Couples? Therapy: Beyond the Gates Two Scoops for the week of October 6, 2025

Nicole's heart wanted to close up shop on Beyond the Gates

Are y'all ready to go Beyond the Gates? This week, Tomás and Kat got freaky but their reunion was squeaky, Smitty took the therapy out of therapy, and Naomi continued gestating despite her doubts. Elsewhere in the DMV, Bill was more involved in his old marriage than his new one, Leslie actually got on speaking terms with somebody, and Donnell started to fall under Joey's spell! Let's fill up those Two Scoops and find out what happened inside and outside the gates of Fairmont Crest!

Black white Puerto Rican, everybody just a'freakin'

When you've got a mom whose credo is “Playing dirty is the price of admission,” I guess it's hard to stay out of that planet's gravity. In this case, Eva's head got all filled up with Leslie's fight songs, with “mama” comparing her daughter's sitch to her own with Ted. To Leslie's mind, Navarro and Richardson, respectively, were “two conflicted peas in a testosterone-filled pod.” I really wish I could disagree with her. I really wish I could.

Within those much-ballyhooed gates of Fairmont Crest, Nicole was serving some Tomás tea to Kat, saying that Eva couldn't have come between them if they'd been solid (ouch). Nic-Nic also torqued Kat off by giving Eva a helluva lotta slack; she just couldn't see Eva purposely going after Kat's man. Kat got up in Nicole's face about having been right about Eva all along, and if Nicole was so into working things out with a man, why wasn't she in conference with Ted?

That is called laying down the smackdown! This is also what Chelsea was doing as she labeled Tomás an “absolute jackass” for sleeping with Eva. Chels even sassed that maybe Kat was right about his maligned manhood! It's not to say Tomás didn't deserve it. I guess it was inevitable we would get a male waffler to go along with female waffler Ashley; it's just that Tomás was such a guy about it.

After Chelsea slipped that Kat loved Tomás, he got all giddy and invited Kat to lunch. When Kat basically told him she hoped he got paper cuts from the menu, he crossed Kat's name off the invitation and wrote in Eva's. See what I mean? But Eva, all charged up from Leslie egging her on (and Leslie's a bajillionaire now; she can afford eggs), knifed Tomás for choosing something polished (Kat) over something real (her).

Oh, was Tomás all in his feelings because Eva had called him out for using her as a sexual experiment to make him feel better about his chorizo? Good! Eva said! And again, I ain't faulting Eva for that. Tomás deserves to be humiliated left, right, and center for thinking with the head that doesn't stick out the top of his suits. Eva was also spot on when she suggested that Kat couldn't connect to Tomás in bed because she was more concerned with competing with Eva for his affections, and not so much with Tomás himself.

Girl's battin' a thousand up in here – unfortunately for her, Kat caught the high-fly ball. Not that Kat got a chance to say much of anything, because when Eva repeated her disconnect theory to her, Tomás stood up – literally – for Kat. Eva shouldn't be saying that stuff about Kat, he said...because he loved her! Kat smiled like she had just scored a one-of-a-kind gown, and Eva was like, “Pssh...I just can't with these people.”

While Eva was ranting against Leslie for trying to turn her into a mini-me, those three little words of Tomás' were getting Kat all what-not. After the two exchanged them officially, Kat was so into it she decided to pull a Vanessa and get it on with Tomás in one of the country club's service closets. And I guess Kitty finally got her “big O.” Yeah, funny what victory over your nemesis will free you up to do!

Tomás and Kat are both idiots. His heart is with Eva, and her heart is also with Eva. Kat outright told Chelsea that she didn't want to let Eva win! Don't tell me this couple is the real deal, 'cuz they're not. If anything then, it should be fun to watch them implode. As for Eva, she's done enough of a redemption tour that she actually deserves better than flaky ol' Tomás. And stop following mama's advice already!

When will I see you smile again

Smitty had an interesting chat with Ted – we usually don't see these two in scenes together. Ted, having risked it all by keeping big secrets from Nicole, understood how Martin had messed up his own marriage being deceptive and all. But maybe, Ted proffered, maybe Smitty just needed to make the decision to forgive Martin and be done with it. Gee, projecting much, Ted? Nicole might as well be a member of En Vogue, because you're never gonna get it!

