Beyond the Gates Recap, June 26, 2025: Anita came home from rehearsing and Andre accepted a date from Ashley 

Here's what went down Thursday, June 26, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Dani and Nicole butted heads over Andre, Kat came to Eva's aid, and Smitty almost got the truth from Martin.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Ted told Andre that he had tried to mellow Nicole on the idea of the relationship between Andre and Dani, but also that Nicole was convinced that Dani was “robbing the cradle.” Andre hadn't expected Nicole, of all people, to be unforgiving; Ted blamed himself, since he'd caused Nicole to feel like any secret was a betrayal. Andre was unable to define what he and Dani had, but Ted felt that Nicole would see the good in playboy Andre wanting to settle down and volatile Dani moving on from Bill. Andre didn't think that Dani was ready to, in fact, move on.

Later, Andre found his cousin Eva getting ready for her first day of working with Ted. The shutterbug gave her his vote of confidence, and Eva walked in to Ted's office; Ted finished scrolling through photos of Nicole, then took one of Eva, saying it commemorated one of many firsts that would make up for what they had missed out on. Because his clinic was being renovated and space was at a premium, Eva was to work in Ted's office and receive training from him. They discussed the probability of handling difficult patients, which Eva had more experience with by doing hair than Kat did when she'd started. Eva worried about Ted taking time from his patients to train her and got lost as he piled on the inner workings of the clinic. She started to feel that Ted had chosen the wrong daughter for the job.

Andre got on the phone saying he wasn't taking any out-of-town assignments, then saw Ashley at the nurses station. He asked how she was doing following Derek breaking up with her; Ashley owned that the failure of their relationship wasn't all Derek. She stated that the moment she declined to accept Derek's ring, they'd both known it was over. When Andre noted that it wasn't wrong for people to want different things, Ashley perked up.

Ashley noticed that Andre seemed down himself and got him to admit that Nicole was pissed at him. Andre explained it as “random family drama” and pivoted to whether or not Derek might want Ashley back. Ashley thought not; he had wanted a home and babies, and she had wanted things to stay the way they were. The nurse intended to move on, and said that how she did depended on Andre. “Say what now?” was Andre's response.

When Ashley asked if things were serious with the woman Andre was dating, Andre answered that his situation wasn't exclusive. On that cue, Ashley asked Andre out to dinner. Andre reminded Ashley about the boundary they'd set in place after his previous attempt to kiss her, but Ashley corrected that that had happened when she was seeing Derek. Now that she was single, she wanted to go forward, “so what better man to pop my dating cherry?” Ashley couldn't believe she had phrased it that way, but hoped Andre would be flattered that she wanted to spend time with someone who knew her. She promised that, no matter how their date went, they could walk away as friends. Andre accepted.

Dani entered the Dupree home, where Nicole snarked she was surprised Dani was able to untangle herself from the sheets and Andre. After Dani retorted that she wouldn't want Nicole to choke on her self-righteousness, Kat, Chelsea, and Naomi entered, wondering why Vernon had summoned everyone. When Martin arrived, Kat unintentionally rattled her brother by mentioning the death – of his facial muscles. Martin said he hadn't been sleeping well; Nicole asked if he'd had another nightmare. Once Vernon arrived, he revealed his big news – Anita, who had come home from Chicago. Anita immediately noticed the tension between Nicole and Dani.

The family settled in with their matriarch, with Dani jokingly saying Anita had her and Naomi to thank for getting Anita back on stage, but Nicole wondered why Dani had to make everything about her. Kat changed the subject, learning that Anita was only back for a day; Vernon said everyone would get a chance to spend time with Anita privately. Anita joyfully chose “troublemaker” Dani first – “an apt description,” Nicole spat, changing the tone in the room.

After the chilly Nicole exited to refill an iced tea pitcher, and Vernon got the other girls to follow suit, Martin remarked on the former senator's lack of subtlety. Vernon warned Martin that he was exuding such anxiousness that others were noticing. Martin was tense about them paying “Kenneth” off later that day; Vernon said the ordeal would be done after that. Mr. Dupree added that, while Anita knew what had happened two years earlier, she wasn't to be told about the current repercussions. Martin remarked that Vernon and Anita didn't keep secrets, but Vernon was not about to ruin Anita's big comeback.

