Beyond the Gates Recap, May 16, 2025: Jacob followed up on Kat's evidence and Dani spotted Doug at the casino

Here's what went down Friday, May 16, 2025 on Beyond the Gates, when Dani spied Doug in heavy conversation with Joey, Smitty and Bill danced around each other, and Vanessa stopped Nicole from making a major – and impulsive – move.

What happened on Beyond the Gates?

On Beyond the Gates, Dani brought Pamela to Lakeside Casino to hopefully win some seed money for their forming modeling agency. The ladies flirted heavily with Drake, the dealer, and intimated that they could get him half-naked on a magazine cover in no time. Pamela won a hand, and she and Dani simultaneously blueskied locations for their D.C. firm and proposed foreign locales in which to open others.

Leslie was doing her fingernails next to a bottle of Tide when Ted knocked on her door. He let “Dana” know that he was organizing a birthday lunch for Eva and passed along an invitation – assuming his ex-fling didn't have her own plans with their daughter. Leslie sneered that Eva had betrayed her and didn't deserve a celebration, prompting Ted to exclaim, “Who says monsters are only in fairy tales?”

When Leslie spat that Eva had needed a father, Ted retorted that he hadn't even known they'd had a child together. Leslie called Eva a souvenir of their love and a reminder of the life she could have had if Ted hadn't chosen Nicole. Ted determined that Eva was the victim of a deranged mother, to which Leslie cooed, “You're right.” She explained how Eva's delivery had been painful not simply because of the labor, but because of her loneliness and her wishing Ted had been with her. To Leslie's mind, she had spared Ted from knowing about Eva so he could be with his “real family.” But now, she said, taking Ted's hand, they were giving him a second chance to do right by them.

On the way to popping in to visit June, Jacob got a text from Kat, who wanted to talk to him about something urgent. June was shocked when Doug told her she had severe pneumonia and required heart surgery. Jacob hoped the procedure could be put off until Doug could perform it, but Doug's fellow surgeon, Dr. Wilkes, reported that too much damage had been done to June's heart from not getting enough oxygen to wait any longer. June joked, “Huh! And people called me heartless.”

Later, at the nurses' station, Shanice informed the Hawthornes that Dr. Wilkes had been called away, leaving them without a surgeon for June. Doug could only be in the OR as a supervisor because of his broken wrist, and Shanice added that Doug was actively searching for a replacement practitioner. Then, Kat found Jacob and played him the recording of Leslie implying that Eva had been the one to run Laura off the road. Jacob agreed that Leslie's statements had been damning, but noted that they could be interpreted not only as sarcasm, but hearsay.

Kat pointed out to Jacob that the Thomases were the only two people who could have benefitted from Laura being hurt. Jacob wondered if Kat had any qualms about targeting a family member; Kat sniffed that having the same father didn't make her and Eva family. Jacob felt he didn't have the best success rate mixing family and work, but advised Kat to e-mail him the recording of Leslie, promising to get back to Kat.

Doug reported that June had come through surgery and that her prognosis looked good, delighting the Hawthornes – but he had to take his leave of them for an appointment. Doug made his way to the casino, happening upon Pamela and Dani at the same time Joey happened upon Doug. Joey said that, for Doug to be there, he either had his full payment or a death wish. Doug proudly announced that he had gone back into the OR and would soon be able to work overtime and earn enough to settle his debt. Joey scoffed and icily reminded Doug that he had given him a week to pay him in full. Meanwhile, Dani watched the men's conversation and wondered what Doug was doing at a gambling establishment in the middle of the day.

While Pamela rhapsodized over the recipes culinarian Joey posted on his social media accounts, casino boss Joey again stressed that the cash-strapped Doug could obtain funds from his wife. Doug remained resistant; Joey threatened to call Vanessa if Doug didn't.

Anita walked in on Vernon playing a track from one of her Articulettes albums. Vernon marveled at how their music had the power to inspire people to make positive changes. La Dupree told her husband she didn't need any more of his nudging – she was going to do the Articulettes reunion concert, but for one night only.

