Beyond the Gates Recap for December 19, 2025: Anita got her biopsy results

Here's what went down Friday, December 19, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Dani found out it was raining men with Nicole, Ashley brought the humanity when it came to gift giving, and Leslie made the hospital water cooler boil.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Dani and Nicole popped into Uptown after a day of Christmas shopping. When Nicole called the experience overwhelming, Dani wondered when her sister had become such a Scrooge. Nicole pinpointed the moment to when Leslie had blown up her marriage, though she realized she was throwing herself a pity party. Dani empathized, recalling the previous Christmas during which she'd been struggling to process Bill having left her for Hayley. Though Dani realized Nicole was having a tough time celebrating the holidays without Ted for the first time, she knew, from her own experience, that Nicole would bounce back, just as she had.

Nicole tamped down Dani's excitement about her perhaps moving on with Carlton – or the handsome doctor who had escorted Nicole to WinterFest. Upon Dani demanding to know why her sister was holding off on dating Carlton, Nicole shocked her by revealing the romantic indoor picnic Carlton had put together for her. Dani was thrilled – and even more so to hear that Nicole had taken the initiative to kiss Carlton. However, Nicole thought better of bringing Carlton to Dani's Christmas party, since she knew the surgeon would be subjected to the Duprees' questioning.

The psychiatrist also had reservations about making a public appearance with Carlton since she was keeping her options open with Kial. Dani realized that perhaps Kat, who would be at Dani's party instead of Martin's because of Eva – and who had already been having enough trouble adjusting to the family's new configuration – might not be able to cope with seeing her mother on the arm of someone besides her father. Nicole was glad that Andre, who had only come to town for occasional holiday visits after the deaths of his parents, was now hosting a gathering with Dani.

Once Nicole got home, she called Carlton to see if he had any plans, but he was about to attend a Christmas pageant with his niece. Nicole smiled in understanding yet was clearly disappointed.

Leslie sauntered into the nurses station, glad to hear that Ashley and Jan had enjoyed themselves at WinterFest. Ashley thanked Leslie for the tickets and revealed that Jan was now off on a Love Boat-themed cruise. Leslie avoided Shanice while asking into Peaches' condition, but Shanice cut in that Peaches was resting comfortably. After Leslie left, Shanice groused that Leslie's latest outrage was that Shanice had prevented her from bringing a live Christmas tree into Peaches' room, as it was against hospital regulations. Shanice allowed that Leslie might simply need someone to be mad at with her mother confined to a bed for the holidays.

Peaches, her mouth still covered by her oxygen mask, shook her head and tried to get Leslie's attention as Leslie ranted about Shanice getting in her way. Leslie settled and had Peaches smiling with her recollection of Peaches having to handle young “ball of energy” Leslie while cooped up in their tiny apartment during a blizzard. Acknowledging that she had been a handful – and that she still was – Leslie expressed her appreciation to Peaches for caring enough to put in the effort to deal with her.

Showing Peaches the ice skates ornament she had bought for the young Eva when the girl had become an enthusiast, Leslie explained that taking Eva skating at Millennium Park when they'd lived in Chicago had become their Christmas tradition. Leslie thanked Peaches for showing her that money wasn't necessary to create holiday memories and compared that to the “bougie folks” she and Eva were now surrounded by. Though she was glad that Ted had gone skating with Eva – on a rink set up on the golf course, she sniffed – Leslie sighed that she was now relegated to the sidelines, since Eva had a new tradition with Ted. “Hogwash,” Peaches piped up, taking off her mask.

Outside at the nurses station, Shanice praised Ashley for having a genuine calling as a nurse, while Ashley marveled at how physical therapist Shanice had gotten Derek back on his feet with a combination of compassion and toughlove. Seeing that Shanice had scheduled herself to work over Christmas, Ashley offered to take the shift so Shanice could enjoy the holiday; Ashley wanted to have something to keep her busy with Derek gone and her mother out of town. Shanice was grateful, though she advised Ashley to forget about Derek and start thinking about who she might like to have under her tree.

Ashley gave Shanice her Christmas present early – Shanice was confused to unwrap a container labeled for human organs, but Ashley laughed that the bag, which was really filled with bottles of lotion, was meant to be a deterrent, since people were always stealing Shanice's lunches. Shanice found the gift thoughtful and hugged her friend.

