Beyond the Gates Recap, August 8, 2025: Doug moved to strongarm Armstrong and Hayley told (half) truths

Here's what went down Friday, August 8, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Ashley got buyer's remorse before she was even out of the lot, Joey explored a different reality, and Hayley told the Naomi the truth about her pregnancy...or did she?

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Jan tracked down Derek, whose lean Uptown meal was meant to help him prepare for a triathlon. Derek listened to Jan campaigning for him to reunite with Ashley; Jan wrote off Ashley's infatuation with Andre as FOMO (“fear of missing out”). Although Derek had taken the hint Ashley had left by refusing his marriage proposal, Jan interpreted the action as fear and faulted herself for making Ashley too independent. Derek couldn't get past Ashley's interest in Andre and was almost grateful to him for helping him see he wasn't enough for his ex.

When Derek reported that he had already tried multiple times to effect a reconciliation with Ashley, Jan became frustrated that Derek was giving up. Jan wanted Derek to act like the hero he was, since Andre was simply a fleeting moment. “Go get your girl,” Derek's almost-mother-in-law implored.

Ashley exercised, but thoughts of Jan warning her about losing Derek permanently and Andre pondering settling down competed for her attention. The caregiver exhorted herself to make a decision, then opened her door to find Derek on her step. Derek went over how Jan had got him thinking: people had a tendency to gloss over what they had in favor of what they didn't. He knew he didn't measure up to Andre in terms of his worldliness, but Derek was willing to learn and asked Ashley if he could still be her hero.

The nurse was aware of what Derek and Jan wanted, but Ashley herself was torn. When she had finally gotten the stability that Derek had provided her, plus landed her dream job, she had only felt an urge to run. To Ashley, Andre represented a sense of wonder and not being closed off to new experiences. Derek retorted that he could introduce her to new things as well as Andre could, but Ashley related how they'd both been raised to be practical. She saw the value in choosing Derek – it was just that a big part of her wanted to buck those values and live a different way.

Derek wanted Ashley to be sure about who she loved and conceded that he wasn't Andre; if Ashley chose Derek, he would put in the work to help Ashley realize her dreams. Yet, Derek couldn't continue waiting for her and gave her two choices: “forever or never.”

Jan was still at Uptown when Derek returned, asking the firefighter if he and Ashley had set a wedding date. Derek stoically apprised Jan that there would never be a wedding...because Ashley had chosen Andre.

Bill explained that he had rushed to the hospital from the airport, only to find Hayley had already left the facility. He was devastated to learn that Hayley had lost their baby, but Naomi looked doubtful. When Bill was ready to rage at the ER for letting Hayley go home so early, Hayley whimpered that the doctors had done all that they could do. Defeated, Bill exited to make tea for his wife; Naomi questioned why Hayley hadn't mentioned the miscarriage upon her arrival. Hayley called marital privacy, but gulped when Naomi insisted that her former friend tell her if she actually had lied about having an ultrasound...and if Bill was mourning a baby that had never existed.

Hayley quietly confessed that she'd had no ultrasound, and that she had gone online to get the one she'd had printed for Bill. Naomi cried foul when Hayley added that she really had been pregnant at one point; when Hayley had gone to the hospital for the first scare, she couldn't face even the possibility of miscarrying, which a sonogram would have shown her. Bill had wanted to see results, which was why she'd given him fake ones. Naomi was silent while Hayley sobbed that she might have been able to prevent losing Bill's child if she had just gotten the procedure done.

Mrs. Hamilton said she hadn't been able to bring herself to inform Bill that there might be a problem with the baby while he was busy shopping for safe strollers. When Hayley asked Naomi if she was going to tell her father about her neglect, Bill walked in with the tea, wanting to know what he should be told. Naomi covered, expressing genuine regret for the loss of her expected half-sibling; Hayley smiled and mouthed “thank you.”

After Naomi left, Hayley lamented that there was no more baby capable of bringing the family together, and Bill beat himself up for not being there in Hayley's time of need. He hated to admit that some things were out of their control, like Hayley losing the baby; he in no way held her responsible.

Andre waited for Dani, thinking back to telling Ashley he knew what he wanted and that he needed to have a conversation with Dani about it. Dani arrived upset, swearing she'd never meant Hayley any harm. “There was so much blood,” she cried. “I think I made Hayley lose her baby.” Andre couldn't believe, once Hayley had emerged from the bathroom bleeding, that she would ride to the hospital with a stranger because she couldn't stand to be in the same car as Dani. Ms. Dupree had been certain that Hayley was faking her pregnancy until that moment and wondered what she had done to her rival.

Dani blamed herself for Hayley's crisis and avowed that she'd never wish a miscarriage on any other woman. Andre imparted that the doctors could be saving Hayley's baby as they spoke. Dani, knowing how it looked, decided that Bill was the only person she could get information from and put in a call to her ex-husband. Andre understood, and Dani fell apart when Bill sadly told her about Hayley's miscarriage.