Vernon was annoyed when Bill arrived and interrupted the comeback plans. The lawyer said he'd stopped by to drop off documents relating to the sale of his and Dani's old beach house so he didn't have to encounter Dani; the Duprees intuited that their former son-in-law had an entirely different reason for being there, but Bill only said he hoped that one day he and his in-laws could put their differences behind them. Anita, holding it together because their neighbors were pulling up, showed Bill out the door and told him to make an appointment the next time.

Talk returned to the concert, and Anita revealed to Vernon that she had tried to call her fellow singer Sharon, who had been silent and hung up. It had hurt, and Anita didn't want to repeat the experience by contacting Tracy. Vernon persisted, telling Anita that she had too much talent inside her still and that perhaps Tracy and Sharon had been waiting for Anita to reach out for years. However, if Anita really was that uncomfortable attempting to communicate with the other Articulettes, Vernon shrugged, she could still easily do a solo show, since she had been the star of the group.

Anita grumbled that she would handle Sharon and Tracy in her own way and time. The wrong word or inflection could ruin everything; Anita told Vernon he had no idea how deep things had been regarding the group's dissolution. Vernon recalled he'd gained the knack of peacemaking while refereeing between young Dani and Nicole at the dinner table and suggested diplomatic ways for Anita to speak to Tracy in Tracy's language. Anita was still scared that Tracy and Sharon wouldn't be able to get past what had happened.

Later, Vernon walked in while Anita was on the phone, and the tone seemed to indicate that the call wasn't going well. But, after hanging up, Anita reported that, while she hadn't mentioned the concert to Tracy, her counterpart vocalist had agreed to travel to D.C. to have dinner with Anita...that night.

Vanessa touched up her makeup at Orphey Gene's, noticing that a man, Cody, had followed her and was watching her. Cody wanted another encounter with Vanessa, with whom he seemed to have a submissive dynamic. She ordered him not to trail her again, or he wouldn't hear from her anymore; Cody addressed her as “ma'am” and compliantly crept away.

Smitty visited Nicole, who was worried that Martin had given up his lifelong dream of becoming president. Nicole saw nothing wrong with Martin not wanting to turn his family's life upside down – until Smitty remarked that, when he himself had presented Martin with that exact same reasoning, Martin had balked at it. Nicole's eyebrow raised when Smitty mentioned that Martin had been having nightmares, but they were cut off by an arriving Vanessa. After Smitty departed, Nicole told realtor Vanessa that she was thinking of selling her house.

Vanessa understood how Nicole felt that there were too many memories with Ted in her current abode, but suggested that deleting the location of them was only a quick fix. Mrs. McBride promised to handle the sale of Nicole's house in a year if Nicole still wanted to relocate by then – and she'd make Nicole a fortune in the process. Nicole thanked Vanessa for her friendship.

Seeing Bill at Orphey Gene's, Smitty said he was curious about many things in life – in the case of Bill, that curiosity extended to Martin. More specifically, why Bill had previously told Smitty that Bill and Martin needed to be on the same team. Bill deflected, so Smitty came right out and asked if Bill knew something about Martin that he didn't want going public. Bill advised Smitty to ask Martin himself; Smitty snarked that spouses weren't always forthcoming. As one Dupree outsider to another, Smitty implored, from one parent to another, if Bill had info about Martin that could affect Tyrell and Samantha, Smitty needed to know about it so he could protect his husband and kids.

“Do I tell you the truth, or what'll help you sleep at night?” Bill replied after some thought. Smitty pressed, and Bill finally said he had friends in high places who could help Martin reach his political aspirations. Despite Smitty beginning to tell Bill that Martin no longer wanted to run for president, Bill decided he had to leave. Bill saw Ted on the way out, and Smitty would only give Ted the evil eye.

Trending

Leslie screamed when a knock on her door spooked her while she was watching a horror movie. It was Jacob, who had come to tell Leslie that she was needed at the police station.

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

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback