Beyond the Gates Recap, September 8, 2025: Chelsea was freed and Leslie got punked

Here's what went down Monday, September 8, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Nicole gave a lesson in homeownership, Hayley once again wasn't the goose in the Dupree family's game of Duck Duck Goose, and Bill waved a rainbow flag.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Eva was shocked to hear that Ted had been able to talk Leslie out of buying the house across from Anita and Vernon. When Leslie had been poor, Eva said, she had already been impossible, but she was worse now that she had come into money. Ted concurred that it had been a quest for Leslie to live in Fairmont Crest and that she had tied her entire self-worth into it. Eva didn't want details about how Ted had prevented the purchase, but Ted held on to hope that the Duprees would see him differently after doing something to offset the humiliation Nicole had suffered because of him.

Nicole didn't believe that Ted had given Leslie her house. Leslie tore into Nicole for “making Ted feel like the scum of the earth” over “something that happened a thousand years ago” and determined that Ted presenting her with the home that had been so meaningful to Nicole had been borne of revenge. Nicole flattened Leslie by announcing that she owned the house, not Ted – which meant Ted couldn't sign it over to anyone.

Leslie seethed as Nicole realized Ted had played Leslie by “giving” her exactly what she wanted. Nicole relished Leslie falling flat “on that over-made-up face of yours”; Leslie's voice broke as she called Ted “that son of a bitch.”

Hearing that Nicole was in the thick of whatever Ted had done, Eva changed her mind about wanting to know the particulars – just then, the furious Leslie knocked on Eva's hotel room door and stopped mid-sentence when she found Ted in the suite. Ted grinned as Leslie barked that she had never been so humiliated in her life; he admitted to Eva that he had made a fool of Leslie because Leslie had been greedy and heartless in trying to take even more from Nicole than she already had.

Eva was stunned that Ted had promised Leslie his house; Leslie was devastated that Ted had arranged it so Nicole would have to be the one to deliver the news that Ted didn't even own it. “A plan worthy of your own demented logic, wasn't it?” Ted replied, offering a chef's kiss. Leslie could barely catch her breath as she flamed Ted for orchestrating her embarrassment, but he countered that she had done the same by plotting against him and Nicole for decades instead of calling any time to tell him that he had a child by her. Ted exclaimed that Leslie didn't have the right to be incensed after what she had done.

After Leslie excused herself to the washroom, Eva was angry, agreeing she had asked Ted to halt Leslie's homebuying but adding that she had never wanted him to go to such lengths. Ted was unashamed to have saved the Duprees from Leslie – and noted that he had also saved Leslie from herself. “She's my mother,” Eva declared, disgusted that her father had dragged her mother through the mud. “So you did it to both of us.” Though Eva wanted him to apologize to Leslie, Ted refused, citing the stunts Leslie had pulled since returning to D.C. Eva couldn't stomach Ted saying Leslie had gotten what she deserved – she threw Ted out of her room, barely biting off “Who are you right now?”

Leslie emerged from the bathroom, having heard Ted's exit line warning Eva to be more careful about what she asked for in the future. Eva pivoted, wanting to know if Leslie were okay; Leslie submitted that she wasn't. She was appalled that she had allowed Ted to get one up over her. Eva was certain that Leslie had been hurt by his action as well. To Leslie, Ted's offer had made sense – she figured Ted had become so frustrated with Nicole that gifting her his house had been almost like a relief valve. Eva observed that she had never seen Leslie so vulnerable.

Eva apologized, but Leslie knew that her daughter hadn't had anything to do with Ted's deception. Ms. Thomas divulged that she had merely wanted the Duprees to take her seriously and to stop viewing her as “a low-class joke.” Leslie cried that she was somebody. “I am...I am somebody,” she weeped as Eva comforted her.

Knowing that the Duprees always had Bill as their first line of defense, Eva suggested that she be Leslie's. Eva accepted that she had been regular about pulling Leslie back, but she decided that Leslie had a right to live wherever she chose. Plus, Leslie was entitled to the money that Anita had laid aside out of her own guilt for doing Barbara out of The Articulettes. Leslie, listening as Eva vowed to stand beside her, was happy that she had her daughter back.

Vernon thanked the FBI for their help in finding Chelsea but asked for more, as the purse designer had been missing a full day. Bill invited Hayley into the Dupree compound; he showed Dani a little box he'd had Hayley pull from a closet which contained Chelsea mementos, including a childhood drawing she'd done. Kat checked in with the family, explaining over a choppy video call that she, Jacob, and Madison were in Virginia, on their way to the cabin where they suspected Allison was holding Chelsea.

Chelsea's relatives heard Madison imploring Jacob to drive faster. Vernon and Naomi insisted that Jacob and the others couldn't simply descend on the crime scene without backup; it was too dangerous. Just as Kat agreed to text them the address of the cabin, she yelled, “Jacob, look out for that truck!” Everyone lost the signal, and any calls to Kat or Jacob went straight to their voicemails. Naomi feared that they had been in an accident.

Hayley tried to be reassuring, stating that reception in the woods would be spotty, but Dani had an anxiety attack. Bill encouraged his ex-wife to have faith that Kat, Jacob, and Madison were all right and that they would be able to get to Chelsea; Hayley watched as the shaky Dani fell into Bill's arms. Likewise, Anita exhorted Naomi told hold on to hope for Chelsea's sake.

