Beyond the Gates Recap, May 23, 2025: Anita got into the weeds with Tracy, and Leslie reinvented herself as Nicole

Here's what went down Friday, May 23, 2025 on Beyond the Gates, when Smitty got tired of Martin's deflection, Doug caught on to the heat between Vanessa and Joey, and Ted vowed to protect Eva from Leslie.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Leslie reminded Ted of the good times they'd had – including how they'd once had to grab a hotel room because they couldn't wait to get back to Leslie's place to have sex. Ted didn't want to hear Leslie's suggestion that they take advantage of Eva's hotel room and came down on Leslie for throwing Eva on the street. Leslie averred that she had only evicted Eva from their apartment, not her life; Leslie loved Eva with everything in her. The mother claimed that she had only come to check on the well-being of her daughter.

Ted suspected otherwise and dumped out Leslie's purse, revealing her stash from the hotel. He wanted his ex-mistress to be real and demanded to know why she had told Kat lies about Eva running Laura off the road – especially when Eva had a solid alibi. Leslie said something about being glad Eva wasn't living a life of crime and was dismissive when Ted said he'd only rented Eva a chair at the “bougie” salon, not bought her the whole establishment. As Leslie went on about Ted helping Eva so he could assuage his guilt, Ted pointed out that Leslie was coming off as more suspicious the more she pivoted – so Ted directly accused Leslie of causing Laura's accident.

Leslie denied being responsible as Ted raged about Leslie hurting Laura, who had been an innocent victim of Leslie's revenge plot against him. Leslie told Ted that if he ran his mouth about his accusation, she would make sure Eva took even more heat about the assault on Laura. Ted was incredulous that Leslie could do that to her own child and promised that he would protect Eva from Leslie, calling her a “crazy bitch.” “Oh – that's Miss Bitch,” Leslie corrected after Ted declared he would do whatever he had to do to deal with Leslie if she went after him or his family, which included Eva.

An angry Leslie returned home and gave herself a pep talk while looking in her mirror, dubbing herself a beautiful and powerful queen. She went through her different personas, wondering which one Ted might prefer. Leslie then dressed up like Nicole and mocked the psychiatrist, aghast that Ted wanted the real Nicole instead. “Nicole” uttered therapeutic key words and “offered” Ted the choice of the original, boring Nicole, or the “new and improved...Nicole 2.0” – her.

The Duprees got playful in their foyer while Tracy waited for Anita in the living room. Vernon regretted having to leave because he felt he could be a buffer between Anita and her former co-singer, but Anita felt that she and Tracy were past the awkwardness of meeting again after so long. After Vernon left, Tracy remarked that Anita's grand piano probably cost more than the whole building they used to rehearse in. As Tracy continued that Anita had come a long way since she'd lived in Chicago's Cabrini Green projects, Anita sensed that Tracy held some resentment over Anita's status.

Tracy wasn't sure Anita had earned the right to live like “Black royalty” once Anita had left the Articulettes and gone solo. She groused that it must have been nice for Anita to rack up Grammys while she had had to take a job at The Blue Room. And, Tracy continued, every time she managed to book her own gig, she'd get asked about Anita. She recognized her own talent, but also that she lacked that certain something Anita had that had made Dante Green see dollar signs. When Anita defended her decision to leave the group, Tracy understood that decision – but clarified that Anita had made it at the worst possible time.

Anita tried to make Tracy see that she had come to feel she was drowning. “After what happened,” Anita confessed, she couldn't look at Tracy or Sharon; Tracy said that Anita had run, but Anita copped to being overwhelmed by guilt and needing to lose herself in her work, which she could no longer do in The Articulettes. Tracy didn't buy the reasoning and suggested that Anita had gone further in her career because she had been ruthless.

Tracy said that Anita had taken the opportunity when Dante Green viewed her as a solo act and thrown Sharon and Tracy away. “There she is,” Tracy a-ha'd when Anita revealed that, after years in the group, she wanted something that was her own. Anita felt for her fellow Articulettes being hung out to dry in the music business after she left, but she had wanted to erase every trace of growing up a nobody in the projects. After Anita expressed regret that her “sisters” had been collateral damage, Tracy cried, “But it wasn't just Sharon and me – was it?”

