A Woman In… Love?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I am worried about Vanessa McBride. Her sudden co-dependence to Joey Armstrong feels like it will not end well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you remember a few weeks ago, there was that episode-ending scene where Vanessa had a curious and confident smile. It made me wonder if that was a sign that she was playing Joey and possibly working with the authorities to take him down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, I\u2019m not so sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ll allow me to put on my soap opera psychiatrist hat, I would theorize that Vanessa\u2019s grief over Doug\u2019s death is what is driving her insistence that she and Joey make their situationship public. Vanessa regrets all the things that she and Doug missed out on during their marriage doldrums. Now, she is overcompensating by wanting to do everything, everywhere all at once with her new beau. There is probably also quite a bit of lingering guilt that she wasn’t around when Doug died (and was, in fact, in Joey\u2019s bed!). I think Vanessa feels that if she can solidify her relationship with Joey it somehow absolves her for being away with Joey when Doug died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa was crushed that Joey turned down her invitation to be her plus-one for Winterfest. Joey explained that being seen in public could cause people to put a magnifying glass to their relationship. That level of scrutiny could reveal their money laundering shenanigans. Vanessa was not a happy\u00a0camper\/realtor and stormed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, her insistence that Joey accompany her to Winterfest could all be part of a secret plan to have Joey arrested in a very public forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll forgive me if you\u2019ve read me saying this before, but it does bear repeating: Joey Armstrong is an incredibly complex and complicated man. On the surface, he\u2019s a dangerous mobster. That\u2019s the person that Nicole, Dani, and others have warned Vanessa about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under that hardened exterior, however, Joey has a soft \u2014 dare I say romantic? \u2014 side. He rented out Uptown so that he could cook Vanessa a proper Thanksgiving meal. I mean, he made pumpkin br\u00fbl\u00e9e. Would Sonny Corinthos do that for the woman in his life? I think not. Pasta, sure. Pumpkin br\u00fbl\u00e9e? As if! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unless I am about to be totally blindsided, I don\u2019t doubt Joey\u2019s feelings for Vanessa. I don\u2019t think that he regrets having Doug \u201cremoved\u201d from the picture, but I do think that he has only just now started to understand the repercussions. Joey probably never had a personal connection to someone whose loved one he had whacked. Now, Joey is seeing Vanessa and even Donnell\u2019s grief first hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, while Joey is definitely a villain for having Doug killed, he is\u2026 a villain with a heart of gold? Well, maybe not. I think the \u201cheart of gold\u201d only works when referring to soap opera hookers. Let\u2019s just use the other soap stable. Joey isn\u2019t quite a villain. He\u2019s just \u201cmisunderstood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, it turns out that Ashley\u00a0is<\/em>, in fact, the villain in her own story. It has been quite clear that Derek\u2019s accident was what prompted Ashley to propose to him. That, and of course, Ashley seeing Dani and Andre making out. Where I had it wrong was in assuming that the accident made Ashley realize that life is short and that the love of her life could have been taken from her in the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boy, was I wrong \u2013 or maybe I was just trying to see the best in the nurse. This week, Ashley revealed that she only asked Derek to marry her because she \u201cfelt sorry\u201d for him because of the paralysis. This is interesting because Ashley has been lashing out at Derek for \u201cfaking\u201d his paralysis in order to keep her. Here\u2019s the thing, Derek\u2019s very real paralysis is the only thing that brought her back into his life\u2026 and Ash has now admitted that she only wanted to be with him out of pity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think Ashley loses all claim to outrage from this point forward. She faked love for Derek to get him into a relationship that she didn\u2019t even want to be in in the first place. I still don\u2019t believe that Derek\u2019s \u201cfaking\u201d was done with malice. It was a really, really,\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0stupid attempt to surprise Ashley at the altar. Ashley, on the other hand, was really quite cruel with her make-believe love for Derek. Derek can blame his stupid decision on head trauma. What\u2019s Ashley\u2019s excuse?<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Ashley beats her guilt-racked head against the wall, Derek seems this<\/em>close to moving on with the very forward Sheryl. By the sound of it, Jacob approves. What\u2019s interesting is that I\u2019d always thought that Derek was the low-energy dud in the \u201cDashley\u201d relationship. That\u2019s not the case. Derek became infinitely more interesting when he was sorta, kinda, maybe dating Shanice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, Derek has yet another spark of life when he is around Sheryl. Maybe Derek needs a more assertive woman in his life. Not judging, just making an observation. I have no idea if this flirtation with Sheryl will go anywhere, but I wouldn\u2019t be mad if it did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ashley, on the other hand, was dullsville most of the time with Derek and she was equally bland with Andre. What\u2019s weird \u2013 and I\u2019ve said this before in my column — is that I find Ashley interesting when she is not involved in a romantic storyline. That might be a signal that Ashley needs to take a little time to get to know herself and to experience life before she jumps into another relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know