What I'd Like to See on Beyond the Gates for 2026: Two Scoops for the week of December 29, 2025

2025 ended with soooo much potential for Beyond the Gates

Are y'all ready to go Beyond the Gates? The soap's first “full” year (we'll have to count ten months as that) certainly posed more questions than it answered – yet in doing so, it wove an intriguingly intricate tapestry of goings-on and details regarding the people that populate this show. And while it's fine that there's so much mystery lingering, from the country club to Garland Memorial, from Orphey Gene's to Uptown, I, as a super-veteran soap watcher (40 years this month!), can't help extrapolating new directions for the year we're now in based on where current stories sit. Disclaimer: I've been fevering for three days now fighting off something, so any radical ideas I will just attribute to those LOL. Let's fill up those Two Scoops with what could, and even what should, happen inside and outside the gates of Fairmont Crest in 2025!

ANDRE

Now that Mr. Photographer Man is over his bizarro infatuation with the comparatively tepid Ashley, I need for him to stick to Dani like glue. Further than that, we finally need to learn exactly why it is he doesn't like his own photo taken; this mystery has been teased since the first days last February and almost came to a fever pitch as he tried to get out doing that modeling shoot at Forrester Creations in L.A. There's suspense and then there's dragging something out; we're in the latter category now, so let's see what's under Andre's lens cap.

ANITA

Now that Anita's breast cancer saga has begun, it's a safe bet to say that this is mostly what she's going to deal with in '26. And, as the world turns, I swear that the kick-ass Tamara Tunie is going to have an Emmy before it's done. Folks facing their mortality are known to revisit their lives – so in that respect it would be fun for Anita (with or without Tracy and Sharon) to appear in a location shoot on the site of the Cabrini-Green projects in Chicago where she came from. Most of the buildings made famous on Good Times have been razed, but you never know – maybe a construction crew working on something new unearths something Barbara buried that takes the Articulettes, and Leslie, on a new journey.

ASHLEY

Praise the soap gods, it seems Ms. Morgan's split from hunky firefighter Derek is going to stick this time. The only thing I don't like is the buzz that she's going to be paired with a new man played by Guiding Light/The Young and the Restless vet Jordi Vilasuso. Aside from the considerable age gap, Ash needs a few more starter relationships first before she can settle down into a real one. While she grows, she could get sucked into Vanessa's Heart Attach escort service and find out that Joey is her father. Y'all know that when Jan “met” Joey last fall, she did not look like she was seeing the guy for the first time.

BILL

It's only very recently occurred to me that Bill should have already seen through Hayley's scheming. But our “Fixer” is being his own enigma, dropping hints about his crappy childhood while not doing any real exploring of it. Seems to me we have an opportunity to find out why this caustic, womanizing, yet amazingly vulnerable vulture turned out the way he did. Mama Bill is dead, but Papa B seems to still be kickin – what's Darnell Williams (All My Children's Jesse Hubbard) up to these days? It would be fun to meet someone who could make Bill cower.

CHELSEA

We love our girl, but she's a bit of a blank canvas. The only real story she had in 2025 – besides being kidnapped by Allison, which already played into ancient stereotype that non-straight people are villains – was having to tell momager Dani that she was quitting the runway. Not exactly gripping. Her ship with Madison is okay, though Mads did come on like she was pumping Chels for info instead of wanting to date. Her elders' suggestion that she join up with a cybersecurity outfit was inspiring and would show her dealing with the trauma of her stalking – and, as the show's only admitted gender fluid character, it would be nice to see her stand up for her fellow LGBTQs given the current administration's quest to erase them.

DANI

Considering she started out as a gun-wielding alchy hellbent on reuniting with Bill or destroying him, this Supermodel! of the World! has actually come a damn long way in a damn short time. Good thing, too, because she was thisclose to turning into a cartoon. Hopefully she'll truly stick with Andre and not keep going back to Bill's well (crises are okay as long as they don't include kisses or longing stares). We've been fiddle fartin' around with Dani and Pamela starting up the Dupree-Curtis modeling agency for the better part of a year – time to open this puppy and put B&B's Forrester Creations to shame. Extra points: Ridge and Dani have another conversation where he tells her how much she reminds him of transgender model Maya Avant (Mosley's B&B character from 2013 to 2019).

