Why Martin's secret was filmed twice on Beyond the Gates 

On Beyond the Gates, we finally have some clarity on what happened on that dark road two years ago. Martin revealed the whole story to his husband, and the details will shock you as much as they did Smitty.

Martin breaks it down on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, a tearful Martin (Brandon Claybon) finally sat down to confess to his husband, Smitty, about the events of an evening two years ago. It had all started on a drive home from a political dinner with his grandfather, Senator Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis), when they took a wrong turn. Not that it should have mattered that they were taking the scenic route, but that night, it mattered a lot. The two were laughing, joking, and sharing stories when a loud bang interrupted the levity. Martin stopped the car, saw the flat tire, and offered to change it — and that was when their lives would be forever changed.

Not long after Martin got to work changing the tire, a truck pulled up behind them, leaving the lights on. Two men got out, walked over, and asked, “Well, what do we have here?” The men sneered that two [insert slur here] wouldn't know anything about fixing a car. Vernon suggested they call the police for assistance. The two strangers said that cops don’t change tires, but to avoid being there all night, they could help them — but it would cost them. “Let's see what color’s your money,” the one we now know as Kenny asked.

There was a shove from Vernon as he was grabbed and then struck a few times. The other stranger pulled a gun, but Martin walloped him with the tire iron on the head, and he fell immediately. Then Martin turned his attention to “Kenny” and struck him, and he fell too. Martin knelt over “Kenny” and continued to hit him in the face repeatedly with the tire iron until Vernon pulled him back, saying, “Enough, enough, it’s over.” Checking on the first stranger, Vernon confirmed that he was dead, and that the second body was just unconscious.

The scenes were shot twice

Jason Vendryes, who played Kenny (after the facial reconstruction surgery) until his timely death this week, shared some insight into the story. “So Kenny was written with (and originally performed with) a heavy southern accent. We shot the reveal episode, I think 78, with the accent and it was decided by someone higher up that they didn't want him to have an accent. A few days later so we had to go back and reshoot those scenes,” Vendryes told Soap Central exclusively.

Many viewers were surprised at the violence and use of a racial slur in the episode. The actor noted that it was written that way to show that it was a hate crime. “But ultimately I think it was felt that it wasn't fair to have the one person with a southern accent being the one who was that hateful,” Vendryes explained.

The cover-up and pay offs

After Martin was pulled off Kenny by Vernon, Martin went into shock. Vernon called Marcel Malone (Darryl W. Handy), one of DCMP’s detectives, who arrived with Vernon’s friend and the Chief of Police, Elon Hawthorne (Malachi Malik). Marcel removed Martin from the scene and had him change clothes into Vernon's gear because of the amount of blood splatter, then took him home.

Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durett), the Duprees' lawyer and “fixer,” called mob boss and casino owner, Joey Armstrong (Jon Lindstrom), to take care of the body (who we now know to be Kenny's brother). As for Kenny, he got a new face courtesy of plastic surgeon Ted Richardson (Keith D. Robinson) and was paid off by Vernon to permanently disappear.

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“There were so many good scenes. The writers crafted a great story, and the directors & producers were so good with letting me play and try different things. Kenny's scenes with Martin were the meatiest, but I really enjoyed the scenes with Bill, Randy, and Smitty,” shared Vendryes.

Watch full episodes of Beyond the Gates weekdays on CBS or stream on Paramount Plus.

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