Shanice brought Peaches an artificial poinsettia, seeing the abundance of Christmas decorations Leslie had put up and telling Peaches that it was evident how much her family cared about her. Leslie returned, griping that it was okay for Shanice to bring Peaches holiday flora but not her; Shanice clarified that the fake plant wouldn't affect Peaches' breathing. Peaches again shook her head at Leslie's antics.

Andre met Vernon at the country club to show him the finished restoration of the '70s newspaper photo which depicted Anita and Vernon's first meeting. Vernon confirmed for Andre that the Dupree women had a collective habit of searching for their Christmas presents long before it was time to open them, so Andre offered to hide Vernon's gift at his condo. When Vernon seemed inquisitive as to why Andre still had his own place despite being married to Dani, Andre assured his father-in-law that he was planning to rent the place out, and that he wasn't keeping it so he could sneak away with other women.

Vernon notified Andre that Bill had had other women before Hayley; Andre was aware of his own womanizing reputation and promised the patriarch that he had every intention of being faithful to Dani. When Vernon said that Bill's pride couldn't let him not be the center of Dani's world, Andre quipped that his heart wasn't bleeding for Dani's ex – he was cognizant of Bill's attentiveness to Dani, and pointed out that Hayley was aware of it as well. Andre smirked that Bill had married “the female version of himself,” who wouldn't let Bill get away with hovering over Dani, but Vernon didn't want Andre to leave the matter to Hayley. He let Andre know that he was rooting for him and Dani, and Andre's joy at Vernon shaking his hand was visible.

Andre was finishing putting up his and Dani's pink Christmas tree when Dani arrived home. They were each glad that Vernon liked the restored photo of him and Anita, but Dani decided she'd rather “unwrap presents” in the bedroom before the guests were due.

Anita invited Sharon and Tracy into the Dupree manse, having told them about her biopsy. Tracy repeated the worried Anita's contention that the mass found in her breast was more likely to be benign than malignant – and understood her fear, since she had felt panicky waiting on her own results a few years prior. Sharon recalled how she had treated Tracy to a Denzel Washington movie marathon to take her mind off things during the wait; Anita felt bad that she hadn't been there for Tracy, but Tracy held no grudges. As Tracy assured Anita that they would celebrate when her biopsy came back negative, Sharon stared at a framed photo of Anita and Vernon.

When Anita described how difficult it had been not letting on to her husband, children, and grandchildren that something might be wrong, both Sharon and Tracy felt that Anita should take Vernon into her confidence. Anita thought back to having travelled to Chicago to rehearse with her co-singers for the Articulettes concert; that had been the longest Anita had spent time away from Vernon, and she didn't want to instill in him fears of doing without her unless it was absolutely necessary.

Sharon told Anita that she was acting like she'd already received bad news when things would certainly work out for her, as they always had. Sensing that her tone could be interpreted as her still being resentful toward Anita, Sharon explained otherwise, and Anita sassed her for putting her foot in her mouth. “You think because I'm scared for my life I'm gonna start biting my tongue? Girl, please!” Anita declared, causing the other Articulettes to laugh. Anita's phone broke up the levity – it was Dr. Ahn, who wanted to discuss Anita's biopsy results in person.

Later, Vernon took a call from Sharon, surprised to hear that she was in town. Sharon wanted to get together, but Vernon doubted he could get away because of his family's holiday obligations. Sharon pressed, so Vernon agreed to find some time – but Tracy overheard Sharon's clandestineness and wanted to know who Sharon was talking to. Tracy didn't believe Sharon's claim that she had been handling a telemarketer and demanded answers.

Leslie ran into Ted at the nurses station and said that Peaches had gotten some of her spark back thanks to Ted taking steps to get Peaches into the clinical trial; Ted had been glad to help. When Leslie tried to invite herself to Martin's holiday get-together as Ted's date, Ted didn't think it would be a good idea for him to show up with the one woman who had dismantled his family. Leslie spat that everyone needed to get over what had happened “a million years ago” – and besides, it wasn't like Ted had been the only Dupree to have an affair.

Ted thought Leslie was talking about Bill...but Leslie whispered that the philanderer was none other than Vernon Dupree himself. Seeing Ted's disbelief, Leslie went on that Vernon's tryst wasn't in the past – it was current, and with one of Anita's fellow Articulettes, at that.

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Anita sat stiff as Dr. Ahn came into the examination room. From Ahn's demeanor, Anita predicted that her results weren't good. Ahn had to concur – she gently but matter-of-factly informed Anita Williams Dupree that she had breast cancer.

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

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