I’m not, like, doing magical thinking<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve always thought \u2013 and the many writers who\u2019ve written Two Scoops columns for me on Soap Central can attest to this \u2013 that these columns should be viewed as a conversation between soap fans. What would I say to a friend who called me and wanted to talk about Beyond the Gates?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nI have so many conflicting thoughts and ideas about what I have simply called \u201cthe June storyline\u201d that I wanted to reach out social media and find out what other folks think. There were several responses to my query that sum up why I have so many ideas bouncing around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lawyer, a cop, and warp speed<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nThere are two things that are causing me the most unease. The first is how quickly the adoption came to light. For months we had June chattering on about her photo. Then, in the course of what seemed like a few days, we found out that the kids in the photo were June\u2019s kids that she gave up for adoption and<\/em> that the kids were Samantha and Tyrell. Then, in the blink of an eye, June was wearing one of Naomi\u2019s blouses and sitting down in Smitty and Martin\u2019s house to meet the kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFran<\/a><\/strong> seems to feel the same way about that as I do, writing, \u201cI was liking it, until it hit warp speed with instantly meeting the kids. The pacing was working until that happened but I think they can get it back on track.\u201d Ramona Coleman<\/a> <\/strong>echoed that it \u201cseemed to happen too quickly\u201d and Dylan St. Jaymes<\/a><\/strong> noted that \u201cthere was a missed opportunity for angst\u2026 by having the teens agree to meet\u201d June so quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWith all the red tape that exists in the world \u2013 I once couldn\u2019t send a package because the name on the label provided listed my name as \u201cDan\u201d and my driver\u2019s license lists it as \u201cDaniel\u201d \u2013 I find it hard to believe that Jacob and Naomi were able to get answers so quickly. Did it even take them a full day to get the closed records un-closed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than that, I get that Naomi and Jacob feel a certain closeness to June, but I expect that an officer of the court and someone sworn to protect and serve should know better than to invade the privacy of someone who went through great pains to craft a closed adoption. There was a reason it was a closed adoption. Jacob and Naomi didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250815-btg-02-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCase not<\/em> closed<\/h5>\n\n\n\nI don\u2019t feel bad for feeling that way because Wilhite592<\/a><\/strong> told me something similar, sharing, \u201cA lawyer and a cop took it upon themselves to find the parents\u2019 names — knowing the adoption was closed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nYes, Naomi and Jacob wanted to help June. I applaud that. As we\u2019ve seen recently, there are not many people who give a second thought to those that are unhoused or those who have struggled with addiction. It\u2019s easier to move them \u201cfar away\u201d than to try to solve the root causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If June really<\/em> wanted a Burberry scarf, but the store was closed, would Naomi and Jacob throw a brick through the window and go in and take it? It might not be a perfect metaphor, but it\u2019s the same general concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat makes me bristle even more is that once Naomi and Jacob knew that members of their extended family were involved, they didn\u2019t even take a moment to think about what they would do with that information. They had a brief, \u201cWell, the guys\u2019 marriage is currently not in a great place\u201d and then raced over to the brownstone to lower the boom. Yes, they claimed that they wanted Martin and Smitty to “think on it,” but of course the kids overheard and that changed the timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe not having kids of their own has created a sort of blind spot for Jacob and Naomi. I\u2019d prefer to think that\u2019s the case because if I don\u2019t, I really just end up hating how they handled this. Jacob comes off hypocritical, as he did when Chief Daddy Elon let him have it last week. Naomi, on the other hand, just seems to be interested in shiny objects. She offered to help the women in the case against Bill\u2019s firm \u2013 then she thought about it and didn\u2019t want to do it. Is she going to regret getting the ball rolling in a few days when there\u2019s no way to stop<\/em> the ball from rolling?<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe should be able to get through one crappy night<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nI was surprised by how June handled things. Since this is a place of honesty, I\u2019ll tell you how I thought it would go. I didn\u2019t think that June was told that a married gay couple had adopted the kids \u2013 or that she\u2019d not remember it. I was waiting for her to ask something like, \u201cWhere\u2019s the mom?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When that didn\u2019t happen and it became clear that it wasn\u2019t going to be a warm and fuzzy reunion between June and the kids, I worried about June\u2019s sobriety. I expected her to spiral on the spot and for the kids to end up being super traumatized. But that didn\u2019t happen. Yes, June could just be putting on a brave face, but I believed her when she said that the kids owed her nothing and that Martin and Smitty had done a good job raising the kids. Things got really, really awkward when June asked if they could all take a family photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The entire family reunion made me very, very uncomfortable. I felt bad for everyone in the room \u2013 except for Jacob and Naomi. Tyrell was notably angry, much in the way that he reacted toward Martin following Martin and Smitty\u2019s separation. Samantha seemed to want to put a Band-Aid on everything and have everyone be happy, which is how she handled her Dad and Pops\u2019 split. You could feel the tension every time Smitty opened his mouth. Both he and Martin were understandably worried that they could lose a part of what they shared with their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I predicted in my last column, this situation does seem to have moved Smitty and Martin closer to together. At least for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stopped being a baby the day you left us<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nWe learned that Tyrell (Ronald) was nine when he and Samantha (Cecile) were adopted. That gives us a better idea of the timeline here. I am not sure why I thought the kids were much younger when they were adopted. That led to a question that Brenda<\/a><\/strong> had that I hadn\u2019t even thought about. She said, \u201cI don\u2019t get why they changed the kids\u2019 names. They weren\u2019t infants who didn\u2019t have names yet. And they didn\u2019t go into witness protection. Why confuse a child with a name change?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThere are a lot of weirdly vague or misleading age references on Beyond the Gates.<\/em> That\u2019s nothing new on soaps, where a middle schooler can go to their room for a nap and come back downstairs a day later as a college graduate.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSince we\u2019re playing fast and loose with ages, here\u2019s something that crossed my mind. The minute that we knew June\u2019s son was a senior in high school, our suspicions were confirmed: Tyrell and Samantha were June\u2019s children. Had that line been omitted or replaced with \u201cRonald was just a few years older than Cecile,\u201d we all probably would have continued to believe that June\u2019s kids were Tyrell and Samantha. But it would have opened the door for the show\u2019s biggest gotcha yet \u2013 as well as a left turn and <\/em>an explanation to another Beyond the Gates<\/em> mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is the gotchaturn (trademark pending)? That June was mom to Hayley. No, the ages don\u2019t quite match up. Jasmine Burke, who plays June, is in her early 40s, if the Internet is to be believed. We also only have a vague idea of how old Hayley is. Hayley is, or was, friends with Naomi. Filling in some other references, Dani Dupree is around 50. She and Bill were married for 20 years, which would put Naomi in her late-20s. We don\u2019t know that Hayley and Naomi are the same age. To me, the math is mathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Articu-Les<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSpeaking of fuzzy soap math, there is the story of the Articulettes. I can\u2019t make the ages work. If Dani is 50, that would mean she was born in 1975. Unless I am mistaken, Leslie is intended to be older than Dani. You know what, this is too much soapmath for one column. I\u2019ll tackle that in another column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But boy — LSD (that\u2019s Leslie\/Sherry\/Dana for new readers) just became a whole lot more interesting \u2013 and she has been wildly interesting ever since she ran poor Laura off the road. Speaking of which, has anyone checked on Laura? We haven\u2019t seen her since she and Eva were working together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will admit that I didn\u2019t see the Leslie is Barbara\u2019s daughter twist coming. It just wasn\u2019t something that was on my radar until Eva found out about the law office trying to reach Leslie. We\u2019d already found out that LSD was \u201calone\u201d in the world, so I couldn\u2019t think of who would be leaving her money. Believe it or not, it was my first-time soap watcher watching partner who figured it out first and before<\/em> it was spelled out on-screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPeaches amused me. She was very Benita Butrell: \u201cI ain’t one to gossip, so you ain’t heard it from me.