Smitty continued working on his exposé about groomers taking advantage of kids on social media, which impressed Martin. When Smitty lamented how some of his subjects had clammed up, Martin mentioned that Smitty could be overwhelming when he got into “reporter mode” and suggested that he ease off. Martin wanted to get romantic, but Smitty wanted to talk – which prompted Martin to say that he had his own Zoom meetings to take. Smitty noticed the contradiction; just as he seemed to get through to Martin, Vernon arrived to help Samantha with a history paper.

Vernon told Samantha about how his father, Paul Cheeks Dupree, had organized one of the biggest protest rallies Chicago ever had in 1972 – because one of the Windy City's major department stores wouldn't let Black people work there unless it was in the stock room. Martin interrupted, perturbed that his Zoom meetings had all been cancelled. “Suddenly, folks are spooked to even talk to me,” he grumbled. Smitty privately suggested that he and Martin go out to lunch so they could speak alone, but Martin overrode his husband and invited Vernon and Samantha to join them. Smitty was not happy.

At the hospital, Shanice marveled at how Doug had participated in June's heart surgery while his hand was still in a cast. Now with Doug's hand healed, Vanessa was supposed to meet Doug for a celebration, but she was nowhere to be found – she was at Orphey Gene's with Joey, having just come from meeting with the owners of a building Joey was interested in. Joey couldn't decide if, based on the negotiating skills he had witnessed, she was brilliant or dangerous, which was part of what intrigued him about her.

Shanice had a ball gossiping about Andre and some of the interns, which Doug overheard. After Shanice got back to work, she told the departing Doug that Vanessa had not been by, as Doug had hoped. Across town, Joey went on about how Vanessa had the ability to make people eat out of the palm of her hand – a comment he made as he took her hand. The two continued flirting – then, Doug came into the diner, once again witnessing the sparks flying between his wife and his creditor.

Vanessa apologized to the stony Doug for letting her appointment with Joey overshadow the commemoration of Doug's cast coming off. “It's not like I wanted to steal your wife or anything,” Joey added mock playfully. Doug declined Vanessa and Joey's invitation to sit with them, snarking to Vanessa that at least people at the hospital needed him. Martin, Smitty, Samantha, and Vernon passed a rude Doug on his way out; Vernon saw Joey and Vanessa together and suspected Doug's mood had something to do with them.

Samantha, Vernon, and Smitty all were of the opinion that something untoward was going on between Vanessa and Joey, though Martin considered a more sinless explanation. “Maybe if you'd stop avoiding the obvious,” Smitty snapped. “Some of us don't want to turn everything into a Federal investigation,” Martin sassed back as his daughter and grandfather watched.

Joey advised an apologetic Vanessa to go after Doug if that's what she really wanted. Vanessa coyly said she didn't want to — but should. As Vanessa left, Smitty continued to sense something off with the realtor and the casino owner, causing Martin to spout, “Some folks need to learn to let sleeping dogs lie.” Smitty retorted, “And some folks need to be honest when something isn't right.” Trying to break the tension, Samantha told Vernon about the growing friendship between Tyrell and Jessica, and Vernon told the sniping Richardson-Smiths about Anita's long overdue visit with Tracy. After their meal, Smitty got Vernon to take Samantha with him so he could have a moment with Martin. The patriarch understood, and Smitty informed Martin that this time, Martin wasn't getting out of their talk.

Later, Shanice got Ted's attention at the nurses' station and asked about the status of Andre's documentary; Ted noted that there would be a screening once Andre had completed his post-production. Shanice wanted to know if she came off as capable or like an idiot in the footage, and called Ted a charmer when he reported that Shanice had handled herself like a boss. Just then, Vanessa stormed in and called Ted a “clueless son-of-a-bitch” for what he had done to Nicole. Ted let her vent about how often Nicole had talked Ted up, only for him to cheat on her. He said he would never be able to forgive himself after decimating Nicole. Shanice watched the whole flare-up.

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After Ted exited, Vanessa glued on a fake smile, but Shanice saw Vanessa's upset and asked if everything was all right between Vanessa and Doug. Vanessa maintained her façade when Shanice mentioned that Doug had left the hospital a while back to look for Vanessa; he wasn't back on duty, as he'd implied he would be earlier. Mrs. McBride called Mr. McBride, but got his voicemail and chose not to leave a message.

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

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