Beyond the Gates Weekly Recap 4-7

The Richardsons

The Lovely Mrs. Richardson and Mr. Duplicity

Nicole finds the camera in her office and scolds Kat as Eva eavesdrops. Nicole tells her that it cannot continue and that not liking someone isn't a justification. Nicole almost analyzes Kat but stops herself. She thinks Kat is jealous and reassures her. Nicole asks her to stop tormenting Eva. Kat agrees. She passes Eva on her way out, who pretends to be just coming in. We can see that although Kat agreed with Nicole, it was to get her mother off of her back. This sibling rivalry is still brewing. I am here for it, although I would rather see them be sisters at some point. 

It looks like Leslie poisoned Laura with potassium, which caused a heart attack. She has an infection because her immune system was compromised. Leslie comes back to check on Laura. Shanice catches her. She lied her way out of her predicament, but Shanice is suspicious.  Sly as ever, Leslie lies her way out of it. Okay, I hate to be that person. Actually, I don’t. As someone with family members in the field and someone in IT, it bothered me that Shanice left the laptop open and not locked. IN A HOSPITAL, that is a fireable offense and would never happen. 

Tomas runs into Eva at Orphey Jeans and approaches her table. He asks her about her troubles, and she confides in him. I think that Tomas can be a little wooden, but he does seem to liven up a bit in scenes with Eva. He has a bit more chemistry with her. Sorry, TomKat fans. However, I still do not trust him. He knows how Kat feels about Eva, yet when in her presence, he seems to find himself engaging with her. 

Leslie (Dana, Anna, Sherri - I cannot keep up) reads the invitation to Ted and Nicole’s Anniversary Party. She is stoked about the ways in which it will all fall apart once she drops the secret for everyone to hear. Dun dun dun… I suppose we will have to wait until sweeps to find out.

Eva comes home and catches her mother in disguise. Leslie smoothly lies. Eva shocks her by asking if that is what she was doing at the hospital, pretending to be a nurse. Leslie denies it. Eva tells her what Shanice said about a new nurse, and it is mighty convenient that it happened just as Laura was all set to come home. Leslie mocks her, fake confessing that she caught her; "her mother is a total psychopath". She said she must be boo-boo the damn fool. 

Eva and Leslie argue. Eva tries to stand up for herself, saying she does what Leslie says. She reminds her that Alan was there, and Ted didn't even want her. Leslie emotionally manipulates Eva to the point that she eventually apologizes. Eva confesses that she gets scared that Leslie takes her plans too far. Leslie tells her that if that day ever comes, she knows Eva will catch her.

Andre watches a video of Nicole talking about her past miscarriages and struggles during her marriage. Ted comes in and hints at thinking the documentary was about the nurses. It seems Ted doesn't want Nicole’s footage in the documentary.

Nicole talks about a time Martin got very sick. She brought him to the ER. Ted came hours later. She was a mess, as he was better in a medical crisis, and she was better at everything else. The phone rings again. 

Andre admires Ted and Nicole’s marriage, but Ted humbly discourages Andre’s praise, sharply stopping Andre when he compares to Bill who was unfaithful. Andre senses something’s wrong, and Ted shockingly admits he once cheated, decades earlier during a painful period of miscarriages, tracking cycles and trying to conceive. It was all too much. The nerve, he steps out without considering how his wife was feeling, his wife who endured the miscarriages. He tells Andre about the affair, the pregnancy, and Dana’s abortion—revealing the blackmail. Andre advises honesty with Nicole, but Ted believes the threat has passed. This setup promises an epic showdown—I can't wait!

The Bully, The Model and The Peacemaker

Chelsea encourages Samantha, who is overanalyzing her photos. She gives her pointers on lighting and posing. Chelsea will miss people and vibes, but she can tap into that as a designer. Chelsea gives her good advice.

Samantha tells Tyrell about her modeling plans and forms a plan to talk to her dads about it by pitting one against the other. Later, she talks to Smitty about being a model while Martin tries to get through to Tyrell. Tyrell reminds Martin that people his age can handle their own problems.

Tyrell deflects to Samantha, and Martin demands to know what is going on. Smitty tells Samantha that he doesn't appreciate her divide-and-conquer approach. Samantha says that he is the reasonable one. Smitty tells her that they have responsibilities. Who will be there for her? She says it's just a train ride when she does have to go to NYC. When Smitty is about to crack, Martin comes down.

Martin doesn't want to hear about modeling, but Samantha pleads her case. Martin calls it a childish whim, but Samantha says she will do what she wants.

Smitty calls Martin out and tells him he must let Samantha do this. Martin goes to meet with Dani, who gives him sage advice, but when does Martin listen to good advice? He goes home to tell Samantha he cannot agree to her being a model. Sam doesn't get it. She does everything that she's supposed to. Is it because she's a girl? He says no.

Later, Smitty tells him that if they keep telling her no, then she will rebel, and rebel she does. She goes to Chelsea and tells her that her parents did not forbid her from modeling. Chelsea begins to make plans.

The Duprees

Vernon and Anita discuss the fashion show and the ending of the Dupree modeling era. Vernon and Anita talk about their children, Dani in particular. They feel that things are turning around for her. Can we give them something more to do? Meanwhile,  Bill is going to take Hayley to the country club. I suppose he wants to beat his chest and demand that she get respect. Insert heavy eye roll.

Dani meets with Hannah at the country club to discuss ideas for a grant program. Hannah tells her that she is no longer a member of First Gen, effective today. I smell a setup. Hannah gets a call and steps away just as Bill and Hayley come in. Dani watches as they paw each other for the benefit of on-lookers. Wouldn't that make them seem more pathetic versus gaining respect?