\u201d I suppose she gets a pass since she is trying to clear her conscience while she still has the time on Earth to do so. However, it made me chuckle every time she made LSD \u201cdrag\u201d details out of her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250815-btg-06-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDebt ain\u2019t nothing but a number<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nLearning more about Leslie\u2019s belief that she was abandoned by her mom explains a lot about some of her actions since we\u2019ve met her. \u201cAdversity. That\u2019s been my constant companion,\u201d Leslie said at one point before Peaches pointed out that Leslie\u2019s own life choices led her to where she was. There was also that unusual mention that Leslie had \u201cseduced a man to save a life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because everything is subjective (remember how Doug\u2019s debt was kept a secret for weeks?), I have no idea how much of a \u201cfortune\u201d Leslie is set to inherit, but let\u2019s assume that it\u2019s a figure over a million dollars. Will she blow through that money as fast as she did the two payments that Ted gave her in the past six months? It\u2019s going to get really messy since all of the inherited money was given to Barbara\u2019s family by Anita, who chose to do so anonymously. Since every outcast inevitably ends up buying a house inside<\/em> the gates, I\u2019m guessing Leslie will have a Fairmont Crest address by the end of the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPapa don\u2019t preach<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nThere\u2019s something about Barbara being Leslie\u2019s mother that troubles me. Beyond the Gates<\/em> is very, very good at foreshadowing. When they rebroadcast the first week of shows at the beginning of July, I was shocked at all of the clues that had gone over my head during the first viewing. They weren\u2019t clunky mentions, but clever word choices that didn\u2019t mean anything at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s why three things said over the past five episodes have me concerned. The first was an innocent remark that Vernon made. He felt that he was a failure to his daughters because, according to him, women tend to seek out men that remind them of their dad. Anita was quick to say that Vernon wasn\u2019t like the men that Dani and Nicole had chosen because he had never strayed. The second line was something that Sharon said in passing about how Vernon could have had his choice of any woman had he not have met Anita. The third thing that made my ears perk up was Peaches stating that Barbara had refused to mention who LSD\u2019s father was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250815-btg-05-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAdd to that Anita\u2019s sudden rage toward Ted and \u201cmen who don\u2019t believe in the sanctity of marriage\u201d and\u2026 Do you see where I am going with this? What if Vernon<\/em> is LSD\u2019s dad?! The horror! There was no camera pan to Vernon after Anita\u2019s declaration that he was a faithful man, so there was no nervous expression on his face to dissect. I\u2019m just looking for trouble, right? Maybe not. What if Vernon had a relationship (or something less than a relationship) with Barbara before<\/em> he became involved with Anita? He wouldn’t be a cheater then and<\/em> he wouldn’t have known Barbara was pregnant. <\/p>\n\n\n\nOf course, a cleaner option here is to have Dante Green be the dad. Is Maury Povich going to need to make a trip to the DMV?! He might need to since I am still not sure I believe the alleged DNA test that was produced to show that Eva was Ted’s daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To moving the hell on<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSince I invoked the Dupree daughters\u2019 names, I guess I need to address them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s kind of fun to me that the show\u2019s biggest piece of male eye candy can\u2019t keep a woman \u2013 even when he wants to. Andre wanted something with Dani. She wasn\u2019t ready and was honest about that. Andre then developed feelings for Ashley, who wanted him until she saw him pawing Dani in his apartment. Now Ashley, too, has rejected Andre. It seems like Ashley and Andre are over for good because a freak accident has made Ashley realize that she\u2019s still in love with Derek. Dani seems to have a renewed interest in Andre, but that it probably only because he’s unavailable. Messy. Meh-see<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDani and Bill\u2019s tender moments and walk down memory lane seems<\/em> to leave open the door for a reconciliation if and when Hayley\u2019s fake pregnancy is exposed. Circling back to Andre for a moment. He told Dani that he was looking for someone to settle down with. I really felt it when he asked her, \u201cBut my someone was never gonna be you, was it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nMinor detour to Ashley. She has said that both Derek and Andre don\u2019t share the \u201csame values\u201d as her. I don\u2019t know what that phrase rubs me the wrong way, but it sure does. I\u2019m not sure that Ashley is grown enough to fully know what \u201csame values\u201d even means. I\u2019m Dani Dupree\u2019s age and I am still learning things about myself every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250815-btg-04-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIs strong really the right word?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Then there\u2019s Nicole. We\u2019ve only known her for six months, but her behavior over the past week or so seems very un-Nicole-y. I don\u2019t believe that she is not sad that her marriage is over. I’m no psychiatrist, but I play one in these columns. I think Nicole is divorcing Ted because it is the one thing in her life that she can control. I don\u2019t believe she wants<\/em> to, but after being lied to by nearly everyone in her life, Nicole is doing this to regain control of her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe divorce party was <\/em>amusing. Having Nicole declare that Vanessa was the only one in the group whose marriage was strong nearly made me choke on my Fiji water. I liked the way that Nicole, Dani, and Vanessa’s happy celebration contrasted with Ted and Andre’s pity party. <\/p>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re dancing salsa, not filing your taxes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nLife isn\u2019t much better for the next generation of Dupree women either. One of the funniest things of the entire week was when, after sexytimes with Tom\u00e1s, Tom\u00e1s expressed his desire for another round and Kat replied with, \u201cYou wanna do that again? Already?!\u201d How bad is Tom\u00e1s at \u201chorizontal hijinks of the highest order\u201d that Kat is this underwhelmed? Are his legal briefs not, um, packing the punch they should?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I liked that Chelsea asked what I consider to be appropriate questions of her cousin. Well, question \u2013 singular. Chelsea didn\u2019t even get the words out of her mouth before Kat emphatically dismissed any possibility that she was lesbian. \u201cGood. Less competition,\u201d Chelsea quipped before asking if Kat might be asexual. This all struck me as very current and very real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allistan Wonderland<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nChelsea, on the other hand, has two women that are madly in love with her. The problem is that one of them is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve decided to rename another Beyond the Gates<\/em> character. First, I dubbed Leslie \u201cLSD\u201d for reasons I explained earlier. Then I dubbed the country club busboy KKKenneth for obvious reasons. Now, I give you\u2026 (insert drum roll here)\u2026 Allistan. Allison has two cups of crazy behind her eyes and has now moved to full-on stalker.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs me and my first-time soap watcher was watching this past week, when Madison and Chelsea popped on on-screen, I said (and this is an exact quote), \u201cGuess who\u2019s coming. Oh wait, she can\u2019t get in.\u201d And milliseconds later, there she was: Allistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250815-btg-01-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI am really enjoying Brianna Roberts, the actress portraying Allison. Admittedly, I have a certain fondness for the women who play soap opera wackadoos. Brianna acts with every part of her body. Every head position and every eye movement is intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allistan is equally good. When her social media kickstarter didn\u2019t land with Chelsea, Allison quickly turned things around on Chelsea. She accused Chelsea of not caring about the torment that Craig has been inflicting upon her. It\u2019s \u201cperfect\u201d abusive stalker behavior. When nothing seemed to work, Allison disappeared for a bit only to resurface with a warning \u2013 for Madison. Allistan warned Madison that Chelsea was a player and would hurt her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chelsea did have two great zingers that are worthy of an in-column mention. When Allison pitched the bogus social media startup, Chelsea said, \u201cYou are clearly not ready to operate at this level.