Pacing Andre's apartment, Dani said she had felt justified in her hatred of Hayley because she was the villain while Dani was the victim. But, Dani averred, her brand of vitriol had never resulted in someone getting hurt before. Andre didn't hold that Dani was the monster she labeled herself, or that somewhere deep down Dani had wanted Hayley's baby gone. He reminded Dani that Hayley had started their fight, but Dani stopped herself when she threw her arms around Andre and berated herself for using him to make herself feel better..again.

Andre commented that just because they were friends with benefits, that didn't mean they couldn't lean on each other as friends. Dani calmed down and inquired into why Andre had called her over. When Andre decided to table that subject, Dani intuited that Andre wanted to wait until she wasn't a “hot mess. When is that, Andre?” Dani asked, self-reflecting. Andre saw that Dani needed a breather after her ordeal with Hayley and wanted Dani to see herself the way he did: good at being bad, but also a good mother, sister, and friend. The photographer pronounced that Dani was the kind of woman who could make a man forget any other woman existed.

“What would I do without you right now?” Dani wondered, her tears returning. Andre said she didn't have to find out. They began kissing right as Ashley came by; she ducked out, but Andre thought he heard something and broke his embrace with Dani. When Andre reckoned that it wasn't the right time for lovemaking, Dani saw the wisdom and said she probably shouldn't be using Andre as her “emotional support hunk” anyway. He agreed to hold her, since, after all, they were friends.

At the casino, Joey couldn't say that he trusted Vanessa, but he did cop to enjoying her company more than anyone else's. Vanessa explained that she had neutralized Doug by reminding him that if he busted Joey for money laundering, Vanessa would be imprisoned as well. Joey had trouble believing that Vanessa still had any sway over Doug. After Vanessa took responsibility for her part in Doug's “spiral,” Joey announced that he wouldn't allow Doug to profit off their enterprise while threatening to destroy it.

Vanessa was so adamant that she had Doug under control that Joey marveled that there was a woman in his life working in his best interests, not against them. Joey slipped that he didn't need the police involved in another investigation and sidestepped Vanessa's question about it. Vanessa allowed the pivot and proclaimed that she was not only protecting herself and Joey, but Doug. Armstrong sniffed that he had known a lot of “Dougs” and was amazed that Vanessa still cared about hers. If he'd had a different life, Joey projected, maybe one writing novels on a beach and “spending forever with a woman like you,” he wouldn't gamble that existence away the way Doug had his.

Joey jeered that Doug had gone from a respected surgeon to a drunk living off his wife overnight. Vanessa countered that, while Doug couldn't control his vices – maybe because she hadn't been able to control hers – he was still a good man. That was why she had told Doug about Joey bugging his car.

Doug had bought a new phone and called Randy from Orphey Gene's, only to hear Randy's phone going off in the diner. The doctor deemed his childhood friend insane for showing his face in town. Randy knew he was risking being discovered by Joey, but he had returned to take care of some quick business. Doug was tired of living under Joey's shadow and asked Randy if he would help him take the casino owner down.

Randy thought Doug was crazy for proposing such a “Hail Mary” move. Doug concluded that he'd never be free from Joey without action and declared that Randy owed him for saving Randy's life. While Randy acknowledged that others had tried to eliminate Joey in the past, none of them had been left alive – and if Joey got nabbed for money laundering, he'd know it was Doug who busted him. Mr. McBride saw the point and didn't want Vanessa to end up in prison herself, so he suggested to Randy that they think bigger. Perhaps, Doug thought, murder was the option.

Doug stunned Randy with the revelation that Vanessa had been sleeping with Joey; the surgeon admitted to thoughts of a permanent revenge on his nemesis, but instead wanted to task Randy with making Joey suffer. Randy didn't know how – Doug remembered that Joey had put out a hit on someone, with Randy as the gunman. Despite the target getting away alive, Doug reasoned that Randy going to the police about it would certainly lead to a corpse and get Joey sent up for murder one. Doug also noted that Joey would not leave a loose end like Randy dangling indefinitely and urged his friend to get ahead of Joey instead.

Randy chortled that Doug was still a “newborn” when it came to crime – Doug had skipped over the fact that Joey owned the cops. Doug recollected that he had managed to save Randy from Marcel and asked who else on the force was crooked; Randy didn't know, so Doug put forward the alternate idea of going to the district attorney. McBride reminisced how those in their old neighborhood used to call him a magician for turning himself into a surgeon; Doug figured he still had some miracles in him and offered to include Randy in this one...if Randy teamed up with him.

Mr. Parker felt bad for his part in how Joey had set up Doug, and Randy fully comprehended what it was like to live in fear of Joey. Doug correctly deduced that Randy was in, but Randy was firm about them doing things his way. The fact that Joey had miked Doug's car gave them an advantage...that they could use to pull Joey's strings.

Joey was incensed to learn that Doug had learned about his surveillance from Vanessa. The realtor asserted that she had needed Doug to know the lengths Joey would go to so that Doug would ease off on his exposure threats. Vanessa then disclosed to Joey that she would never see Doug the same way after being with him...but that she also wanted Doug to continue living. Joey agreed not to stay mad at Vanessa but stopped her seduction attempt, saying that one couldn't help who they loved...or, oftentimes, what that love made one do.

Beyond the Gates airs weekdays on CBS and streams on Paramount Plus.