Beyond The Gates Weekly Recap: Fairmount Crest Is Falling Apart

Last week on Beyond The Gates, Anita went public with her diagnosis, Samantha got an escort for cotillion, and two besties had an explosive argument. Let’s break the week down day by day.

Monday

Anita went public with her diagnosis on The Gayle King Show. It was a powerful interview, and I loved how she encouraged both the studio audience and the viewers at home to stay on top of their health and screenings. Kudos—this story has been handled well.

We also got a break in the fake mugging case, and it looked like Lynette thought ahead and pinned it on an innocent unhoused man. Lynette looped Hayley in, and for a split second, Hayley seemed like she might feel guilty. Then she marched right down to the station and picked him out of a lineup anyway. Horrible.

Neither Lynette nor Hayley banked on June overhearing Joey telling Bill on the phone that they “caught the mugger,” a man better known as Sledgehammer. June immediately told Joey it wasn’t him. She knew Sledge personally, and she said he was a sweetheart who wouldn’t squash a bug. Joey’s wheels started spinning, and you could feel the doubt settling in.

Tuesday

Vanessa met with Donnell, and the show reminded us—again—how good that actor is and how solid Donnell can be. Vanessa had a favor to ask, but first, they talked about Joey, and Donnell gave Joey his stamp of approval. He liked him… and I hated every second of it.

I’m sorry, but I am never going to like Vanessa and Joey while the show is asking us to just glide past the fact that Doug’s character was assassinated and, murdered by the man his wife is choosing. And if we are being real, she chose him before then. Anyway, she asked Donnell to be Samantha’s escort to the cotillion.

Bill got the news that the mugger made bail, and he was enraged. He wanted justice. Hayley played frightened while also trying to play brave, because she cannot pick a lane, and I am already tired of this story.

Meanwhile, Joey met with Sledge and gave him money to get out of town after pumping him for information. Being unhoused, Sledge knew he didn’t have the resources to fight, and he was willing to accept his cruel fate. Before leaving, he stopped by Orphy Jean’s to see June—and I have to say, these two had chemistry. I loved it.

Also, the actor portraying Sledge? He was handsome even in his Dave Chappelle crackhead getup. You can tell he’d be fine as hell cleaned up. He could act, too. Which brings me to my ongoing question: why do the side and temporary characters come in with more range than some of the folks we are stuck with on contract? It’s like the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. The world may never know.

Wednesday

Ashley and Shanice took a trip down memory lane for Shanice’s work anniversary, and it was skippable.

Kat told Tomas she was ready to move in, but Tomas said she’d been right not to agree to move in before. They talked it through, and I’m not going to lie—it felt like another Kat humiliation ritual. Still, by the end of the episode, they were shopping for homes for Kat to live in on her own. Remember that for later.

Leslie tried to get Eva to quit her job with her dad and come work for her at the clinic. Leslie was in over her head and had no idea what she was doing. She was also operating for aesthetics, not impact, and she did not care about helping people. Derek overheard them talking about permits and offered advice. Eva wanted to hire him instead, but Leslie shut that down and basically told her, “Been there, done that.”

Later, Eva apologized to Derek while they were alone and tried to convince him to take the job managing the clinic. He eventually agreed, but on one condition: he only reported to Eva.

And then we got the alleyway of asininity. Jacob ran into Izaiah, and they discussed…out loud—Jacob being undercover, while Jacob stood around waiting for a connect like he was ordering a pizza. They talked about his wife and everything else, and the entire time I was ready to shout at the TV. Writers, please. For the love of all things good, stop doing this.

Thursday

Anita’s interview aired, and the residents of Fairmount Crest watched. Anastasia offered support and Anita basically told her where to shove it. Leslie rolled her eyes, then tried to offer fake support later.

This is where things went fully into clown territory with Leslie. She was envious of the attention Anita got from the Gayle King interview, so she decided she needed her own interview to talk about the clinic. Then she ran around Fairmount Crest asking her victims for favors like she was campaigning for Mayor of Nonsense.

It was ridiculous how everyone had to humor her, and it felt like a waste of Trisha’s talent. Is this supposed to be comic relief? Because I’m not laughing—I’m confused. Most of the episode was Leslie doing this while everyone brushed her off with a tired little “Oh, that Leslie.” She even showed up at Dani and Andre’s trying to rope them into helping. I could not take it.

Friday

There wasn’t a real cliffhanger, though they tried. The focus stayed on Leslie when she decided Eva should be her press by live-streaming her interview. Kat and Laura talked, and Kat popped in at the tail end of the stream to read Leslie the riot act.

Eva wasn’t live-streaming, though, she was recording. Still, Eva got pulled right back into the mess when she high-fived her evil mother instead of checking her. I’m sorry, but that moment did not land the way the show wanted it to land and it made Eva look bad.

Later, Kat went to meet Chelsea, who wanted to discuss the wedding, but Kat immediately wanted to vent about Eva and Leslie. Chelsea learned that Kat was looking for a new place and she didn’t understand why. Her wedding will at least be a year out. The discussion turned into an explosive argument, and Kat walked out.

Thoughts on the Week

It was a good week overall, even with the Leslie shenanigans. I’m saying this because I want the show to succeed: listen to your audience. I’m seeing a lot of people check out behind Leslie’s foolishness. Leslie and Joey are living the high life and not paying for their crimes, and the audience of today does not want to see that.

We can suspend disbelief, but only so much. I’d be fine with Leslie doing a couple of months. It worked on GH for Spencer Cassadine, so it can work here. It worked for Erica Kane, so it can work here.

And the undercover story needs help—badly. Please use more sets or locations. I know there are places in ATL you can use.

Talk to Tyler Perry; he has a whole studio. This needs a world, and the alley is not it. Also, dial down the loud, obvious dialogue about Jacob being undercover. It’s not suspenseful, it’s sloppy.

I really hope Jacob isn’t being killed off, but it feels like anvils are dropping. And I’m calling it now: I think Izaiah is FBI.