-- Sooo many missed beats on the Lia Whitmore death. This would have worked better if we had seen Smitty make contact with Lia, even a couple times. The off screen stuff doesn't work for me.

-- I don't care about Takahashi and the sweatshops. It's about as interesting as naming the purse that honors Nicole.

-- Another sad story from Izaiah about growing up and feeling different than the others in his family. Jesus.

-- Hayley says "I don't do sloppy" while she meets Randy in broad daylight and also admits she used all the remaining poison she had on the salad she made for Bill. This woman is STUPID, and Randy isn't any better. They're at a table in the middle of Uptown and he transfers the poison to Hayley. GMAB.

18 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

-- Sooo many missed beats on the Lia Whitmore death. This would have worked better if we had seen Smitty make contact with Lia, even a couple times. The off screen stuff doesn't work for me.

I could have done without the scene of Dani and Andre coloring, or another Dani/Vanessa gossip session scene if we had gotten scenes of Lia in prison to at least show the fear and anxiety on her face as she tries to deter Smitty. Would have made news of her death have a bit more impact.

And if I'm not mistaken, she's a local performer so the show could have gotten her to appear on occasion in prison.

38 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

I could have done without the scene of Dani and Andre coloring, or another Dani/Vanessa gossip session scene if we had gotten scenes of Lia in prison to at least show the fear and anxiety on her face as she tries to deter Smitty. Would have made news of her death have a bit more impact.

And if I'm not mistaken, she's a local performer so the show could have gotten her to appear on occasion in prison.

I am in complete agreement. The plasma smuggling plot was not poorly conceived, but the writers are leaving out too many details, missing too many beats, and too many details take place off-screen. A mystery writer like Henry Slesar (Edge of Night) could have made this plot Emmy material. But not every good soap opera writer is a good mystery writer. Sadly. If only TPTB at BTG had hired a great mystery novelist as a plot consultant for this storyline. It could have been a very compelling plot.

Edited Friday at 11:09 PM3 days by Tisy-Lish

1 hour ago, ranger1rg said:

This woman is STUPID

because the writing for haley is STUPID! could have been a fascinating character and story if the writers had dug just a little deeper — though perhaps not with this actor — but still.

Edited Friday at 11:19 PM3 days by wonderwoman1951

8 minutes ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

because the writing for haley is STUPID! could have been a fascinating character and story if the writer had dug a little deeper — though perhaps not with the actor — but still.

In my opinion, TPTB seem reluctant to wrap-up the poisoning plot, because they don't want to lose the actress. But the character is a KILLER. I have a similar opinion about any punishment for Dana and Joey (both attempted murderers or worse) -- TPTB have fallen in love with the actors and don't want to lose them. Well folks -- when you write criminals, sooner or later those criminals need to pay for their crimes. Typically by either going to prison, being killed, or escaping police and leaving the show. AND we also have Randy (who is probably a killer) and Heather (apparently a killer, as we found out today). So that gives us FIVE killers, possible killers, or attempted murderers on the canvas. What the Hell???

Edited Friday at 11:40 PM3 days by Tisy-Lish

8 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

In my opinion, TPTB seem reluctant to wrap-up the poisoning plot, because they don't want to lose the actress. But the character is a KILLER. I have a similar opinion about any punishment for Dana and Joey (both attempted murderers or worse) -- TPTB have fallen in love with the actors and don't want to lose them. Well folks -- when you write criminals, sooner or later those criminals need to pay for their crimes. Typically by either going to prison, being killed, or escaping police and leaving the show. AND we also have Randy (who is probably a killer) and Heather (apparently a killer, as we found out today). And that gives us FIVE killers, possible killers, or attempted murderers on the canvas.

23 minutes ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

because the writing for haley is STUPID! could have been a fascinating character and story if the writers had dug just a little deeper — though perhaps not with this actor — but still.

I see some people comparing the Hayley/Bill/Dani story to the Janice/Mac/Rachel story on AW.... but there were numerous differences as to why the AW story worked.

1) Mac and Rachel were shown married, shown having issues due to faults of both, and showing a marriage coming apart.

2) Janice came onto the show again in November 1978 and started off trying to run her brother Willis' love life by pushing him first to Angie and later Alice. She is re-introduced to Mac in December 1978, but shown dating another man for several weeks while running into Mac out and about before the two have a one night stand in April 1979 (and it was hinted due to money and using that money to help Willis. and to stick it to Rachel).

3) Between April 1979 and March 1980, you see Janice succeed in getting her claws into Mac, Mac/Rachel divorce, than it's revealed that Janice has a partner/lover in crime Mitch. You find out a manuscript that's being read is actually what Janice is using to kill Mac for his money, which Rachel figures out. Somehow Rachel hooks up with Mitch than rescues Mac from Janice and ends up killing her. That is a lot that happens in an 11 month period of time.

The thing that made it work was that Janice had a start, middle, and end... and the fall out was felt for a long time because Rachel ends up having Mitch's son Matt, she and Mac divorce, and they spend the next three years or so apart before reuniting.. while Mitch is a presence on and off throughout the 80s in their lives.