DEREK

As of this writing, eagle-eyed fans noticed that, on the Paramount Plus version of the end credits, portrayer Ben Gavin does not appear as of Episode 201, inciting an almost certainty that he's either been bumped to recurring or shuffled off the canvas completely. We'll have to wait and see, but I don't think Mr. Baldwin has reached his zenith yet. His on-again-off-again relationship with Ashley led him into insecure buffoonery, and we're not far enough beyond their hopefully permanent breakup to see how he fares on his own. Let's involve Derek in the firehouse again; he can't fight fires, but there are other ways he can make himself useful as a recovering paraplegic and better people's lives. Just not with fellow firefighter Sheryl. She seems...well...rather hot-to-trot, as my mom used to say.

EVA

She's got herself extricated from Tomás and she's well outta that! I like her with Izaiah so far, though she's right to keep slamming on the brakes with him. I guess inevitably Yolanda will show up, and, just as inevitably, Eva will win out and win Izzy's heart. Going further, I'd like to see her continue her redemption tour...and let's face it, she and Kat have been itching for a good old-fashioned old-school catfight for months now (think Doreen vs. Maya on Generations; a little un-PC today's standards, but let the girls get the hostilities out of their systems). Also: I need Eva and Kat to be trapped in some life-threatening situation together and have to rely on each other to survive. Yeah, it's Soap 101, but they don't need to come out of it as friends...just with a grudging respect for each other. Oh – and involve her more in foster gramma Peaches' life, too.

HAYLEY

Okay, y'all know I loves me some Hayley girl, but her shticks tend to get old fast. First she came off as the insecure, jealous wife, then we found out that was an act as part of bilking Bill out of his bajillions – now she's back to being all insecure? Yeah, Randy told her to slow her roll to make things look natural, but at least when Leslie's evil, she's fun. Hayley...she's pretty Grinchy. Maybe Hayley nearly kills Bill but saves him at the last minute (and not like before because his “death” would have been too public), which would do something to redeem her. I also need to know more about her and frenemy Lynette, plus what went down in their Allegheny West hood. And how Randy ties into it all!

JACOB

You know, in the end...the Boy Scout really isn't a very good cop! Kat got further on nailing Leslie, and then Jacob dropped the whole thing after Daddy Elon told him to. Should have taken some advice from Marcel and continued the investigation on the sly. I like the brotherly thing he and Izaiah have – though he's pretty much just a sounding board finding himself in the middle of bro and pop. The conflict Supercop had with Naomi about not wanting children...it was the Hawthornes' first real struggle, but it was a little bland. Detective Hawthorne needs something with more bite. How about actually volunteering with those kids like Nicole suggested? Lots of storyline potential, unfortunately, with underprivileged children.

JOEY

Dude does need to go down, but this is soap vet Jon Lindstrom, and we're already sharing him with General Hospital – so we need as much of him as we can. Plus, Leslie's rap sheet looks like an Amazon wish list compared to Mr. Armstrong; his criminal life is much more complicated, so putting Joe behind bars may be too difficult. Still, he hasn't had anything blow back on him yet – not having Doug cakewalk into his gambling addiction, nor, ya know, actually having Doug bumped off. I need for Donnell to go back to where he was in the beginning and lose this adoring stuff – Vanessa already knows on some level that her lover made her a widow, and could she really deny it if Donnell came up with irrefutable proof? If we can't have Joey pay professionally, he can at least pay personally, amirite?

KAT

I actually love Brat Kat, but I also have to concur with her family – her hyperfocus on Eva is just too much. She doesn't have to forgive Eva to be able to move on with her life and stop talking about her “half” (we know, Kat, we know) sister to anyone with ears. Her first truly boss move would be to ditch Tomás. That bridge burned when Tomás slept with Eva – on a Friends break or not – and that would help Kat get out from under Eva's shadow. Plus, she told Chelsea she was only getting with Señor Navarro again so Eva couldn't have him, and what sense does that make? Speaking of her beloved cuz, why has ChelseaKat only had one (okay, two if you count the one Allison ruined by abducting Chelsea) event? There's lots more life lessons for both girls to learn, playing in the big leagues for the first time.