Anita and Ted both, albeit separately, intuited that Smitty was waiting around for some “grand gesture” from Martin. Smitty admitted it; he needed to see that he could trust his congressman hubby again. Martin not only took that ball and ran with it, he sprinted right towards a cliff – if D.C. has any of those. He was ready to show Smitty he could do the right thing...by confessing all to the public!

Man! I was really excited by that! How juicy the fallout would have been from everyone finding out that Martin had rearranged “Kenneth”'s face and unalived his bro's. But Smitty talked him out of it – damn it. I guess the argument that Vernon, Anita, Ted, and Bill would likely have taken the fall as well was a solid one. And Joey is connected to everything. I still was ready to see this explosion. Talk about a story thread coming back from the dead!

Smitty got the “aha” moment he'd been waiting for – his own, anyway – when he suddenly accused Martin of pretending to be willing to fall on his sword just to impress him! “You've lied to me before,” Smitty scoffed. Oh, yes! Martin swore he was the real deal, and I suppose I believe him. Smitty did, too, and what started as a sensible baby step ended with Smitty running a damn marathon. For time.

There was such a chasm between the Richardson-Smiths, Smitty noted, that couples therapy would be a good way of figuring out how to cross it. Okay, he had me there. Y'all know I haven't been a fan of this marriage, but I could see them trying to hash things out in a professional setting. The other half of Smitty's proposal was that he and Martin have a date night once a week. Yeah. That's not a bad idea, either.

But there's carts and horses and putting one in front of the other and then letting the horse gallop away without even trying to catch it. There was no wisdom at all in going out on the date when therapy (and not with Nicole) should have been the first stop. Why did Smitty suggest help only to skip it? And it gets better...and not because Martin wore the same sweater he did on their real first date over a decade ago.

I have said all along that Smitty needed to divorce Martin not simply because of the “Kenneth” secret – but because Martin had a way of steamrolling over Smitty. Dude commanded Smits not to resume his journalism career and actively did him out of a job, remember? But I will give Martin credit deluxe here – he owned it. He couldn't believe he had actually stood in Smitty's way and resolved not to do so again.

It's hard to be as mad at Martin now that he's addressed the main thing I'd been holding against him. He also wanted him and Smitty to be equals, which would be huge if Martin can actually make good on it. Smitty said their roads had diverged in a wood when Martin had begun hiding himself, and when Smitty had started giving up parts of himself. Excellent observation. Something to tell the therapist, right? Right?

Smitty was basically, “What therapist?” Okay, he didn't say that, but he seemed to forget that was the plan – his own plan! – and bid Martin to move home before the dessert tray was even brought around. Huh??!! Shouldn't they have made progress in analysis first before taking such a giant step? Yes, Martin owned some s**t and laid down some promises. But Smitty is going about this so back-asswards. What a letdown.

I'm your baby tonight

I like when the show builds on little, not-particularly-significant moments from months earlier, because it helps cement this little world we've been building. Remember back in the spring when Dupree men, direct and extended, got up in Tomás' face, asking him his intentions toward Kat? This time it was ladies night, and the feeling's right. Dani and Chelsea wanted to know where Carlton was at about Nicole. Ohhh, what a night!

I know some of y'all think it's dog for Carlton to be pursuing his business partner's soon-to-be-ex-wife, but I'm good – and I'm liking Carlton more and more. Refusing to roll over for Nicole's nosy relatives, Carlton told them some story about him having nursed a thing for Nicole since they met in kindergarten. In fact, he would have bagged Nic first had she not met Ted at that medical conference on Maui!

Dani knew they were being had, and Chelsea maturely realized that Carlton didn't want to have to explain himself. He wouldn't speak for Nicole, and when his own feelings were discussed, they would be directed to her and no one else. Nicole's been understandably glum since she found out about Ted and Leslie, but she presents as just this side of alive again when she gets around Carlton.

However, when Dani got into the subject of Carlton and his bedroom eyes with her sis, Nicole shut down. She liked Carlton enough, but she was flipping the “open” sign on her heart to “closed.” Dani was aghast! She got that Nicole would still treating her metaphoric third-degree burns, but that was no reason to go into full-on spinster mode. Nicole got the same sagacious speech from Anita. Live a little, La Dupree implored! Girl! It's Carlton. If you don't take him, I will.

Out in the more suburban sections of D.C., the Hawthornes returned to the subject of Naomi suddenly carrying their little bundle of not-joy. Or, at least, Naomi wasn't happy about it. Jacob was still ecstatic and living for the Gerber baby visions playing in his head. Naomi was like, “Not so fast!” You get gunned down on the job and I'm doin' all this child raising on my own! Then what?

