The past few weeks have left us dizzied by a series of bombshells. It might seem like this last week lacked the same concussive force of previous shockers, but I think that this week was a chance for the show to reload. We got at least one haymaker: June has two children. That is going to set up a whole lot of drama (at least I suspect that’s the case) in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas everyone seemed to be tied into the Martin secret a few weeks ago, right now everything is wrapped up in the Articulettes concert — and in ways that make perfect sense. There was also a lot of actual meaningful, communication between people. That is something that is sorely missing on the other soaps, where dialogue tends to be either be repetitive or solely to move plot. On Beyond the Gates,<\/em> people tend to behave more like normal folks — they talk to friends and family about all the things that friends and family talk about. Yes, there is often a lot of silliness, but who doesn’t need a little silliness in their life from time to time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I liked all of the Dupree family lead up to the Articulettes concert. Honestly, I assumed that everyone would be clamoring to go to the concert because it was a once in a lifetime event. I forget that, people being people, some folks were going to be caught up in their feelings and not want to go. Leave it to Dani to be the driving force behind getting everyone in the Howard concert venue.<\/p>\n\n\n First Dani zinged her own daughter. As Dani sought out a concertworthy outfit for herself, she invited Naomi into her closet, telling her, \u201cMaybe you can find something better than what you have on!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next up, Dani crashed Nicole\u2019s therapy session with Martin. As Nicole led her son through a breathing exercise, she told Martin, \u201cThis is a calm, safe space filled with\u2026\u201d A chipper Dani burst in and exclaimed, \u201cHave no fear, Dani\u2019s here! Now let\u2019s get you two from pouting to partying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Somehow, Dani convinced her more staid sister to go along with her plan to divide and conquer and get both Martin and Smitty to attend the Articulettes concert. I didn\u2019t think it would work. First, Dani as a yeller\/scolder seemed\u2026 way out of character. She seems more like the \u201ccool mom\u201d from Mean Girls. <\/em>Somehow, telling Martin to \u201csuck it up\u201d and put on his \u201cbig boy boxers\u201d worked. I giggled, though, when she told Martin that he could \u201cgo back to being Eeyore\u201d after the concert. Oh, Pooh.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, Nicole was way too mellow while talking to Smitty. As Smitty whined on and on about how he was lied to for two years, I wanted nothing more than for to Nicole to go, \u201cTwo years? I was lied to for two decades.\u201d <\/em>She didn\u2019t. Clearly, she\u2019s a better person than I am. Perhaps that\u2019s why she\u2019s the therapist and I\u2019m not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought it was a really nice moment to have Chelsea show up at her grandparents\u2019 house and bump into Sharon and Tracy. It didn\u2019t feel like a forced moment when the women asked Chelsea to look at the frocks they\u2019d be wearing and offer her opinion. Chelsea hated them, but did so in a nice and loving way. She sketched out some ideas and the group\u2019s seamstress was able to make the alterations and save the day. Yes, that part was a little Disney movie, but I didn\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vernon giving Andre an interrogation over his intentions toward Dani was also a lot of fun. We\u2019ve heard that Vernon was quite the intimidating force when it came to how he addressed the men who wanted to date his daughters. He seemed more like a puppy dog when he quizzed Madison and Chelsea. Here, he got straight to the point: I hear you\u2019re having an affair with my baby girl. Thankfully he didn\u2019t reply with Dani\u2019s line that she and he were \u201csuperstars of the sack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, it was weird to hear Dani refer to her relationship with Andre as a \u201ctransitional relationship.\u201d I suppose that\u2019s better than being a \u201crebound\u201d relationship. What will each transition to? Dani reuniting with cheater cheater pumpkin eater Bill? As for where Andre seems to be headed…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Ashley, if I could go anywhere in the world for a getaway, it would be Paris. I might reconsider that, though, after Andre whisked her away to a make-believe bistro in his apartment. Nothing about it screamed romance or offered the je ne sais quoi<\/em> that The City of Light has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n Backtracking a bit, the Tour Eiffel<\/em> should have packed itself up and walked away the minute that Andre asked Ashley what she likes to do and she had no answer. Andre claimed it was \u201cexciting\u201d that Ashley didn\u2019t know what she wanted from life, but\u2026 Ashley is old enough to know what she likes, what she doesn\u2019t like, and what she dreams about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That <\/em>might be the reason that her relationship with Derek faltered. With apologies to RuPaul, if you don\u2019t know yourself, how in the hell are you going to be able to know someone else? It\u2019s also the reason, I think, that Ashley and Andre just don\u2019t work for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually, a story of a worldly man or woman becoming enamored with someone whose life has been more provincial is the fodder for romance (or at least a rom-com). Here it\u2019s just not working for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Internet has been very unkind to Jen Jacob and her alter ego of Ashley Morgan. I actually like Ashley and I think the actress is doing a really good job. Ashley as a nurse? Great. Ashley squabbling with Shanice? Amusing. Ashley in any sort of romantic pairing? It\u2019s a mixed bag. I only seem to like Ashley when she is in romantic conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a rarity to see any sort of love-making scenes on the soaps any more. There are numerous reasons why that\u2019s the case. To keep this column tight, I won\u2019t be going into those reasons. But even when we were back in the crazy days of love in the afternoon, it was still rare for people to talk candidly about s-e-x.