Beyond the Gates Recap, September 18, 2025: Doug approached The Fixer for help, and Kat gave Tomás a no-star review

Here's what went down Thursday, September 18, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Andre and Dani did some drunk trip planning, Tomás asked but didn't receive, and Vanessa came clean about money laundering and her marriage.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Vanessa met Joey at Uptown, where he wanted to show his lover something that would take her breath away. “Here? In public?” Vanessa snickered. Joey handed her an envelope full of cash to be deposited “to our usual account.” Vanessa wondered what had taken her so long to get involved with money laundering. Joey sensed that the risk still scared her a little. The realtor told the kingpin how her accountant had gotten suspicious – but also that she had stuck to their story. Getting away with it, Vanessa grinned, was “almost as good as sex.”

Mrs. McBride acknowledged there were certain aspects about Joey's business that he chose to keep her ignorant to, but she exhorted him to acknowledge that she made a “pretty good criminal.” Joey wanted to be sure Doug wasn't going to interrupt them and intimated that Doug might have put a tracking device on Vanessa. She recalled that Joey had been the one to bug Doug, but Joey flashed back to Doug walking in on him and Vanessa in a passionate embrace without Vanessa seeing him.

Vanessa didn't want to discuss Doug anymore, so Joey came out and asked Vanessa if she would move in with him. “No,” was her immediate answer. Vanessa said she had a life with Doug, plus he was the father of her children – and they had been each other's firsts. When Joey noticed her lack of “the L-word,” Vanessa insisted that she loved Doug; it was just that their marriage wasn't what it used to be. When Vanessa wouldn't admit that she also loved Joey, he divulged that thoughts of her were what kept him going through the day.

Joey sensed that Vanessa did love him, which is why she had come back to him after supposedly ending things – and he couldn't understand Vanessa continuing to stay with Doug, given what they had. Vanessa said the topic of Doug made her lose interest in other subjects and sassed that Joey must be the one with a thing for Doug, considering how focused Joey was on him. She decided to leave so she could find someone else who would appreciate all her “fabulousness” – but Joey roughly grabbed her arm, wanting to continue the conversation.

Vanessa let Joey know that one couldn't simply turn off a relationship they'd had since high school like a faucet. She was comfortable with Doug, and he knew all her facets, whereas Joey only knew a few. Joey listened as Vanessa conceded that she'd long since figured out that she needed sex more than Doug did, and he remarked that her appetite was one of her most endearing qualities. Vanessa qualified that she had been one of the best customers of Joey's escort service, but she had never felt tempted to leave Doug for any of the men she'd hired.

Being asked if he could live with Vanessa sleeping next to Doug every night, Joey pivoted and revealed that Vanessa's activity with his escort service had ceased right around the time the two of them had started carrying on. Vanessa tried to act like it was because she didn't want Joey knowing about her personal life, but Joey pulled out of her that “maybe, in the end, I really am a one-man kind of girl.”

Randy took a booth with Doug at Orphey Gene's, nervous that appearing at the diner wouldn't keep him off of Joey's radar. Doug sadly told his friend how he had caught Vanessa with Joey after she promised not to see him anymore; the heart surgeon was ready once again to take Joey down. Randy thought Doug should reconsider, since “you like breathing.” Doug wanted to do something quick and certain – reporting Joey's money laundering, and the fact that Joey had blackmailed Vanessa into aiding him, would be enough to make Joey go away. Randy reminded Doug that he would be destroying Vanessa as well – was that what Doug wanted?

Doug insisted that he and Vanessa loved each other, which Randy silently disbelieved. “I guess some guys can just handle being cucks better than others,” Randy said, knowing he wouldn't be as forgiving with his own wife. Doug tried to get tough and wanted to settle things outside, which Randy blew off. Mr. McBride claimed he was used to Vanessa's “habits,” but her fling with Joey was different, because Joey was making things personal. Therefore, Doug said, Joey had to be taken out of the picture. Randy wouldn't help Doug figure out how to neutralize Joey without taking Vanessa down with him, refusing to put himself in Joey's line of fire again. Doug upheld that he would enact a plan with or without Randy.

Hayley came downstairs to find Bill had arrived home; she asked how his conversation with Dani went. Bill stalled, telling Hayley how beautiful she was. Hayley hoped Bill could say she wouldn't have to think about Dani at all going forward. Bill assured Hayley he had made it clear to his ex that, while he was glad they'd lowered their temperature and been able to come together during Chelsea's kidnapping crisis, they did have separate lives – except when it came to their daughters. “Trust me – Dani gets it,” Bill added, though Hayley was sure that Dani had figured out how she'd sent Bill over with the message.

After she started to delve further into exactly what Dani had said, Hayley caught herself and thanked Bill for doing exactly what she had asked. Bill offered to give Hayley a pass for her slight nagging as long as she gave him a pass for not paying her enough attention – getting an amused grunt out of her when he addressed how she had tried to use Tomás to make him jealous. Hayley was all too willing to achieve mutual forgiveness because it meant make-up sex.

The Hamiltons were intruded upon by the doorbell – Hayley promised she would kill Dani if it was her. However, it was Doug, who wanted a moment with Bill. Hayley purred that she would go get ready for the “prior engagement” Bill notified Doug they had – then Doug explained Joey's money laundering scheme to Bill, and Vanessa's part in it. Bill defined the crime as a Class B felony and found it a “tall order” that Doug wanted Joey to go to jail without Vanessa also ending up behind bars. “That's why I came to the best,” Doug complimented.