Given Jacob's line of work, that's a legit concern. Hell – Naomi's a lawyer, and these days they're getting targets on their backs more often; one convict sent up the river by Naomi snags a firearm and Jacob is a single dad. But Jacob wanted to focus on the positive and was willing to bet (not in Joey's casino, of course) that parenthood would be a thousand times better than Naomi was seeing in her mind's eye.

Naomi was tempted by Jacob's insistence that their baby would be cute and agreed to think about it...except she was already supposed to be thinking about remaining pregnant (I'm gonna keep my baby! Ooh! Oh!) the previous week. So there really wasn't any progression here. I'll be the scandalous guy and say I don't think Naomi should have the child if she really doesn't want one. What do y'all think?

No ordinary love

You'd think the ink-barely-dried drunken Richardson marriage would be the unstable pairing, but it's Bill and Hayley's seven-month-old union that's going down the drain faster than Dow Scrubbing Bubbles. Both Dani and Andre got lectures about their decision to stay married after their Vegas quickie, with Nicole exhorting Dani not to use Andre. Dani has repeatedly stated that she's happy with her Andre arrangement.

I have no reason to disbelieve her. Hasn't Dani seemed super mellow since her “mom” officiated her ceremony? Not so Bill, who, instead of focusing on the marriage to Hayley he's made so much noise about, called in to a private investigator, Keegan, and asked him to not only dig into Andre's past, but to follow his ass. Not long ago, Bill would have given up his law license to get Dani out of his hair. Now he's so focused on Dani that he can't focus on Hayley.

He even lied and told Hayley he was meeting with Caroline and a client after Keegan hipped him to Andre's whereabouts. Bill must be slipping, because surely he knew his claim could be easily checked...which is exactly what Hayley did. And when Caroline had no record of anything happening with Bill, Hayley was sure Dani did and ran over there but fast. “Wow, she projects,” Dani smirked when Hayley yelled out for her errant husband.

“Past is prologue,” Dani repeated to Hayley (another nice callback to months ago) – she had warned her replacement that Bill tires of women quickly, and frankly, I had hoped that would only end up applying to Dani. But Bill is over Hayley now, it seems. It's gotten to the point I'm not even rooting for the Hamiltons anymore. Hayley's a schemer, and insecure AF, but Bill's been treating her like crap for weeks.

I suppose Bill could be given points for not being with another woman – he was with another man, actually...in this case, Andre. Bill got in Andre's grill about being a gold digger, but Andre was like “Dude! I've got plenty of my own money.” Andre even shamed Bill by suggesting he was the one to get with Dani for money, since Bill hadn't had much cheddar of his own before that marriage. What time is it now?

Yeah, Andre wasn't bothered by Bill, or anybody else's probing into his marriage, at least not to their faces. He was a little flustered when Jacob asked him about Ashley, but 'Dre, let's just have you pretend she doesn't exist already. Ashley and Andre were a chemistry mismatch from day one, whereas Dani and Andre burn up the screen. Though Dani – yes, Dani – actually provided some clarity by wondering if she was really doing right by her new hubby!

She knew she could only give Andre so much, especially since she hadn't yet gotten Bill out of her system, and she wasn't sure that was fair. She wanted Andre to think about the future and what he actually wanted out of it. This on the heels of Jacob reminding Andre that Dani already had two grown kids and wouldn't want more. Dani was giving Andre an out. Will he take it?

I'm kinda thinking not, and I'm actually glad Dandre (Andi?) didn't just get a speedy annulment. Hayley may want to consider one, though, since when she confronted Bill about not actually having a client and demanded answers as to where he'd been, Bill scoffed that he wasn't going to give her access to his phone or e-mail so she could cull info – and that if she wanted the marriage to work, she'd better back off!

Whoa! Maybe Bill stroked out again, because he so doesn't have his priorities straight. He's holding the line about only being concerned for his daughters, but Hayley sees right through it. Pamela called bull, too, after Bill swaggered up wanting her to help split Dani and Andre up. Pamela said she'd been unable to get Dani to dump Husband #1, so what luck was she going to have with Husband #2? Touché, girlfriend. Touché!