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why it was a surprising, but welcome, shock to hear Kat talking about her own romantic conflict: the underwhelm of her first time. Instead of a sugary and flowery description about how magical it was, we got a \u201cIt was\u2026 lovely.\u201d That\u2019s a description more in line, as Tom\u00e1s said, with your auntie\u2019s potato salad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, when Kat opened up to Chelsea, Kat stated that she \u201chated\u201d sex with Tom\u00e1s and worried that something was wrong with her. \u201cMy body did what it was supposed to do\u2026 but the whole time I was thinking, \u2018Is this what everybody\u2019s obsessed about because I\u2019m not getting it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know if teens and preteens are still watching the stories with their parents and grandparents. If they are, this was a good and very real<\/em> moment for them. It was also responsible (safe sex was implied by showing the condom wrapper) without being preachy. I liked that Chelsea told Kat to talk to Tom\u00e1s about the way she was feeling. Talking to a partner about wants, needs, and likes is incredibly important for a healthy relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s another case of ask and ye shall receive. In last week\u2019s column I had stated that we\u2019d been given no clear indication that June suffered from a mental health issue. A couple of columns ago I questioned if we\u2019d ever get to meet June\u2019s previously unknown sister. This week we got the answers to both \u2013 plus some answers to another of the show\u2019s biggest mysteries.<\/p>\n\n\n I was more than a little surprised when Regina (played wonderfully by Jacinte Blankenship) showed up unexpectedly at Orphey Gene\u2019s. After Naomi said that she\u2019d gone to visit the woman and had no luck getting her to talk, I figured we were months away from having Regina show up on screen. Not only did Regina show up, but we also got a Regina\/June face-to-face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems that June\u2019s troubles started when she became addicted to a not-revealed drug. That does fill in some of the blanks about how and why June started living under the overpass as well as some of her behavioral issues. There are still a lot of other holes in the story that will need to be filled in, but I trust that those will come in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Regina showed that she had an image on her phone of what June\u2019s photo used to look like, I admit that I experienced a bit of a letdown. I was fully expecting Regina to say that the kids in the photo were her and June. Thankfully, I was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Regina revealed that the kids in the photo were Ron and Cecile — June\u2019s children — I was oddly not surprised. I think I\u2019ve believed for so long that the kids in the photo were <\/em>June\u2019s kids that it didn\u2019t shock to me. It was more of an, \u201cA ha! I was right!\u201d moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trust me, I am not claiming to be Sherlock Holmes on this one. I know a lot of viewers suspected that. I\u2019m not sure how to describe my next reaction. Regina shared that Ron should be around the age when he\u2019d be picking out colleges. I immediately knew that this confirmed that Ron and Cecille are probably Tyrell and Samantha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will say that the timeline doesn\u2019t quite line up for me. Regina made it seem like the kids were in and out of \u201cthe system\u201d in the blink of an eye. She\u2019d stated that by the time she realized that the kids were in the system, they were adopted. Regina also claimed it was a closed adoption where the records were sealed. But Tyrell and Samantha have made it sound like they were in the system a lot longer than that. So\u2026 maybe Regina wasn\u2019t fully aware of what was going on for a much longer time than we\u2019ve been made aware?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of folks on social media thought it was strange that June claimed that she didn\u2019t have children. I don\u2019t think that at all. I\u2019d imagine that part of June\u2019s survival mechanism has been telling herself that she has no family. It could also be the result of drug use and underlying mental health issues. If she is able to get professional help, that could all change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I suspect that Smitty and Martin\u2019s relationship will get back on solid ground when it comes to light that the kids\u2019 biological aunt is back in the picture and, potentially, wants to lay claim to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it weird that I want to attend the reunion concert of a make-believe girl group whose music I’ve never heard? That’s how I feel about the Articulettes. For whatever reason — probably good storytelling and acting — I care about this supremes<\/em>ly talented group of children of destiny. Yes, I typed that last sentence with a straight face.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Dupree pre-show<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Dani](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250801-btg-03-1024x576.jpg\")
Beyond the Gates | Screenshots \/CBS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nCongressman Nephew, one selfish son of a bitch<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Pushy mom, I guess<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Powerfully retro<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I intend to be grateful<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The awful tower<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250801-btg-01-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nIt was\u2026 lovely<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Salve Regina<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250801-btg-02-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nScattered pictures<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Maybe the kids aren’t alright<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
One night only<\/h3>\n\n\n\n