Beyond the Gates' Doug McBride has all the wrong cards

On Beyond the Gates, things came to a head in the triangle of Joey, Doug, and his wife, Vanessa. What can they do to stop Joey from getting precisely what he wants?

Rolling the dice on Beyond the Gates

Doug (Jason Graham) has been taking risk after risk at the casino, not just with his money, but his life — and his wife. We didn't know just how far into debt that Doug had gotten himself, but we just learnt when Joey (Jon Lindstrom) and Vanessa (Lauren Buglioli) were suddenly joined by her husband, Doug. Joey told Vanessa that he was in deep — to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars. That was not the number that I was expecting at all. There is no way that Doug can nickel and dime it back to Joey, what with the interest he charges, the debt would forever remain.

No dice for Doug

Doug wanted to keep it a secret from Vanessa, forever, and find a way to pay Joey back, but there was no way to do that, and Joey made good on his threat to tell his wife. The fact that Doug just left, walked out after telling Joey that he had had enough and didn't have to stay and listen to him — that was something I couldn't believe I was seeing. So, Doug, you are completely aware now just how dangerous Joey is, and you’re just going to leave your wife there to fight your battle? I guess we can add cowardice to a laundry list of things I don't like about Doug.

Their marriage might not pass for anything less than a joke, but the vows they took still matter, right? Well, Joey wasn’t interested in hurting Vanessa, just coercing her to use her realty business to launder his money for him. Vanessa instead slapped Joey, grabbed her purse, and left. The last scene we saw was Joey grinning, like the game just got more interesting. What is Joey's next move? So far, we have only seen Joey offer implied threats and the hidden violence behind them. Will we get to see some daytime TV version of The Sopranos? Joey's henchman and right-hand man, Randy Parker (Maurice P. Kerry), is also Doug’s day one buddy, and as much as he has a job to do, old loyalties run deep. I could see Randy being there for Doug. Stay tuned, soap fans, we may need to wait, but this one is cooking, and Vanessa could be just as dangerous as Joey.

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You can watch Beyond the Gates weekdays on CBS or stream live or on-demand on Paramount Plus.

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