I think these writers don't understand that deciding to make Hayley try to kill Bill was when they went a step too far with keeping her on the show... and that is why the story is in a hamster wheel instead of progressing. Hayley should be caught and sent away with the focus than turning to Andre/Bill/Dani with Heather becoming the new heavy with knowing more about Andre's past than what he's willing to share.

2 hours ago, ReddFoxx said:

It was satisfying to see Kat knocked down a rung with the news about Chelseakat.

Yes, it was!

Plus, Eva had Kat's "business savvy" pegged.

Where would Kat be if it weren't for Chelsea?

8 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

The thing that made it work was that Janice had a start, middle, and end... and the fall out was felt for a long time because Rachel ends up having Mitch's son Matt, she and Mac divorce, and they spend the next three years or so apart before reuniting.. while Mitch is a presence on and off throughout the 80s in their lives.

You explained the Mac/Rachel/Mitch/Janice story on Another World so well. I'd take writing half that good on today's soaps. That storyline was iconic.

BTG writers not only don't want to get rid of characters/actors, they refuse to even punish them.

5 hours ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

according to dominque madison’s imdb bio, she’s based in la, so scheduling/availability could be an issue. and lynette is not a part that could be easily recast.

why not? I liked her but the role definitely could be recast

1 hour ago, Tisy-Lish said:

In my opinion, TPTB seem reluctant to wrap-up the poisoning plot, because they don't want to lose the actress. But the character is a KILLER. I have a similar opinion about any punishment for Dana and Joey (both attempted murderers or worse) -- TPTB have fallen in love with the actors and don't want to lose them. Well folks -- when you write criminals, sooner or later those criminals need to pay for their crimes. Typically by either going to prison, being killed, or escaping police and leaving the show. AND we also have Randy (who is probably a killer) and Heather (apparently a killer, as we found out today). So that gives us FIVE killers, possible killers, or attempted murderers on the canvas. What the Hell???

She's not a killer bc shehasnt killed anyone and she isnt going to kill Bill. Malone, Martin and Joey have all killed yet arent in danger of losing their spot on the show. I dont see why Hayley should lose hers either for attempting to kill

Edited Saturday at 12:43 AM3 days by Cheap21

48 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

BTG writers not only don't want to get rid of characters/actors, they refuse to even punish them.

it’s not just punishing characters, it’s consequences.

martin’s the best example. when the coverup of his fatal attack was finally revealed, what happened? nothing! sure, we found out how many people were involved in the coverup — the police, vernon, joey, bill. other than nicole and smitty being pissed at being left out of the loop — which both got over quickly — that was it.

what should have happened was that martin’s unnamed, unseen primary opponent would have uncovered the truth, and there would have been real fallout —- instead, not even hamsters on the wheel. there are so many dropped stories, the writers seem to feel ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ but viewers have long memories, and it’s frustrating — not to mention annoying — when the writers forget that.

Edited Saturday at 12:57 AM3 days by wonderwoman1951

40 minutes ago, Cheap21 said:

why not? I liked her but the role definitely could be recast

She's not a killer bc shehasnt killed anyone and she isnt going to kill Bill. Malone, Martin and Joey have all killed yet arent in danger of losing their spot on the show. I dont see why Hayley should lose hers either for attempting to kill

If I'm not mistaken, hasn't Hayley told Randy she previously poisoned one or two of her wealthy former husbands? I believe that makes Hayley a KILLER.

Recap: Friday, August 28, 2026

Anita couldn't articulate, while The Impaler stirred things up and Bill followed Hayley.

Soap Opera Network

Beyond The Gates Recap: Bill Caught Hayley In A Big Lie

Anita couldn't articulate, while The Impaler stirred things up, and Bill followed Hayley on the Friday, August 28, 2026, episode of "Beyond the Gates."

28 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

If I'm not mistaken, hasn't Hayley told Randy she previously poisoned one or two of her wealthy former husbands? I believe that makes Hayley a KILLER.

nah I beleive this will be her first kill. Bill is different bc she usually does not stay around this long for her to need to become a widow

I haven't gotten to todays episode yet but disappointed to hear Lia died off screen. I feel like doing this once is okay because I get it, its a soap and sometimes you may want to bring someone back. In this case we've had Doug, Lynette and now Lia all die off screen. Chances are they all won't come back from the dead so it just feels like lazy storytelling.

That's one of the biggest issues I have with BTG and it goes back to the lack of sets. If this were GH we would've seen Lia get offed in jail, or Lynette in a motel or wherever, but they don't have enough sets so things end up off screen. It's the same with Tyrell going to college. Will we even see Banneker or will they just sit in Orphey Gene's and talk about it?

They need a better EP and set designer.

I'm not convinced by Smitty ace reporter who keeps getting the scoops on major happenings. Now he's uncovering sweatshops operated by major labels. All by his lonesome.

The Bill/Hayley story had all the makings of a classic suspense tale and they've repeatedly fumbled it.