Beyond the Gates Recap for December 18, 2025: Two couples reminisced and Marcel got to first base with Leslie

Here's what went down Thursday, December 18, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Anita and Andre discussed family ties, Hayley tied Lynette to their past, and ties between Genoa City and the DMV became stronger.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Leslie told Marcel she was aware that he'd only been at her side at WinterFest because the Duprees had paid him to run security and watch her. Marcel admitted that, yes, he'd been instructed to keep Leslie away from Laura – and that he couldn't turn down the “top dollar” such a gig paid. Leslie liked Marcel's comment that the Duprees needed more protection from her than she did from them, but she was dubious about his continued flirtation. Marcel told Leslie that perhaps he was hustling the Duprees as a means of getting close to Leslie rather than hustling Leslie to get intel to report back to the Duprees.

When Leslie asked into why Marcel had given her a chilly reception at the police station, Marcel replied that he had a reputation to maintain, and that he didn't want Elon and his “punk-ass son” asking questions. Marcel readied to depart Uptown when Leslie accused him of trying to get her drunk, but she squeezed his leg and playfully chided the detective for leaving a woman to drink alone. Leslie's tongue did loosen as she imbibed more; she confided that she'd only loved one man her entire life, and that he hadn't appreciated her even after learning she had given him a daughter. She'd been coming to the realization that she might have simply been convenient to Ted when he needed a shoulder to cry on.

Marcel called Ted a fool for dismissing Leslie, who let Marcel know that she wasn't giving up on Ted; if Marcel was looking for some whirlwind romance with her, it wasn't going to happen. Assuring Leslie that he was cool with whatever went down, Marcel promised that he wasn't like any other man Leslie had met – and moved in to kiss her.

Bill ran into Dani at the country club and declared her luminous. Dani worried that stroke survivor Bill was going to try to keep up with the club's college athletes, but he said he was only there to meet Hayley for dinner. After Dani cracked that Bill was going to have to set Hayley up with crayons at the kiddie table, and Bill inquired into Dani's “decorative man-boy,” the exes decided to be civil and got into what Bill had gotten their daughters for Christmas instead.

Dani was amazed when Bill revealed he had found the case belonging to Charlotte E. Ray (1850-1911), the first Black woman to become a lawyer in the United States, for Naomi. But then Bill noted that he had called in his marker with Michael Baldwin, a Genoa City lawyer he had worked with in the early 2000s, and arranged for Baldwin's wife, department store heiress Lauren Fenmore, to work with Chelsea on distributing ChelseaKat products.

Later, Bill noticed that Dani was drinking ginger ale instead of partaking in her usual eggnog martinis. Dani was fine with being sober, since she had a man who only had eyes for her in Andre. Bill understood that Dani had drunk heavily to deal with him; Dani clarified that she had been mourning her identity and career, though she assured Bill that he hadn't forced her to give up modeling – she had done it willingly, thinking that was what love required. Dani appreciated now being with a man with whom she had a partnership rather than inequity.

Bill countered that not all their Christmases had been bad – he remembered a particularly memorable holiday with Dani and the girls in Germany. But his favorite Christmas memory was one during which the still childless couple were snowed in at the Dupree family cabin: Bill flashed back to their younger selves in a moment where Dani announced to Bill that she was expecting his first baby. Young Bill was thrilled and promised to forever take care of Dani and their child. Bill called it the best Christmas gift he had ever received, and looked at Naomi and Chelsea as proof that he and Dani had at least gotten something right.

At the Dupree manse, Anita remained pensive as Vernon complimented her. The matriarch was about to tell the patriarch what was on her mind when Andre arrived on the door; Vernon whispered to Andre, who was there to update his father-in-law on the photo restoration he was preparing as Vernon's Christmas gift to Anita, that he couldn't talk. The men told Anita that they were getting together to work on ideas to improve Martin's digital presence as he went into his bid for re-election; after Anita went to the kitchen for refreshments and Vernon sprinted upstairs to retrieve the inscription he wanted Andre to include with the photo, Andre looked wistfully – and sadly – at a complete family portrait of the Duprees.

