It was like Sharon just wanted to pick a fight because she had to exaggerate in the most ridiculous way possible instead of being mature and discussing it calmly.

My random takes:

- Pacing, Tone & Overall Fatigue

Honestly, watching this week’s episodes felt like a chore. I’ve officially started watching the show at 1.5x speed. Maybe it’s the post-break slump, but I’m kind of out of the mood right now.

The show lacks guts right now. Everything feels half-assed. Like they’re scared to take real risks. Stakes are so low it’s laughable. Example? Smitty and Jacob should’ve hit the sheets already. Same for Jacob and Kat. We need MESS—not the delusional Dani Dupree brand of chaos, but actual emotional messiness.

Also: does Martin take a nap in every episode?

- Dialogue & Continuity Issues

Since when is “good dialogue” just ripping off social media catchphrases

Continuity continues to cheat viewers. One cliffhanger ends with Dani raging at André and Ashley, and the very next episode she’s all smiles and sass at their table, while they act like nothing happened. What??

The Leslie investigation has lost all momentum. It’s just spinning in circles at this point. I’ve lost track of the plan and the plot holes—and honestly, I don’t even care anymore.

- Visuals & Styling

I officially can’t stand the following wigs: Dani’s, Kat’s, Naomi’s—and OMG, Madison’s.

- Plot Directions

I honestly couldn’t care less that the trees in “the remote” were dead. I’ll still take that over another scene at Orphey’s or Uptown. But really… why was Martin running to the park? Did he get a push notification that Samantha was chatting with a dangerous man or something? 😂

The whole Martin/Joey/secret/money storyline is ailly, convoluted, straight out of a Harmony plotline. And Joey being portrayed as some sort of threat? Please. He’s not scary, let alone terrifying.

- Villains & Recycled Conflicts

How many criminal enemies are the Duprees going to rack up? We’re five months in and we’ve already had Leslie, Kenneth, and now possibly Alison…

And I agree that Leslie has entered Passions villain territory  I’m not liking it  

Shallow note: Randy is officially the hottest man on the show. 🔥 

1 hour ago, Aback said:

My random takes:

- Pacing, Tone & Overall Fatigue

Honestly, watching this week’s episodes felt like a chore. I’ve officially started watching the show at 1.5x speed. Maybe it’s the post-break slump, but I’m kind of out of the mood right now.

The show lacks guts right now. Everything feels half-assed. Like they’re scared to take real risks. Stakes are so low it’s laughable. Example? Smitty and Jacob should’ve hit the sheets already. Same for Jacob and Kat. We need MESS—not the delusional Dani Dupree brand of chaos, but actual emotional messiness.

Also: does Martin take a nap in every episode?

- Dialogue & Continuity Issues

Since when is “good dialogue” just ripping off social media catchphrases

Continuity continues to cheat viewers. One cliffhanger ends with Dani raging at André and Ashley, and the very next episode she’s all smiles and sass at their table, while they act like nothing happened. What??

The Leslie investigation has lost all momentum. It’s just spinning in circles at this point. I’ve lost track of the plan and the plot holes—and honestly, I don’t even care anymore.

- Visuals & Styling

I officially can’t stand the following wigs: Dani’s, Kat’s, Naomi’s—and OMG, Madison’s.

- Plot Directions

I honestly couldn’t care less that the trees in “the remote” were dead. I’ll still take that over another scene at Orphey’s or Uptown. But really… why was Martin running to the park? Did he get a push notification that Samantha was chatting with a dangerous man or something? 😂

The whole Martin/Joey/secret/money storyline is ailly, convoluted, straight out of a Harmony plotline. And Joey being portrayed as some sort of threat? Please. He’s not scary, let alone terrifying.

- Villains & Recycled Conflicts

How many criminal enemies are the Duprees going to rack up? We’re five months in and we’ve already had Leslie, Kenneth, and now possibly Alison…

And I agree that Leslie has entered Passions villain territory  I’m not liking it  

Shallow note: Randy is officially the hottest man on the show. 🔥 

I continue to tune in and out of this show. I slightly stick around because showrunners clearly know what's being said on message boards. But are they listening? Will they listen? Will September or October signal some differences? We shall see, one way or the other.

