original release date: Friday, January 9, 2026 | writers: Teresa Zimmerman, Cheryl L. Davis | director: Phideaux Xavier

Thoughts:

• Smoothies? Not my thing, but it does sound delicious in this moment. I do love how close Nicole is with both Bradley and Martin.

• Anita overpacking that bag is hilarious. But I do love it. It shows how much he cares about her and her needs during her first round of chemotherapy.

• I hate to agree, but Jacob is forcing therapy on Naomi a bit too much. Seems like he does not know how to respect his wife's boundaries. First with her possible pregnancy and now with therapy. He needs to back down a bit and learn his place.

• So, it is confirmed: Carlton and Nicole are dating, and I am very happy about it. They have some amazing chemistry.

• Oh, whew. Nicole's test results are clear. Thank goodness. But poor Dani. Gosh. That has got to be some hard news to hear and receive; Naomi not needing to say anything was such a telling way of doing it.

• My oh my, how the spoilt, self-centred bitch's tune changes once she is not the one facing the news Naomi and Chelsea just got.

• Seeing the girls rallying around Dani is super sweet, and I also love how Martin did tell Vernon.

Notes:

• Zimmerman and Davis did a masterclass in today's episode. Every single scene was well paced and the dialogue was full of emotional pull. Beautiful, beautiful work!

• The lighting department deserves several rounds of applause; the light of dawn in today's episode is beautiful, and of course Xavier captured it with his excellent eye. Love details like this. So much.

• Showing an actual chemo session is brilliant. We often hear of characters going in and doing it, but rarely if ever do we see it. Once again, Beyond the Gates is miles ahead of the curve with topical storytelling.

Per the end credits, Jon Lindstrom (Joey Armstrong) is still recurring.

I wanted both my girls to be negative but I think Dani being positive has far more storyline potential than Nicole.

That final scene had me weeping

One of my friends was bummed that Dani was positive and Nicole was negative because that seemed to be the predictable route... but Nicole is more like Anita in terms of how she handles crisis so it would make more sense from a dramatic standpoint to have the emotional fire plug be the one to get the positive results.

Chelsea already was mature and pragmatic about the possibility of her needing to get tested herself so now we see if she or Naomi get a positive results. I think Naomi getting the positive result will cause more tensions with Jacob and make her decide not to have children even more final while Chelsea having a positive reading might not cause as much dramatic weight.

Previews for next week look good.

There is so much I love about BTG. Most of all -- the storylines seem believable. We don't see any super-spies, freezing the world, saving the world, three back from the deads in one year, clones, campy attempts at comedy, or anti-aging serum. We do get domestic drama, class-conflict, medical drama, occasional heartbreak, and a bit of romance. It's not exactly "realistic", so I refer to it as "believable." That's the kind of soap opera stories I was raised on.

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by Tisy-Lish

Lindstrom is listed with the recurring players so I guess he's just in the credits and not on contract.

Everything flowed very well today and I really like how family is written believably. The ending scene was done very well with Nicole comforting Dani as a good sister would. The last time I was moved by a siblings scene was on Y&R when Jack and Ashley had to reveal to Traci that her fiance was a lunatic, but much of the credit there went to the players moreso than the writing.

The next week preview is wild. I love that moment with Anita.

They need to let Joey and Leslie fúck sooner or later. Old Marcel is one thing but she has higher ambitions, and Trisha has chemistry with everyone up to and including JL. Or at least give me more of Leslie and Vanessa scheming together when Joey inevitably goes down.

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by Vee

Today was absolutely heart-wrenching. I loved everything about it. So well done by the entire production.

-- Good reveals today, and I'm especially glad they weren't dragged out. Seems like a better choice for storyline to give Dani the cancer gene rather than Nicole.

-- I've been a big Kat fan, but she was embarrassing this week. All week. It was all about her, every moment. She thought of no one else. And today? She made her "I'm sorry I wasn't there for everyone" again all about her. I think she's been awful.

-- I don't like that everyone i immediately forgiving Kat for her selfishness and immaturity to the point where some are apologizing to her for not giving her more understanding. Are you kidding me?

-- And now Kat says "I'm going to be there for all of you!" Again, it's about her. Pathetic.

-- It's nice that Anita got her own hotel-like room in which to get her cancer treatment. I guess it pays to be rich and powerful.

-- This episode was paced perfectly and well done in all respects. Still, I have to say my mileage varies on the emotional pull. I personally don't think any of it was gut-wrenching or heart-wrenching.

Finally got to watch the second half and I thought it was a great episode too. The emotions and character-driven storytelling have been refreshing. My only nitpick - Naomi's look to Dani was not convincing enough for me to think Dani thought that meant she was a carrier. She could have played that better.

2 hours ago, ReddFoxx said:

Lindstrom is listed with the recurring players so I guess he's just in the credits and not on contract.

There are two potentials from this:

1. Lindstrom is on contract but signed after the 'season' began filming and was put in as a formality ahead of his contract technically beginning, as a replacement for Ben Gavin.

2. Due to his status within daytime and his friendship with Michele Val Jean, he was put in as a courtesy, again, as a replacement for Gavin.

Where are Cady McClain and Greg Vaughn? Any news of either of them returning?

3 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

I think Naomi getting the positive result will cause more tensions with Jacob and make her decide not to have children even more final.

Or the opposite. Naomi might change her tune entirely & decide not to postpone having a baby, after all.

Based on the (excellent) Mardi Gras scenes, there appeared to be some foreshadowing Naomi will wind up pregnant. As she chatted with Andre & ate her king cake, she suddenly squealed, "I got the baby! I got the baby!!"

The writers could've theoretically given the baby to any king cake-eater in the room, but they specifically chose Naomi for the honor. I don't think it was a throwaway. I think they were previewing a 2026 story for us.

25 minutes ago, Broderick said:

Or the opposite. Naomi might change her tune entirely & decide not to postpone having a baby, after all.

Based on the (excellent) Mardi Gras scenes, there appeared to be some foreshadowing Naomi will wind up pregnant. As she chatted with Andre & ate her king cake, she suddenly squealed, "I got the baby! I got the baby!!"

The writers could've theoretically given the baby to any king cake-eater in the room, but they specifically chose Naomi for the honor. I don't think it was a throwaway. I think they were previewing a 2026 story for us.

Ohhh good observation! I think you're right!

35 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

Where are Cady McClain and Greg Vaughn? Any news of either of them returning?

SPOILER

Pamela is on next week.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by Vee