Beyond the Gates Recap, July 18, 2025: Nicole learned of her son's torment, and Samantha got quite the bedtime story

Here's what went down Friday, July 18, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Jacob got two questions for every answer regarding Marcel, Martin found himself sleeping single in a double bed, and “Kenneth's" shadow loomed large over the Duprees.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Nicole told Martin not to “prevaricate” when he wouldn't verify that he'd left Smitty. Because Smitty had instructed Nicole to get her answers from Martin directly, she was there to do just that; Martin said he didn't blame Smitty for sending him away. Nicole took Martin aside and wanted to know if he had been unfaithful. Becoming teary, Martin admitted that what he'd done to Smitty had been worse. As Nicole pelted her son with questions as to what the problem was between the Richardson-Smiths, Martin glanced in his grandparents' direction; Nicole took that to mean that, once again, her family thought she was “too delicate or damaged” to receive unpleasant news.

When Martin couldn't bring himself to explain, Nicole confronted Vernon and insisted she be told who had made the decision to keep her in the dark. Anita stepped in and expressed that they had been trying to give Nicole space after Ted's betrayal; Nicole was just as incensed that Anita had come home without a word to her. Vernon said that the unfolding situation was complex, but conceded that Nicole had a right to know the truth.

However, Martin wouldn't get into it, insisting that he needed to shift his focus and eat something. Anita tasked Vernon with taking Martin to the country club and promised to fill Nicole in for him. Once the politicians left, Anita advised Nicole not to project her bitterness about Ted and his secrets onto what was happening with Martin. Nicole wondered if there was something about her that made people tip-toe around her and conceal difficult truths from her.

When Anita stated that Nicole hadn't had to go through crushing hardships, Nicole balked that she had dealt with multiple miscarriages and the dissolution of her marriage. Nicole was tired of Anita's attempts at context and just wanted her mother to cut to the chase, but Anita said that Nicole needed to prepare herself for how ugly her story was. After Nicole realized that what she was about to hear went far beyond whatever issues Smitty and Martin were having, Anita laid out how Martin and Vernon had been confronted by racist thieves and how Martin's attempt to protect his grandfather had left one man dead and another disfigured.

Nicole was stunned to learn that Ted had been brought in to repair the surviving man's face, and she flew into a rage when she realized she could have helped Martin deal with the trauma of the past incident and the terror of “Kenneth's" more recent blackmail had someone told her that her son was in trouble. She cried that she hadn't been able to help her child “because you and Daddy decided to play God.”

Anita knew that, no matter how much progress there had been, a Black man defending himself against a white racist would still result in the Black man looking guilty. The matriarch refused to apologize for siding with Vernon in doing what they had to to keep the matter quiet. “And how did that turn out?” Nicole seethed. Nicole decried the psychological damage that Martin had suffered because of the cover-up, and from having killed someone. Anita implored Nicole to look past the deception and see why it had been necessary, while Nicole compared to the Duprees to a crime syndicate; Nicole couldn't believe that saving face had been more important than helping Martin through the hell he had endured. In fact, Nicole spat, it had been disgusting.

While Anita blasted Nicole for coming down so hard on the family who had always been there for her, Nicole said they weren't merely dealing with a difficulty. The psychiatrist was ready to walk out; Anita granted that Nicole's contempt might end up being the price for the decisions she and Vernon had made, but she wanted Nicole to know that those decisions hadn't at all been about preserving the family's reputation – it had been about protecting Martin. Nicole claimed that was what her parents had to tell themselves to sleep at night and left in a huff.

Arriving at the country club, Vernon couldn't stop expressing regret for what Martin was going through. Martin considered his grandfather his rock, especially since he was the only other person who had experienced the hate crime and its repercussions. Vernon felt that, whatever price the lies, the secrecy had allowed Martin to serve his community as a congressman; Martin was remorseful that he hadn't told Smitty, and that he couldn't turn to his husband or kids in the fallout of the truth, particularly since Smitty had been so helpful in helping him de-escalate after his nightmares.

Vernon counseled Martin to look beyond the terrible feelings of the moment and remember the love that he and Smitty had built over the years. Martin lamented how much Smitty had sacrificed for him; Vernon said that Smitty had done that for no one but Martin. Yet, Martin confessed that, when he observed the present situation, he could only see the end of his marriage, because Martin hadn't just been dishonest about how he'd handled the hate crime – there had been a murder because of him. After Vernon exhorted Martin to fight for his marriage, Martin expressed a desire to – he just didn't have any fight left in him in that moment. Vernon avowed that Martin and Smitty would be all right.

