Beyond the Gates commentary for the week ending October 3, 2025.
I had considered titling this week’s column “Save it for your Emmy reel” because there were so many performances from the past week on Beyond the Gates that I absolutely believe will show up on performers’ Daytime Emmy submissions in 2026.
I also wanted to call it “The Life of a Soap Girl,” but I thought that might upset the Swifties and thought the better of it. That didn’t stop me from having a little fun with it in the graphic for this week’s column.
In the social media era, you can get instant feedback on what people think about, well, just about everything. In the olden days, you had to actually encounter another human being (be it in person or on the phone) before you could gush over the things that you loved.
Back then, it seemed that praise was pretty much universal. Nowadays, I’d argue that people like to complain just to complain. We come to embrace negativity, or at the very least, we’ve come to accept it. Then, there are some people who just love to be contrarian. And then there are others that refuse to like or enjoy anything that doesn’t align with their own personal wants and needs.
Nostalgia… what a bitch
Let’s take Doug McBride’s death on Beyond the Gates. Doug wasn’t necessarily my favorite character on the show, but I certainly didn’t want to see him meet his maker at the bottom of a ravine somewhere in Maryland. That said, I accept that it happened and I kind of find myself riveted by the performances and storytelling in the wake of Doug’s death.
Lauren Buglioli has been magnificent. Going back to my earlier Emmy comments, if you’d asked me six months ago what type of role Buglioli was playing, I’d have said she was unequivocally a “supporting actress.” With her recent work, I’d argue that she’s made a very strong argument to be viewed as a “lead actress.”
It’s been interesting to see the evolution of Vanessa McBride. Her introduction made her seem like a sex-crazed ditz, but with time we’ve come to learn that she’s not a ditz. And, no, that’s not me being shady about her sexual proclivities. Vanessa is smarter than I think people give her credit for. She’s poking around, asking questions about Doug’s death. I’m not sure if her questions are designed to get specific answers or if her questions are more in line with the five stages of grief. To me, though, I feel like she knows something’s not adding up.
Heartbreak delayed
Last week I took a seemingly unpopular stance by saying that I don’t want Vanessa to learn of Joey’s involvement in Doug’s death right away. I stand by that. I think it will be explosive and memorable to watch Vanessa’s grief subside over the next weeks and months only to have it erupt when she learns the truth. By then, there might also be enough other people who are ticked at Joey to have a proper murder mystery.
I know that the general consensus is that Joey Armstong is… words I’d prefer not to type in this mostly-PG column. That said, I find Joey to be incredibly fascinating and complex. It doesn’t hurt that the incomparable Jon Lindstrom is breathing life into the resident baddie. Other soap villains often come off as mustache-twirling caricatures of villains, but Joey is the real deal. He doesn’t just do evil, he eats, sleeps, drinks, and breathes evil.
The way that Joey is finding ways to further horn his way into Vanessa’s life is diabolical. His feigned concern about Doug’s death. I can’t tell if Joey truly is concerned about Vanessa’s feelings of grief or if he is just pretending to. I mean, Joey clearly “loves” Vanessa, so I’d imagine that he doesn’t want to see her sad. But since he’s the one that put the wheels in motion that resulted in her being sad… As I said, Joey is complex.
Another obstacle for Joey to remove?
Look at how Joey toyed with Donnell McBride. I honestly thought Joey was going to egg Donnell into beating up the dealer that had overserved Doug. He did seem to try to do that, but Donnell didn’t take the bait. I’m willing to overlook Joey calling Donnell “son” as a genuine slip of the tongue, but that whole drinking incident had ick all over it.
Donnell had said that he planned to have his first (I am assuming legal age) drink with his dad – two glasses of scotch — when he returned home from his semester abroad. Almost immediately, Joey had his new temporary bartender pour out two glasses of scotch. A stranger stepping in to do what Donnell would never be able to do with his father repulsed me. It was an egregious overstep that at best was thoughtless and at worst was another affront on Doug’s memory.
A Different World: Fairmont Crest edition
I’m interested to see if Donnell is featured in story moving forward or if actor Alex Cheeks was only tapped for this short-term appearance. I was a little nervous because Cheeks had definite first day jitters, but by his second episode a lot of that seemed to settle down. I suspect, though I have no empirical evidence to support my theory, that Jon Lindstrom worked with the newcomer for the scenes that they shared.
Deanna McBride decided to stay at college and not come home for her father’s funeral?! She wanted to stay on campus so she’d have something to do? At face value, I don’t believe that for a second. There had better be one hell of a real reason given in the near future to help me get past this really weird story decision.
In both cases, Beyond the Gates will soon start exploring life at the fictional Banneker University, so it seems logical that we will be seeing Donnell (and possibly the MIA Deanna) in the near future.
Plot twist!