Hayley's Very Much Not Good Bad Day continued when Tomás dumped on her for using him to try to make Bill jealous. She could have gotten him fired! The hell, Hayley! Mrs. Hamilton was sorry, but I was glad Tomás kept his foot down; it's the most sense he's made in weeks. Hayley acted like she and Bill were totally back on track. Tomás bought it, but what does he know. That marriage is so toast, Orphey Gene's wants to add it to the menu.

Mo money mo problems

Anita got the most delicious phone call from...“Anita”! Looks like the Vegas impersonator's name is Jackie Tyree (a lot of you said she was a drag performer; I knew she wasn't), and she wanted her avatar to head out to the 88901 and catch her show! The real diva shined on her double, and Vernon was of the “hell no” persuasion, but I fully would have loved to see that act. Imagine how fun!

Vernon was still hopeful that Bill could do his magic in the courtroom and put the kibosh on Leslie tearing down the pad across the street to raise up her “shouse” – which everyone knew Leslie was just doing to annoy the hell out of the Duprees with the round-the-clock noise. But Bill seems to be losing his touch on a lot of things lately. Leslie got the green light and passed go right to Anita and Vernon's home.

Seconds before their very cool doorbell rang (I want a recording of it), Anita had decided to go with that old adage “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” And Leslie was close as she strode in presenting her neighbors with...a fruitcake she had made Christmas '24 that had been sitting in the freezer since. Yum! Not that those are ever particularly good, even fresh.

Anita struggled to follow her own advice and barely managed to be civil to Leslie – though the matriarch got a subtle zinger in. There were so many fraudulent contractors – surely Leslie had done her research. Ms. Thomas boasted that she had, but you could tell Anita had gotten under the noob's skin. Gotta admit, though...Leslie must have been a stage manager at one point, because she got the bulldozers going right on cue.

Later on, Eva somehow managed to get Mona and Jan to meet with her. It was great to see them, but they were sure surprised to hear Eva's desperate plea to be Leslie's friend again. Leslie had free reign with no adults in the room except Eva, whom Leslie considered a kid – and we all know Leslie never takes Eva's advice anyway. Eva hoped Jan and Mona would be able to get Leslie to slow her roll, even a little bit.

Mona wasn't having it. While Jan championed Eva's post-anniversary party progress, Mona thought Eva needed to keep her mom as far away as possible. She had seen how flattened Nicole had been by Leslie's revenge scheme and pretty much indicated she didn't want to be in the same solar system as Leslie. But didn't Mona get a shock when she readied to bounce, only for Jan to decide to stick around and get some more info!

While Mona had dismissed Leslie buying Eva an apartment as showing off, Jan was more inclined to side with Eva in thinking Leslie was trying to do right by her finally. But get this – Eva said Peaches was living in the same building with her, and that she was popping in and caring for her! Was there a retcon somewhere, or did I just not understand?

Because when Leslie gave Peaches all those Benjamins, she made it sound like she was moving Peaches into the same apartment as Eva. I even remarked that Leslie hadn't even told Eva she was getting a roommate! Down the hall makes a lot more sense, though I wish we could actually see Peaches and Eva spending time together. We don't even know Peaches' last name. I assume it's Thomas, and that Leslie took that name growing up?

Jan was cautious, but agreed to have a talk with Leslie. And I liked her much better in that scene than I ever have watching her shipping Ashley and Derek. I still think Jan had a relationship with Joey and that's how we got Ashley, but I digress. Leslie got her own back on her from having tricked Tomás into meeting with her, since immediately afterwards, Jan got Leslie into the diner from Eva pretending to summon her.

Leslie didn't want to hear Jan calling her out on her crap, but Jan actually got forceful and made her sit down! If only Jan was that authoritative with Ashley and her foolishness about Derek and Andre! Jan held her ground, though she couldn't deny that she, as a teen mother, had also been judged for having a baby out of wedlock the way Leslie had.

Maybe that got to Jan, because she, unlike Mona, ended up re-extending her hand in friendship – on the condition that Leslie not use her again. I dare say, at least Jan knows what to look for now on that score. And didn't Leslie get all emotional, choking up that she was glad to have Jan back in her life because she had been really lonely. Tricia Mann-Grant always delivers Leslie's gleeful deviousness, but damn if she doesn't let us see Leslie's wounded heart, too.

Teach me how to Dougie

Vanessa's made a lot of noise about not being able to forgive herself, and she even slipped to Donnell that she hadn't know where “it” would lead, of course talking about her gettin' jiggy wit Joey. Dani and Nicole can see that Vanessa is in some dire straits, though they only know part of the reason why. A) I'm enjoying seeing Vanessa wallowing in it (Lauren Buglioli is giving some damn fine performances), and B) I can't wait for everyone to find out what a tart Vanessa has been.

