In the Thursday, April 3 episode of Beyond the Gates, Vanessa and Doug have interesting interactions with Joey Armstrong. Meanwhile, Bill and Naomi battle it out at the law firm again.
Playing With Fire — Vanessa and Doug
Vanessa (Lauren Buglioli) and Joey’s meet-up at the Fairmont Crest Country Club was super flirty. The two called each other “edible” and “yummy” and flirted up a storm. They looked at potential places for Joey’s elderly mother and enjoyed each other’s company.
However, it was all based on a lie. Clearly, Armstrong (Jon Lindstrom) wants something out of this potential situationship because, as it turned out, Joey no longer has a mother who’s alive — she died last year. That’s what Ted (Maurice Johnson) told Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix). So what does Joey want? Does he want leverage over Doug (Jason Graham) and a pipeline to Vanessa’s family money?
Because Joey’s making himself comfortable with the McBrides. He might want to take Vanessa away from Doug so he can remove the criminal taint that everybody speaks his name with and become a more respectable element of the community. He told Vanessa that the country club denied his application. With Vanessa on his side, he could slide into the society world much more easily.
As for Doug, the cardiologist continues to phone it in at work in favor of losing at the poker tables. He swore his luck was about to turn, and he felt that he was going to start winning. Unfortunately for him, Joey’s beginning to put the screws to Joey. Pretty soon, he won’t take Doug’s word that his luck will change. He’s going to want his money back.
It was interesting to hear Vanessa tell Nicole that she and Doug were no longer in love, but they still love each other. At this point, they seem like roommates who coexist because that is the easiest thing to do. But they basically lead their own lives.
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Playing with Fire — Naomi
Anybody who tries to go up against Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) is playing with fire, even his daughter. And even though Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) knows what to watch out for with him, Bill’s a bit of a viper. He’ll zig and then zag, and nobody will see it coming. He didn’t just come up with what sounded like a perfect settlement. The way he presented it made it hard for the women suing to turn it down.
They would get a million dollars, their jobs back, and be the committee that sets the sexual harassment guidelines, which could keep Mike neutered. Naomi knew it was too good to be true. Mike Davis (Pierce Lackey) would still be working there. The hostile work environment they experienced before may be nothing compared to the hostile environment that would exist should they return. The women were swayed by the money that, honestly, wouldn’t hold up long in today’s climate. However, they have all been unemployed. Any money was good money.
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But Naomi admirably tried to hold back for the sake of the women. This was their decision. Bill knew this was a settlement that would be hard to turn down. But turn it down, they did. Naomi said she would see her dad in court. Once they talked one-on-one, Bill grew super stubborn. He kept harping on Naomi, wanting to get revenge on him for hurting Dani (Karla Mosley). But she insisted that wasn’t what this was about.
Well, maybe there’s truth to some of that, but she also recognized that these women were harshly and unfairly penalized for something someone in a position of authority did to them. Bill’s assistant, Caroline (Ellie Wang), doesn’t take these women seriously. Hayley (Marquita Goings) doesn’t either. Naomi truly does want to give these women their voice.
However, when she tried to get this point across to Bill, his hand went numb, and something was clearly wrong. Is Bill for real? Or is this a test to see how his daughter feels about him?
What do you think about Bill and Naomi? How about Joey and Vanessa? Let us know in the comments.
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