Beyond the Gates Recap, July 17, 2025: Smitty gave Martin a time-out and Nicole continued to hold a grudge

Here's what went down Thursday, July 17, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when we got a first mention of Bill's father, Anita probably wished that she'd stayed on the plane, and Jacob smelled a rat after the discovery of “Kenneth's" body.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Bill shared a drink with Dani at the country club, with Dani wisely intuiting that her ex-husband didn't want to talk specifics about his spat with Vernon. After Bill said he had met his “read-for-filth quota,” he abruptly admitted that he still felt a need for the patriarch's approval. Dani knew that Bill didn't need approval from his own father, who had only withheld it because the young Bill had once wanted it very badly. Bill assumed that daddy's girl Dani wouldn't understand the fact that respect from “the legendary Vernon Dupree” had always meant a lot to him. Yet, Bill couldn't help but admire the way Vernon had gone for the jugular with him.

Anita demanded that Vernon tell her what had been happening with Martin in her absence. Vernon described how, despite having been paid off, “Kenneth” had come back and run recon on Martin for over a month. La Dupree was upset that Vernon had known for that long and hadn't filled her in. Vernon confirmed that things had spun out of control when “Kenneth” had accosted Tyrell and Samantha. After Vernon explained that “Kenneth” was dead, a shocked Anita wanted to know if Vernon had ordered it. Vernon vowed he hadn't and that leaving the details to Bill had been a mistake. Anita differed, noting there was no way to know that Bill would resort to murder.

Vernon berated himself for allowing Joey into the loop and worried that he would be seen as masterminding “Kenneth's" death. Anita reminded Vernon of his moral compass and called Joey's influence on Bill toxic. Mr. Dupree relayed how Martin had been ready to confess to his violent handling of the hate crime, so he couldn't be in Joey's debt; Anita sighed that Martin was now tied to Joey forever and was in disbelief that Vernon hadn't even hinted at the goings-on during all their phone calls. Vernon sheepishly said he hadn't wanted to interfere in the Articulettes' reunion. Anita scoffed that they had sabotaged that all by themselves.

La Dupree supposed that perhaps the concert had fallen apart because she was needed at home – and needed more by her family than by “a couple of unappreciative, bickering former groupmates.” Vernon was glad that Anita was home, even if she was mad at him. Anita decided they needed to determine what to tell their family – and the public, as the conference and its blunt ending had earned its share of media attention. The mother was also concerned by how daughter Nicole would react to her son and estranged husband being embroiled in yet another secret kept from her.

The Duprees discussed Nicole's probable feelings of further betrayal and how Dani would come down on them as well for keeping Martin's incident quiet from her. Vernon cast doubt on how they had handled things and fretted that they had robbed Martin of his opportunity to heal by forcing him to go on as if the hate crime hadn't happened. Anita was then chastened to hear that Smitty had been assigned to do a fluff piece on Marcel and that the investigative reporter had gone much deeper than that...and involved Jacob. Anita was disquieted that Smitty might go public with what he knew about Marcel's connection to Joey...and the fact that Vernon had stood up for Marcel during Marcel's inquiry. Vernon bet on Smitty's need to protect his husband first before any loyalty to his profession.

At the Richardson-Smith condo, Smitty was bewildered that “Kenneth” was dead when he had just seen him alive hours earlier. When Smitty wondered if Martin's determination to go out and defend their family had resulted in the death, Martin swore he'd had nothing to do with it – it had only been when he was ready to reveal his secret to the public at his press conference that he had learned about “Kenneth's" demise. Smitty realized that Martin knew who had acted on his behalf and challenged his husband to tell him who had gunned “Kenneth” down.

Though Martin swore that Vernon hadn't arranged for “Kenneth” to be taken out, Smitty had his own ideas about who had ordered the hit on him – and the reporter seethed that he couldn't trust Martin to be forthcoming with that information. Martin professed that his family had kept him so in the dark that he had only just discovered that Ted had performed plastic surgery on “Kenneth.” Smitty was still peeved that Martin had involved Marcel by tasking him with protecting them; Martin didn't know how much Marcel had had to do with “Kenneth's" fate, but he didn't think it a coincidence that Joey had shown up at his presser. Smitty didn't like that Joey had been connected to the events in any fashion.

Samantha and Tyrell came downstairs and wouldn't take no for an answer when they declared that they needed to know what was going on between their parents. Martin agreed and offered to fill his kids in while Smitty shook his head. The congressman gave the teens a slightly sanitized version of events, remarking that he and Vernon hadn't gone to the police in the rural area of the incident because they couldn't have been sure the authorities wouldn't have taken “Kenneth's" side. “Why didn't you just tell us the truth from the very beginning?” Tyrell asked upon learning that “Kenneth” was the racist who had attacked his elders; Smitty spread his hands in agreement.

Martin understood that he had made things worse with his silence. Samantha questioned whether or not they could file a restraining order against “Kenneth,” but Martin hesitantly told the kids that “Kenneth” was “gone.” Tyrell and Samantha assumed that “Kenneth” was on the lam because Martin was going to expose him during his press conference, but they couldn't reconcile that with the fact that Martin had sent the reporters home. Martin would only repeat that “Kenneth” was no longer a threat; Samantha wanted to know why Smitty was still being so “salty.” In her eyes, her pop had saved her great-granddad from racists.

