-- Nicole's game-playing with Kial and Carlton is already tired. Kial needs to ask for his key to be returned.

-- I now Dani is mercurial, but she came in much too hot in that conversation with Tomas. She practically attacked him.

-- Hayley is fun because she's such a dumb criminal.

-- It was LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY when Grayson walked onto that elevator with the plasma bag exchange. Was he near death from the stabbing or no? He couldn't even move in Ashley's bed and now he's back at Garland. Do we know how we got there? Of course not. 🤣

-- Are Grayson and Jacob the only two people involved in moving the plasma at the hospital? 😂🤣😂

Edited Monday at 11:26 PM1 day by ranger1rg

On 4/21/2026 at 4:51 PM, Tisy-Lish said:

Missing set: Naomi's law office

Missing set: Martin's congressional office

Missing set: The free clinic

On 4/21/2026 at 5:59 PM, Paul Raven said:

Needed/desired

An outdoor area for Summer brunches at the Country club.

A Dupree dining room

A study for Vernon

An office for Joey

Banneker set

Free clinic

An office for Martin

A mid scale eatery above Orphey/below CC

Ditch

The Atrium/Airport Coffee Shop

Joey's back room.

@Tisy-Lish I'm gonna pass on Martin's office. @Paul Raven I'm gonna pass on all those offices, mid scale eatery, and Vernon's study room.

I will however say this about the Banneker or high school set, there's only two teens and two college kids. Beyond The Gates has to start building their own Four Musketeers or Last Blast Generation in order for those sets to not be a waste of money.

On 4/24/2026 at 1:55 PM, MontyB said:

How cute.

This is dope.

I'm gonna pass on Martin's office. @Paul Raven I'm gonna pass on all those offices, mid scale eatery, and Vernon's study room

Can I ask why? I know budget is a consideration but don't you think the show would benefit from having all/some of these?

1 hour ago, melanatedbtgfan said:

This is dope.

It's an awesome picture. ❤️❤️

5 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

This made me think of the cotillion but I seriously doubt any of the writing staff reads Essence, Ebony of any Black publication. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Essence

Scandal at Spelman? The Co-Queen Decision Sparking Uproar...

As dialogue surrounding the HBCU controversy heats up, we look at claims of unfairness, challenging tradition, the school's legacy and more.

Those publications are well respected by a lot professionals so it's likely that a few on the team have read them. It would be surprising if an Essence photoshoot isn't written into the show for one or more of the Dupree women at some point.

6 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

This made me think of the cotillion but I seriously doubt any of the writing staff reads Essence, Ebony of any Black publication. 🤷🏾‍♀️

The first week or two of the show, Dani and Chelsea did an Ebony photoshoot, with Andre. There are framed Ebony covers on the wall (within FairmontCrest universe) of younger Dani, as if fictional model Dani were a real person on the real Ebony's cover, and more recent cover with Chelsea. Pics and article here on the Ebony site
https://www.ebony.com/ebony-photo-exclusive-black-love-reigns-at-cbs-new-soap-opera-beyond-the-gates/

BTG cast and producer were guests at EssenceFest last July.
https://www.essence.com/entertainment/efoc-2025-beyond-the-gates/

8 hours ago, janea4old said:

The first week or two of the show, Dani and Chelsea did an Ebony photoshoot, with Andre. There are framed Ebony covers on the wall (within FairmontCrest universe) of younger Dani, as if fictional model Dani were a real person on the real Ebony's cover, and more recent cover with Chelsea. Pics and article here on the Ebony site
https://www.ebony.com/ebony-photo-exclusive-black-love-reigns-at-cbs-new-soap-opera-beyond-the-gates/

BTG cast and producer were guests at EssenceFest last July.
https://www.essence.com/entertainment/efoc-2025-beyond-the-gates/

Come through @janea4old

8 hours ago, janea4old said:

The first week or two of the show, Dani and Chelsea did an Ebony photoshoot, with Andre. There are framed Ebony covers on the wall (within FairmontCrest universe) of younger Dani, as if fictional model Dani were a real person on the real Ebony's cover, and more recent cover with Chelsea. Pics and article here on the Ebony site
https://www.ebony.com/ebony-photo-exclusive-black-love-reigns-at-cbs-new-soap-opera-beyond-the-gates/

BTG cast and producer were guests at EssenceFest last July.
https://www.essence.com/entertainment/efoc-2025-beyond-the-gates/

Essence Fest was heavily criticized. I did not attend and tbh, some of the criticism was overblown imo but there are some deep-seated issues within the community that need to be addressed.

https://www.ebony.com/essence-festival-of-culture-2025-controversy/

9 hours ago, ReddFoxx said:

Those publications are well respected by a lot professionals so it's likely that a few on the team have read them. It would be surprising if an Essence photoshoot isn't written into the show for one or more of the Dupree women at some point.

As someone who grew up with Ebony in my household and had a subscription to Essence and Black Enterprise for years, I know good and well the reputation that these publications have in the community. Reading provides a basis grounded in complexity, which is why any professional writing program will insist that a writer be a reader. If any BTG writers are active readers, I think it would show up in the form of more complex, layered characters but maybe I expect too much, it would've been nice though.

3 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

As someone who grew up with Ebony in my household and had a subscription to Essence and Black Enterprise for years, I know good and well the reputation that these publications have in the community. Reading provides a basis grounded in complexity, which is why any professional writing program will insist that a writer be a reader. If any BTG writers are active readers, I think it would show up in the form of more complex, layered characters but maybe I expect too much, it would've been nice though.

I certainly didn't mean to suggest you don't know the reputation of the magazines, I was just indicating that I think professionals still do values those publications.

13 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Reading provides a basis grounded in complexity, which is why any professional writing program will insist that a writer be a reader. If any BTG writers are active readers, I think it would show up in the form of more complex, layered characters but maybe I expect too much, it would've been nice though.

In their defense, I think someone on the staff is a reader, although it's not necessarily reflected in the complexity of the characters.

Where it often IS evident is in the show's almost excessive use of the literary devise of foreshadowing. There was so much foreshadowing in early 2025 that it zapped much of the suspense out of the season, particularly in regards to Martin's secret, Chelsea's kidnapping, and Hayley's post-wedding plans for Bill. Yes, it was still fun to follow the path from the foreshadowing to the fruition, but I often found myself wishing they'd previewed LESS of their material upfront.

They did the same in early 2026, regarding the BRCA gene and the plasma thieves.

Hopefully with the recently announced two-year renewal, we'll see a bit less flagrant "spillage" of each season's upcoming storylines at the beginning of the year.

Yeah, I really don't know how we're getting to the idea that the BTG writing staff don't read prose, or that the Black members of the writing staff don't read Black publications. Neither of those statements are based in much evidence.

BTG is certainly worthy of regular criticism, and there's plenty of things I know we'd all do differently if we wrote these soaps, especially a new one with plenty of flaws. But we don't, and I've never felt the need to take those kind of leaps. I can rail against the writing on modern GH til the cows come home, but I've never doubted some of those writers read books.

Edited 49 minutes ago49 min by Vee