who doesn\u2019t have a chemistry problem? Shanice. Shanice even has chemistry with that little tablet computer that she carries around with her. Ernestine Johnson was the perfect hire for the role of Shanice. I can\u2019t imagine her playing any other role on Beyond the Gates<\/em> and I can\u2019t imagine anyone else playing Shanice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From my decades of soap watching, I\u2019ve seen that some actors just bring out the best in other performers. On All My Children,<\/em> David Canary (Adam and Stuart Chandler) made even the greenish rookie look seasoned. I feel like his stature as an Emmy-winning actor made everyone bring their A-game to the set. With Ernestine Johnson, I think everyone knows that she is a scene-stealer who commands attention. As a result, I think her fellow actors know that they need to put a little more pep in their step if they don\u2019t want to be steamrolled in their shared scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The little chemistry test this week between Shanice and Ted was very, very nice. On paper, Ted and Shanice shouldn\u2019t work. Shanice is vibrant, independent, and gossipy as hell. Ted is usually stuffy and brooding. During the elevator getting-to-know-you scenes, Ted was lightyears more appealing than he\u2019s been in months. Maybe he needs to get stu \u2013<\/em>Sorry, Shanice doesn\u2019t want us to use that word \u2013 in elevators more often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Shanice was planning to set Nicole up on a blind date, I honestly thought she was going to try to help Nicole and Ted get back together. It seemed like a very Shanice thing to do. Obviously, I realized that I was wrong when the yet-to-be-seen Dr. Rollins stepped off the elevator and Shanice seemed to hint that he<\/em> was the blind date planned for Nicole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ted and Shanice dating would be m-e-s-s-y, especially since everyone at the hospital seems to work on the same floor. It makes me wonder why<\/em> there is even an elevator in the first place, but I digress. It will be even messier if Nicole starts seeing Dr. Rollins, though it seems he might work on one of the other floors that the elevator sometimes reaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things between Andre, Dani, Bill, and Hayley remain messy. It looked like Andre and Dani had finally found their happily ever after, but that now seems in jeopardy because of Hayley planting seeds of doubt in Andre\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The interesting thing about watching Beyond the Gates<\/em> is that so much more of the show\u2019s history has happened off-screen than on. For example, we\u2019ve heard about how happy Dani and Bill used <\/em>to be, but that all took place before Beyond the Gates<\/em> hit the airwaves. While we\u2019ve seen recreated Bill\/Dani flashbacks before, this was the first time we went so far back in time as to require younger actors to play the parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill and Dani\u2019s walk down memory lane at the country club was\u2026 fascinating. It was so random and unexpected. What I liked about their shared memory was that they kept correcting each other\u2019s recollection of the events. I also liked the way that the flashbacks were shown on-screen \u2013 with sort of an old VCR-style playback. If you are not a Gen Xer, a VCR was like cloud storage of video\u2026 but the cloud was a plastic cartridge that you stuck into something akin to a DVR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that that\u2019s out of the way\u2026 I am glad that Beyond the Gates<\/em> didn\u2019t try to use Karla Mosley and Timon Kyle Durrett as their younger selves. I don\u2019t know that the actors that were hired for the scenes looked <\/em>like younger versions of Dani and Bill, but they definitely acted<\/em> like them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, there were good times in Dani and Bill\u2019s relationship. The way that their marriage fell apart doesn\u2019t erase those happy memories. I\u2019ve said the same thing about Nicole and Ted\u2019s relationship, but in a slightly different way since so many of their<\/em> happy moments came after <\/em>Ted cheated on Nicole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it\u2019s important to remember the good times. It\u2019s so easy to say \u201cI wasted X years of my life\u2026\u201d when that\u2019s not really how we should look at it. Everything serves some sort of purpose in life, even if it\u2019s just to show us what we should not <\/em>be doing. Sorry, I stepped back into soap shrink mode. Let me take off that hat and put on my commentary hat. Hold please.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, I\u2019m back. Do I think that the stage is being set for Bill and Dani to get back together? Maybe. I think the stage is being kept warm for the possibility. Unless Hayley has a change of heart, it\u2019s only a matter of time before her plot to kill Bill and take his money is exposed. That will leave Bill as a single man and I\u2019d assume that Dani will race to his side to support him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But will Dani go into \u201cI told you so\u201d mode or will she comfort and support him in the same way she did after he had his health crisis? Right now it\u2019s kind of 50\/50 for me. I believe that Dani is happy in her marriage to Andre. At the same time, I also believe that Dani still misses Bill \u2013 even if her desire to reunite with him isn\u2019t as strong as it was back in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fly in the poisoned ointment here is Hayley. Her bloodlust has reached new highs. So high that Randy had to remind Hayley that she needed to go slow and steady so as not to be the prime suspect when Bill keels over. With her supersized fears that Bill will leave her before she has a chance to kill him, Hayley has now decided that she needs to make Andre feel as bothered by Bill and Dani as she does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hayley\u2019s timing was impeccable because right after she told Andre to watch Dani\u2019s face