Beyond the Gates Recap, July 7, 2025: Smitty connects Marcel to Vernon and Randy might have pulled a Snow White

Here's what went down Monday, July 7, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Chelsea made her choice between Allison and Madison, Naomi reached out and touched someone connected to June's picture, and Smitty turned the tables on Martin's deception by doing his own.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Allison repeated that she wanted Chelsea back as Madison lingered by the Uptown entrance. Shocked, Chelsea agreed with Allison's contention that they would have been hotter without Craig, and Allison admitted that she missed Chelsea. Madison smiled as Chelsea gently told Allison that she was happy dating Madison. After Madison got a call and had to rush out, Chelsea dashed Allison's hope that they could be friends and intimated that Allison wanted to reunite with her as a way of avoiding dealing with Craig. Allison was indignant that Chelsea would want to walk away from her.

When Chelsea hinted that Allison should leave the apparently volatile Craig, Allison read it as a chance for her and Chelsea to be together. Chelsea reiterated how content she was with Madison and imparted that she'd made an instant connection with her, but Allison reminded Chelsea that they had as well. Allison was fine with the idea of Chelsea seeing Madison in addition to her; Chelsea retorted that she had committed to Madison and wasn't going to cheat on her the way her father had on her mother.

Allison regretted her suggestion but still wanted to be with Chelsea somehow, with Chelsea insistent that Allison deserved more than being someone's side piece. When Chelsea empathized with what it was like to offer one's heart only to have it rejected, Allison assumed Chelsea's refusal was payback; Chelsea was adamant that she was just moving on. No matter how much Allison pleaded that they could go back to the feelings they'd once shared, Chelsea was determined to forge ahead and left Allison to sulk.

Smitty was finishing up his article about Marcel's dubious deeds when he got a call from a higher-up killing the story. Mr. Smith rallied, swearing that the piece would cement The Washington Record as the go-to source for investigative journalism; he was only able to keep the report alive by revealing that he'd discovered that Marcel had been brought up in front of Internal Affairs at the station. Smitty then took a call from his source, who passed on the name of a witness that Smitty could question...Vernon Dupree.

As Smitty expressed astonishment that Vernon had testified at Marcel's IA trial, Martin came through the door, so Smitty covered and hung up. Martin had heard the mention of his grandfather's name and asked into what Smitty had been talking about, but Smitty used Tyrell's entrance to pivot, moving the topic to how the teen had had to watch his sister try on clothes at the mall. Martin became momentarily protective when Tyrell announced plans to go to the park to meet some chess club buddies; afterwards, Martin brought the subject back to Vernon, and Smitty lied that he'd been assigned to write a profile of the patriarch once he was done with the Marcel piece.

Martin became what Smitty termed unusually complimentary, then told his husband that he would do anything to protect the family that meant everything to him. Smitty concurred, then dashed off to connect with his source. Once Smitty was gone, Martin desperately called Bill, but got his voice mail.

Vernon and Dani dined at the country club after having dropped Anita off at the airport. After they corroborated how energized Anita had been over rehearsing for the Articulettes reunion show, Dani noticed that Vernon was as preoccupied as he'd been during Anita's homecoming and asked if his pensiveness had anything to do with Martin. Dani observed how distracted Martin had been while Anita was home, and that she had seen Martin and Vernon tuck away for a private talk; Vernon said Martin was fine, but Dani could tell that Vernon wasn't being completely truthful.

Dani assumed that perhaps Smitty, who had been conspicuously absent during Anita's visit, and Martin were having problems, but Vernon assured his daughter that the Richardson-Smiths were well. Talk shifted to Chelsea and Madison, and, after Vernon pressed her, Dani had to admit that she had been a bit pushy organizing a family meet-and-greet for the new couple. When Dani conceded that she just wanted Chelsea to be happy, Vernon impishly asked, “As happy as you are with Andre Richardson?” Dani was annoyed that Anita had broken her confidence, but just as she tried to put the focus back on Martin, Vanessa entered, and Vernon invited the realtor to join him and Dani.

Vernon excused himself, with Dani seeing through his “tired old man shtick.” Giving up, Dani requested Vanessa's help renting office space for Dupree-Curtis, since she had turned over her guest house to Kat and Chelsea. Vanessa said she had plenty of properties and thought back to sealing her own property deal with Joey by sleeping with him; when Vanessa slyly said that business was “interesting,” Dani sensed a story. Mrs. McBride agreed she indeed had a confession to make – Doug had gotten himself into financial trouble.

Dani asked if Doug had been involved with gambling, as she had seen the surgeon in deep conference with Joey. Vanessa bit off that the back room of the casino was just the place to have a good time and appreciated Dani's position that Doug's activities were ultimately none of her business. Vanessa confided that Doug was heavily indebted to Joey, which worried Dani, who had heard about Joey's reputation; as Vanessa eased Dani's mind by disclosing that the matter had been taken care of, Martin flew in and grabbed at the goateed busboy refilling the ladies' waters. Dani looked even more concerned about her nephew as Martin sputtered an apology to the employee, Taylor, who separately told Martin that “Kenneth” had quit the country club. Dani resolved to get the intel she wanted out of Vernon, and Vanessa beamed that everything with Doug was under control.

At the casino, Randy trained his gun on “Kenneth” and told him to hand over the money he had been given. “Kenneth” assumed Randy thought he was robbing the Lakeview and carefully corrected that the cash was his; the busboy promised he would no longer be a problem to anyone once he took the bills and left. Randy smirked that the payoff had only been meant as a lure and that he was now there to finish the job that “the fixer” (Bill) had started – he was taking “Kenneth” for “a little ride” because he had messed with the wrong people.