What if Doug isn’t really dead? It’s something that crossed my mind. Doug was absolutely convinced that he had the goods to take down Joey for good. What if he was working with the Feds to put and end to Joey’s criminal enterprise? They could have easily put the screws to Marcel Malone to get him to agree to play along.
Kam, one of the regular readers of the My View Beyond the Gates column, suggested that Doug could be alive and imprisoned somewhere by Joey. I had not considered that. Joey doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to allow one of his enemies (or annoyances) to… linger. It is twisted enough, though, so I won’t rule it out as possible.
In both scenarios, there was reportedly very little left of Doug after the accident. Some of the items that were recovered should have been charred or melted beyond recognition, but they weren’t. Were those production oopsies or easter eggs for us to notice?
I’m not happy
Speaking of oopsies, it would seem that Naomi hasn’t been as diligent with taking her birth control pills as she has been in the past. As a result, that flu Naomi thought she’d caught was actually something markedly less contagious: she’s pregnant. We were left out of how Naomi went from being sick on her phone call with Jacob to suddenly deciding to pee on a stick moments later, but this is where we are.
Jacob was thrilled by the news, but Naomi? Not so much. That didn’t come as a surprise because it was previewed in the previous week’s “Next week on Beyond the Gates” previews. After Jacob painted his Rockwellian image of how life with a baby could be, I honestly expected a Disney/Hallmark shift in the storytelling. Yes, I was convinced that Naomi would suddenly be on board with having a baby on board. But she remained insistent that she was not happy about being pregnant.
It’s still surprisingly taboo to talk about not wanting children. If you’re a regular reader, in addition to knowing my funny little nicknames for characters and other quirks, you’ll know that I just love to toss in a Grey’s Anatomy reference whenever possible. Back in Season of the long-running ABC medical series, it was very controversial when Cristina Yang made it clear that she did not want kids and decided to have an abortion.
Pro’s choice
This is not an argument for or against abortion. That is an individual decision and it isn’t anyone’s place to tell a woman what she should or should not do with her body. However, since this is a column about a fictional program, it does give me more latitude to discuss things in that fictional bubble.
Many moons ago, someone who wrote recaps for me on Soap Central abruptly quit because a character on Days of our Lives was considering an abortion. The character ultimately decided against it. Some years later, All My Children undid Erica Kane’s abortion, the first legal abortion on the soaps. That had viewers up in arms, but the situation was made even worse when the writers concocted a science fiction storyline that the fetus had been transplanted into another woman’s womb.
I took that brief detour because it circles back to what’s going on with Naomi and Jacob. In 30-plus years of covering the soaps, I’ve seen a whole lot of pregnancy-related storylines. Off the top of my head, I cannot recall a character being so steadfast in their decision to not want children. In the real world, I know plenty of couples of various makeups that have made the decision not to have kids. And there are many reasons for those decisions.
A 100% chance of upsetting someone
It will be interesting to see where Beyond the Gates goes with this storyline because it’s bound to be controversial no matter which choose-your-own-adventure path is chosen. Does Naomi choose to have an abortion? Will she suddenly realize she wants a child? Does she carry the baby to term only to put the baby up for adoption? Will she suffer a miscarriage before having to make a decision?
I can’t see Jacob supporting Naomi’s decision to terminate the pregnancy. I can’t see Naomi suddenly changing her mind about parenthood – and I don’t think viewers would be okay with her doing a quick 180. There has already been a lot of talk about miscarriages on the show, so I don’t know if the writers go there again. I suppose that scenario could make Naomi and Hayley bond… maybe? This is the problem with complaining (as I have been doing) that you want to see a major storyline for a character that’s been mostly a supporting figure in other storylines. When you get your wish, it’s always some sort of horrible drama. Naomi and Jacob are the only happily married couple left (other than Anita and Vernon). I’d like them to stay happy. Yes, I’m looking all of you scandalous “Kat and Jacob should hookup” people!
I’ll have what she’s having three times a week
Technically, I guess Andre and Dani are… happily married. It’s the weirdest marriage in Fairmont Crest (that we know of), but if it works for them, I’m all for it. We got some oddly specifics rules of engagement this week. The marriage is open as long as the sextracurricular activities are done safely. When the fun wears off, the marriage is over but the friendship will remain. If either Dani or Andre catch feelings for someone else it will be discussed openly. And there was a fourth… what was it what was it. Oh! Right! Andre has to provide Dani with at least three orgasms per week.
