On the Friday, October 9, 2026, episode of “Beyond the Gates,” both Shanice (Ernestine Johnson) and Kial (Greg Vaughan) received gifts, Smitty (Mike Manning) campaigned not to campaign, and Heather (Ashley Jones) did a “sorry not sorry.”
Take Care Of U
Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix) was anxious that she and Anita (Tamara Tunie) hadn’t heard back from Vernon (Clifton Davis) about how things had gone with Hayley. Vernon finally came home and said he had managed to convince Hayley to cooperate, though Nicole wanted to be sure that hadn’t happened through violence. Nicole seemed relieved enough to keep her date with Kial, but once she left, Anita intuited that Vernon had left out several details.
Anita got the story about how Joey had had Hayley kidnapped and nearly dismembered, and how Vernon had intervened. Vernon was confident Hayley would turn over every recording she had, since it was now the only way she could get her $1 million and house in St. Bart’s from Bill, and if Hayley flaked out, she would have to answer to Joey. Anita was shocked to learn that Hayley and Randy were cousins, and shook her head when Vernon said they had each blamed the other for the severity of their scheme. Vernon promised his beloved that the entire family was safe.
Off Da Hook
Kial ran into Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) at the food court, where Naomi was waiting to hear the judge’s ruling in the malpractice suit against Madison. Meanwhile, at Uptown, Chelsea (RhonniRose Mantilla) and Madison (Kenjah) each tried to keep their minds off their problems, though Chelsea scratched her head when Madison suggested they dress up as a cop and an Impaler for Halloween. Via text, Naomi got assurance from Madison that she was to turn down the $2 million settlement opposing lawyer Mike Davis was proposing.
Later, Naomi followed up on any ruling news, then went to Uptown and presented Madison with a bottle of champagne – the judge had ruled in Madison’s favor. Madison couldn’t believe it was over, and that she no longer had to endure the stress of the malpractice accusation, which had hurt her career and would continue to hurt it. Ironically, after Naomi went to pay the champagne bill, Madison got a text from her mother, Willow, because of whose website Madison had been taken to court; Madison chose to ignore the message.
Leave You Alone
At the Richardson-Smith brownstone, Martin (Brandon Claybon) playfully called Smitty an accomplice in the crime of their breaking into Tyrell’s brownie stash, but Smitty stiffened and didn’t appreciate the humor. Martin was certain that, once the video featuring Max giving Smitty the pouch that later turned up in the dead Lia’s cell was analyzed, Smitty would be cleared of any wrongdoing.
After Martin got a call to attend a campaign event the next day, Smitty decided it would be better if he bowed out. Smitty wanted Martin to admit he was becoming a liability to his re-election bid. Martin didn’t share that viewpoint and validated Smitty’s choice not to go to the campaign event.
At Your Best (You Are Love)
Ted (Keith D. Robinson) whisked Shanice away to New York City, where she marveled at witnessing the fall foliage in Central Park. Instead, Ted took Shanice out to dinner, but when they returned to their hotel room, Shanice found it strewn with candles. Ted dropped to one knee and thanked Shanice for healing his scarred heart. “I see why your crazy babymama wants to hold on to you,” Shanice smirked, answering “Hell, yes” when Ted asked if he could give her her happily ever after. “Now gimme that damn ring!” she laughed.
Back in D.C., Nicole had Kial over to feed him caramel apples – and give him the key to her house. After Nicole noted that the symbolism was also in giving Kial access to her heart, they made love, and Ted and Shanice also got into bed as they contemplated a Christmas wedding. Kial decided that he wanted to take Nicole on a romantic getaway sometime in December. Ted confirmed that he and Shanice would marry and honeymoon…in December.
What A Girl Wants
Vanessa (Lauren Buglioli) went to Joey’s condo, where he fussed over her and treated her to homemade baked goods. Joey (Jon Lindstrom) was dubious when Vanessa reported that Deanna had vowed to stop trying to come between them, as Deanna had made that pledge before, but Vanessa felt Deanna was sincere. This led Vanessa to hope again that Joey and Heather could get along: Joey was just as happy that Heather was tucked away in London…until she showed up at the door a moment later.
Heather acknowledged that she had pushed too hard in trying to reconnect with her brother and asked if they could start over. Liking Vanessa’s idea that she relocate to the DMV permanently, Heather grinned, saying she could certainly do business from there and that opening a restaurant with Joey could be fun. After Vanessa sighed that someone had bought Uptown out from under Joey, he said he already did plenty of business with Vanessa. “But you’re not family,” Heather said to Vanessa, suddenly turning cold.
Stabbers
While Vanessa had been somewhat uncomfortable in Heather’s presence, she brightened up when Heather offered to retain the realtor’s services to buy a condo in town. Heather departed, and Vanessa envisioned the Armstrongs and McBrides coming together for Thanksgiving dinner. Across town, Heather entered Uptown and approached Naomi, asking if her husband had caught The Impaler yet. Naomi smiled, saying it was only a matter of time, and once Naomi left, Heather seemed to study her bill.
Beyond the Gates: Clip Of The Day
Check out a clip from today’s episode below.
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