Oh, and speaking of Maurice P. Kerry (Randy). How is it that he's not related to LeVar Burton?

Edited July 13Jul 13 by Vanguardian53

4 hours ago, Aback said:

My random takes:

- Pacing, Tone & Overall Fatigue

Honestly, watching this week’s episodes felt like a chore. I’ve officially started watching the show at 1.5x speed. Maybe it’s the post-break slump, but I’m kind of out of the mood right now.

The show lacks guts right now. Everything feels half-assed. Like they’re scared to take real risks. Stakes are so low it’s laughable. Example? Smitty and Jacob should’ve hit the sheets already. Same for Jacob and Kat. We need MESS—not the delusional Dani Dupree brand of chaos, but actual emotional messiness.

Also: does Martin take a nap in every episode?

- Dialogue & Continuity Issues

Since when is “good dialogue” just ripping off social media catchphrases

Continuity continues to cheat viewers. One cliffhanger ends with Dani raging at André and Ashley, and the very next episode she’s all smiles and sass at their table, while they act like nothing happened. What??

The Leslie investigation has lost all momentum. It’s just spinning in circles at this point. I’ve lost track of the plan and the plot holes—and honestly, I don’t even care anymore.

- Visuals & Styling

I officially can’t stand the following wigs: Dani’s, Kat’s, Naomi’s—and OMG, Madison’s.

- Plot Directions

I honestly couldn’t care less that the trees in “the remote” were dead. I’ll still take that over another scene at Orphey’s or Uptown. But really… why was Martin running to the park? Did he get a push notification that Samantha was chatting with a dangerous man or something? 😂

The whole Martin/Joey/secret/money storyline is ailly, convoluted, straight out of a Harmony plotline. And Joey being portrayed as some sort of threat? Please. He’s not scary, let alone terrifying.

- Villains & Recycled Conflicts

How many criminal enemies are the Duprees going to rack up? We’re five months in and we’ve already had Leslie, Kenneth, and now possibly Alison…

And I agree that Leslie has entered Passions villain territory  I’m not liking it  

Shallow note: Randy is officially the hottest man on the show. 🔥 

I agree with a lot of what you said. I also agree with the weirdness in continuity and the progression of stories. We saw all the men gathered in Bill's office and nothing came of that. We saw no follow through of what that conversation was and why they would choose not to have that scene at all. At first, I thought they would flashback to it, but now I just think they wanted to maintain Martin's secret hidden from the audience for longer. Yet, you had all that cast together and you delivered nothing. It could have been quite the scene. 

Also, the cliffhanger with Ty and Kenny and now Sam and Kenny made me feel absolutely nothing. It just felt so beyond stupid that a teenager and a 30 year old (kidding) would interact with strangers in that way. At least, Samantha is out in a public place and who knows maybe Kenny asked her something, but I still didn't care. We just need to know the secret and I am hoping that the secret is actually layered and not as basic as I am starting to assume it might be. They played it up like it is something no one has guessed and it was going to be something. It seems more and more like it might not be that special.

This story proves why Anita needed to have a son. I think that's one element that would bring it full circle (for me) and make me feel more for Anita. If the Articulettes had come back into her life at a time when her black son was experiencing being passed over in his career because he didn't have "The Look". Forcing Anita to see the world differently through the lens of her seed, her blood. Her son, being mistreated in a world that she co-opted into, is now the same one, making it hard for him to succeed, which should make it deep.

4 hours ago, Aback said:

My random takes:

- Pacing, Tone & Overall Fatigue

Honestly, watching this week’s episodes felt like a chore. I’ve officially started watching the show at 1.5x speed. Maybe it’s the post-break slump, but I’m kind of out of the mood right now.