Bill realized that Doug had known for a while about Vanessa helping Joey to conceal the source of his ill-gotten gains, and, upon hearing that Doug was getting a cut, the lawyer was unclear as to why Doug wanted to end to the arrangement. “I just do,” Doug said matter-of-factly. Bill also intuited that Vanessa had gotten cozy with Joey; Doug was adamant that Vanessa was putting her life at risk because of her association with Armstrong, though Bill noticed that Doug's wife hadn't accompanied him to the ask.

Doug, wanting to make up to Vanessa for dragging her into the mess he'd created, told Bill, who wanted to know if there was any evidence connecting her to the illegal doings – or if there was anything they could use to cut a deal for her – that Vanessa kept two sets of books: one for the government and one bearing the true numbers. Bill concurred that law enforcement would find the accounting helpful. Then, Doug mentioned that he'd had a friend who was afraid to come forward and talk about how Joey had tasked him with committing a murder – which piqued Bill's interest.

When Bill heard that someone else besides Doug's friend had done the killing – which the police had ruled an accident – Bill looked to be putting some pieces together, but didn't elaborate. Doug noted that he and Bill had known each other a long time and implored his friend to help him take Joey out of commission while retaining Vanessa's freedom.

Once Doug left, Bill apologized to Hayley for having to take a rain check on their make-up sex – there was something very important he had to do before meeting Naomi and Chelsea for dinner. Hayley sighed as Bill ran out. Following, Bill found Joey and Vanessa together at Uptown; Vanessa wouldn't leave when Bill asked to talk to Joey alone, and Joey cavalierly pronounced that whatever Bill had to say to him, he could vocalize in front of Vanessa. “No,” Bill held firm. “I can't.”

At the country club, Dani and Andre toasted to Ashley and Bill, the ones who had gotten away, remarking on how long they'd been sitting there drinking. Dani called Bill “a big old ventriloquist dummy,” knowing Hayley had put the relationship-clarifying words in Bill's mouth; the former model thought it was selfish for Hayley to rain on the family dinner Bill and Dani had planned because Hayley was insecure. “And she should be,” Dani punctuated.

Andre took from that that Hayley had reason to be worried; Dani griped about how Hayley had come between Bill and his daughters before, which Dani would no longer allow. After Andre pointed out that Dani and Bill would always be bonded through their children, he lamented that that was a connection he would never have. Dani was surprised to hear Andre say he'd never considered having kids, especially knowing what he'd gotten out of delivering the baby with Ashley in the hospital elevator. Andre felt that dwelling on that was as futile as Dani dwelling on Bill. “Love the one you're with,” the two decided...“and then love somebody else.”

Dani wanted Andre to be her player tutor, then thought better of it when she realized he had been in town for months. When Dani said she used to be like Andre, he recognized that was likely the reason they clicked as well as they did and shared his first rule: “Don't care about anything” – because it kept one free. After naming her next drink “The Bill” because it was “intoxicating, but definitely bad for me,” Dani called Andre out for wanting to keep boozing when he had taken her to task for her excessive consumption of alcohol before.

Andre interpreted something Dani said as a request to take her out of town and asked where she wanted to go; she responded that another drink would help her “clink thearly.” Later, Andre announced he had bad news. “Bill and Ashley ran off together?” Dani giggled – but the bartender had cut them both off. Dani yelled that her family had founded the club and that the rules didn't apply to her, a trait which Andre said had first attracted him to her. After she sniggered that she couldn't remember what had she had initially found attractive in Andre, she started kissing on his neck; Andre said they couldn't be doing that in public, which reminded Dani about the trip she became more interested in taking.

When Dani wanted to get a car to take her home so she could pack, Andre boasted that he always kept a packed bag handy and proposed that they just go straight to the airport. Dani agreed, and the two drunkenly found their way out of the country club.

Tomás brought a blindfolded Kat to a hotel room, surprising her with a special night of roses and dinner. After Tomás removed the cloth, Kat saw the bed and grimaced. He saw her displeasure, but she rallied and told her boyfriend she loved how he'd gone to so much trouble for her. They kissed, then Tomás put on music she liked and poured her favorite champagne, since he was aware of her family's high standards.

After Kat laughed that Tomás viewed her as a challenge, Tomás recalled when he'd first laid eyes on her and admitted that he'd been terrified to say hello to her, predicting she'd reject him. Kat was glad he'd taken the chance, and, upon Tomás' query, relayed that Chelsea had been doing a lot better since Anita had gotten her to think differently about her future. She showed him a promo video of her and Chelsea announcing their online launch as taking place “Tuesday, September 29” (September 29 is a Monday). Tomás was happy for the cousins, though Kat was still bothered by how Allison had shaken Chelsea's confidence.

Tomás brought in dinner, then presented Kat with a fortune cookie on a silver tray whose fortune read, “Just ask.” Learning Tomás would give her whatever she wanted, she suggested that they dance. The movement quickly led to a kiss, which led to sitting on the bed and taking clothes off. Afterwards, Tomás asked a sullen Kat why they ended up not making love, but she didn't want to get into it. That answer didn't work for Tomás, who said sex wasn't fun for him if it wasn't fun for her; Kat got out of bed and snapped, “So sorry I ruined your fun.”

Kat didn't think she measured up to the more experienced women Tomás had been with, and she was defensive despite Tomás seeming genuine in his desire to repair the disconnect that kept happening between them. “Maybe you're the one who's not that great in bed,” Kat finally barked, devastating Tomás. Though Kat instantly appeared contrite for what she'd blurted out, she used an app to get a ride home instead of letting Tomás take her. “Suit yourself,” Tomás replied coldly, leaving Kat alone in the hotel room.

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