Smitty assured his daughter that he wasn't trying to punish Martin, while Tyrell understood Smitty's anger over Martin having lied so much. Martin realized it was going to take more than apologies to make things right, and Smitty stonily concurred that he couldn't make any promises. Tyrell and Samantha received Martin's promise that he would be reachable after Martin took Smitty's cue to leave the house. Samantha rolled her eyes and ran upstairs; Tyrell offered to talk to Samantha on Smitty's behalf.

Vanessa visited Nicole, who was still riled up after “dealing with that bitch Leslie.” Nicole explained how she had nearly strangled Leslie after Leslie had made crass references to her sexcapades with Ted; Nicole remained floored that she had been capable of violence. Vanessa promised to keep Nicole's tussle with Leslie a secret and assured her no one was thinking of anything but Martin's bizarre press conference. This was the first Nicole had heard about it, and she groused that “nobody tells me a damn thing anymore.”

Nicole did a search about the presser online and found a photo of Martin standing next to Bill; Vanessa described how the ordinarily combative Bill had had nothing but kind words about Martin and had functioned as a sort of spokesperson for him. Nicole saw the reporting about the “family emergency” that had ground the event to a halt and became confused, as, to her knowledge, there had been no such emergency. Vanessa shared her observations that Martin had been stunned into silence after Bill had shown him something on his phone, and how Vernon had laid into Bill once Martin had left. Nicole scoffed that, even with her advanced degrees, no one had come to her for help, but Vanessa impressed upon Nicole that her son was in some sort of trouble.

Taking Vanessa's advice, Nicole went to see Martin and came upon Smitty, who tried not to react as she presumed that everything was normal in her son's household. But when a sullen Samantha ventured downstairs, hoping Martin had returned, Smitty had to admit that Martin was staying elsewhere for the time being. Nicole didn't think Martin's press conference would be about any separation; Smitty counseled his mother-in-law to get the reasons from Martin directly. Nicole gently affirmed that Samantha, Tyrell, and Smitty all had plenty of family around them who loved them; Smitty expressed his appreciation.

Samantha told Tyrell she couldn't see why Smitty couldn't just forgive Martin after he had confessed everything; she likened it to the breakup of grandparents Ted and Nicole, whom the girl guessed barely spoke anymore. Tyrell praised Smitty for stopping the cycle of lies by refusing to give Martin a free pass and advised his sister not to get caught up in the cycle herself by wanting their parents to simply forgive and forget.

After Samantha tried to equate Martin's sins of omission with Tyrell's when he had tried to hold back being bullied at school, Tyrell insisted that it had only involved him. Martin's lies had involved all of them, and Tyrell felt terrible for allowing “Kenneth” into their home – plus, there was no way of knowing what “Kenneth” might have done to Samantha had Martin not happened upon them at the park. Samantha considered the matter closed now that Martin had admitted everything, but Tyrell had deduced from their fathers' glances that there was a lot more about the situation that they hadn't been told.

Smitty let Jacob in and downplayed Jacob's report that an unidentified man had been found dead from a gunshot wound in a nearby park. Jacob added that Marcel had found the body and that he suspected the man had somehow run afoul of Joey. When Smitty didn't think much of the connection, Jacob became alarmed that Smitty seemed to have cooled about Marcel; the detective didn't think the man was dead simply because of a botched robbery. Smitty cited exhaustion and didn't want to delve further into the subject with Jacob, who was sympathetic when he heard that Martin had moved out. Nodding, Smitty reinforced that he couldn't deal with Marcel conveniently stumbling upon a cadaver “because of Martin.”

Martin arrived at the Dupree home rolling in suitcases, telling his grandparents how he had toned down the events with “Kenneth” for his kids' sake and that he didn't blame Smitty for throwing him out. Anita said that she and Vernon regretted coercing Martin into keeping quiet, but Martin replied that he had been grown and had made his own choices. In hindsight, Martin felt that if he had been honest with Smitty the night he had defended himself and Vernon against the hate crime, Smitty would have stood by him while simultaneously compelling him to face the repercussions instead of allowing him to cover things up.

Vernon allowed that he'd been wrong for setting everything in motion and that he'd acted out of fear. Anita cut her husband some slack, as the county where “Kenneth” had confronted Martin and Vernon was notorious for its racism, with Black drivers being assaulted during traffic stops. She understood how it might have looked for any Black man to have killed one white man and maimed another, even in self-defense. Vernon thought back and realized that he could have used his connections to navigate the legal fallout, even if it meant the end of Martin's political career, because he didn't, and now they all had “Kenneth's" blood on their hands.

Trending

Even worse, Vernon made clear, it was no longer possible to come forward, as it would mean implicating Joey, who would surely retaliate. When Vernon wanted to explain things to Smitty and apologize, Martin thought it better that Smitty have the time and space to process everything he had just learned. As Anita was telling Martin that they could all depend on each other, Nicole burst in and demanded, “Someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on here!”

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

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback

Quick Links

More from SoapCentral