Wow, the anniversary party fallout continued yet again as the characters who did wrong were dealt with verbally and ferociously. In the Monday, May 12 episode of Beyond the Gates, Ted, Leslie, and Eva were on the business end of some pretty brutal reads. Ted, Leslie, and Eva had to sit or stand there and take it as the backlash came for them hard. But first…
Season 2 Renewal
Congratulations to the cast and crew of Beyond the Gates. CBS announced a second season of the groundbreaking soap that has been tearing it up this month since Leslie (Trisha Mann-Grant) crashed the anniversary party (and tearing it up since day one, really).
Mike Manning (Smitty) dropped a post on X, formerly Twitter, showing a quick celebratory moment with his cast. We here at Soap Hub congratulate everyone at BTG and can’t wait to see what’s in store.
We Would Like to Report a Series of Murders
Our biggest takeaway from the Monday BTG was…do not mess with Anita (Tamara Tunie) or Mona (Karan Kendrick). You will get burned or worse. But several characters had to take their licking and withstand verbal attacks that were brutal but completely warranted.
Anita and Ted
Who expected Anita to show up at Ted’s while Dani was still there? So we got to see Dani (Karla Mosley) defer the floor to her mama, who had some choice words for her son-in-law.
Anita didn’t hide her disappointment with Ted (Maurice Johnson). Oh, she knows there’s a chance that Nicole and Ted could reunite, so she didn’t destroy him, but she did not hold back. “I feel sorry for my grandchildren,” Anita said to Dani while Ted lurked in the background. “For being stuck with a weak-willed man for a father. Of course, she won’t forget that he turned to Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) for help getting Leslie out of town. After Anita told Ted about Leslie’s impromptu visit to her home, she let him have it. “Yet another instance of someone cleaning up your mess,” she admonished.
Finally, and possibly our favorite, she told him what he needed to do before she left. “If you have any hope of ever regaining Nicole’s trust and respect, here’s a hint. Handle your business.” Game, set, match.
READ THIS: BTG was renewed for Season 2.
Mona and Eva
Mona made sure Leslie and Eva (Ambyr Michelle) knew that she was a victim in all of this, too. She caught up with Eva at Joey Armstrong’s (Jon Lindstrom) casino of all places. But Mona made it her business to sit down next to Eva at one of the tables. She told her that even though Leslie was behind all of this, Eva was a grown woman and she made her choices.
And because of her, her reputation and, more importantly, her judgment and her word are tainted. She recommended Eva for the job, and though Anita told her it wasn’t her fault, she’ll never know if their trust in her judgment has been damaged. So when she told Eva that she never figured her “for playing a backstabbing heifer, yet here we are,” we applauded her right.
Instead of reaching out in concern when Eva told her she had lost everything, it was still surprising when she simply uttered, “Good” to Eva. Ouch. That hurt.
READ THIS: Here’s what’s coming up next on BTG.
Mona and Leslie
Mona showed up at Leslie’s, and Leslie immediately thought that Mona was there in friendship, not bitterness. But Leslie was wrong. First, Mona wanted to know where her “friend” got the money for her latest luxury shopping spree. Leslie lied again, of course. Second, Mona needed to read her former friend for filth. “You’re the same snake you’ve always been. All those gossip sessions you were just gathering tea for your little ambush, weren’t you?” Mona deducted.
“Real friends don’t use each other,” Mona then said to Leslie with much hurt in her voice. “Hell was made for people like you, Leslie. Enjoy the burn.” We’re beyond happy Mona had her say.
READ THIS: Other BTG moments to watch out for this week.
Nicole and Leslie
Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix) was unflappable as she faced Leslie. You could tell that Leslie’s empathy towards Nicole was an act. Whatever she wanted to accomplish with this confrontation wasn’t to apologize to the woman. It was to see her pain. Later in the episode, she admitted to herself that she still loved Ted. So, she wasn’t looking for Nicole’s understanding. Instead, Nicole stayed her clinical self and slayed her with some choice shrink speak.
“I think I understand you perfectly,” the good doctor started. “You fell in love with a man that never considered you a priority. As pathetic as you are, it doesn’t excuse anything you’ve done.” Those are words that will stick with Leslie. You can bet on that.
READ THIS: CBS is #1 in Daytime for 39 Years, 1,500 consecutive weeks.
Anita and Eva
While Dani had some good reads herself in this episode, the Queen is Anita Dupree. At. Uptown, Dani invited Eva to sit down with her and her mother. At first, Anita showed how much empathy she had for Eva, knowing she grew up with a parent like Leslie.
And you could tell that Eva thought that Anita and Dani were going to take a soft stance on her. That is, until the Queen Dupree unleashed a devastating blow that had Eva reeling. “Because of the way you deliberately hurt Nicole, my daughter, you will never be part of the Dupree family.” Eva went down for the count. She couldn’t keep the devastation off her face. She is banned for life.
We’ll see if that stance changes as the months come and go.
What did you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments.