The show lacks guts right now. Everything feels half-assed. Like they’re scared to take real risks. Stakes are so low it’s laughable. Example? Smitty and Jacob should’ve hit the sheets already. Same for Jacob and Kat. We need MESS—not the delusional Dani Dupree brand of chaos, but actual emotional messiness.

The Leslie investigation has lost all momentum. It’s just spinning in circles at this point. I’ve lost track of the plan and the plot holes—and honestly, I don’t even care anymore.

That's how I feel, too. They're trying to take the easy route and be another GH with Bell undertones, and I don't think that's smart at all. I enjoyed the week overall, but am I hooked?  I am not.

They are dragging out the Leslie story, hoping we will forget about Leslie's crimes so she can stay on canvas.

 

20 hours ago, DeeVee said:

On the one hand, I really appreciate that they are twisting up the archetype by not making Anita the perfect, shining matriarch. I like that she's so complex. On the other hand, she's aggravating the heck out of me because I feel so bad for Sharon and Tracy. I wish she would just step back a bit and let them shine. Hopefully, that's what will happen in the end. If it doesn't, and there's a repeat of history, then wow, that's more than a little twist to the norm for this kind of character.

Well, she's not not complex to me. I find the character thin.

18 hours ago, Faulkner said:

The face-off between Nicole and Leslie had some great tension, and I love that they give Nicole a backbone instead of making her a prissy pushover. She gave as good as she got against a very smug opponent. Still, Leslie is veering into Passions villain territory. Too much mustache-twirling and smirking for me.

Loved every moment, and Nicole didn't lose her cool until her child was mentioned. Muva😍. Great moment, but Nicole is still lacking in the POV department.

Edited July 13Jul 13 by DemetriKane

1 hour ago, DemetriKane said:

That's how I feel, too. They're trying to take the easy route and be another GH with Bell undertones, and I don't think that's smart at all. I enjoyed the week overall, but am I hooked?  I am not.

I second this. I am definitely not hooked as I was the first 2-3 months. The beginning was strong and then they... slowly began losing me. I still think it was incredibly stupid to have an encore (all CBS's fault). Still... I probably won't be tuning out till at least next year when it's officially 1 year later. I want to give BTG a proper chance. Maybe something will happen to actually make me hooked, we'll see. But overall if the quality of dialogue/writing doesn't improve... I'll just move along. Maybe binge-watch when I'm bored and that's it. 

Edited July 13Jul 13 by Maxim

I felt the exact opposite about the past two weeks. I feel like the show has built a lot of momentum and I've been enjoying seeing the Martin story develop. I love that it's bringing the male characters to the forefront for the first time and exploring new dynamics between them. Seeing Vernon in a new light has been a revelation and Clifton Davis is eating up the material. Bill has become more interesting and I'm glad they're developing Elon and Marcel more. The biggest winner next to Vernon is probably Smitty. They've finally found something that works with him developing his reporting career and his chemistry with Jacob is excellent.

6 hours ago, Aback said:

My random takes:

The show lacks guts right now. Everything feels half-assed. Like they’re scared to take real risks. Stakes are so low it’s laughable. Example? Smitty and Jacob should’ve hit the sheets already. Same for Jacob and Kat. We need MESS—not the delusional Dani Dupree brand of chaos, but actual emotional messiness.

They've already done quit a bit of bed hopping in 4 months, I don't think you necessarily need that since Jacob and Naomi are such a stable couple. I love the chemistry of Jacob/Kat and Jacob/Smitty but I don't want them to be romantic. Plus, they introduced two new triangles: Ashley/Andre/Dani and Ashley/Derek/Shanice, so we do have more bed hopping going on.

On a side note, I noticed a video the actress playing Shanice posted about the triangle went viral on Instagram. It has over 5,000 likes and over a million views. I hope the show is taking note and keeps that story going. People have been asking for more Shanice and are responding well.

6 hours ago, Aback said:

- Dialogue & Continuity Issues

Since when is “good dialogue” just ripping off social media catchphrases

What I like about the dialogue is that it is more modern and weaves in current slang. I feel like it depends on the actor to sell it but overall I do enjoy it.