The returning Anita saw the dark cloud over Andre's head and invited him to sit with her. She empathized about having to pretend that the holidays didn't hurt, citing her rough, poverty-stricken childhood Christmases growing up in the Chicago projects. Andre was grateful that the Duprees, especially his aunt and uncle Ted and Nicole, had embraced him after the death of his parents, but he still felt the empty space left by their loss. Anita was certain that Andre's mother and father would be proud of him and the life he had created – not just with Dani, but as an insightful photographer who crystallized memories for so many others.

Lynette met with a cold Hayley at the mall and was surprised to learn that Randy was joining them. After Lynette expressed wonder that the three of them were all in the same town again, Randy corrected that he had been in D.C. longer than cousin Hayley. Lynette and Randy laughed over a scam where “Val” had convinced a rich elderly gentleman that she was his long-lost granddaughter and got herself written into his will, with Randy playing the “concerned brother.” Hayley remained unmoved, and Lynette griped about how both Hayley and Randy had left her “high and dry.”

“Look at us – Bebe's kids,” Lynette marveled, referring to a 1992 animated comedy of the same name. If only those in Allegheny West (a poor Philadelphia neighborhood) could see them now! Randy observed a disconnect between Lynette supposedly going legit and her currently being up on embezzlement charges. Lynette realized that Randy and Hayley thought she was playing them and maintained that only a lawyer of Bill's stature could get her out of her mess.

After Lynette left, Hayley and Randy decided they could test Lynette by letting Bill represent her, as Hayley could keep an eye on her. Hayley doubted Randy's participation, since he had been of no help when Bill had collapsed. Randy promised he would be more proactive where Lynette was concerned, and Hayley excused herself, chipperly saying that she didn't want to keep her soon-to-be-departed husband waiting.

Hayley and Dani glued on smiles when Hayley arrived at the country club for her dinner with Bill. Dani went home to find a shirtless Andre preparing dinner; he had gone running to clear his head. After Dani enticed Andre into the shower, she told him about the nostalgic conversation she and Bill had just had. Andre stiffened at the news and presumed that the exes' talk had been therapeutic – Dani confirmed that it had been just that, as it had made her think about how difficult the holidays must be for Andre. She wanted to revive any beloved traditions that Andre might have had with his mom and dad, but he was more interested in the present and creating new memories with Dani. Clothes came back off and the camera cut away to the fireplace.

Hayley droned on to Bill about the decorating being done at their new vacation spot in St. Bart's but soon realized Bill wasn't listening. Bill soberly said he had something he wanted to discuss with her; Hayley nearly flipped thinking Bill was backing out of taking her to the Caribbean. Instead, Bill admitted he had, because of his chat with Dani, been thinking back to when Chelsea and Naomi were young and how much he had loved raising them. Once they got past the holidays, Bill proposed to Hayley, it was time to explore Hayley going off her hormone-regulating birth control pills. He wanted them to resume their attempt to have a baby together. Hayley grinned uncomfortably.

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Back the Dupree mansion, Vernon and Anita reminisced about their first meeting at the protest march they had both attended in the '70s. The Articulettes had just come off a 30-city tour, and Anita had only wanted to rest – except manager Dante Green thought it would benefit the group to appear at the rally. Vernon remembered Anita fussing about her aching feet even in their first moments; Anita was happy she had resisted her urge to leave, since Vernon had had “the kindest eyes.” When Vernon wondered what Anita had been about to tell him before Andre's arrival, she simply said she wanted to go over holiday schedules with him. Anita declared herself a lucky woman, having been blessed with a special career, husband, and family – but Vernon noted that Anita was speaking in the past tense. He assured Anita that the two of them were just beginning, and that they had many more years together. As Vernon hugged Anita, the concern was obvious on her face.

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

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