Random aside: this is the second week in a row that a character has said the word “orgasm.” I watched All My Children for more than two decades and I don’t think the show used the O-word once. Phoebe Wallingford would never! Myrtle Fargate on the other hand…
I need a moment
The Dani and Bill dynamic is such a weird thing. Any soap fan knew that Bill and Dani would smooch the minute they agreed to hurl insults at each other. I don’t know if that happens in the real world, but insulting people on soaps is the biggest aphrodisiac known to man- and womankind. I’m trying to picture a world where you go into the express line at the supermarket with 13 items instead of 10, get scolded by the cashier for not being able to read the sign, and then suddenly your butt cheeks are ringing up at $4.49/pound on the little conveyer belt scanner while you and the cashier surrender to passion.
Um… that was oddly specific.
Fool me twice
Show of hands: how many of you thought that Hayley or someone else would walk in on Dani and Bill’s kiss? Put your hands down because I can’t see them anyway. How many of you thought that Bill might call out Dani’s name when he and Hayley were going at it on the couch? I don’t think anyone envisioned Bill having “performance anxiety” so I won’t even ask about that.
Dani has always been open about still having feelings for Bill, but Bill’s rekindled interest in Dani is a new development. I’m wondering if we’ve reached the point where Dani is the one that is no longer interested in getting back together with Bill but Bill is. Or is Dani just using Andre to get back with Bill? Or does Dani just want to break up Bill and Hayley’s marriage because of some twisted revenge fantasy? Soap watching is so much more fun when something has more than one possible outcome. And on Beyond the Gates the writers do like to pick the road less traveled.
Picking things up
While I am on the topic of Hayley, are we ever going to learn if she was really really pregnant? And what about that weird run-in with Randy at Uptown? Now that Randy is back in town and can show his face again, I have to imagine that their connection will be brought up sometime soon.
I will also admit that I keep expecting Hayley to drop the “the doctor told me I can’t get pregnant” bombshell. That’s what I thought she was about to tell Bill this past week. Maybe I am just looking for scandals. Whatever the reason, Hayley’s urgent need to say that she wants to have a baby with Bill to cement their connection screams gold digger or some other scheme. Of course, it also seems like part of a mind-screw on her part to get Bill emotionally invested before she drops the “I can’t have a baby” thing.
You all are both garbage
You know what else needs to be dropped? Trashy Tomás. There is absolutely nothing remotely endearing about this man. What’s that old saying? All the good-looking guys are either married or gay? Not in this case. This one’s just an ass.
Do you hear something? Is it…? I think it is! It’s the hypocrite alarm!
As trash as Tomás is, the scenes with Tomás, Kat, and Eva were some of the best soapy drama I’ve seen in quite some time. Colby Muhammad (Kat Richardson) continues to be one of the unsung heroes of Beyond the Gates. And, as many others have said, Ambyr Michelle (Eva Thomas) is one of daytime’s stars to watch.
I appreciate that Beyond the Gates has resisted the urge to overproduce scenes. The Eva/Tomás/Kat scenes didn’t have a lot of extra, unnecessary moving parts. The scene started with Kat clearly stunned as she tried to process what she was seeing in front of her: Tomás wrapped in just a towel standing in the middle of Eva’s apartment. Bless Tomás for coming up with the “Eva asked me to help her move” excuse. I pity any client he represents in court.
(Do the) Push and Pull
I like both Eva and Kat, so watching them lob hand grenades at each other was oddly fulfilling. The fact that each gave as good as they got should (should) have appeased both fan bases.
Eva turned up the heat by declaring that she had no regrets about sleeping with Tomás. Though, that would change later in the day. But it was Kat that got the first real digs in, asking, “And how does a former side chick celebrate when a fresh piece of trash joins her on the mess express?” She then went even further in with the decidedly saditty takedown of, “Pour a little malt liquor out for the homegirls who ain’t made it out of ho town.”
Then it was Eva’s turn to lay into the “first-class, top-tier bitch” that Kat was. When Kat tried to silence her half-sister with “that’s enough,” Eva quipped that it was the first time those words had been said that night. The look of utter devastation on Kat’s face when Eva let it be known that Tomás had told her about Kat’s “little bedroom issues” will be etched into my memory. I felt bed when Kat fought back tears as she thanked Eva and Tomás for “making today so memorable.” That was quickly replaced by loud shouts of “That’s right!” when Kat snatched back the ChelseaKat bag she’d brought over for Eva.
Don’t speak
Tomás, who had been mostly quiet while the ladies squabbled, did get a chance to speak. With apologies to the original proverb, Tomás, it is better to remain silent and be thought a lothario than to speak out and remove all doubt.
It was absolutely shocking – shoc-king! – that Tomás had the gall to dismiss Eva as a “friend” and that their sex was “a beautiful escape.” He dug the hole deeper by telling Eva to her face as she was telling him that they’d made love that their bedroom romp was a mistake because he and Kat hadn’t really broken up.
I felt bad for Eva when she collapsed in tears after realizing that she’d made the same mistake her mother had made.