6 hours ago, Aback said:

Continuity continues to cheat viewers. One cliffhanger ends with Dani raging at André and Ashley, and the very next episode she’s all smiles and sass at their table, while they act like nothing happened. What??

The Leslie investigation has lost all momentum. It’s just spinning in circles at this point. I’ve lost track of the plan and the plot holes—and honestly, I don’t even care anymore.

I do agree with you here. I hate to say it but one of the weakest links for me has been Susan Dansby. I say that because she's the Script Editor but there have been so many continuity issues with them not syncing the time of day for the various scenes and carry over from episode-to-episode. 

6 hours ago, Aback said:

- Visuals & Styling

I officially can’t stand the following wigs: Dani’s, Kat’s, Naomi’s—and OMG, Madison’s.

When it comes to hair, the one I feel they can't get right is Naomi. I see they're debuting a new wig for her next week. Her best look was week one and I feel they should stick to natural hairstyles for her.

The only other person whose hair bothered me was Kat but I love her new wig. It's more natural and finally doesn't look like a hat sitting on her head.

6 hours ago, Aback said:

- Plot Directions

I honestly couldn’t care less that the trees in “the remote” were dead. I’ll still take that over another scene at Orphey’s or Uptown. But really… why was Martin running to the park? Did he get a push notification that Samantha was chatting with a dangerous man or something? 😂

This actually worked for me. Martin knows that Kenny is targeting his kids and since he can't tell them, it makes sense he followed her. She did tell him she was going to the park after all.

6 hours ago, Aback said:

The whole Martin/Joey/secret/money storyline is ailly, convoluted, straight out of a Harmony plotline. And Joey being portrayed as some sort of threat? Please. He’s not scary, let alone terrifying.

I do agree that I don't think Joey is as big of a threat as they make him out to be. I don't mind that because I don't want him written into a corner but I wish they'd do something to soften him a little bit. Introducing Ashley as his daughter would be a good way to do that. I feel like they're at the point where they need to decide what they want from Joey and go all in.

6 hours ago, Aback said:

- Villains & Recycled Conflicts

How many criminal enemies are the Duprees going to rack up? We’re five months in and we’ve already had Leslie, Kenneth, and now possibly Alison…

And I agree that Leslie has entered Passions villain territory  I’m not liking it  

I like the multiple villains and the fact that we have multiple stories going. I feel like Kenny and Alison are more short-term villains whereas Leslie is long term. I do agree with you that it's time to go forward with something new for Leslie. I'm ready for them to start the next phase of this story and show us how she's going to manage to stick around.

6 hours ago, Aback said:

Shallow note: Randy is officially the hottest man on the show. 🔥 

100% agree! Ever since Turtleneck Ted left, Randy is the #1 guy on the show for me.

The dialogue is far more realistic than some other soaps where the dialogue is clunky and is nothing close to how people actually talk. It seems like the show has tried to make the dialogue more natural.

On 7/9/2025 at 12:28 PM, Marco Dane said:

Could someone get me up to speed on what's happening on BTG in completely lost. I was in Mexico since late May for the birth of my daughter. Im trying to catch up but I cant. Please HELP!

This site is imperfect (as is every site) ...  but their recaps are adequate for catching up:
https://soapsspoilers.com/beyond-the-gates/recaps

And congrats on becoming a parent!

Edited July 13Jul 13 by janea4old

Sucks for me since none of the men do it for me. Handsome group of guys, but I fall in lust with characters, not actors. Hopefully, one day soon it will change, but if not, oh well.

It occurred to me a few days ago when Anita was having her confrontation with her castmates, but since I have wiggle room...

 

...was the anniversary party the last event we had?

 

When the show started, I felt we were blessed with an event a week and stuff going down. Now, that we are in the rhythm of it all...if that was the LAST event, it's been almost two months. I guess we are overdue another one...with a reveal to boot. 

