On the Thursday, September 10, 2026, episode of “Beyond the Gates,” Barbara came back to life, Izaiah (Lami) guided Deanna (Angela Fairley), and Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) got a massive, if belated, info dump from Naomi (Arielle Prepetit).
Before Hip-Hop
Leslie (Trisha Mann-Grant) burst into the Dupree mansion with Eva (Ambyr Michelle), insisting that Eva wanted to hear recordings of Barbara. Anita (Tamara Tunie) informed them that all of Barbara’s archived masters were locked away in climate-controlled storage… though she remembered having a tape of Barbara singing to her for her 17th birthday, and brought it out to play for Leslie and Eva. Leslie became emotional and damned Dante Green for edging Barbara out of The Articulettes.
Taking Anita’s hand and thanking her for letting her hear her mother, Leslie clarified that her words against Dante weren’t a swipe at Anita – Leslie knew that Anita was doing her best to atone for Barbara’s poor treatment. After Eva and Leslie left, Anita struggled with her own emotions and realized that everyone would have hurtful memories come up once they got into the studio and heard Barbara’s vocals. Was the new album worth it? Anita asked Vernon.
Vernon (Clifton Davis) reminded Anita that she, Tracy, and Sharon had been teenagers when Dante Green had done Barbara out of the group, and that they couldn’t have been expected to stand up to the devious man. Even if Barbara had stayed, Vernon added, that didn’t mean she still might not have fallen into deep depressions, and, had the others walked away from the group, they might never have gotten out of Chicago – or performed at the civil rights rally, which had allowed Vernon and Anita to meet. Anita saw that perhaps there was a reason for how things had unfolded.
Come Back Home
Deanna hung out with Noah (Nick Hagelin) at Uptown and revealed she was considering putting off going back to college. Noah talked Deanna through her reasoning and asked what Doug would have thought of Deanna’s plans. Deanna recalled that Doug had always stressed the importance of getting an education, but she also felt that, under the circumstances, Doug would want her to stay home.
Later, Deanna had another vision of Doug (Jason Graham) and apologized to him, feeling she had let him down by voicing her continued disapproval of Joey and jeopardizing the façade of trust she had been trying to build with him and Vanessa. Doug was understanding but held that Deanna needed to find something that would take Joey down.
Partnas Confused
Joey (Jon Lindstrom) was just telling Vanessa (Lauren Buglioli) that he certainly wouldn’t have taken advice from his own parents when Izaiah arrived at Joey’s behest. As Vanessa explained her situation with Deanna and asked for Izaiah’s help, he qualified that he wasn’t a therapist, but he agreed to at least talk to Deanna and try to get through to her.
Confident Izaiah had risen out of his own dark place when he was younger, Joey was certain he would be the right person to help Deanna out of hers. Besides, Joey went on, he needed Deanna to not be an issue so that he and Vanessa could resume their money laundering operation. And, he admitted, he was willing to do whatever he could to lift the weight off of Vanessa’s shoulders in terms of her daughter.
When Joey wanted to whip up a feast to cheer Vanessa up, Vanessa suggested they invite Heather, which annoyed Joey. Vanessa deduced that Joey’s talk with Heather following Nicole’s demand that Heather stay away from Samantha and Tyrell hadn’t gone well. Joey told Vanessa that his latest attempt at haute cuisine was as much a distraction for him as it was intended for her.
Sounds Good To Me
Izaiah met with Deanna at the mall and encouraged her to open up about her thought process. Deanna said that the only thing that would ease her dismay was Vanessa ending things with Joey. She was scared about the path she saw Vanessa traveling down, and Izaiah noted that Vanessa had the exact same fear about Deanna. He relayed how leaving D.C. because of the constant disagreements with his father had led him to where he was now, and he was certain that Deanna would find her own way as well.
As soon as Izaiah exited, Doug “appeared,” and Deanna asked him for his reaction. He didn’t offer guidance either way about Deanna returning to college, but he did say he was counting on Deanna to find something they could use to nail Joey. Deanna sighed that she had looked through Vanessa’s business records while working at her firm, yet hadn’t found anything. Doug was positive that Joey would slip up eventually, and that Deanna would catch him.
Deanna got together with Noah again and revealed that she had decided to resume classes at Banneker anyway. Noah remarked that the university wasn’t far away, but Deanna suggested that they mark her last days in town by getting a room at the Bowman Hotel…and ordering room service.
Handshakes With Snakes
Mike (Pierce Lackey) strolled into Bill’s office, wanting to establish better terms with his former associate owing to Bill’s health scares. But when Mike offered to drop his case against Madison and settle out of court, Bill deemed him desperate. Mike labeled Naomi’s attempt to legally compel him to release his client’s phone and online records amateur, leading both Naomi and Bill to reason that Mike was hiding something incriminating. Mike bristled when Naomi was informed that a judge had agreed to hold a hearing that could provide her with the information she was seeking.
After Mike slinked off, Bill told Naomi he wanted to talk to her about Hayley, specifically, to apologize for pressuring her to forgive and accept Hayley after her former friend had betrayed her. Naomi thought it odd that Bill would suddenly broach that subject and wondered if he had formed his own doubts about his wife. Bill shrugged that no one was perfect and that he wasn’t looking to end yet another marriage.
Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme
Bill continued to pooh-pooh his daughters’ theory that Hayley was fooling around with “Sammy”, until Naomi suddenly revealed that the man’s real name was Randy. After the flustered Bill said he didn’t know if Hayley was aware of “Sammy”’s true identity, Naomi informed him that Hayley had never had the ultrasound she’d said she’d undergone…the image Hayley had shown Bill had been a fake.
Naomi felt sheepish about not coming to Bill before – it was just that Hayley, who had been afraid to get proof that something might have been wrong with her unborn child, had begged Naomi to keep quiet. Plus, Hayley had worried that Bill might blame her for their miscarriage. Both Bill and Naomi wondered what else Hayley might be lying about.
Beyond The Gates: Clip Of The Day
Check out a clip from today’s episode below.
Missed a recap? Click here to find out what else you missed on “Beyond the Gates.”