Martin returned with Vernon to the mansion, thanking Anita for everything she had done for him, including allowing him to stay there during the discord with Smitty. After Martin went upstairs to rest, Mrs. Dupree asked Mr. Dupree, “Are we horrible people?” Vernon realized that Nicole had lashed out; Anita elaborated how Nicole had accused them of protecting themselves with no regard for her son's well-being. Anita worried that Dani would have a similar opinion and could only speculate on how their daughters viewed them. Vernon was aware they could have handled things differently, but he didn't want Anita to blame herself for choices that had been made at the time; they would see the family through, as they always had. “May God have mercy on his soul...and mine,” Vernon replied when Anita brought up the man who was now dead because of them.

Samantha wanted to know if Smitty was ever going to let Martin come home. Smitty gently replied that, for the moment, he couldn't live with Martin after what he had done. He wasn't trying to be cruel, he told his daughter; he just didn't want to make empty promises to her. Samantha empathized, and she listened as Smitty described how Martin had begun having nightmares and waking visions after the hate crime incident from two years earlier that he had kept secret.

Smitty corrected Samantha, who thought that Smitty had withheld information just as Martin had by way of not informing her about the nightmares; Smitty pointed out that parents had a right to protect their children, but Martin not telling him about the dangerous man who was after him had put their whole family in danger. The reporter explained to the teen how evasive and deceptive Martin had been – and that, if Martin's hand hadn't been forced, he still would be going around saying everything was okay. That was why he had asked Martin to leave, he said as he hugged the girl.

Samantha understood why Smitty was unable to take Martin back, but implored him to keep the lines of communication open with him. Smitty shared Samantha's hope that the rift could be healed; Samantha noted that Martin was hurting as well. “When did you get to be so grown-up?” Smitty asked. He promised Samantha that he wouldn't completely shut Martin out.

At the precinct, Jacob asked into the death of the man at the park; Elon would only say that the deceased was a “John Doe” and seemed indifferent to whether or not he would be identified. Jacob thought it odd that basic protocol wasn't being followed in at least discovering the man's next of kin, prompting Elon to wonder if Jacob was implying something. Elon went on to say that the anonymous victim wasn't Jacob's case, and therefore not Jacob's problem.

After Elon abruptly changed the subject to whether or not Smitty was going back off of Marcel, Jacob remarked that Marcel had been the one to find the body in the park. Elon ordered Jacob to suppress his curiosity before he got hurt. Later, Elon found Jacob on a call trying to track down security footage from the park and praised his junior for his tenacity. When Elon presumed that Jacob had learned some of it from Marcel, Jacob scoffed that Marcel wasn't the role model Elon thought he was. Jacob was further puzzled when another officer brought Elon footage of Martin's press conference that he had wanted to examine.

Jacob visited Smitty, furious that Smitty hadn't mentioned the press conference when they'd spoken earlier – or why Martin had aborted it. Hawthorne also didn't think it was a coincidence that the event had ground to a halt at the exact same time a stiff had turned up. Samantha returned and clandestinely listened as Jacob roasted Smitty for clamming up after everything they had done to uncover Marcel's suspicious activities; her buzzing phone nearly gave her away as Jacob implied that Martin was somehow connected to everything. Smitty stood wordless as Jacob fumed that Martin appeared guilty because of his suddenly wanting to go public about something.

Smitty advised Jacob to leave, but Jacob couldn't understand why Smitty was suddenly throwing up roadblocks. Jacob scoffed when Smitty claimed spousal privilege and pronounced that, by doing so, Smitty had answered without answering. As Jacob left, Smitty opened his mouth as if to say something, but thought better of it.

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Later, Smitty looked at photos of himself with Martin on his phone and thought back to the day when new adoptees Tyrell and Samantha were about to move in with them. Martin decided he wanted to be called “pop,” the term of endearment that had run in his family, while Smitty opted for “dad.” They kissed as Martin predicted that their lives would only get sweeter going forward. In the present, Smitty put his phone away and fought back tears. Upstairs, Samantha woke Tyrell and said she had reason to agree with Tyrell's contention that there was more to what had happened with Martin than what they had been told.

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

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