 

12 hours ago, Aback said:

Shallow note: Randy is officially the hottest man on the show. 🔥

Oh, that was a given. TRUST.  Bubble and all. I'm the biggest fan. 

 

6 hours ago, Chris B said:

100% agree! Ever since Turtleneck Ted left, Randy is the #1 guy on the show for me.

Same.

 

And I do like the last few days, that others have picked up on what I said a while ago...the SilkPress storyline is definitely stalling a bit. 

 

5 hours ago, ReddFoxx said:

The dialogue is far more realistic than some other soaps where the dialogue is clunky and is nothing close to how people actually talk. It seems like the show has tried to make the dialogue more natural.

Very.

 

6 hours ago, Chris B said:

I felt the exact opposite about the past two weeks. I feel like the show has built a lot of momentum and I've been enjoying seeing the Martin story develop.

As do I. It's been established what the A stories are (SilkPress, Dani/Bill/Hayley, Martin's Secret) and Martin's Secret was the only A story with not much development. Since I personally don't want to go back to Dani/Bill/Hayley yet and feel it's too soon...moreso now with the baby twist...I'm glad they have no choice but to finish off the last of their A stories by focusing on Martin's Secret. And it's been great. It's been building nicely. And I love that it has developed into a true umbrella storyline. Not only for the connecting of so many characters, but it's now starting to thread into other storylines as well.

 

My only nitpick is the same as others. It seem like the secret happened longer than two years ago. As a result some things do not make sense like Martin's personality shift for example...or if there was one. Not to mention in comparison to the SilkPress storyline where the timeline seem so firm and detailed that we are all calling for a potential baby switch because there's been plausible hints underlining the whole storyline.

6 hours ago, Chris B said:

I love that it's bringing the male characters to the forefront for the first time and exploring new dynamics between them. Seeing Vernon in a new light has been a revelation and Clifton Davis is eating up the material. Bill has become more interesting and I'm glad they're developing Elon and Marcel more. The biggest winner next to Vernon is probably Smitty. They've finally found something that works with him developing his reporting career and his chemistry with Jacob is excellent.

Same. I love me some Papa Pope jumping out of Vernon. And Clifton Davis is eating it up. I also love Smitty in this mode and the juiciness of how he's about to give himself a self-inflicted wound to his family life. Soapy and ironic.

 

6 hours ago, Chris B said:

They've already done quit a bit of bed hopping in 4 months, I don't think you necessarily need that since Jacob and Naomi are such a stable couple. I love the chemistry of Jacob/Kat and Jacob/Smitty but I don't want them to be romantic. Plus, they introduced two new triangles: Ashley/Andre/Dani and Ashley/Derek/Shanice, so we do have more bed hopping going on.

On a side note, I noticed a video the actress playing Shanice posted about the triangle went viral on Instagram. It has over 5,000 likes and over a million views. I hope the show is taking note and keeps that story going. People have been asking for more Shanice and are responding well.

Same as well. The mess IS there. 

 

I saw that last night and giggled. Sell it, Ernestine!!! So many people are warming to Derek because so many of us love our Nosy Nurse and wish her nothing, but joy.

 

6 hours ago, Chris B said:

I do agree with you that it's time to go forward with something new for Leslie. I'm ready for them to start the next phase of this story and show us how she's going to manage to stick around.

Same. But I'm sure she is about to come back up in the A story rotation because the latest twist in Dani/Bill/Hayley will need time to grow and Martin's Secret is looking ready to finally climax/spin out. I predict start of August. 

And the other pending storyline is June, and the children in her photo -- and how June might be connected to Tracy of the Articulettes, or to Hayley, or to Samantha&Tyrell.

Edited July 13Jul 13 by janea4old

I mean...do we know for sure Barbara is dead? What if June IS Barbara? Or would she be too young?

4 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

I mean...do we know for sure Barbara is dead? What if June IS Barbara? Or would she be too young?

I think June might be too young to be Barbara?  But ages are confusing with so many characters so who knows.    But yeah I don't know if we can be certain that Barbara is dead.

Edited July 13Jul 13 by janea4old