman he loves.

Jacob immediately went to Izaiah (and Eva) and later to Smitty. While he didn’t open up to either of them about what was going on in his life, it seemed clear to me that he wanted to. Or at least thought about it. Men are strange creatures. I know this because – and you may have read this on the Internet – I am one. We’ve been hardwired to not be emotional and to not talk about our feelings. It’s not easy getting into our circuitry and reconfiguring everything to change that. That is one of the good things about the Gen Zers – they haven’t been forced into that way of thinking, so I am hoping that future generations are better able to talk about what is bothering them.

Pretty Poison

Well, it looks like I was wrong about Hayley’s bosom poison. I honestly believed that Randy had given his cuz a placebo rather than anything truly lethal. Why? I was convinced that he was conning the con – perhaps in conjunction with the is-she-really-dead Lynette Wise.

But based on the way Bill was acting during the deposition, it looks like the world’s slowest acting poison may have finally started to work. Or, perhaps of more concern, Bill might be having a totally unrelated medical crisis.

Dialing it back a little, I still think this lawsuit against Madison would have been tossed out by any judge. It’s ridiculous, meritless, and a total waste of time and money. But there’s a peg for every hole. I’m not sure that’s the metaphor I’m looking for, but it’s the only one that came to mind while writing this column. There’s a reason they need to put “Do not use in a bath tub” on toasters. It does make me wonder how much cheaper everything would be if there wasn’t this constant barrage of frivolous lawsuits.

That Girl Is Poison

Now that that’s out of the way, I am anxious to see what’s really going on with Bill. I’ve always questioned this poison that Hayley is using. What is it exactly? Randy claimed that it was something that wouldn’t show up in any blood test, but I can’t imagine that any such substance exists. If it’s something that doesn’t occur naturally in the body, it would show up. You just might need to run a test that wouldn’t normally be run.

If I remember correctly, old murder mysteries often used antifreeze as a poison. The claim was that it could be used in small doses over time and it wouldn’t show up on blood tests or toxicology reports. Maybe too many people tried that and they added antifreeze components to blood tests to put the kibosh on murder by Valvoline.

It’s amazing to me that no one has caught Hayley giving Bill some of her boobie prize. She’s been kind of sloppy, but I suppose she could have just chalked it up to giving Bill some sort of post-stroke supplement. There’s really no reason for anyone to suspect that Hayley has been poisoning Bill so she should be in the clear unless the tests turn up some anomaly.

There was a time when I thought Hayley might develop real feelings for Bill, but that ship has sailed and sunk. I am trying to figure out how she gets out of trouble if and when someone learns that she’s been trying to off Bill. Will she skip town and head to Genoa City to reconnect with Kyle Abbott?

We Can’t Be Friends

I know that a lot of viewers are grumbling about the de-Lesliefication of Leslie Thomas, but I don’t quite see it that way. I think that LSD (That’s Leslie/Sherry/Dana for those of you that are new readers) has been operating at 100 for the better part of the past year. There was nowhere else for her to go but down. Where the week of reruns gave the show a chance to reset, I think that Eva’s near-death experience allowed Leslie to be reset.

I don’t think that LSD is suddenly one of the good guys. She’s already shown that. But I do think that nearly losing a child could, would, and should cause someone to reevaluate their life decisions. Now Leslie can operate on 50. She’ll still be equally annoying to everyone that dislikes her, but it does give her the chance to be slightly more human.

One of the funniest moments in a while came when Leslie joined Jan and Mona at their table at Orphey Gene’s. Leslie waxed on about how she was a changed woman and went to rest her hand on Mona’s as a sign that they were, I don’t know, cool with each other again. Before there was any contact, Mona quickly “Uh-huh”ed her and Leslie pulled her hand back with the same quickness.

Agree To Disagree

The ceasefire with Darlene is another example. It looked for a minute like the two women were going to be friendly. The Friday, July 10, episode put those fears to rest. Darlene made it quite clear that she doesn’t trust Leslie and doesn’t really like her. However, they both agreed that they needed to find a way to coexist since their kids were in love.

Even Dr. Monica McCormick was willing to give LSD another chance. Her reason, though, was more about those that benefit from Garland Memorial’s partnership with the free clinic than anything else. Still, Monica needed to know that she could work with Leslie. Little did she know, Leslie was already poking around trying to learn more about Monica. Like the Darlene and Leslie frenemyship, I think Monica and Leslie both realize that they need to be able to work together because it’s in the best interest of the hospital, the clinic, those working at the clinic, and those who benefit from the clinic’s services.

Beside, Behind, and Beyond The Gates: The Speed Round

Here are some of the thoughts and observations about other things happening on Beyond the Gates.