It won’t happen, but I’d like to see Eva and Kat someone bond over their mutual hatred of how they’d been played by Tomás. And no, no, no, no: I do not want Eva and Kat to both end up pregnant by No más Tomás.
A tiny corner in your world
It also looks like there might be no more Martin and Smitty (Do we call them Smartin?) Martin rebuffing Smitty seemed to come out of nowhere. Martin cooked up a nice dinner for himself and Smitty, but when Smitty started to get a little frisky, Martin wasn’t having it.
“The last time we had sex… you broke my heart,” Martin said with sad eyes and a paradoxical smile. Martin shared that he’d felt used, something he didn’t wish on anybody. Martin also explained that he didn’t want to live in only part of his home. “I can’t occupy only a tiny corner in your world. If I’m yours, I’m everywhere,” he explained. He told Smitty that it was important that they stop hurting each other.
Martin revealed that he was taking a step back so that he and Smitty could figure out what they meant to each other. Martin assured Smitty that he’d be back if they can find that their “not perfect” love was enough for both of them.
This was probably the strongest performance Brandon Claybon (Martin Richardson) has given since Beyond the Gates debuted. It wasn’t melodramatic or overwrought with emotion. There was little movement from the actors, as each stayed grounded and present. It was reminiscent, in some ways, of the material that finally earned Susan Lucci her Emmy after numerous nominations. It was reserved, controlled, but heartbreaking.
I found it interesting that Martin and Smitty’s first scenes ended at the 13-minute mark and didn’t pick up again until the 40-minute mark. If you missed the episode, it was Episode 140, which aired on Tuesday, September 30.
Beyond the Gates Speed Round
Here are some of the other things on Beyond the Gates that have me thinking.
Giving credit
I am sure there is some legal reason for doing so, but I was absolutely tickled that the Beyond the Gates credits list week listed that Tamara Tunie played the role of the Anita Williams impersonator.
What’s my name?
June taking notes on how to get her mack on from Jacob and Naomi was hilarious. These silly, seemingly throwaway scenes actually make the show more enjoyable. At one point, I am pretty sure that June was “smizing.” Not everything has to be super serious. That said…
June wasn’t just fantasizing about Ted, she knew his whole government name thanks to seeing his credit card. Here’s what is weird about that. June has called Samantha by her full name, so it didn’t give her momentary pause that Theodore Richardson shared one of Samantha’s last names?
She likes to have money in her pocketbook…
You know that I’ve been critical of the product placement on Beyond the Gates – not that they’re doing it, but rather how they’re doing it. I thought the launch of the ChelseaKat bags was done really well. I liked that the fictional Chelsea and Kat had the real-world designer on-screen using her real name. All My Children sold real-life cosmetics and perfumes based on the show’s fictional Enchantment products back in the early 2000s, long before the Internet was commonplace. General Hospital is currently selling IRL versions of their fictional cosmetic products. I think it’s smart. I think it creates brand awareness and loyalty. And, yes, if I were someone who had need for a handbag, I’d probably buy the blue denim version.
… and that’s alright
While still on the subject of Chelsea, I thought her Insta live message to her followers was powerful. It’s not easy coming back from being the victim of a crime. How do you make witty and happy small talk about purses when you’re still traumatized from being chained to a bed by a crazed fan? I liked the “lean on your people” message because friends and family are an important part of the healing process. But that’s not so easy if you feel that you don’t have “people.”
The second part of Chelsea’s message — to “embrace who you are now” — might seem flippant or dismissive. I started Soap Central after being the victim of an attack. For the longest time I wrestled with how something so incredible could come from something so dark. I am now able to separate the two things and to embrace how I was able to start a web site, connect with millions of other soap fans people, and turn that into something that eventually helped so many others.
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).
“I haven’t heard ‘bounced’ since 1999” – Ted after hearing Leslie use the word ‘bounced’ in conversation.
“If I’m already on the highway to hell, might as well hitch my ride to the devil I know” — Randy
“Foreplay, form, and that dismount?!” — Eva, reflecting on sexytimes with Tomas.
“In the afternoon for goodness sake!” — Anita, after walking in on Dani and Andre having their own sexytimes.
“I was always open to adopting another child. You didn’t have to marry one.” — Dani zinging Bill’s marriage to Hayley.
“Why call a truce when there are so many wonderful places to bury the hatchet?” Another of Dani’s pearls of wisdom.
“Does she make you use hand sanitizer before you touch her?” Dani teasing Andre about his relationship with Ashley, who she called “Mother Teresa in scrubs”
“Guilt’s a terrible place to live. Rent’s too high and the neighbors are terrible.” — Ted
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 Masters is on deck with week with a new column called, The Lying Game.
To read more thoughts, opinions, rants, and raves about daytime television, be sure to check out our Editorial section.
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