Beyond the Gates Recap for October 24, 2025: Vanessa sold her son down the river and Izaiah's family tie was revealed

Here's what went down Friday, October 24, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when tackling fashion houses and casinos were all in a day's work for Dani, Madison had a mother of a problem, and Derek was formal in keeping his secret.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Vanessa found Donnell at the country club; he had just come off a tennis game and reminisced about how he and his mother used to play doubles against Nicole and Martin. When Donnell eyed a rematch with their friends, Vanessa announced such a game would not be possible because Donnell was going back to college...that evening.

Donnell resisted, saying he had made his own decision to take the semester off. He was upset to learn that Vanessa had placed a call to the dean assuring both Donnell's return and his absence not setting him back. Vanessa told her son that, with Doug gone, the onus was on her to make sure that their twins thrived – and she reminded Donnell how hard Doug had had to struggle to make it out of the bad neighborhood he had grown up in. Donnell knew well the story of how his dad had worked three jobs just to afford college, but he was still adamant that he would return to Banneker the following semester, after he saw Vanessa through Doug's death.

Vanessa refused to let Donnell throw away everything Doug had sacrificed and cried that the grief-stricken Deanna needed Donnell far more than Vanessa did. Donnell sighed over Vanessa's “waterworks” and reluctantly agreed to resume his term. Vanessa advised him to get on the road right away, as she didn't want him driving in the dark.

On her way into Orphey Gene's, Dani called fashion designer Ridge Forrester in Los Angeles; he was anxious to begin using her and Andre to promote Forrester Creations' new fragrance, even boasting that a special bottle had been created for them. Ridge was disappointed to hear that Andre wasn't comfortable with the idea of modeling, and Dani stressed that she couldn't keep pressuring her husband to do it. “All right, some other time,” Ridge shrugged as Dani hung up and saw Joey sitting at a table.

When Dani seated herself across from him without invitation, Joey was amused by her chutzpah. Dani wasn't afraid to be seen with “D.C.'s most morally ambiguous businessman” and told him that, while she usually appreciated Vanessa's willingness to live life on the edge, Vanessa being in mourning was not the time for Joey to be pursuing her. She wanted the fling between Joey and Vanessa to end before Vanessa got burned while still raw from the loss of Doug.

Joey traded loaded barbs with Dani; when she accused him of targeting Vanessa and being desperate for acceptance from the Fairmont Crest folk he claimed to be averse to, Joey spat that Dani had only married the younger Andre because Bill had traded her in for a younger model first. The casino owner bet Dani $10,000 that her marriage wouldn't last a year; Mrs. Dupree-Richardson confidently took the wager. But when the subject turned back to Vanessa, the realtor walked in, barely hiding her annoyance that the two were talking about her.

Once Dani left, Vanessa declared that she was ready to be Joey's partner – in every way – because she had seen to it that the questioning Donnell had returned to school. Joey wasn't unimpressed that Vanessa had manipulated her own son so she could get what she wanted, but Vanessa maintained that she was a mother who wanted her child to get the most out of his education. “If you say so,” Joey replied half-mockingly. Joey still didn't think Vanessa was ready to give up life behind the gates to aid him in his line of work. Vanessa offered to be a conduit between him and her Fairmont Crest connections and decided they should talk about it at her place.

Joey was shocked because her home had always been off limits. Vanessa pointed out that she was now living alone and admitted to a need to exorcise Doug's presence from the property. However, she added, they would be frolicking in the guest room – her bedroom with Doug was still sacrosanct.

Chelsea and Madison had dinner at the country club, with Chelsea sharing how Naomi had been freaked out enough by Bill and Hayley's baby talk at their father's birthday party that Naomi had abruptly taken off. When Chelsea bemoaned Naomi avoiding the topic in their texts, Madison said that there were times the most healing thing one could do was to respect other people's boundaries. Chelsea marveled that nothing fazed Madison, who simply claimed that she was rational. Suddenly, she received a message on her phone and yelped, “I can't take any more of this crap!”

Madison excused her outburst, saying the notification had been nothing. But Chelsea wanted to be there for her loved ones the way they had supported her in the wake of her kidnapping, so Madison confided that she had had a falling out with her mother, Willow, who had only embraced Madison being a lesbian because her tarot cards had ordained it. Chelsea was amused and didn't think there was anything wrong with people being into “woo-woo,” but Madison revealed that it went further than that.

