Beyond the Gates Recap, May 21, 2025: Chelsea came out to Dani, and Leslie admitted her crimes to Eva

Here's what went down Wednesday, May 21, 2025, on Beyond the Gates when Ashley and Derek spent their first night apart, Bill had a hand in Hayley's discovery, and Eva's birthday ended with her getting questioned by the 5-0.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Jacob met Naomi at Uptown; she was surprised to learn that their friends Derek and Ashley, who never fought, had had a doozy. Jacob acknowledged it had made him realize how lucky he was to have Naomi. Just as Jacob was telling Naomi he wanted to follow the advice he had given Derek about making time for one's significant other, especially since he and Naomi hadn't been having enough of it themselves. Jacob got a text from the station and needed to go. Naomi smiled when Jacob swore to make it quick...and do the opposite when he got home.

In another corner, Chelsea and Allison took a table; Chelsea assured her date that they wouldn't be interrupted by her sister again and admitted she had been thinking about Allison a lot. “God, I wish you hadn't said that,” Allison pouted. Allison cited many of Chelsea's physical and overall qualities, but explained that her husband, Craig, was her person. The time with Chelsea was just supposed to be fun, and no one was supposed to be catching feelings. Chelsea understood, holding it together as she picked up her purse to leave and told Allison that she was glad she'd gotten a chance to know her.

Ashley cried in Andre's arms at her apartment. Andre noticed Derek's recliner was still there and offered to go to the fire department to talk to him. Ashley thanked Andre for trying to play hero, but it had to be Derek's decision whether he came home to Ashley or not. Meanwhile, Derek lounged in a motel, but grabbed his jacket and left after some thought.

Ashley didn't want to be a needy friend, but Andre suggested that the nurse who liked to care for others should show the same care to herself. She recognized that she liked to be independent, and perhaps still viewing her place as hers once Derek had moved in was what had caused the rift between them. Andre felt that Derek shared some of the responsibility for that rift and told Ashley that, if he were in Derek's shoes, there would be nothing Ashley could do that would make Andre walk out on her.

Andre admitted he had never left anyone, because he had always avoided relationships. He told Ashley that Nicole was of the opinion he was afraid to risk losing anyone because of the way he had lost his parents. However, for “the right woman,” Andre said, he wouldn't hold back. Ashley checked herself and described how she had started throwing tantrums the minute Derek had touched anything “in my curated little world.” She wondered if Derek's solution of getting a bigger place with belongings they bought together would have been the fix. Despite Derek not answering his phone, Ashley was tempted to try contacting him again; more tears burst forth from her as she remembered how they had made a pact never to take their problems to bed with them.

Derek came upon Naomi, who identified as “Team Dashley.” She wanted her friends to be happy. Derek went over how what started with his crappy housekeeping had blown up into something bigger. “Is it really possible to lose someone over smelly socks?” he asked. Derek assumed that neither Jacob nor Naomi, the perfect couple, could relate, but Naomi clarified that she and her husband had had to learn how to fight. As a lawyer, she was trained to argue, and as a cop, Jacob was trained to relentlessly dig for the truth. The Hawthornes had bridged the gap by sharing how things made them feel, instead of rising above name-calling and finding fault with each other. Naomi felt Derek should get Ashley to talk about her feelings, but Derek, having moved out, felt like it might be too late for talk.

Pamela brought a drink to Dani at the country club; the disappointed-looking Dani had just sent a text. To distract Dani from waiting for a response, Pamela told her about how Diego had kissed her to make Vanessa jealous. After Dani expressed amazement that Diego would want the married Vanessa, the women chortled about the quality of Diego's kiss, and Pamela shared that she had invited Diego to be one of their models at their new agency. Dani agreed that Diego's biceps alone would “eat.” Pamela's face fell, though, as she relayed how Diego had not only turned down the modeling offer, but her personally.

After Dani noted that Pamela had hired and slept with better men than Diego, Pamela voiced her observation that Dani was over “he who shall not be named” and had to be seeing someone, since Dani wanted Pamela to be seeing someone, too. Dani played coy, but Pamela had figured out that Dani was having a fling with Andre, based on how much heat the couple had generated during their pre-publicity photo session for their agency. When Pamela wanted details, Dani looked at the lack of response from Andre on her phone and grumbled that Andre was as into her as Diego was into Pamela.

The Hamiltons finished making love on the couch, laughing over how loud they'd been. When Hayley sighed that their honeymoon would last forever, Bill lamented that he wasn't as young as she was. Hayley, on the other hand, praised the skills Bill had learned in his longer time on earth, and they kissed again, falling off the couch. They luxuriated in their afterglow after going a second round, during which Hayley became hungry for the mac and cheese served at the country club.

Pamela deemed Andre boyfriend material and wouldn't let Dani friend zone him. As Pamela wanted Dani to hang on to Andre because of the slim pickin's in the dating world, and Dani proclaimed Pamela eminently worthy of a good guy, Bill and Hayley arrived. Suddenly, Dani kissed Pamela as the Hamiltons and the entering Chelsea watched.

Dani told the shocked Pamela that her smooch was meant as a “palate cleanser” to make Pamela forget about Diego. As the ladies giggled, Bill advanced and accused Dani of kissing Pamela to make him jealous. He scoffed at the idea that Dani had woken up one day and decided she was in love with Pamela, which the friends played up. Bill skulked away and returned to Hayley at their table, but Hayley was not pleased. Then Dani got an earful from the emotional Chelsea, who declared the playful kiss “a slap in the face to women who loved other women.”