Sign Your Name Across My Heart Ankle

I am typically not a lover of teen love storylines. First, it seems a little creepy to not be a teen and to get invested in their love lives. I’m not sure that I was all that into them even when I was in the target demographic.

That said, I like Tyrell and Jessica. Their relationship journey has felt fairly realistic, and I think Jaden Lucas Miller (Tyrell) and Camryn Jade (Jessica) are really great young actors. I admit that I liked Jessica more before the cotillion. Since the cotillion she has lost some of her charm because the friction with her parents seemed to get amped out for no real reason.

The tattoo story was an interesting story decision. The idea to get matching tattoos seems very unlike what a Gen Zer would do. Wisely, the writers chose to have the Gen Zers do what Gen Zers do. The matching tattoos went from being actual matching to tattoos to tattoos that were in the same anatomical location. I’m still torn on whether the “J” that Tyrell got stands for Jessica or June. He claims it stands for June, but I think he just lucked out to have a girlfriend and a mom with the same first initial.

No Shoes, No Shirt, Okay!

Soaps love to find a way to have shirtless men on-screen even if there isn’t a legitimate reason for said men to be shirtless. Beyond the Gates, which I feel like shunned shirtless men for much of the series’ first season, has now decided that it has a legitimate reason for men to shuck their shirts: the locker room set. The women’s locker room is far less clothing optional, but we’ve definitely seen our fair share of implied nudity. The most recent example, I believe, was Hayley letting her trenchcoat fall to the ground so that Bill could see all of her goods and services.

The Eye In The Sky

In my last column two weeks ago (“This Is The Part Where You Tell Me I’m Wrong“), I said that I wasn’t sure that Joey was buying what Deanna was selling. It turned out that I was right. Joey tasked Randy with getting close to Deanna to find out how she really felt. It didn’t take long for Deanna to admit that she hates the idea that Vanessa is seeing Joey. I am wondering what happens next. It was clear that Randy was not entirely comfortable digging for dirt on his former bestie’s little girl. Will Randy feel more of an obligation to Doug or to his employer? Maybe Joey already has all that he needs and he won’t ask Randy to do any more reconnaissance work.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

If you’ve read my columns for any length of time, you’ll know that I often say, “Everything happens for a reason on a soap.” Actually, I usually say, “Nothing happens on a soap for no reason,” but that’s a double negative and I’ve suddenly been awash with the voices of former teachers in my head advising me against that.

Why the trip to English 101? The minute Grayson and Ashley encountered the problematic, under-five, substitute bartender at Uptown, I knew that Grayson would end up working there as a bartender. In a previous scene, Grayson talked about how he was having trouble making ends meet now that his red market job was snatched away from him. He really ought to be thankful that his freedom wasn’t snatched away, but that’s just my take.

I don’t know that I see Grayson has a bartender. All of the women in the DMV seem to think he’s fun to look at, so I can see that being a plus. He’s not much of a conversationalist and, personally, I think he’s very unlikeable. Is he really the type of guy that people are going to open up to over an IPA?

Now, to be fair, I do not drink alcohol and I do not frequent bars. So maybe my belief that bartenders are pseudo psychiatrists is skewed by old sitcoms.

Quick Takes

Anita singing “The Empty House Blues” was really funny. I really wanted more than just bars.

I am glad that Martin apologized for the way he treated Kat pre-surgery. I’m sure it won’t be long before he is a hot head about something else, but at least he admitted that he’d acted like a jackass.

Tyrell badmouthing pickleball made me laugh. I’ve played tennis since middle school and I am decidedly anti-pickleball. I have no reason for it other than I like tennis.

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).

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“Paranoia’s my secret weapon.”
Joey justifying his suspicion of Deanna to Vanessa.

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“Thanks for coming to the dress rehearsal for our proposal.”
Kat upon returning to her surprise party after Tomas’ botched proposal.

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“Think of what we can come up with if we put more than our heads together.”
Leslie dirty talk about her uncertain future plans with Marcel.

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“Don’t worry about milk that hasn’t even spilled.”
Vanessa to Joey. This was almost the title of this week’s column.

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“My diva mother would say, ‘listen to your gut and load your gun.’”
Chelsea

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“More like I’m heels over head.”
Jan’s saucy response when Mona observed that Jan seemed to be head over heels for her new man.

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“Has Vanessa come to her senses and rebuked that card hustling demon?”
Mona, when Jan talked about some exciting news in Vanessa’s life.

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“You bet your sizeable derrier it is.”
Monica, when Leslie asked if her treatment of Shanice is the reason Garland was cutting ties with the clinic.

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“I’ve been there and done worse.”
Dani to Naomi when Naomi hinted that she’s done something bad.

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.

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.

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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, Port Charles Confidential.

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

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