On the Thursday, August 6 episode of “Beyond the Gates,” Ted (Keith D. Robinson) refused to let Leslie (Tricia Mann-Grant) play her usual game, Carlton (Robert Christopher Riley) beat Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix) to the punch, and the past caught up to Andre (Sean Freeman) before he could tell Dani (Karla Mosley).
Ted Wasn’t About Leslie’s Foolishness
Ted met with Leslie at the country club, annoyed that she had once again expected him to drop whatever he was doing to see her. Leslie described how much Eva was struggling with bearing her liver surgery scar; Ted felt for Eva, but when Leslie pushed Ted to do his plastic surgery magic on their daughter, Ted drew a line. Eva’s mind needed to catch up with the changes to her body, Ted advised; plus, not only was it unethical for him to operate on his own child, it was impossible to even consider options until her incision had healed completely.
Leslie balked at Ted’s suggestion that Eva seek out emotional support and growled that he was a bad father. As she tried to leave, Ted blocked her, telling her, “You don’t get to say what you want and storm off.” Ted ordered Leslie to sit down and tried to explain that Eva had gone to a fundraiser, and the next thing she had known, she’d woken up recovering from an operation. He and Leslie appeared to agree about how jarring that must have been for Eva, but when Ted again pressed for Eva to talk to someone, Leslie took that to mean Ted was calling Eva crazy and spat that she’d get a second opinion from Carlton, who was “keeping [his] ex warm.”
Not Going To Cry
Nicole called Carlton to reschedule their date and ended up accepting a spontaneous offer to meet him at Orphey Gene’s. She acknowledged that she had been with Kial the previous evening on the heels of Leslie blurting it out and didn’t want Carlton to play off his upset about it. Carlton told Nicole that Tyrell had approached him for relationship advice, and that he had taken his own words to heart on the subject. He was no longer comfortable sharing Nicole with anyone, especially someone he worked with at the hospital, since he felt like it was a rerun of the former dynamic of when Nicole had been married to Ted.
Hearing that Carlton wanted her to make him the priority, Nicole gently explained that she very much appreciated his patience and consideration, but she couldn’t give him the relationship he wanted. Carlton didn’t find that unexpected but still wondered why Nicole was choosing Kial over him. Nicole replied that it was simply a matter of not having had a history with Kial as she had with Carlton, which allowed her a true fresh start after Ted. Carlton added his observation that it seemed Nicole just wasn’t as much into him as she was into Kial, and Nicole was touched when Carlton still wanted to be friends. Carlton declared that he would always be “Team You all day, every day.”
Secret Lovers
Andre came home and greeted Dani, who noticed he was distracted and asked what was wrong. The photographer said he’d been thinking about how he’d lived his life after his parents had been killed, the time before he’d come back to Washington, D.C.; Andre recalled how he had partied with anyone who’d been interested, and that he had done some things he hadn’t been proud of. Dani knew what that was like, and Andre was just about to get into specifics when Chelsea (RhonniRose Mantilla) burst through the door, reporting that Hayley had essentially shut best friend Caroline out of her life.
Dani was certain that “half-pint ho” Hayley was stepping out, and she was none too pleased to learn that Hayley had also given Andre the eye. Meanwhile, at Bill’s firm, he had wrapped up his work early and was ready to leave, but Caroline (Ellie Wang) wanted to inquire into the state of Bill’s marriage, having heard from Chelsea that Hayley wasn’t being attentive. When Caroline questioned Hayley’s devotion, Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) huffed that Bill Hamilton was “nobody’s fool” and demanded that Caroline not bring up the topic again.
Back at Dani and Andre’s, Chelsea received a stoic call from Bill, who instructed her to meet him right away. Dani realized that Caroline had blabbed to Bill about her talk with Chelsea; though Chelsea hoped that Caroline had helped Bill see the light, Dani knowingly smirked that Caroline, loyal only to herself and Bill, had thrown Chelsea under the bus. Indeed, Chelsea went to her father, who called her out for behaving inappropriately.
Chelsea hit a wall trying to explain her suspicions to Bill; he refused to even consider Chelsea’s report that Hayley had repeatedly been seen with Sammy and had even been caught in a dubious situation with Genoa City’s Kyle Abbott. “Open your freaking eyes!” Chelsea finally blurted out. But Bill would hear no more and left Chelsea sitting there.
After she sent an update to Kat, Naomi and Dani, Chelsea ran into Andre and complained about how Bill had shut her down. Andre tried to see Bill’s perspective as a lawyer and surmised that Bill would need concrete proof of wrongdoing by Hayley instead of speculation. Just as Chelsea deemed hers and Andre’s relationship healthy because they didn’t keep secrets from their loved ones, Andre received a text from an unknown sender requesting to see him. Andre tried to keep his composure in front of his stepdaughter.
So Ambitious
Randy (Maurice P. Kerry) conferenced with Hayley (Marquita Goings) at Uptown, annoyed that Bill had blocked her from taking him to St. Bart’s. He insisted that Bill needed to take his final dose of toxin in the Caribbean to avoid being caught by Bill’s family – plus, that was where Randy had arranged for Bill’s body to be cremated without an autopsy. Hayley silenced Randy when he claimed that she was getting sloppy, the way she had with former mark Sid…who would have killed her had it not been for Randy and Lynette.
Hayley denied she was being arrogant about her plans for Bill, but she went over what the next steps were: she would dose Bill as soon as they got to the tropics, then tell his family that his heart gave out and pretend she needed to remain out of the country to deal with her grief. When Hayley acted as if she would be getting the full $10 million from Bill’s life insurance, Randy reminded her he was entitled to half and told her not to get greedy after she considered liquidating Bill’s other holdings as well. All Hayley had to do, Randy stressed, was take Bill to St. Bart’s.
After Hayley left, Dani found “Sammy” at the booth and sat down, crowing that she was rooting for him and Hayley. Randy stammered when Dani said she knew what he and Hayley were up to, but he nearly laughed when Dani clucked about his apparent affair with Hayley. Dani wasn’t hearing denials and said she was all for Sammy, or Randy, to ride off into the sunset with “Mrs. Shamilton.”
Then, Dani met with fashion designer Tatum Stewart, whose lines Dani was modeling. Tatum had created a collection for Spring 2027 and wanted Dani’s opinions. Though Dani didn’t see herself as a designer, she wowed Tatum with her recommendations, and Tatum was willing to take them under advisement.
Dizzy World
Arriving home, Hayley called Caroline and rolled her eyes when Caroline said she missed her friend. Hayley forced herself to play along, then directed Bill’s assistant to clear his schedule for the following week, since they were flying off to St. Bart’s. When Caroline hesitated and expressed her concern over Bill’s health, Hayley became aggressive and demanded that Caroline follow her orders. Hayley caught herself and changed her tone, and Caroline obeyed, though she still found it odd that Bill had said nothing about going on vacation.
Bill returned but had to hold himself up in his foyer, experiencing dizziness and blurred vision. Hayley avoided Randy’s call upon Bill’s early homecoming and scoffed when Bill said that Chelsea had accused her of having an affair. She dismissed claims of having been seen out with “Sammy” and wailed that she shouldn’t have to take such abuse “today of all days.” Bill remembered that it was the anniversary of Hayley’s miscarriage, which was why he had left work to be with her. Hayley went back to fussing about being judged by everybody and said she couldn’t stay anymore. She needed to get to St. Bart’s – now!
Watch a clip from “Beyond the Gates” below.