Hannah tells Dani that First Gen board members have to be role models. Dani tells her that they allowed her to run the fashion show. Upset, Dani goes off as Hayley and Bill overhear gleefully. 

Taylor takes Bill’s order but ignores Hayley, so Bill orders for her. Hannah comes back and admits that Dani might be surprised, but the vote to remove her was unanimous. There is a morality clause, and her behavior violates that.

Anita arrives, and Dani tells her what happened while Bill and Hayley listen. Anita wants to assure Dani that she will be put back on the board. Dani says that she doesn't want to work with people who see her that way. Later, Anita comes home raging. She tells Vernon what happened with 1st Gen. They worry about other organizations following suit, but Anita has a plan.

Anita invites Hannah over. Hannah is happy and feels that Vernon may have more opportunities for the charity. Anita calls her out for removing Dani from the board, but Hannah defends her position. Anita tells her that is fine but The Dupree Foundation will be making changes, starting with getting rid of her and First Gen. Hannah says the students will suffer, but Anita says they will start a new charity to do what 1st Gen does. Dani will chair it.

Haley celebrates Dani being kicked off the board by kissing Bill. They are both obsessed with the Duprees as they watch and judge. Hayley even calls Dani the former queen bee, thinking Dani is holding court when Martin comes in to discuss something unrelated: Samantha's modeling career.

Bill and Hayley try to rub Dani’s loss in her face. Hayley tries to compare herself to Dani and says that she pitied her. Dani handles it with grace! She tells Hayley that she is a Dupree; she doesn’t need to cling to anyone to be respected. HELLO! She also notes that Hayley clings to Bill as a way of trying to obtain respect and hasn’t even managed to do so.

Garland Memorial

Andre is beginning to doubt himself as the staff is running from him. Ted encourages him. He later catches the nurses talking at the nurse's station. Shanice gives them an encouraging speech. Then Ashley gets off the elevator, and I cannot help but be disappointed. Sorry, she bores me to tears. I am not sure if it is the actress or the material, but I am not interested. Shanice has stolen her shine. She could be one of the breakout stars. 

Of course, Andre starts to interview Ashley AGAIN, and Derek is to be part of the interview but is running late. He steps off the elevator in time to hear Ashley being emotional over him. He is another boring character that I cannot understand why he exists. I want Andre free from both of them. I am more interested in Ashley’s mother, whom we’ve rarely seen, than her daughter.

Later in the week, a suspicious Eva checks on Laura with flowers from Ted. Shanice mentions something about a new nurse, which sends the alarm bells off. Eva begins to question Shanice about the new nurse. Shanice questions why Eva is asking so many questions and even calls her nosy. She doesn’t get the answers she is looking for, but that doesn’t quell her suspicions. 

Outside The Gates 

Doug gambles, and I fear this story needs to pick up soon. Doug ignores warnings. He gets a call about emergency surgery. 

At the uptown, Joey comes in as Vanessa gets a text from Diego. He says he hopes he's not keeping her husband. She says she got a text that he's in surgery. Joey says that must be a tough job. We see Doug distracted during surgery. Uh oh. He asks another doctor to finish as gambling urges are causing him to be faint.

Meanwhile, Vanessa changes the subject, but Joey says they are discussing his marriage.

Samantha talks with Dani. Dani wants to manage her, but Chelsea shows up. Chelsea says her mom has the experience, but Samantha has an attitude. They are dismissive of Dani’s help.

Andre and Eva meet up at The Uptown as Eva drowning her sorrows. She asks if he ran into the new nurse during filming.

They talk about Ted. 

Ted calls Nicole and wants to make his crafted martini and signature back rub. The phone rings again, he ignored it.

Weekly Highlights

• Ted confesses although it is to Andre.

• Leslie continues to be unhinged in an entertaining way.

• The Fashion Show was the highlight of the week

• Muva (Anita) shutting down the board member.

Thoughts on The Week

I really enjoyed the fashion show. They know how to do fashion on this show. The show in the 1:30 slot is supposed to be about a fashion house, but could take note of this one. I loved the duplicitous Turtle Neck Ted confessing and his world about to crumble. The bit of backstory there hasn’t done him any favors. I loved that Dani did not crack when Bill and Hayley antagonized her. She held her head high and let them know that she is Dani MFn Dupree. It made me want to say “okurrr”! 

That said, this week was slow. It felt like there was a lot of filler. The stories are beginning to drag, and I don't know where things are going. I'm not sure where Doug and the gambling storyline are going; I need Guza to Guza here. Otherwise, the criminal element feels out of place. Especially when I thought it would have more political drama, so I expected to see politicians, etc. Ashley and Derek, they don’t really fit. We could see more of Dani’s friend whose name I am forgetting because we see so little of her. She is far more interesting than Ashley. 

I need Anita and Vernon, played by two powerhouses, to have more to do than to sit around and talk about their children. I did enjoy Anita being cutthroat, however. Martin and this secret is driving me up the wall. We should have had someone blackmailing him by now. I suspect this is why he does not want Samantha to model, but that doesn’t make sense as he is running for President, or at least trying to. Another thing that doesn’t make sense. The show started great and still keeps me tuned in, but some weaker storylines need tuning. Part of the issue is that some things needed to happen more organically, but it started somewhere in the middle because it is a new soap.

An example is Chelsea’s friend with an eating disorder. Instead of telling us from the first episode that Chelsea wants to design purses, it could have been something she was thinking about. Her friend’s illness and how the modeling industry impacted her could have been the thing that made her finally decide to leave the runway behind her and start her fashion empire. Some things have been told and not shown. That is a big thing in writing "show don’t tell". We are almost two months in. I expect the telling to end, the showing to continue, and more to be shown.