“What did you do, Dani?” Anita asked once she had her youngest daughter alone. Dani sheepishly replied she was “doing” Andre Richardson, which gave Anita pause. After Dani acknowledged that Andre was quite a bit younger and that he was extended family, she became concerned about Anita's lack of reaction. Anita finally said that Dani deserved solace after what she had been through with Bill; the shocked Dani asked if her mom was co-signing her fling. Anita bitingly replied she regretted co-signing Bill and wanted to know if Andre treated Dani well. Dani replied in the affirmative, so Anita replied with a “brava.”

Anita asked if Dani and Andre were serious; Dani's uncertainty made her wonder if Dani were still holding out for Bill. Dani denied it but admitted she still felt haunted; Anita advised Dani to focus on Andre. When Dani lamented that Nicole hated her, Anita sussed out that Nicole was acting out of her own pain about Ted and offered to talk to Nicole on Dani's behalf. Dani smiled that Anita had come home just when she'd needed her.

Meanwhile, Kat broached a topic with Chelsea that was “NSFG” – “Not Safe for Gran.” Kat revealed that she'd been ready to “have cake” with Tomás (a reference to the cousins' conversation on Kat's birthday), but also described how Tomás has backed off; Kat was concerned she'd “waited herself into a friend zone.” Chelsea was sure Kat and Tomás would get together, but their talk was interrupted by a call from Ted, who needed to see Kat. Then, Dani returned and announced that it was Nicole's turn to see Anita.

Nicole was glad Anita was there to talk some sense into Dani, but Anita wanted to know why who Dani chose to sleep with was Nicole's business. Anita maintained that ,while Andre was family to Nicole, he wasn't to Dani – plus Dani had finally found some peace. Nicole didn't disagree with Anita's contention that Nicole's upset wasn't about Dani; the shrink railed that she was tired of rationalizing everyone else's lies. “People have been lying to protect the ones they love since time immemorial,” Anita wisely conveyed, while Nicole was of the opinion people only lied to avoid facing consequences for their actions.

Anita empathized with Nicole's feelings of mistrust, but felt that Nicole should be blaming those who had actually hurt her instead of targeting Dani and Andre. Afterwards, Nicole rejoined the family and sent Martin in to talk to Anita. Vernon hoped that Anita had smoothed over whatever was wrong between his daughters, but Nicole and Dani each agreed that they could take things from there.

The Dupree sisters got together at Uptown, where Nicole assumed Dani had put on a performance that had made Anita side with Dani. Nicole insisted that Anita didn't want the family torn down by the scandal of Dani sexing her “almost nephew,” but Dani accused Nicole of putting words in their mother's mouth and demanded to know what Anita had actually said. “Ding ding ding!” Dani exclaimed when Nicole hesitantly said it was Anita's opinion that Nicole was projecting her anger at Ted, Leslie, and Eva onto her sister. While Dani hated that Nicole was now where she had been with Bill, she anticipated an apology, which Nicole was not willing to give.

Nicole recognized that Dani had a right to see whom she pleased, as she had a right to feel the way she did about Dani hiding it. Dani insisted that she and Andre simply hadn't told anyone about their romance until they were ready, but Nicole resented having to forgive Dani when she was needing to lean on her. Dani wondered if Nicole just wanted her to stay down so she could pity her; Nicole maintained that Dani was using Andre, no matter how Dani had spun it for Anita. If Dani loved Andre, Nicole went on, Dani wouldn't be hiding him like some dirty secret.

After Dani mentioned that Hayley was actually pregnant after all, Nicole remarked that Dani wouldn't be concocting conspiracy theories if she wasn't still hoping Bill would leave Hayley and take her back. Dani implied that Nicole just wanted Dani to be as miserable as Nicole was, and stated that the family, who were all okay about Dani seeing Andre, would be labeling Nicole as the “delulu” one if she didn't back down.