Allison was upset to hear that Chelsea didn't love her – but, grabbing the cake-covered butcher knife, she swore that no one else could have Chelsea, either, if she couldn't. “Crazy-ass bitch, I've had it with you!” Chelsea shrieked as Allison came at her with the weapon. Chelsea managed to force Allison to drop the knife, and the women struggled on the bed. Allison got loose and lunged for the blade, while Chelsea grabbed her ankle to keep her from getting to it. Then, Chelsea, declaring she wasn't going to be Allison's victim anymore, wrapped the chain attached to her handcuffs around Allison's neck.

Chelsea pulled tighter on the shackles, while Allison cried that Chelsea didn't have it in her to continue. Jacob burst through the door and pulled Allison away from Chelsea, who yelled that Allison had tried to kill her. Kat and Madison rushed to Chelsea to see if she was hurt and promised her the ordeal was over.

Jacob had Allison in handcuffs; Chelsea wanted to go home that moment, but Madison and Kat were adamant that she let herself be green-lit by paramedics first. Chelsea, her cousin, and her girlfriend exchanged information about how the cabin had been discovered and how Allison had nabbed Chelsea. When Chelsea relayed how the only way she could keep Allison from going completely off the rails was to “marry” her, Allison wailed that she loved Chelsea, but Jacob shut her up.

Chelsea fell apart trying to explain how she had tried to follow the advice of Madison and her family. “She almost turned me into a killer,” Chelsea sobbed, unsure how how far she would have gone to subdue her captor. As Jacob moved to take Allison away, Chelsea told her that the only feeling she had for her was pity. Then Chelsea collapsed in Madison's arms. Kat called the Duprees and told them Chelsea was safe – she would be taken to the hospital to be sure she had no physical injuries. Bill, Hayley, and Dani darted out to meet Chelsea there while Vernon, Anita, and Naomi hugged, overjoyed.

At Garland Memorial, Dani texted Nicole, feeling that there may be some things that Chelsea could only share with a psychiatrist. Hayley expressed to Bill how relieved she was for both him and his daughter. Chelsea was wheeled in from the elevator and reunited with her loved ones. Anita allowed herself to cry once holding her granddaughter tight.

As press gathered in the facility's lobby, Chelsea was grateful to Madison for not putting her in a hospital room, since, after being held captive on a bed, the idea of lying in one was unappealing. Kat understood that Chelsea would want privacy, but also informed her cousin that she would be inundated with relatives who wanted to spend time with her. After Kat left, Chelsea told Madison that she was the only one she really wanted to have around; Madison felt Chelsea should let her family, who had pulled together in their search for her, love on her for a while.

Once given clearance, Dani rushed in to see Chelsea; Bill was right behind her, but advised Hayley to stay behind, as he was wary of Chelsea being overwhelmed. Hayley stood alone as Kat was surrounded by Duprees who wanted to know how Chelsea had been located.

Chelsea told her parents how Allison had spent years stalking her. When Bill piped up that he had been worried about exactly that outcome when Chelsea had started modeling, Dani pulled him back – however, Bill revealed to Chelsea that he thought Madison was amazing that that he was happy she was in his daughter's life. Chelsea sheepishly reported that she had planned on telling Bill about her sexual identity. Dani handed Chelsea the drawing she'd made when she was little; Chelsea was touched that Bill had kept it.

Ted visited Nicole, who hadn't been glad to be pulled into the game Ted had been playing with Leslie. Ted confessed that he'd taken the chance to help the family and stick it to Leslie at the same time. Nicole couldn't deny that Ted had done a good thing finally and reasoned that her not knowing about his plot had helped her to react more naturally when Leslie had come over to gloat about taking over the house.

Nevertheless, Nicole had trouble reconciling Ted seemingly heralding a battle by stalling their divorce with his elaborate act to ruin Leslie's prospect to become her parents' neighbor. Ted didn't want to get into their issues with Chelsea just having been found; Nicole thanked Ted and asked him if he wanted to accompany her to the hospital to see her rescued niece. Ted assented, astonished.

Hayley intercepted Naomi as she was about to call Jacob, appearing desperate to talk to someone about the torment of Chelsea's disappearance. When Hayley gushed that the emergency had made everyone a little closer, Naomi asked Hayley to stop trying to use her as a way back into the family, especially since she had to be feeling insecure about Bill spending so much time with Dani. The defeated Hayley walked away as Dani and Bill emerged; Bill accepted Dani's gratitude for his help and went off in search of his wife. Meanwhile, Vernon and Anita looked in on Chelsea and marveled at her fortitude; the granddad assured Chelsea that Allison would never be able to come near her again, and the grandma offered to help Chelsea get the purse launch back on track. For her part, Chelsea wanted victory over Allison by seeing to things herself. Anita hailed the statement as the Dupree in Chelsea coming out.

Nicole arrived at the hospital with Ted in tow, sickened by Chelsea's trauma but not happy that “amateur sleuth” Kat had put herself at risk. Kat was convinced that Chelsea would have done the same for her. In Chelsea's room, the returned kidnap victim hinted that she should have been a lawyer like Naomi, which would have kept the crazies away. Naomi announced that her little sister was born for the spotlight and demurred when Madison peeked in, sure the couple wanted their own time together. With Naomi gone, Madison affirmed her love for Chelsea and let her know it was okay to move on from what had happened. Chelsea reciprocated the love and embraced Madison, looking doubtful.

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