\u201d Later, she fired off, \u201cI am not your emotional support human.\u201d Even Madison got into the action by diagnosing, \u201cAllison\u2019s a hurricane of crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond the Gates Speed Round<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Here are some rapid fire thoughts about some of the other action from the week gone by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crash course on parenting<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I thought the intersection of all of the storylines at the end of Thursday\u2019s episode was really smart writing. \u201cI will always be there for my children. It\u2019s what a parent does,\u201d Anita said to Nicole as the screen split into quarters with Peaches and Leslie, Martin and Smitty and the kids, and Noami and June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Young and the Gateless<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The visit from The Young and the Restless<\/em>\u2019 Devon Hamilton was an interesting choice for a first crossover with another soap. First, it proved that all of CBS\u2019s soaps exist in the same universe. It\u2019s the transitive property. Sorry \u2013 more soapmath! If The Young and the Restless<\/em> and Beyond the Gates<\/em> are in the same sphere, and Y&R<\/em> and The Bold and the Beautiful<\/em> exist in the same realm\u2026 that means Beyond the Gates<\/em> and B&B<\/em> must co-exist as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSecond, it made sense from a story perspective since Devon owns a record label and would understandably want to jump on singing an artist that was a viral sensation. It also clears the way for Anita to perform on Y&R (or at least show up). There was no seismic shift in story that will need to be cleaned up or addressed at a later date\u2026 or was there?<\/em> The interaction between Devon and Dani made me wonder if these two might know each other in some interesting way.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAre you a doctor? No, really… are<\/em> you a doctor?<\/h5>\n\n\n\nI was confused by Hayley\u2019s visit to the doctor. I was convinced that the doctor real, but I am not sure how Hayley would be able to make that happen. And Bill went into the exam room with Hayley, so it\u2019s not like she faked being seen by the doctor. I still don\u2019t believe that Hayley was ever pregnant, but I can\u2019t for the life of me figure out how a real doctor wouldn\u2019t be able to tell that Hayley had lied about the miscarriage. I honestly expected the doctor to tell Hayley that she wouldn\u2019t be able to get pregnant again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Concussion: The sequel<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I was oddly fascinated with Derek when he suffered his on-the-job accident and suffered temporary amnesia. Now that he is injured again, I can\u2019t help but wonder if he might engage in a little soap staple: faked paralysis. If he believes that he has won Ashley back, he might worry that recovering from his accident will result in Ashley realizing that her expression of love was made under duress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daddy dearest<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve already mentioned that mention that Leslie seduced a man to save a life, which I think opens the door for future story. There was another mention of a man we\u2019ve yet to meet that might also come into play at some point. Bill talked briefly about his dad. Dani praised Bill as being a better father than his dad was to him. \u201cThat\u2019s a hell of a low bar,\u201d Bill responded. I wonder if we will get to know more about Bill\u2019s past once the Hayley and Randy\/Sammy connection comes to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking of which, shouldn\u2019t Bill have recognized \u201cSammy\u201d from the times that Bill interacted with Joey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lines of the week<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The Beyond the Gates<\/em> writing team is once again having a little<\/em> 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAt the risk of sounding like a caveman, is there any such thing as a rational woman?\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Ted.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIf we can\u2019t drown our problems, as least we can briefly submerge them.\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>Also, Ted. I am hoping we can blame his previous statement on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m still in the way, so slow your roll, sis.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Anita after Sharon mused that Anita had stood in the way of other women trying to talk to a young Vernon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cYou put less effort into saving your marriage than you did into building a relationship with the child who tried to destroy it.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Vernon to Ted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAt this point, arguing is your love language.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Bill to Dani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nClosing the gates<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
That’s all I have for this week’s My View From Beyond the Gates column. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ll be tuning in and I’ll continue to share my thoughts on Beyond the Gates<\/em> 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<\/em> in the Comments section below.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFollow my Random Acts of Dan<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
If you’ve enjoyed my column this week and want to see what I have written about Beyond the Gates<\/em> in previous weeks, you can check those out in the My View From Beyond the Gates<\/a><\/strong> archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHave a penchant for gardening, interior design, or fixing up old houses? Check out my Manor Makeover series<\/a><\/strong> where I write about all of the things I’ve been up to here at Kroll Manor in Allentown, PA, over the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo keep up with all of the shenanigans I engage in on social media, please consider giving my a follow on Bluesky<\/strong><\/a>, Instagram<\/strong><\/a>, Threads<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and TwitterX<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLife outside the gates<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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<\/em>. Tamilu is on deck with week with a new column called, Drew Cain is a royal pain<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have so many conflicting thoughts and ideas about what I have simply called \u201cthe June storyline\u201d that I wanted to reach out social media and find out what other folks think. There were several responses to my query that sum up why I have so many ideas bouncing around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lawyer, a cop, and warp speed<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nThere are two things that are causing me the most unease. The first is how quickly the adoption came to light. For months we had June chattering on about her photo. Then, in the course of what seemed like a few days, we found out that the kids in the photo were June\u2019s kids that she gave up for adoption and<\/em> that the kids were Samantha and Tyrell. Then, in the blink of an eye, June was wearing one of Naomi\u2019s blouses and sitting down in Smitty and Martin\u2019s house to meet the kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFran<\/a><\/strong> seems to feel the same way about that as I do, writing, \u201cI was liking it, until it hit warp speed with instantly meeting the kids. The pacing was working until that happened but I think they can get it back on track.