Beyond the Gates Recap for November 13, 2025: Vernon walked a tightrope and a new match tried to light Derek's fire

Here's what went down Thursday, November 13, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Shanice and Naomi managed Ashley, Kat had an ally in Smitty, and Leslie played the Multimillion Dollar Pyramid.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Anita signed autographs at the hospital after she had finished having a physical. Nicole was surprised to see her mom but was none too pleased that Anita had been too busy to keep up with her medical care until then. Mother and daughter talked about how Laura had stepped up helping out with WinterFest and presumed the extra work she was doing was to thank the family for rallying behind her after her “accident.” Anita sighed that they all knew who had caused it even if there hadn't been enough evidence to pin on Leslie.

Vernon met Sharon at Uptown, where the singer worried about a woman at the bar staring at them. Mr. Dupree recognized the lady as a staffer who had worked in the Capitol when he was a senator; he knew she didn't travel in the same social circles and wasn't worried about her blabbing to Anita that she had seen him with Sharon. After telling Vernon he looked “all fine and whatnot,” she suggested that it was still early and that they could head back to her hotel so she could show him something they had been talking about. Vernon thought that would be too suspicious, but told Sharon he'd see her the next day. She handed him a pair of his cufflinks, which he had left on her dresser.

Anita greeted the returning Vernon and reported that she had been given a clean bill of health. When Vernon smiled that the news was music to his ears, Anita hoped that didn't mean he was going to sing to her again. The matriarch suddenly noticed that Vernon smelled of perfume, but she didn't mention it further and went into the preparations for WinterFest. Then, Anita noticed that Vernon was wearing the cufflinks that she had given him when he'd started out in the Senate, remarking that he hadn't worn them for a while. Vernon replied that he liked to cycle through the others but that he always came back to his favorite.

Kat saw Martin at the hospital cafeteria and tried to turn away before he could see her. But the reporter noticed her presence and said that it was Samantha who was being punished, not Kat. When Smitty hinted that he had gotten Martin to relent about pulling Samantha out of ChelseaKat, Kat commented that Smitty had always been the angel on Martin's shoulder. Things were still as they had been when they were kids, Kat shared: Kat would apologize for a perceived wrong, but Martin would hold a grudge. She didn't want to apologize just to keep the peace this time, not with Martin, nor with Tomás. As Kat shrugged that Tomás didn't understand her and was always pushing her to accept Eva, Smitty felt that both Tomás and Martin had points, and that perhaps Kat should further own her part in her disagreements.

Ted continued his chat with Leslie, Eva, and Jan at the country club, with Leslie saying she was glad to help Ted's patient financially. Leslie then spoke of how she was funding the Leslie Thomas Sports Complex at Fairmont Crest, and she and Ted got into a discussion about how she had been able to see the Harlem Globetrotters when she was little (“Who are the Harlem Globetrotters?” Gen Z Eva asked) – their favorite player was Meadowlark Lemon. Jan made a graceful escape, but Eva followed her out, begging her to stay; Jan figured out that Eva wanted her to be a buffer between Leslie and Ted.

Though Eva reiterated that Leslie was only using her newfound friendship with Ted to make romantic inroads, Jan said that Ted would have to be willing; if he wasn't, Eva had nothing to worry about. Eva reluctantly went back to the table, where her parents were discussing Leslie possibly donating to the NAACP or the United Negro College Fund. Talk turned to WinterFest; when Leslie heard that it was being put on in memory of Barbara, she was surprised that, since Barbara had been her biological mother, no one had told her about it. Leslie wondered if Ted would be in attendance, given his divorce from Nicole, and Ted said he wouldn't miss it before departing.

“Don't,” Eva warned, correctly predicting that Leslie was thinking of getting involved with WinterFest. Leslie got tired of Eva lecturing her but admitted that Ted wasn't her only motivating factor for the move – it would neutralize the Fairmont Crest naysayers who hated her for being new money. “Nobody in this club has money older than Emancipation, mama,” Eva said, rolling her eyes and adding that the community's residents really hated Leslie for tearing down a home and building a new one across the street from the Duprees just to annoy them.

Leslie's reason for wanting to take part in WinterFest was simple: like in their old neighborhood, she explained to Eva, there was a social pecking order that had a pyramid structure. And it was important to know was at the top...and align oneself with them.

Ted visited Nicole for updates about WinterFest and announced that he would be bringing Eva as his plus-one. Nicole was fine with that, but was certain that Kat was going to have an extremely negative reaction. Ted wasn't unmindful of Kat's feelings, but he wasn't going to ignore one daughter for the sake of the other and said that loving Eva didn't mean he loved Kat any less. Nicole was glad to see that Eva had one sane parent.

Derek's friends and co-workers at the fire station, Liam and Sheryl, came by to help move the rest of Derek's belongings out of Ashley's apartment. Both firefighters were sorry to hear that Ashley had broken up with Derek; he reckoned that some things just weren't meant to me. Sheryl stayed behind while Liam took a box to his truck and assured Derek that he was strong and would get over the breakup. Then she let him know that he didn't have to go through it alone, and kissed him.

Things were beginning to get passionate when Derek stopped himself, realizing it was wrong to be making out with another woman in his ex's apartment. Sheryl took that to mean Derek was still in love with Ashley; he conceded that he was and that he wasn't ready to move on with someone new. Sheryl was disappointed, but she understood.

Naomi went to the hospital to deliver Derek's key to Ashley, who wanted to know how Derek was taking things. After Naomi spat that Ashley shouldn't feel sorry for Derek, Ashley owned that fact that she hadn't been forthcoming about her lingering feelings for Andre. Shanice overheard and agreed with Naomi that Ashley had a soft heart – she needed to stick to her guns now that she had ended things with Derek. Plus, though Shanice liked Derek, she promised to honor the “girl code” and not pursue him herself. Naomi and Shanice plotted to keep Ashley busy and invented ways that she could avoid Derek, who would still be coming to Garland for physical therapy. Ashley reluctantly accepted when Naomi wanted to take her out to lunch and Shanice declared that Ashley needed to take care of herself, because she was no good to her patients while she was distracted.

At the airport, Andre couldn't understand why Dani was cancelling their trip. Dani, who had taken care of matters with Ridge from Forrester Creations, showed Andre the selfie he had sent her and cited it as the reason for the change in plans. She could see in Andre's eyes that going to L.A. to model was the last thing he wanted to do. Andre tried to play it off, but Dani wouldn't allow his evasion, pointing out that he had twice referred to a risk he was taking by doing the shoot.

Andre admitted he had never warmed to the idea, but had consented because Pamela had been so vehement about how important the Forrester campaign was to Dani. Yet, his years behind the camera had taught him that some people had “rizz” while others didn't – and he definitely didn't. If he posed for the ads with Dani, the shoot would bomb, and it would be Dani who would be blamed for coming out of retirement when she should have stayed gone.

Dani was humbled that Andre cared so much about her and deduced that his concern had been why he'd spent so many nights tossing and turning. “Yeah, something like that,” Andre replied. Andre said they still had time to get to L.A. and was even willing to task his own pilot with flying them there, but Dani decided that giving up the gig was something that she could do for her husband. Andre was shocked to watch Dani getting into an argument with Pamela over the phone concerning the cancellation.

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The newlyweds realized that, just because they weren't doing a photo shoot, it didn't mean they had to give up the honeymoon portion of their trip. After considering Rio de Janeiro, Miami, and Dubai (where Dani wasn't allowed to return), they remembered that they had already made multiple reservations at L.A. hotels and hotspots. Given Dani's gushing review of the city, Andre was ready to get on a plane and rolled their suitcases behind her.

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

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