LESLIE

Yes, it's true – time for all of her personas, and her wigs, to spend some time in jail. Having her run around not paying for trying to kill Laura twice is bad form these days, and making her a multimillionaire several multis over instead of punishing her is even worse. Hopefully Marcel will follow through on extracting a confession out of Dana/Sherry/Lulu/Anna, before or even after he actually falls for her. He totally needs to team with Laura on this. And can you imagine the entitled Leslie in the slammer? She'd get herself roughed up before her going-in manicure even grew out. And it would also give Leslie quite the shot at growth – which needs to happen soon before she becomes a cartoon villain who can just do whatever she wants. If B&B's Sheila could have a prison arc in 1995, Leslie can 31 years later.

MARTIN

The less of Martin I see as a husband this year would work just fine. I still can't believe Smitty took him back. However, I'm very much intrigued by the seeds planted by both Vernon and Joey in regard to Congressman Richardson's re-election campaign. We haven't really seen him travel in the political world on-screen, and how timely a topic can you get. Then there's the tempting tendril of Bill jumping in and running against his former nephew-in-law. Bill doesn't have to win, but it would be fun watching Martin twist in the wind until he claims victory, between Bill's underhandedness and Joey calling in his I-helped-you-save-Chelsea marker. Martin does have anger issues, too – granted, he's been working on them, but it seems to me that more tangible examples need to be displayed. After all, both Bill and Joey know what Martin did to “Kenneth” and his brother – they could either use it against him and/or goad Martin into showing his violent nature in front of his constituents! Funnnnnn.

NAOMI

I'm not sure what is to be done with her. We know she's a tough lawyer, and that she picked up some Brat from niece Kat (hell, Superbrat Dani is her mom). And without her, June wouldn't have gotten to know biokids Samantha and Tyrell again. But what about Naomi herself? The only real story she could call her own so far is the I-don't-want-to-have-kids stance she took when she thought she was pregnant...and it was a little flat. We never really found out why Naomi doesn't want children outside of not wanting to sacrifice her career the way Dani did. Is that a good enough excuse? Maybe. But I sense there's more to it...and Naomi needs a deeper, more personal struggle to flesh her out.

NICOLE

It's her new era! And hallelujah, because being shell-shocked over Ted's affair with (and daughter with) Leslie was forgivable, but she lingered a little too long on the whole “nobody tells me anything!” thing. She seems to be beyond that – and juggling Carlton and Kial to boot. Well, mostly Carlton, as Kial's only had two episodes and hasn't been seen since December 10. Let her develop things with Carlton and maybe get pulled into his ever-growing off-screen family. And it's time for her to stop wussing out – she promised both Kat/Mona and Laura herself that she would help nail Leslie on attempted murder...and then totally flaked. How poetic justice would it be if Nicole actively started working on things with Kat and/or Jacob and/or Marcel and got the goods herself. Put the Febreze down, girl! Real life smells better!

SMITTY

Bradley is fierce – when he's being a reporter. And mostly while being a parent. But his personal life? Not so much. He had the chance to boot Martin, who deserved it long before the whole “Kenneth” thing came out: look at how Martin controlled Smitty, forcing him to stay at home and refusing journalism jobs for him. “Kenneth” was just the icing on the poop cake, and Smitty took Martin back, never actually going to couples therapy, which was Mr. Smith's stipulation. The kids are grown – Mr. Man needs some greener pastures! We know nothing about Smitty's pre-Dupree life; surely he's got an ex or two out there who can cause him trouble – and temptation. Maybe hot doc Kial is bi or gender fluid and can turn Smitty's head while Martin flubs around in a rage. Smitty's kind of rudderless on this show...we need to explore his own individuality.