\u201d Ramona Coleman<\/a> <\/strong>echoed that it \u201cseemed to happen too quickly\u201d and Dylan St. Jaymes<\/a><\/strong> noted that \u201cthere was a missed opportunity for angst\u2026 by having the teens agree to meet\u201d June so quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWith all the red tape that exists in the world \u2013 I once couldn\u2019t send a package because the name on the label provided listed my name as \u201cDan\u201d and my driver\u2019s license lists it as \u201cDaniel\u201d \u2013 I find it hard to believe that Jacob and Naomi were able to get answers so quickly. Did it even take them a full day to get the closed records un-closed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than that, I get that Naomi and Jacob feel a certain closeness to June, but I expect that an officer of the court and someone sworn to protect and serve should know better than to invade the privacy of someone who went through great pains to craft a closed adoption. There was a reason it was a closed adoption. Jacob and Naomi didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCase not<\/em> closed<\/h5>\n\n\n\nI don\u2019t feel bad for feeling that way because Wilhite592<\/a><\/strong> told me something similar, sharing, \u201cA lawyer and a cop took it upon themselves to find the parents\u2019 names — knowing the adoption was closed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nYes, Naomi and Jacob wanted to help June. I applaud that. As we\u2019ve seen recently, there are not many people who give a second thought to those that are unhoused or those who have struggled with addiction. It\u2019s easier to move them \u201cfar away\u201d than to try to solve the root causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If June really<\/em> wanted a Burberry scarf, but the store was closed, would Naomi and Jacob throw a brick through the window and go in and take it? It might not be a perfect metaphor, but it\u2019s the same general concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat makes me bristle even more is that once Naomi and Jacob knew that members of their extended family were involved, they didn\u2019t even take a moment to think about what they would do with that information. They had a brief, \u201cWell, the guys\u2019 marriage is currently not in a great place\u201d and then raced over to the brownstone to lower the boom. Yes, they claimed that they wanted Martin and Smitty to “think on it,” but of course the kids overheard and that changed the timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe not having kids of their own has created a sort of blind spot for Jacob and Naomi. I\u2019d prefer to think that\u2019s the case because if I don\u2019t, I really just end up hating how they handled this. Jacob comes off hypocritical, as he did when Chief Daddy Elon let him have it last week. Naomi, on the other hand, just seems to be interested in shiny objects. She offered to help the women in the case against Bill\u2019s firm \u2013 then she thought about it and didn\u2019t want to do it. Is she going to regret getting the ball rolling in a few days when there\u2019s no way to stop<\/em> the ball from rolling?<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe should be able to get through one crappy night<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nI was surprised by how June handled things. Since this is a place of honesty, I\u2019ll tell you how I thought it would go. I didn\u2019t think that June was told that a married gay couple had adopted the kids \u2013 or that she\u2019d not remember it. I was waiting for her to ask something like, \u201cWhere\u2019s the mom?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When that didn\u2019t happen and it became clear that it wasn\u2019t going to be a warm and fuzzy reunion between June and the kids, I worried about June\u2019s sobriety. I expected her to spiral on the spot and for the kids to end up being super traumatized. But that didn\u2019t happen. Yes, June could just be putting on a brave face, but I believed her when she said that the kids owed her nothing and that Martin and Smitty had done a good job raising the kids. Things got really, really awkward when June asked if they could all take a family photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The entire family reunion made me very, very uncomfortable. I felt bad for everyone in the room \u2013 except for Jacob and Naomi. Tyrell was notably angry, much in the way that he reacted toward Martin following Martin and Smitty\u2019s separation. Samantha seemed to want to put a Band-Aid on everything and have everyone be happy, which is how she handled her Dad and Pops\u2019 split. You could feel the tension every time Smitty opened his mouth. Both he and Martin were understandably worried that they could lose a part of what they shared with their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I predicted in my last column, this situation does seem to have moved Smitty and Martin closer to together. At least for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stopped being a baby the day you left us<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nWe learned that Tyrell (Ronald) was nine when he and Samantha (Cecile) were adopted. That gives us a better idea of the timeline here. I am not sure why I thought the kids were much younger when they were adopted. That led to a question that Brenda<\/a><\/strong> had that I hadn\u2019t even thought about. She said, \u201cI don\u2019t get why they changed the kids\u2019 names. They weren\u2019t infants who didn\u2019t have names yet. And they didn\u2019t go into witness protection. Why confuse a child with a name change?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThere are a lot of weirdly vague or misleading age references on Beyond the Gates.<\/em> That\u2019s nothing new on soaps, where a middle schooler can go to their room for a nap and come back downstairs a day later as a college graduate.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSince we\u2019re playing fast and loose with ages, here\u2019s something that crossed my mind. The minute that we knew June\u2019s son was a senior in high school, our suspicions were confirmed: Tyrell and Samantha were June\u2019s children. Had that line been omitted or replaced with \u201cRonald was just a few years older than Cecile,\u201d we all probably would have continued to believe that June\u2019s kids were Tyrell and Samantha. But it would have opened the door for the show\u2019s biggest gotcha yet \u2013 as well as a left turn and <\/em>an explanation to another Beyond the Gates<\/em> mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is the gotchaturn (trademark pending)? That June was mom to Hayley. No, the ages don\u2019t quite match up. Jasmine Burke, who plays June, is in her early 40s, if the Internet is to be believed. We also only have a vague idea of how old Hayley is. Hayley is, or was, friends with Naomi. Filling in some other references, Dani Dupree is around 50. She and Bill were married for 20 years, which would put Naomi in her late-20s. We don\u2019t know that Hayley and Naomi are the same age. To me, the math is mathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Articu-Les<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSpeaking of fuzzy soap math, there is the story of the Articulettes. I can\u2019t make the ages work. If Dani is 50, that would mean she was born in 1975. Unless I am mistaken, Leslie is intended to be older than Dani. You know what, this is too much soapmath for one column. I\u2019ll tackle that in another column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But boy — LSD (that\u2019s Leslie\/Sherry\/Dana for new readers) just became a whole lot more interesting \u2013 and she has been wildly interesting ever since she ran poor Laura off the road. Speaking of which, has anyone checked on Laura? We haven\u2019t seen her since she and Eva were working together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will admit that I didn\u2019t see the Leslie is Barbara\u2019s daughter twist coming. It just wasn\u2019t something that was on my radar until Eva found out about the law office trying to reach Leslie. We\u2019d already found out that LSD was \u201calone\u201d in the world, so I couldn\u2019t think of who would be leaving her money. Believe it or not, it was my first-time soap watcher watching partner who figured it out first and before<\/em> it was spelled out on-screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPeaches amused me. She was very Benita Butrell: \u201cI ain’t one to gossip, so you ain’t heard it from me.\u201d I suppose she gets a pass since she is trying to clear her conscience while she still has the time on Earth to do so. However, it made me chuckle every time she made LSD \u201cdrag\u201d details out of her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDebt ain\u2019t nothing but a number<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nLearning more about Leslie\u2019s belief that she was abandoned by her mom explains a lot about some of her actions since we\u2019ve met her. \u201cAdversity. That\u2019s been my constant companion,\u201d Leslie said at one point before Peaches pointed out that Leslie\u2019s own life choices led her to where she was. There was also that unusual mention that Leslie had \u201cseduced a man to save a life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because everything is subjective (remember how Doug\u2019s debt was kept a secret for weeks?), I have no idea how much of a \u201cfortune\u201d Leslie is set to inherit, but let\u2019s assume that it\u2019s a figure over a million dollars. Will she blow through that money as fast as she did the two payments that Ted gave her in the past six months? It\u2019s going to get really messy since all of the inherited money was given to Barbara\u2019s family by Anita, who chose to do so anonymously. Since every outcast inevitably ends up buying a house inside<\/em> the gates, I\u2019m guessing Leslie will have a Fairmont Crest address by the end of the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPapa don\u2019t preach<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nThere\u2019s something about Barbara being Leslie\u2019s mother that troubles me. Beyond the Gates<\/em> is very, very good at foreshadowing. When they rebroadcast the first week of shows at the beginning of July, I was shocked at all of the clues that had gone over my head during the first viewing. They weren\u2019t clunky mentions, but clever word choices that didn\u2019t mean anything at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s why three things said over the past five episodes have me concerned. The first was an innocent remark that Vernon made. He felt that he was a failure to his daughters because, according to him, women tend to seek out men that