Willow, knowing Madison was a traditional doctor, had constantly been pestering her daughter with posts about natural healing options and fallen into fringe social media groups which presented more extreme ideas. Chelsea now understood why Madison tended to frown on the amount of time she spent online. Madison felt disrespected because her mother would tag her in “crazy posts” and state that her “doctor daughter” agreed with her assessments. It had gotten so that a patient had actually refused to be treated by Madison because her in-person views didn't align with how Willow had misrepresented them.

Madison had made the decision to cut Willow off, saying that, if her mother couldn't accept her as a doctor, then Madison couldn't accept her. During their last fight, Madison had called Willow “a danger to common sense,” while Willow had retorted that Madison was “a brainwashed corporate puppet.” Madison missed the mother she used to have, but had accepted that that version was gone forever. Chelsea clandestinely polled her followers, asking if they would be inclined to help a loved one reunite with their mother or not. Despite 73% of respondents telling Chelsea to mind her own business, Chelsea opted to go against the crowd and began formulating a plan.

Andre ran into Ashley at the hospital; Ashley perked when he said his favorite person worked there, but he was speaking of his uncle, Ted. Ashley and Andre discussed having seen Alix's baby, whom they'd delivered, and Ashley wanted to know what Andre was going as for Alix's Halloween party. Andre announced that he wouldn't be in attendance; his feelings for Ashley had been real, but he was committed to Dani now. Ashley mentioned Naomi's theory that Dani had only married Andre to get back at Bill; Andre pooh-poohed it.

Dani entered her house and found Andre, who had let himself in. He was surprised by the depth of her kiss, which she called “an appreciation kiss;” Dani liked that Andre was forthright with her, even when his truth wasn't something she wanted to hear. She acknowledged that she had been pressuring him to take the deal modeling for Forrester Creations and informed him that, out of respect for his wishes, she had turned Ridge's offer down. Andre was humbled and prophesied that their marriage was getting stronger...after Dani smiled that she wanted them to make it to their first anniversary.

Jacob and Naomi were at Uptown, with the detective discussing a case where burglars had stolen an air fryer and some baby clothes. He stopped himself, but seeing Naomi's wall going up, Jacob remarked that they couldn't pretend her pregnancy scare hadn't happened. Naomi felt like bringing it up only made things worse, and she struggled to figure out how to fix the “vibe” between them. Jacob was in accord when Naomi said she missed their lives prior to the development, and when she added that she yearned to hang out with Derek and Ashley again. Naomi snatched up her phone and sent Ashley a text.

Derek had a fantasy about getting up from his wheelchair as he and Ashley readied for their wedding. This made Derek determined to rise in reality, and on his second attempt, he almost did it. Ashley returned home, noticing how much the now-seated Derek was sweating, but he would only chalk it up to the weather. When Derek divulged how difficult it was for him to be stuck in the apartment day after day, Ashley had a solution.

The soon-to-be-Baldwins met the Hawthornes at Uptown, with all four happy to be spending time together again. Naomi lied that she and Jacob were “great,” and when Ashley and Derek mentioned they were trying to plan their wedding, Naomi couldn't wait to jump in and help. Eventually, Jacob saw Derek's boredom and tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, but Naomi became annoyed and said Jacob was spoiling her fun.

Ashley followed Naomi as she stalked over to the bar and learned that Naomi's pregnancy test had turned out negative. Naomi relayed how she had been overjoyed while Jacob had been crushed; she confirmed Ashley's recollection that Jacob had married her agreeing not to have children, but noted that Jacob had warmed to parenthood and now kept trying to change her mind about it.

Back at the table, Derek became defensive when Jacob asked if he had told Ashley about beginning to regain the ability to move his legs. Derek deflected, and when he heard how Naomi had become stony over his awakened paternal instincts, he snarked that sometimes being honest with a partner came back to bite you. All the while, Izaiah, who had taken a seat across the room, watched the foursome interact.

Naomi accompanied Ashley back to the table, but the shared wine loosened her lips; while toasting Ashley and Derek's imminent marriage, Naomi bitterly laughed that if the couple ended up having a soul-crushing, deal-breaking argument – too bad! “You're stuck!” she slurred, pointing to her wedding ring. When Jacob wanted his wife to chill out, she snarked, “Detective Buzzkill strikes again” – then caught on that everyone was “looking at me like when my mom goes off the rails.”

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Ashley persuaded Naomi to visit the ladies room to calm down. On her way, Naomi stumbled and was caught by Izaiah. “You!” Naomi yelped. Seeing a strange man accosting his wife from the back, Jacob rushed to Naomi and recognized Izaiah, who said he was merely attempting to keep Naomi from taking a header. Jacob's eyes lit up and was glad to see his “little brother.”

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

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