TED

Could it be? The plastic surgeon is finally past the ineffective attempts at reconciling with Nicole and his barely-there resistance of Leslie? He's finally turning on some S-TV – all Shanice, all the time. These two already have more chemistry than Ted ever did with Nicole or Leslie. Ted becomes lighter around Shanice, and yet she clearly isn't gonna hear any BS he might try. The mention of Ted finally moving out of the hotel and getting own place for '26 is a great start, and, in addition, to cementing Tanice (Shed doesn't work LOL), we should get to see more of Ted's side of the family. Yes, his brother and sister-in-law are dead (which is why he and Nicole had to take Andre in), but surely there's another relative that would tie Ted and Andre together tighter for us.

TOMÁS

Ay caramba. I really wanted to believe the best in this guy. He manages to straddle the line between sleazy and sincere, but these days he's more the former. Granted, there's only so much of Kat's put-downs and Eva rages the dude can reasonably take. But lately...it seems Tomás is more with Kat out of ambition than out of true feelings for her. On his current course, Tomás is poised to end up a first class manipulator – if he's going to remain, we need to split him and Kat up; the couple doesn't work, anyway. Maybe Tomás does something to her that prompts Bill to can him from the law firm, and Tomás can get more deeply involved with the Big Brother program, in which he already mentors a boy, Ramón. Down the line...why not have him salsa with Sheryl? Not because he and Derek's firefighter friend are both Latino, but because, admit it – they would be fiyah.

VANESSA

Nessa, Nessa, Nessa. Realtor Barbie's very own Ken must be supremely anatomically correct, because so far she's been willing to sacrifice everything for him – her husband, her kids, her business, her friendships, and, coming up, her reputation. Plus now she's a criminal, gleefully doing whole money laundering thing. I believe Van-Van has reached the “find out” portion of the show. Maybe she avoids prison time, but even she wouldn't stay with Joey upon finding out he had Doug killed, would she? Would she? I don't know that I want the answer to that question. But Vanessa has made Dani look like Mother Teresa with her selfishness. The drama if daughter Deanna came to town and teamed up with son Donnell to learn that mom is sleeping with daddy's killer. Vanessa really would be alone then. It's called karma.

VERNON

Coming around full circle, he's going to have most of his 2026 tied up supporting Anita through her cancer battle, as it should be. But as Dani said just last week, Vernon shouldn't expect himself to bear the burden alone. We know he's got Duprees upon Duprees to rely on – yet what about his pre-Dupree family? How about we meet that Aunt/Great-aunt Melba we were told about recently...played by Clifton Davis's '70s co-star Melba Moore, who had to have been the inspo for this fictitious aunt! Vernon could use having his sister around right about how, and between the two of them, we'd get even more insight into their dad, Paul Cheeks Dupree, and how he founded and built Fairmont Crest. Come on, y'all! This stuff writes itself.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Joey and Izaiah seem to have a palpable father-son type of relationship and that needs to be explored more – plus Izaiah could pay it forward by helping a young adult from the current generation the way Joey guided him out of a life of crime.

Any episode with June in it is a good one, but it's time we find out who Ron and Cecile's (er, Tyrell and Samantha's) dad is. Clearly it was someone she had a longer-term relationship with, to have kids a year apart. Or maybe they each have a different daddy! We just need to know whose name or names go on those birth certificates.

More info on Kial, please. All that hype about bringing soap vet Greg Vaughan on and then he got a few lines at WinterFest and about as many in a follow-up episode. I don't know mind Nicole being his gateway into Fairmont Crest...but give this actor his due.

Finally, Pamela is a bit of a caricature, but she's still glorious. It would be nice to see her more often and to find out more about her besides being Dani's ride-or-die. If portrayer Cady McClain and ex-husband Jon Lindstrom (Joey) are amicable, a scene between these soap vets would be killer. And who knows – maybe Pamela could kiss Diego for real this time...after bringing him in as Dupree-Curtis' top model! You think he couldn't pull it off? His tight T-shirts tell another story!

Well, that takes care of the first Two Scoops of 2026 – D.C. Edition, natch. Feel free to lob any and all comments into the appropriate section below; tell me what you'd like to see happen for your beloved and love-to-hate character of GATES. Until next we meet, Scoopers, happy New Year – and don't forget to 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.)