remind them of their dad. Anita was quick to say that Vernon wasn\u2019t like the men that Dani and Nicole had chosen because he had never strayed. The second line was something that Sharon said in passing about how Vernon could have had his choice of any woman had he not have met Anita. The third thing that made my ears perk up was Peaches stating that Barbara had refused to mention who LSD\u2019s father was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAdd to that Anita\u2019s sudden rage toward Ted and \u201cmen who don\u2019t believe in the sanctity of marriage\u201d and\u2026 Do you see where I am going with this? What if Vernon<\/em> is LSD\u2019s dad?! The horror! There was no camera pan to Vernon after Anita\u2019s declaration that he was a faithful man, so there was no nervous expression on his face to dissect. I\u2019m just looking for trouble, right? Maybe not. What if Vernon had a relationship (or something less than a relationship) with Barbara before<\/em> he became involved with Anita? He wouldn’t be a cheater then and<\/em> he wouldn’t have known Barbara was pregnant. <\/p>\n\n\n\nOf course, a cleaner option here is to have Dante Green be the dad. Is Maury Povich going to need to make a trip to the DMV?! He might need to since I am still not sure I believe the alleged DNA test that was produced to show that Eva was Ted’s daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To moving the hell on<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSince I invoked the Dupree daughters\u2019 names, I guess I need to address them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s kind of fun to me that the show\u2019s biggest piece of male eye candy can\u2019t keep a woman \u2013 even when he wants to. Andre wanted something with Dani. She wasn\u2019t ready and was honest about that. Andre then developed feelings for Ashley, who wanted him until she saw him pawing Dani in his apartment. Now Ashley, too, has rejected Andre. It seems like Ashley and Andre are over for good because a freak accident has made Ashley realize that she\u2019s still in love with Derek. Dani seems to have a renewed interest in Andre, but that it probably only because he’s unavailable. Messy. Meh-see<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDani and Bill\u2019s tender moments and walk down memory lane seems<\/em> to leave open the door for a reconciliation if and when Hayley\u2019s fake pregnancy is exposed. Circling back to Andre for a moment. He told Dani that he was looking for someone to settle down with. I really felt it when he asked her, \u201cBut my someone was never gonna be you, was it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nMinor detour to Ashley. She has said that both Derek and Andre don\u2019t share the \u201csame values\u201d as her. I don\u2019t know what that phrase rubs me the wrong way, but it sure does. I\u2019m not sure that Ashley is grown enough to fully know what \u201csame values\u201d even means. I\u2019m Dani Dupree\u2019s age and I am still learning things about myself every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIs strong really the right word?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Then there\u2019s Nicole. We\u2019ve only known her for six months, but her behavior over the past week or so seems very un-Nicole-y. I don\u2019t believe that she is not sad that her marriage is over. I’m no psychiatrist, but I play one in these columns. I think Nicole is divorcing Ted because it is the one thing in her life that she can control. I don\u2019t believe she wants<\/em> to, but after being lied to by nearly everyone in her life, Nicole is doing this to regain control of her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe divorce party was <\/em>amusing. Having Nicole declare that Vanessa was the only one in the group whose marriage was strong nearly made me choke on my Fiji water. I liked the way that Nicole, Dani, and Vanessa’s happy celebration contrasted with Ted and Andre’s pity party. <\/p>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re dancing salsa, not filing your taxes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nLife isn\u2019t much better for the next generation of Dupree women either. One of the funniest things of the entire week was when, after sexytimes with Tom\u00e1s, Tom\u00e1s expressed his desire for another round and Kat replied with, \u201cYou wanna do that again? Already?!\u201d How bad is Tom\u00e1s at \u201chorizontal hijinks of the highest order\u201d that Kat is this underwhelmed? Are his legal briefs not, um, packing the punch they should?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I liked that Chelsea asked what I consider to be appropriate questions of her cousin. Well, question \u2013 singular. Chelsea didn\u2019t even get the words out of her mouth before Kat emphatically dismissed any possibility that she was lesbian. \u201cGood. Less competition,\u201d Chelsea quipped before asking if Kat might be asexual. This all struck me as very current and very real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allistan Wonderland<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nChelsea, on the other hand, has two women that are madly in love with her. The problem is that one of them is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve decided to rename another Beyond the Gates<\/em> character. First, I dubbed Leslie \u201cLSD\u201d for reasons I explained earlier. Then I dubbed the country club busboy KKKenneth for obvious reasons. Now, I give you\u2026 (insert drum roll here)\u2026 Allistan. Allison has two cups of crazy behind her eyes and has now moved to full-on stalker.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs me and my first-time soap watcher was watching this past week, when Madison and Chelsea popped on on-screen, I said (and this is an exact quote), \u201cGuess who\u2019s coming. Oh wait, she can\u2019t get in.\u201d And milliseconds later, there she was: Allistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI am really enjoying Brianna Roberts, the actress portraying Allison. Admittedly, I have a certain fondness for the women who play soap opera wackadoos. Brianna acts with every part of her body. Every head position and every eye movement is intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allistan is equally good. When her social media kickstarter didn\u2019t land with Chelsea, Allison quickly turned things around on Chelsea. She accused Chelsea of not caring about the torment that Craig has been inflicting upon her. It\u2019s \u201cperfect\u201d abusive stalker behavior. When nothing seemed to work, Allison disappeared for a bit only to resurface with a warning \u2013 for Madison. Allistan warned Madison that Chelsea was a player and would hurt her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chelsea did have two great zingers that are worthy of an in-column mention. When Allison pitched the bogus social media startup, Chelsea said, \u201cYou are clearly not ready to operate at this level.\u201d Later, she fired off, \u201cI am not your emotional support human.\u201d Even Madison got into the action by diagnosing, \u201cAllison\u2019s a hurricane of crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond the Gates Speed Round<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Here are some rapid fire thoughts about some of the other action from the week gone by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crash course on parenting<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I thought the intersection of all of the storylines at the end of Thursday\u2019s episode was really smart writing. \u201cI will always be there for my children. It\u2019s what a parent does,\u201d Anita said to Nicole as the screen split into quarters with Peaches and Leslie, Martin and Smitty and the kids, and Noami and June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Young and the Gateless<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The visit from The Young and the Restless<\/em>\u2019 Devon Hamilton was an interesting choice for a first crossover with another soap. First, it proved that all of CBS\u2019s soaps exist in the same universe. It\u2019s the transitive property. Sorry \u2013 more soapmath! If The Young and the Restless<\/em> and Beyond the Gates<\/em> are in the same sphere, and Y&R<\/em> and The Bold and the Beautiful<\/em> exist in the same realm\u2026 that means Beyond the Gates<\/em> and B&B<\/em> must co-exist as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSecond, it made sense from a story perspective since Devon owns a record label and would understandably want to jump on singing an artist that was a viral sensation. It also clears the way for Anita to perform on Y&R (or at least show up). There was no seismic shift in story that will need to be cleaned up or addressed at a later date\u2026 or was there?<\/em> The interaction between Devon and Dani made me wonder if these two might know each other in some interesting way.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAre you a doctor? No, really… are<\/em> you a doctor?