when she\u2019s around Bill\u2026 Andre walked in on Dani and — you guessed it! \u2013 Bill waxing nostalgic about smores and infernos. It was the story of a charred marshmallow, though, that sent Andre over the edge. Had Andre not had his run-in with Hayley, I don\u2019t think he\u2019d have reacted the same way about Dani sending the charmallow to Bill\u2019s table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Will Andre\u2019s insecurities end up bringing an end to his marriage? Would that then pave the way for Bill and Dani to get back together? It\u2019s possible\u2026 and it would all be of Hayley\u2019s doing. Her attempts to keep Bill and Dani apart could backfire spectacularly and result in her getting exactly what she was trying to avoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the other things on Beyond the Gates<\/em> that have me thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since this column has featured a lot of me admitting when I\u2019ve been wrong, there is another storyline that I got wrong. This one, though, I think might have been better if it had<\/em> gone the way that I thought it was going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I expected Peaches to tell Nicole that she did not want to be part of the clinical trial and wanted to be allowed to die. While certainly not a happy holiday story, it\u2019s something that would have come across as unpolished and real. Grief and loss don\u2019t take a vacation around the holidays. Plus, having the only mother that Leslie has ever known die might have given the writers a chance to “readjust” or otherwise change direction for LSD (that\u2019s Leslie\/Sherry\/Dana).<\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, the Peaches and Nicole mini-therapy session was kind of funny. I like that Nicole kept it real and made it clear that she did not like Leslie. The repeated mentions that alluded to Peaches being something of a saint for having endured years of Loony Leslie also made me chuckle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even funnier were all of the expressions that Anita and Nicole made when Leslie pleaded for Nicole to help Peaches. If you missed the Thursday, December 4, episode of Beyond the Gates <\/em>or were focused on Leslie (because she was doing most of the talking), do yourself a favor and queue up the episode and just watch Anita and Nicole\u2019s faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Samantha may, at times, be a bratty teenager, but I really do appreciate that she has a kind heart. After learning of how June had struggled with finding health care when she was without a place to live, Samantha wanted to find a way to make sure that never happened to anyone else. Yes, Samantha seems to have an oversimplified view of how to solve the problem \u2013 having Leslie\/Eva write a check \u2013 but I appreciate that she wants to try to change the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s also incredibly timely considering how many people are facing increases to their price of their own health insurance. I hope that Samantha doesn\u2019t get disillusioned when things don\u2019t just magically happen overnight. She already seems annoyed that her Congressman dad can\u2019t make anything happen. Maybe Samantha will be inspired to pursue a career in medicine or nursing or some other area where she can help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the most emotional moment of the entire week took place between Samantha and her Aunt Kat. In the wake of Kat going off on Eva for all the wrong reasons, Samantha observed that Kat had changed and was no longer the warm and welcoming aunt that she\u2019d met after being adopted by Martin and Smitty. \u201cI hope whatever\u2019s wrong, I hope that you fix it Because I really, really want that Aunt Kat back. I want you to be happy,\u201d Samantha said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was\u2026 wow. It\u2019s one thing to have an adult make that observation, but it hits very differently when the same advice comes out of the mouth of a non-adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, I really like Samantha and Eva\u2019s relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also like Eva\u2019s fledgling relationship with Izaiah. It\u2019s cute to see them so head-over-heels for each other. I do, however, have some concerns. We\u2019ve been told on numerous occasions that Izaiah-with-a-Z is\/was the black sheep of the Hawthorne family. We\u2019ve heard how he\u2019s gone down the wrong path and was eventually sent in the right direction by Joey Armstrong of all people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This week that message of Izaiah\u2019s troubled past was amplified. During a chat with Jacob, Izaiah said that all of bad influences that he\u2019d used to hang out with were \u201ceither locked up or in the ground.\u201d Then came a very passing mention that Izaiah assumed those things because he hadn\u2019t tried to reach out to any of them since getting his life together. Is that a hint that Izaiah will backslide? Will one of Izaiah’s old friends resurface and cause trouble for him? Will Eva get tangled up in whatever happens? File this section away in your memory bank and we\u2019ll revisit it in a few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought it was funny that Shanice claimed that birds are the only thing in life that she is afraid of. She then took off on a rant that pretty much badmouthed every feathered creature God has ever created. I don\u2019t know how the show could do it, but I kind of want to see Shanice come face to face with a bird. Maybe a pigeon flies into the hospital or a patient shows up with an emotional support chicken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my most recent column<\/strong>, I went on a lengthy vent about the fuzziness of characters\u2019 ages on Beyond the Gates<\/em>. We received another hint about exactly how old Martin this week. Martin commented that he wasn\u2019t even 30 when he and Smitty adopted Samantha and Tyrell. That would have been about seven or eight years ago. So\u2026 that would put Martin somewhere around 36 or 37, by my calculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I