After Pamela excused herself, Chelsea yelped that Dani had once again pulled a crazy stunt to get Bill's attention. Dani sat Chelsea down and explained that there hadn't been anything to kissing Pamela, prompting the heartbroken Chelsea to admit that she had just been dumped by a woman she had fallen in love with, and therefore found the cavalierness of the Dani-Pamela kiss offensive. Chelsea ran off to compose herself; Dani looked helplessly at Bill and Hayley.

Needing comfort, Dani called Andre but became frustrated when Andre – still at Ashley's – couldn't talk. Dani impassively conceded to their casual status and told Andre to text her when he had a moment. Later, Chelsea rejoined Dani, stunned that she had simply blurted out her sexual identity. Dani celebrated Chelsea, who reasoned that Dani was ready to “wrap [herself] in a couture Pride flag.” Bill drew near, having seen the upset between Chelsea and Dani, but Chelsea wanted Bill to leave them alone. Bill assured his daughter that she could still turn to him about anything if she felt like it. Chelsea nodded, and Bill backed away.

Dani wondered if Bill had been part of the reason Chelsea had kept the truth about herself quiet. Chelsea clammed up, but Dani gave Chelsea her full acceptance and apologized for the incident with Pamela, explaining that she'd had no idea Bill was even in the room. Dani offered herself as a sounding board, so Chelsea detailed how she'd thought her time with women had only been fun experiments until she'd met Allison. Dani sympathized with the pain Chelsea was in over Allison not returning her feelings, but was happy that Chelsea had learned to whom she wanted to open her heart. Chelsea officially identified as bi and queer, and Dani declared that she didn't want to wrap herself in a flag – just her daughter. They hugged warmly.

Hayley consoled Bill, who was hurt that Chelsea had pushed him away; she was of the opinion that the girl had needed her mother, probably to talk about a boy. But Bill dropped a utensil, and his hand began shaking, which he couldn't hide from Hayley. Bill wrote it off as his hand falling asleep and being exhausted from having so much sex with her. Hayley accepted this and told her husband that she needed him in top form so they could go at it again when they got home.

Ashley presumed that Andre had been on the phone with “her” – whoever it was whom Andre had excused himself to be with the night he had had dinner with Ashley and Derek. Though Andre said he wasn't in a relationship, Ashley commented that “it [didn't] have to be serious to be important.” Ashley decided that she needed rest and that Andre needed to make things up to the woman who had called. After Ashley promised Andre that she'd text him if she needed more support, he left, and Ashley phoned Derek, who missed the call because of his talk with Naomi. The lawyer prepared for Derek an “opening argument” in terms that Ashley would understand and said it would behoove him to make her feel listened to. Derek just hoped Ashley would let him in the door.

At Orphey Gene's, Leslie scowled that she would not have Eva embarrassing her in public. Eva refused to be gaslit and confronted Leslie about telling Kat that she had caused Laura's accident. Leslie denied making such a statement and reminded Eva that Kat had twisted the truth about Eva as well; Leslie then remarked that Eva looked worried and promised she'd cover for her. Eva said that Leslie knew she hadn't hurt Laura, because Leslie had. It also hadn't been an accident, Eva declared, that Laura had been poisoned with potassium; Eva deduced that Leslie had wanted Laura out of the way. “When did I become a stuntman or a doctor or a nurse?” Leslie asked incredulously, casting doubt on her ability to carry out the attacks on Laura.

Eva sniped that, next, Leslie would blame her deeds on alter egos “Sherry” or “Anna.” Eva was sure that Leslie had wanted to keep her on duty at Nicole's so she could continue spying on Ted and demanded that her mother tell the truth. Leslie's wall came down, and she said quietly, “I did it for us, baby.” Leslie appreciated that Eva hadn't wanted to believe Leslie could target Laura because Eva loved Leslie so much. When Eva had reservations about Leslie's love, Leslie replied that Eva was now an accessory after the fact and could end up in a cell next to hers. Just as Leslie mocked that their mutual incarceration would finally give them some mother-daughter bonding time, Jacob entered the diner and approached their table.

Jacob wanted to talk about what happened to Laura, but Leslie sassed the “ossifer” and pronounced that, while she had answered enough questions, Eva probably had plenty to say. Leslie pretended to leave yet hid herself to monitor Eva's conversation with the detective, who remarked that Eva could clear her name right then and there. Eva produced a selfie of herself having just won $50 at the casino at the time of Laura's accident, and recollected she had been there a couple of hours. Jacob wanted to corroborate Eva's alibi with the casino's security footage and asked Eva if Leslie had been around when Eva returned home that night.

Eva stated she didn't know if Leslie had been at their place or not, as she had gone straight to bed and Leslie could have been in her room...or not. Leslie smiled as she heard Eva recounting to Jacob that, while Leslie's husband had owned a motorcycle, Leslie had hocked it after Alan died, since they were hurting for money. And no, Eva added, Leslie never rode motorcycles, calling them death traps. Jacob asked for any other information that Eva could provide, reminding her that Laura had almost been killed and hoping that Eva wouldn't fall into the trap of misplaced loyalty to Leslie. Eva replied that she had told Jacob everything she knew. Once Jacob was gone, Leslie came out of hiding, touched that Eva had protected her.

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