<\/h5>\n\n\n\nI was confused by Hayley\u2019s visit to the doctor. I was convinced that the doctor real, but I am not sure how Hayley would be able to make that happen. And Bill went into the exam room with Hayley, so it\u2019s not like she faked being seen by the doctor. I still don\u2019t believe that Hayley was ever pregnant, but I can\u2019t for the life of me figure out how a real doctor wouldn\u2019t be able to tell that Hayley had lied about the miscarriage. I honestly expected the doctor to tell Hayley that she wouldn\u2019t be able to get pregnant again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Concussion: The sequel<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I was oddly fascinated with Derek when he suffered his on-the-job accident and suffered temporary amnesia. Now that he is injured again, I can\u2019t help but wonder if he might engage in a little soap staple: faked paralysis. If he believes that he has won Ashley back, he might worry that recovering from his accident will result in Ashley realizing that her expression of love was made under duress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daddy dearest<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve already mentioned that mention that Leslie seduced a man to save a life, which I think opens the door for future story. There was another mention of a man we\u2019ve yet to meet that might also come into play at some point. Bill talked briefly about his dad. Dani praised Bill as being a better father than his dad was to him. \u201cThat\u2019s a hell of a low bar,\u201d Bill responded. I wonder if we will get to know more about Bill\u2019s past once the Hayley and Randy\/Sammy connection comes to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking of which, shouldn\u2019t Bill have recognized \u201cSammy\u201d from the times that Bill interacted with Joey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lines of the week<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The Beyond the Gates<\/em> writing team is once again having a little<\/em> 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAt the risk of sounding like a caveman, is there any such thing as a rational woman?\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Ted.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIf we can\u2019t drown our problems, as least we can briefly submerge them.\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>Also, Ted. I am hoping we can blame his previous statement on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m still in the way, so slow your roll, sis.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Anita after Sharon mused that Anita had stood in the way of other women trying to talk to a young Vernon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cYou put less effort into saving your marriage than you did into building a relationship with the child who tried to destroy it.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Vernon to Ted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAt this point, arguing is your love language.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Bill to Dani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nClosing the gates<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
That’s all I have for this week’s My View From Beyond the Gates column. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ll be tuning in and I’ll continue to share my thoughts on Beyond the Gates<\/em> 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<\/em> in the Comments section below.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFollow my Random Acts of Dan<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
If you’ve enjoyed my column this week and want to see what I have written about Beyond the Gates<\/em> in previous weeks, you can check those out in the My View From Beyond the Gates<\/a><\/strong> archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHave a penchant for gardening, interior design, or fixing up old houses? Check out my Manor Makeover series<\/a><\/strong> where I write about all of the things I’ve been up to here at Kroll Manor in Allentown, PA, over the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo keep up with all of the shenanigans I engage in on social media, please consider giving my a follow on Bluesky<\/strong><\/a>, Instagram<\/strong><\/a>, Threads<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and TwitterX<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLife outside the gates<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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<\/em>. Tamilu is on deck with week with a new column called, Drew Cain is a royal pain<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fran<\/a><\/strong> seems to feel the same way about that as I do, writing, \u201cI was liking it, until it hit warp speed with instantly meeting the kids. The pacing was working until that happened but I think they can get it back on track.\u201d Ramona Coleman<\/a> <\/strong>echoed that it \u201cseemed to happen too quickly\u201d and Dylan St. Jaymes<\/a><\/strong> noted that \u201cthere was a missed opportunity for angst\u2026 by having the teens agree to meet\u201d June so quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With all the red tape that exists in the world \u2013 I once couldn\u2019t send a package because the name on the label provided listed my name as \u201cDan\u201d and my driver\u2019s license lists it as \u201cDaniel\u201d \u2013 I find it hard to believe that Jacob and Naomi were able to get answers so quickly. Did it even take them a full day to get the closed records un-closed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than that, I get that Naomi and Jacob feel a certain closeness to June, but I expect that an officer of the court and someone sworn to protect and serve should know better than to invade the privacy of someone who went through great pains to craft a closed adoption. There was a reason it was a closed adoption. Jacob and Naomi didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t feel bad for feeling that way because Wilhite592<\/a><\/strong> told me something similar, sharing, \u201cA lawyer and a cop took it upon themselves to find the parents\u2019 names — knowing the adoption was closed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, Naomi and Jacob wanted to help June. I applaud that. As we\u2019ve seen recently, there are not many people who give a second thought to those that are unhoused or those who have struggled with addiction. It\u2019s easier to move them \u201cfar away\u201d than to try to solve the root causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If June really<\/em> wanted a Burberry scarf, but the store was closed, would Naomi and Jacob throw a brick through the window and go in and take it? It might not be a perfect metaphor, but it\u2019s the same general concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What makes me bristle even more is that once Naomi and Jacob knew that members of their extended family were involved, they didn\u2019t even take a moment to think about what they would do with that information. They had a brief, \u201cWell, the guys\u2019 marriage is currently not in a great place\u201d and then raced over to the brownstone to lower the boom. Yes, they claimed that they wanted Martin and Smitty to “think on it,” but of course the kids overheard and that changed the timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe not having kids of their own has created a sort of blind spot for Jacob and Naomi. I\u2019d prefer to think that\u2019s the case because if I don\u2019t, I really just end up hating how they handled this. Jacob comes off hypocritical, as he did when Chief Daddy Elon let him have it last week. Naomi, on the other hand, just seems to be interested in shiny objects. She offered to help the women in the case against Bill\u2019s firm \u2013 then she thought about it and didn\u2019t want to do it. Is she going to regret getting the ball rolling in a few days when there\u2019s no way to stop<\/em> the ball from rolling?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was surprised by how June handled things. Since this is a place of honesty, I\u2019ll tell you how I thought it would go. I didn\u2019t think that June was told that a married gay couple had adopted the kids \u2013 or that she\u2019d not remember it. I was waiting for her to ask something like, \u201cWhere\u2019s the mom?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n When that didn\u2019t happen and it became clear that it wasn\u2019t going to be a warm and fuzzy reunion between June and the kids, I worried about June\u2019s sobriety. I expected her to spiral on the spot and for the kids to end up being super traumatized. But that didn\u2019t happen. Yes, June could just be putting on a brave face, but I believed her when she said that the kids owed her nothing and that Martin and Smitty had done a good job raising the kids. Things got really, really awkward when June asked if they could all take a family photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The entire family reunion made me very, very uncomfortable. I felt bad for everyone in the room \u2013 except for Jacob and Naomi. Tyrell was notably angry, much in the way that he reacted toward Martin following Martin and Smitty\u2019s separation. Samantha seemed to want to put a Band-Aid on everything and have everyone be happy, which is how she handled her Dad and Pops\u2019 split. You could feel the tension every time Smitty opened his mouth. Both he and Martin were understandably worried that they could lose a part of what they shared with their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I predicted in my last column, this situation does seem to have moved Smitty and Martin closer to together. At least for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We learned that Tyrell (Ronald) was nine when he and Samantha (Cecile) were adopted. That gives us a better idea of the timeline here. I am not sure why I thought the kids were much younger when they were adopted. That led to a question that Brenda<\/a><\/strong> had that I hadn\u2019t even thought about. She said, \u201cI don\u2019t get why they changed the kids\u2019 names. They weren\u2019t infants who didn\u2019t have names yet. And they didn\u2019t go into witness protection. Why confuse a child with a name change?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a lot of weirdly vague or misleading age references on Beyond the Gates.<\/em> That\u2019s nothing new on soaps, where a middle schooler can go to their room for a nap and come back downstairs a day later as a college graduate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since we\u2019re playing fast and loose with ages, here\u2019s something that crossed my mind. The minute that we knew June\u2019s son was a senior in high school, our suspicions were confirmed: Tyrell and Samantha were June\u2019s children. Had that line been omitted or replaced with \u201cRonald was just a few years older than Cecile,\u201d we all probably would have continued to believe that June\u2019s kids were Tyrell and Samantha. But it would have opened the door for the show\u2019s biggest gotcha yet \u2013 as well as a left turn and <\/em>an explanation to another Beyond the Gates<\/em> mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is the gotchaturn (trademark pending)? That June was mom to Hayley. No, the ages don\u2019t quite match up. Jasmine Burke, who plays June, is in her early 40s, if the Internet is to be believed. We also only have a vague idea of how old Hayley is. Hayley is, or was, friends with Naomi. Filling in some other references, Dani Dupree is around 50. She and Bill were married for 20 years, which would put Naomi in her late-20s. We don\u2019t know that Hayley and Naomi are the same age. To me, the math is mathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of fuzzy soap math, there is the story of the Articulettes. I can\u2019t make the ages work. If Dani is 50, that would mean she was born in 1975. Unless I am mistaken, Leslie is intended to be older than Dani. You know what, this is too much soapmath for one column. I\u2019ll tackle that in another column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But boy — LSD (that\u2019s Leslie\/Sherry\/Dana for new readers) just became a whole lot more interesting \u2013 and she has been wildly interesting ever since she ran poor Laura off the road. Speaking of which, has anyone checked on Laura? We haven\u2019t seen her since she and Eva were working together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will admit that I didn\u2019t see the Leslie is Barbara\u2019s daughter twist coming. It just wasn\u2019t something that was on my radar until Eva found out about the law office trying to reach Leslie. We\u2019d already found out that LSD was \u201calone\u201d in the world, so I couldn\u2019t think of who would be leaving her money. Believe it or not, it was my first-time soap watcher watching partner who figured it out first and before<\/em> it was spelled out on-screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peaches amused me. She was very Benita Butrell: \u201cI ain’t one to gossip, so you ain’t heard it from me.\u201d I suppose she gets a pass since she is trying to clear her conscience while she still has the time on Earth to do so. However, it made me chuckle every time she made LSD \u201cdrag\u201d details out of her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learning more about Leslie\u2019s belief that she was abandoned by her mom explains a lot about some of her actions since we\u2019ve met her. \u201cAdversity. That\u2019s been my constant companion,\u201d Leslie said at one point before Peaches pointed out that Leslie\u2019s own life choices led her to where she was. There was also that unusual mention that Leslie had \u201cseduced a man to save a life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because everything is subjective (remember how Doug\u2019s debt was kept a secret for weeks?), I have no idea how much of a \u201cfortune\u201d Leslie is set to inherit, but let\u2019s assume that it\u2019s a figure over a million dollars. Will she blow through that money as fast as she did the two payments that Ted gave her in the past six months? It\u2019s going to get really messy since all of the inherited money was given to Barbara\u2019s family by Anita, who chose to do so anonymously. Since every outcast inevitably ends up buying a house inside<\/em> the gates, I\u2019m guessing Leslie will have a Fairmont Crest address by the end of the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s something about Barbara being Leslie\u2019s mother that troubles me. Beyond the Gates<\/em> is very, very good at foreshadowing. When they rebroadcast the first week of shows at the beginning of July, I was shocked at all of the clues that had gone over my head during the first viewing. They weren\u2019t clunky mentions, but clever word choices that didn\u2019t mean anything at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why three things said over the past five episodes have me concerned. The first was an innocent remark that Vernon made. He felt that he was a failure to his daughters because, according to him, women tend to seek out men that remind them of their dad. Anita was quick to say that Vernon wasn\u2019t like the men that Dani and Nicole had chosen because he had never strayed. The second line was something that Sharon said in passing about how Vernon could have had his choice of any woman had he not have met Anita. The third thing that made my ears perk up was Peaches stating that Barbara had refused to mention who LSD\u2019s father was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Add to that Anita\u2019s sudden rage toward Ted and \u201cmen who don\u2019t believe in the sanctity of marriage\u201d and\u2026 Do you see where I am going with this? What if Vernon<\/em> is LSD\u2019s dad?! The horror! There was no camera pan to Vernon after Anita\u2019s declaration that he was a faithful man, so there was no nervous expression on his face to dissect. I\u2019m just looking for trouble, right? Maybe not. What if Vernon had a relationship (or something less than a relationship) with Barbara before<\/em> he became involved with Anita? He wouldn’t be a cheater then and<\/em> he wouldn’t have known Barbara was pregnant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, a cleaner option here is to have Dante Green be the dad. Is Maury Povich going to need to make a trip to the DMV?! He might need to since I am still not sure I believe the alleged DNA test that was produced to show that Eva was Ted’s daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since I invoked the Dupree daughters\u2019 names, I guess I need to address them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s kind of fun to me that the show\u2019s biggest piece of male eye candy can\u2019t keep a woman \u2013 even when he wants to. Andre wanted something with Dani. She wasn\u2019t ready and was honest about that. Andre then developed feelings for Ashley, who wanted him until she saw him pawing Dani in his apartment. Now Ashley, too, has rejected Andre. It seems like Ashley and Andre are over for good because a freak accident has made Ashley realize that she\u2019s still in love with Derek. Dani seems to have a renewed interest in Andre, but that it probably only because he’s unavailable. Messy. Meh-see<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dani and Bill\u2019s tender moments and walk down memory lane seems<\/em> to leave open the door for a reconciliation if and when Hayley\u2019s fake pregnancy is exposed. Circling back to Andre for a moment. He told Dani that he was looking for someone to settle down with. I really felt it when he asked her, \u201cBut my someone was never gonna be you, was it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minor detour to Ashley. She has said that both Derek and Andre don\u2019t share the \u201csame values\u201d as her. I don\u2019t know what that phrase rubs me the wrong way, but it sure does. I\u2019m not sure that Ashley is grown enough to fully know what \u201csame values\u201d even means. I\u2019m Dani Dupree\u2019s age and I am still learning things about myself every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there\u2019s Nicole. We\u2019ve only known her for six months, but her behavior over the past week or so seems very un-Nicole-y. I don\u2019t believe that she is not sad that her marriage is over. I’m no psychiatrist, but I play one in these columns. I think Nicole is divorcing Ted because it is the one thing in her life that she can control. I don\u2019t believe she wants<\/em> to, but after being lied to by nearly everyone in her life, Nicole is doing this to regain control of her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The divorce party was <\/em>amusing. Having Nicole declare that Vanessa was the only one in the group whose marriage was strong nearly made me choke on my Fiji water. I liked the way that Nicole, Dani, and Vanessa’s happy celebration contrasted with Ted and Andre’s pity party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Life isn\u2019t much better for the next generation of Dupree women either. One of the funniest things of the entire week was when, after sexytimes with Tom\u00e1s, Tom\u00e1s expressed his desire for another round and Kat replied with, \u201cYou wanna do that again? Already?!\u201d How bad is Tom\u00e1s at \u201chorizontal hijinks of the highest order\u201d that Kat is this underwhelmed? Are his legal briefs not, um, packing the punch they should?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I liked that Chelsea asked what I consider to be appropriate questions of her cousin. Well, question \u2013 singular. Chelsea didn\u2019t even get the words out of her mouth before Kat emphatically dismissed any possibility that she was lesbian. \u201cGood. Less competition,\u201d Chelsea quipped before asking if Kat might be asexual. This all struck me as very current and very real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chelsea, on the other hand, has two women that are madly in love with her. The problem is that one of them is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve decided to rename another Beyond the Gates<\/em> character. First, I dubbed Leslie \u201cLSD\u201d for reasons I explained earlier. Then I dubbed the country club busboy KKKenneth for obvious reasons. Now, I give you\u2026 (insert drum roll here)\u2026 Allistan. Allison has two cups of crazy behind her eyes and has now moved to full-on stalker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As me and my first-time soap watcher was watching this past week, when Madison and Chelsea popped on on-screen, I said (and this is an exact quote), \u201cGuess who\u2019s coming. Oh wait, she can\u2019t get in.\u201d And milliseconds later, there she was: Allistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am really enjoying Brianna Roberts, the actress portraying Allison. Admittedly, I have a certain fondness for the women who play soap opera wackadoos. Brianna acts with every part of her body. Every head position and every eye movement is intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allistan is equally good. When her social media kickstarter didn\u2019t land with Chelsea, Allison quickly turned things around on Chelsea. She accused Chelsea of not caring about the torment that Craig has been inflicting upon her. It\u2019s \u201cperfect\u201d abusive stalker behavior. When nothing seemed to work, Allison disappeared for a bit only to resurface with a warning \u2013 for Madison. Allistan warned Madison that Chelsea was a player and would hurt her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chelsea did have two great zingers that are worthy of an in-column mention. When Allison pitched the bogus social media startup, Chelsea said, \u201cYou are clearly not ready to operate at this level.\u201d Later, she fired off, \u201cI am not your emotional support human.\u201d Even Madison got into the action by diagnosing, \u201cAllison\u2019s a hurricane of crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some rapid fire thoughts about some of the other action from the week gone by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought the intersection of all of the storylines at the end of Thursday\u2019s episode was really smart writing. \u201cI will always be there for my children. It\u2019s what a parent does,\u201d Anita said to Nicole as the screen split into quarters with Peaches and Leslie, Martin and Smitty and the kids, and Noami and June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The visit from The Young and the Restless<\/em>\u2019 Devon Hamilton was an interesting choice for a first crossover with another soap. First, it proved that all of CBS\u2019s soaps exist in the same universe. It\u2019s the transitive property. Sorry \u2013 more soapmath! If The Young and the Restless<\/em> and Beyond the Gates<\/em> are in the same sphere, and Y&R<\/em> and The Bold and the Beautiful<\/em> exist in the same realm\u2026 that means Beyond the Gates<\/em> and B&B<\/em> must co-exist as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, it made sense from a story perspective since Devon owns a record label and would understandably want to jump on singing an artist that was a viral sensation. It also clears the way for Anita to perform on Y&R (or at least show up). There was no seismic shift in story that will need to be cleaned up or addressed at a later date\u2026 or was there?<\/em> The interaction between Devon and Dani made me wonder if these two might know each other in some interesting way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was confused by Hayley\u2019s visit to the doctor. I was convinced that the doctor real, but I am not sure how Hayley would be able to make that happen. And Bill went into the exam room with Hayley, so it\u2019s not like she faked being seen by the doctor. I still don\u2019t believe that Hayley was ever pregnant, but I can\u2019t for the life of me figure out how a real doctor wouldn\u2019t be able to tell that Hayley had lied about the miscarriage. I honestly expected the doctor to tell Hayley that she wouldn\u2019t be able to get pregnant again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was oddly fascinated with Derek when he suffered his on-the-job accident and suffered temporary amnesia. Now that he is injured again, I can\u2019t help but wonder if he might engage in a little soap staple: faked paralysis. If he believes that he has won Ashley back, he might worry that recovering from his accident will result in Ashley realizing that her expression of love was made under duress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve already mentioned that mention that Leslie seduced a man to save a life, which I think opens the door for future story. There was another mention of a man we\u2019ve yet to meet that might also come into play at some point. Bill talked briefly about his dad. Dani praised Bill as being a better father than his dad was to him. \u201cThat\u2019s a hell of a low bar,\u201d Bill responded. I wonder if we will get to know more about Bill\u2019s past once the Hayley and Randy\/Sammy connection comes to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of which, shouldn\u2019t Bill have recognized \u201cSammy\u201d from the times that Bill interacted with Joey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Beyond the Gates<\/em> writing team is once again having a little<\/em> 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the risk of sounding like a caveman, is there any such thing as a rational woman?\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Ted.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we can\u2019t drown our problems, as least we can briefly submerge them.\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>Also, Ted. I am hoping we can blame his previous statement on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd I\u2019m still in the way, so slow your roll, sis.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Anita after Sharon mused that Anita had stood in the way of other women trying to talk to a young Vernon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou put less effort into saving your marriage than you did into building a relationship with the child who tried to destroy it.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Vernon to Ted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt this point, arguing is your love language.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Bill to Dani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s all I have for this week’s My View From Beyond the Gates column. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ll be tuning in and I’ll continue to share my thoughts on Beyond the Gates<\/em> 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<\/em> in the Comments section below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’ve enjoyed my column this week and want to see what I have written about Beyond the Gates<\/em> in previous weeks, you can check those out in the My View From Beyond the Gates<\/a><\/strong> archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have a penchant for gardening, interior design, or fixing up old houses? Check out my Manor Makeover series<\/a><\/strong> where I write about all of the things I’ve been up to here at Kroll Manor in Allentown, PA, over the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To keep up with all of the shenanigans I engage in on social media, please consider giving my a follow on Bluesky<\/strong><\/a>, Instagram<\/strong><\/a>, Threads<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and TwitterX<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/em>. Tamilu is on deck with week with a new column called, Drew Cain is a royal pain<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCase not<\/em> closed<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
We should be able to get through one crappy night<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I stopped being a baby the day you left us<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The Articu-Les<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDebt ain\u2019t nothing but a number<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Papa don\u2019t preach<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTo moving the hell on<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIs strong really the right word?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re dancing salsa, not filing your taxes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Allistan Wonderland<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBeyond the Gates Speed Round<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Crash course on parenting<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The Young and the Gateless<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Are you a doctor? No, really… are<\/em> you a doctor?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Concussion: The sequel<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Daddy dearest<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Lines of the week<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Closing the gates<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Follow my Random Acts of Dan<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Life outside the gates<\/h5>\n\n\n\n