really<\/em> wish we had gotten to see Chelsea and Madison\u2019s Very Vegan Thanksgiving. I am sure there were a variety of administrative reasons why we didn\u2019t <\/em>get to see it \u2013 like not wanting to show Madison\u2019s mom, Willow, until there is a more meaningful storyline that warrants casting the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It sounded like comedy gold\u2026 until we saw the aftermath of the unseen holiday meal at Uptown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am trying to figure out if Marcel is actually interested in Leslie or if he’s just doing his detective-ing to try to get her to say or do something incriminating. Marcel is a sketchy guy, so I can never be sure what he’s up to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Admittedly, I do not watch the Real Housewives <\/em>shows. Still, there are plenty of folks from the Housewives<\/em> series that I recognize. The two that were on Beyond the Gates<\/em> this past week? No clue who they were. It makes sense to feature cast members from Real Housewives of Potomac <\/em>since Beyond the Gates <\/em>is set in the Washington, D.C. area\u2026 but it seems weird to have the Housewives <\/em>playing fictional characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also do not watch Big Brother<\/em>, so I was likewise clueless when the winners of the competition show popped up on The Bold and the Beautiful.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Beyond the Gates<\/em> 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSaying her name conjures her.\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 Dani, musing that Hayley’s name should never be said aloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFirefighters bring the heat. Cops bring the tickets.<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 Bryce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don’t give a damn if all of Fairmont Crest lines up with binoculars to watch you leave.\u2019\u2019 <\/strong>\u2014 Vanessa responding to Joey’s desire to leave her house “before the Neighborhood Watch goes out for a morning power walk.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat’s the point of being in Congress is you can’t do anything?\u201d<\/strong> \u2014 Tyrell asking a question many of us probably have had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you’re gonna look down on me, maybe don’t look in the mirror when you do.\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 Joey, noting that he and Vernon had a lot in common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have to go… and hop on that call with the manufacturer…\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 Kat as she tried desperately to get away from the squabbling Madison and Chelsea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou can be right or you can be happy. Choose happiness.\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 Tomas’ parting advice to feuding Madison and Chelsea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnita Dupree’s third solo album went triple platinum in my living room.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Marcel Malone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI need your focus, not your comedy.\u201d <\/strong>— Vernon to Marcel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cScience can barely comprehend the brain. How am I supposed to understand the human heart?\u201d<\/strong> \u2014 Madison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am very aware of my much-ness.\u201d <\/strong>— Kat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I bet you could sit on my lap and I’ll make sure all of your wishes comes true<\/strong>.” — Jacob being spicy with Naomi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We found new ways to give thanks. Kat made me a very grateful man<\/strong>.” — Tomas was apparently having what Jacob was having.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/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<\/strong><\/a>, Facebook<\/strong><\/a>, and TwitterX<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/em><\/strong> writing about General Hospital<\/em>. Tamilu is on deck with week with a new column called, <\/a><\/a>Bang! Bang! Sidwell\u2019s Silver Bullet<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/251205-btg-03.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nJoey Armstrong: Man of Mystery and Contradiction<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Blowing Smoke, No Fire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Snooze And Lose<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I Love Your Smile<\/strong>, But I Hate Your Parrot<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Love Is Blind<\/strong>: Beyond the Gates<\/em> Edition<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The Fire of \u201847<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/251205-btg-01.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Mother and Father Reunion<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
I Don\u2019t Have Time For the Remix<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Beyond the Gates Speed Round<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Peaches<\/strong><\/strong>, LSD, and a Dry Erase Board<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Sam, Medicine Woman<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/251205-btg-02.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIzaiah With a Z and Trouble with a T<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Tippi Hedren Would Never — Actually, She Might<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Age Is A Less Fuzzy Number<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Pass The Tofurky With Woo Woo Sauce<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Badge or Badger?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Big Housewives? Real Brother?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Lines of the Week<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Follow my Random Acts of Dan<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Life outside the gates<\/h5>\n\n\n\n