Kat answered Ted's summons and resisted when Ted reminded Kat that she'd promised to train her successor. After Ted noted that Kat hadn't had experience when she'd started assisting him any more than Eva had, Kat countered that she had started shadowing Ted when she was little. Kat didn't want to help Ted's “bastard kid with a psycho,” but she ultimately – and very grudgingly – agreed to “get this done.”

Eva was amazed that Kat was offering her help; Kat replied that she cared about Ted's staff and that she was a logical choice since she had optimized the office's system. However, when Ted suggested it would be good for the half-sisters to spend time together, he uttered, “You two even roll your eyes in sync!” when they silently dissented. After Ted left, Eva mock appreciated Kat taking time away from her business and Tomás; Eva knowingly said she wouldn't want Kat to lose her boyfriend.

Kat said her relationship with Tomás was none of Eva's business, with Eva suggesting that Kat could sabotage her job should Tomás leave and upset her. After Kat wanted to get to work, Eva relented and pointed out a place where Ted had wanted to start. Kat gave Eva some guidance, and Eva marveled that Kat was being nice to her. Ms. Richardson told Ms. Thomas that she didn't want to be blamed if Eva flopped, so Kat was going to make Eva look good...“even if it kills you.”

Jacob found Smitty picking up takeout at Orphey Gene's. Smitty swore he hadn't been avoiding Jacob, it was just that his sources had gone quiet about Marcel. Jacob figured that Smitty could ask Martin what had happened with Marcel directly, but Smitty predicted that Martin would only be evasive yet again, causing Jacob to share that it seemed Martin was crying out for help.

Later, Naomi met with Jacob at the diner and told him about Anita's visit. Jacob felt hypocritical, having just told someone to be honest with their spouse when he hadn't been – he realized he'd been vague about the reporter looking into Marcel and divulged that the journalist was Smitty. Naomi wasn't worried until Jacob expounded that it was possible Marcel had caused harm to Martin.

Jacob explained how Marcel had been dealing with Joey and hypothesized that Marcel wanted Martin to funnel congressional funds into the police station – but Naomi said that Martin could only be blackmailed if he had done something wrong. When Jacob described how Martin had, two years earlier, suspiciously come home wearing different clothes, Naomi experienced chills. The Hawthornes realized that Martin would likely have gone to Vernon with darker concerns and deduced the patriarch would have answers for them.

Martin confided to Anita that Smitty going to work had been hard on him and their family dynamic, but he cryptically added that the shift had made him realize what he needed to do to step up. Asked how things were going with The Articulettes, Anita conceded they'd required a vocal coach to get back in shape, but also that she hadn't realized how much she'd missed singing with her friends. The singer laughed that “you can't get three divas in a room and not expect to risk some hair extensions,” but reported that, overall, the reunion was going well. Martin credited Anita with teaching him the art of diplomacy; Anita smirked that she had been the one to teach Vernon.

While Martin looked forward to the performance, Anita said she'd had enough time in the spotlight – the concert was to make things up to Tracy and Sharon, and allow them to have the success and accolades they hadn't gotten enough of. It was Anita's way of atoning for past mistakes; after all, heights were great, but what really mattered was how one conducted themselves reaching them.

Next, Chelsea caught Anita up on the recent positive changes in her life, calling moving in with Kat “the best empire/sleepover” ever. Anita revealed that Vernon had mentioned Madison, about whom Chelsea couldn't say enough. While Anita was aware that Chelsea had jumped into an involvement “five minutes after a breakup,” she couldn't deny that the event had shown Chelsea “some big things about [herself].” Chelsea likened meeting Madison to Anita's descriptions of meeting Vernon, and Anita was thrilled. Following, Anita was happy to spend alone time with Vernon, but asked if there was something going on with the family that she should know about. Vernon deflected and told Anita how much he loved her.

Martin greeted Smitty, who was astonished that Martin was actually willing to talk – the congressman resolved to fill his husband in on something he'd wanted to address for a long time. He began by apologizing for being content with working and letting Smitty run the house, while not being appreciative of Smitty's dreams. Smitty was on board until Martin said he wanted Smitty to know how much Martin loved him “just in case.” Martin replied, “Just in case Gran doesn't put me in this crazy sentimental place all over again,” and kissed Smitty passionately.

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