And will all the poker table porking be worth it, Van-Van? Doug is dead, and your Lakeview lover made him dead. That's gonna put a kink in their afternoon delights, ain't it! And not the way Vanessa would like. Neither Donnell nor Deanna (if we ever see her) are going to even be able to look at their mother once they learn Vanessa has been sleeping with their father's killer.

But let's backtrack for a moment! After Doug's memorial (which happened off-screen; I guess because Doug was recurring), Leslie came up to “Real Estate Barbie” (I love her nicknames!) and sloughed off some insincere platitudes, if only because Vanessa, with her twisted arm, got Leslie into Fairmont Crest. Leslie then proceeded to flirt with Joey. Birds of a feather or what!

Donnell, on the other hand, slipped out of the commemoration and skulked around the crash site, which was what Vanessa had wanted to do until Joey changed her mind. The young McBride couldn't find any answers there, and so went to Jacob, though Marcel was watching their every move. Vanessa didn't know where Donnell had gone until he called from the police station. And that 10-20 sprung Joey into action!

Why Joey didn't turn his security cameras off when he knew Marcel was going to be up to no good is beyond me, but he got it into his head to “help” Donnell by showing him the footage of Doug's moments at the casino...but not before he had Marcel digitally erased from it. He had that done quick, too; must've run it through some AI site online!

Jacob thought it odd there was no dealer present with Doug at the table, but my intrepid Soap Central cohort Leigh noticed that Marcel's glass hadn't been removed from the video. Why would there be two glasses if only Doug was there, right? Not surprising the grief-stricken Donnell missed it, but it shouldn't have gotten by Jacob. Or maybe it should have. Dude couldn't get Leslie indicted for trying to rub out Laura, and there was certainly enough for an arrest.

Donnell watched the clip so many times that Vanessa nearly had a breakdown, and I'm not being sarcastic there. He wanted something – anything – that could help him figure out Doug's state of mind and why the otherwise logical man would get behind the wheel drunk. This was where Joey sent Drake, the “fired” dealer/bartender, in to further cover Joey and Marcel's tracks.

I liked that Donnell wasn't letting Drake off easy. He held Drake's feet to the fire about continuing to serve the severely inebriated Doug drinks – after all, didn't casinos do that so they could grift more money from their losing customers? (Find me the part where he wasn't right.) Drake came back with some fabrication that he had called a rideshare for the drunken Doug, but Doug had weaved out before the car came.

Donnell accepted that, but at least he was gutsy with Joey's (ex-)employee. Not so with Joey, as Donnell seems to be increasingly falling for the magic dust that Joey sprinkles on him. Even when Donnell – with Jacob in tow! – caught his mom getting her hands held by Joey at Uptown, Joey Pied Pipered his way into making Donnell believe they were just good friends (thank you Michael Jackson; album cut).

Joey then tried to quell Donnell's search for information about Doug's death by launching into the story he told Vanessa a few months ago about how his mother had been addicted to plastic surgery and ended up dying on the table during a procedure. We know Joey is a good enough liar to use the same script, but I have to wonder if the repetition makes it true.

Now, the only plastic surgeon we know is Ted – was he masked up when Joey's mom died? Or could it have been Doug...the heart surgeon? Joey certainly did seem to have it out for Doug from the very beginning, and it only being so he could use Vanessa's real estate business for money laundering doesn't seem like a good enough reason for his intense level of targeting.

Anyway, Joey excused himself, and Vanessa hugged him so hard that Donnell and Jacob looked at each other like, “Dafuq?” Once Jacob left, Vanessa seemed like she was going to spill about Joey spilling on her, but she indicated that he had become a good friend (yeah, with bennies!), and she needed her friends right now. Two more things: A) Alex Cheeks is doing a great job as Donnell. B) I am living for when Donnell finds out his mama a ho!

This brings us to the end of another Two Scoops, D.C. Edition. Discuss all your feelings and concerns about our soap in the comments below – and until next we meet, Scoopers, live your life beyond!

(Purchase Adam-Michael James' ”Bewitched” books on Amazon.)

(Listen to isletunes, AMJ's podcast featuring nothing but music from the artists of Prince Edward Island, Canada.)