Joey later told a caller that he was waiting on confirmation that a certain job was “done.” After he hung up, he flashed back to making love to Vanessa on the poker table. His thoughts were interrupted by Randy, who arrived giving Joey the verification he'd been waiting for – however, as Randy lay his gun on the table, he reported that there had been a problem. When Joey asked if “Kenneth” was dead, Randy relayed that he did shoot the man, but he was worried that someone had seen Randy dumping the body at the docks. Randy fretted that he had a wife and son who needed him; he couldn't go to prison. Joey offered to pay for a trip to California for Randy and his family as a means for Randy to lay low without alerting his wife that something was wrong. But, as Randy made ready to leave, Joey demanded to know where his money was.

Randy went out to his car to retrieve the duffel bag of cash and handed it to Joey just as Doug came in wanting to know what was going on. Doug smugly spoke of how the casino being closed didn't apply to him and looked to his friend Randy for answers. After Doug saw Randy's gun, Joey said he was going to hold it for Randy while he was away at Disneyland on vacation. Randy tried to beat a hasty retreat, but Joey pointed out that there was further discussion the associates needed to have. Joey made a show of gifting Randy vacation money from “Kenneth”'s stash, with Randy refusing, while Doug insisted upon taking Randy out for a drink before he took off. Doug told his childhood pal that he had quit gambling and worked something out with Joey to pay off his debt; Joey cryptically warned Randy not to miss his flight as the men left the back room.

Doug brought Randy to Uptown; Randy was upset to hear that Vanessa was on her way. When Mrs. McBride arrived, Mr. McBride explained how Randy was suddenly taking an indefinite trip out-of-state. Vanessa initially considered the getaway nice, but soon shared Doug's concern when Doug asked Randy if he was scared of Joey...and Randy answered, “Terrified.” Meanwhile, at the casino, Joey flashed back to Randy's assertion that “Kenneth” had been shot, but when Joey searched through the duffel bag, it appeared that the entire $100,000 wasn't there.

At the station, Elon found Jacob on the tail end of a phone conversation in which Jacob was checking on the status of comparing the scratch on Leslie's helmet to the scratch on the helmet worn by Laura's assailant. Elon changed the topic to Smitty and passed on that he knew Smitty was looking into Marcel. Jacob wanted to know how Elon had learned about Smitty's involvement; Elon remembered overhearing Smitty telling Jacob about Marcel's unusual cash deposits, but he didn't clarify for his son.

Jacob recalled how Elon used to tell him and his mother about the usefulness of station gossip, then added that he indeed had chatted with Smitty about his Marcel article. Elon non-threateningly asked Jacob stop having such talks; when Jacob inquired why, Elon hailed Marcel as a distinguished cop and Smitty as a journalist who just wanted to make something out of nothing. Just as Jacob was stressing to Elon that Smitty wasn't the kind of reporter who engaged in smear campaigns, he got a call from Naomi begging him to come to the hospital.

When Jacob arrived at the nurses station, Naomi explained how June had been beaten up and suffered a head injury. Naomi felt horrible that June had already been through so much even before this new calamity. The Hawthornes peeked in on June, who was lucid enough and being examined by Madison. Naomi was worried to see that the neurologist had been called in, but Madison explained that she was just doing a consult and checking to see if June had sustained a concussion. June seemed her feisty self but didn't want to answer any questions about her attack. Madison sighed that June wasn't the first unhoused person she'd seen who'd been brutalized.

Naomi was in agreement with Madison's recommendation to get June off the street, but she indicated how June had resisted such efforts. As Naomi assured the resting June that she and Jacob would bring her assailant to justice, she noticed that June continued to clutch her photo of the mystery children and took a long look at it. Later, the Hawthornes were waiting for June's scans to complete, and, after Naomi used her phone to get a snap of June's picture, she noticed what looked like a phone number inscribed on it. The lawyer called it, but was hung up on as soon as she mentioned June.

Elon growled into his phone that he had instructed Jacob not to have discussions with “that pesky reporter”...just as Smitty walked in. Smitty grinned that Elon must have been talking to a “pesky reporter” and asked into Jacob's whereabouts; Elon informed him that Jacob was away on an emergency. When Smitty wanted to stick around and pose questions, Elon grudgingly sang Marcel's praises but responded to Smitty's tip about Marcel going in front of Internal Affairs by saying “those guys pretty much live to chap cops' asses.” Smitty theorized that even the best officers had to get their hands dirty on occasion and solicited Elon's opinion; Elon held that Marcel had never even been reprimanded for anything. Smitty revised that nothing against Marcel had ever been proven.

Smitty then asked the police chief how Vernon was tied to Marcel, describing how the former senator had stood up for the detective with IA only eight months before. When Elon couldn't get Smitty to name his source, he noted that he went way back with the Duprees and that Vernon was entitled to his privacy. Smitty didn't see why it would be harmful for the public to know that Vernon had testified for Marcel, given their good names. Elon went off the record as saying that Vernon had volunteered to come forward with information that would clear Marcel, then asked what Smitty was looking for. Smitty smiled that he didn't have an agenda and thanked Elon for his time; Elon scowled as Smitty exited.

Vernon came to see Elon at the precinct, dismayed to learn that Smitty had learned about what Vernon had assumed had been confidential hearings regarding Marcel. Elon warned that Smitty was getting close to uncovering what had happened two years earlier. Vernon felt that, as long as Smitty hadn't linked Martin to his investigation, things were fine, but Elon didn't like that news of Vernon doing favors for a police detective could get out.

Martin returned home to find Tyrell playing chess...with a bandaged, but very much alive “Kenneth.” “Checkmate,” “Kenneth” declared.

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