'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYI/8QAHhAAAgICAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIAAwQRBRMiMVH/xAAVAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACA//EABkRAAIDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMRMf/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8Azw3Jrfi3UPi19dzq4AJ8NfJPudMQPQMRDFYWu4mf/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Here's what went down Thursday, January 15, 2026 on Beyond the Gates when the reality of chemo sunk in for Anita, Jessica changed her mind about the “bougie” cotillion, and Ted got to sample the 32nd flavor.
What happened on Beyond the Gates
On Beyond the Gates, Derek hobbled into Uptown as Jacob watched – when suddenly Derek lifted his cane and strode in normally. Jacob was surprised, and Derek said he had just wanted to mess with Jacob by making him think he still needed help walking. After a brief discussion about Derek's recovery, Jacob hesitated to mention that he and Naomi had been at the establishment the night before...on a double date with Ashley. Derek was stoic, realizing that Ashley wasn't going to stay single forever, but Jacob clammed up when Derek started asking who Ashley's new guy was; all the detective would give up was that it was someone who worked with Ashley at the hospital.
Derek asked Jacob how things were going with Naomi; Jacob was unable to determine that and filled Derek in on Anita's cancer and Naomi possibly having the BRCA gene mutation, which she was being tested for. Jacob knew Naomi was a rock but lamented that it was yet another cloud hanging over their marriage; Derek assumed that the issue of the Hawthornes' differing opinions on having children was still front and center.
Jacob hadn't realized he'd wanted kids until Naomi's false pregnancy, and, though their sessions with their therapist had them communicating more efficiently, the divide was still there. Plus, Jacob feared that Naomi was shutting down on him again in light of her grandmother's cancer, as she did in the days following her supposed positive pregnancy test. Derek felt that Naomi and Jacob would work it out because they were meant to be; Jacob felt that trust and truth-telling were more important. Derek reminded Jacob that at least he and his wife weren't sugarcoating things.
At Garland Memorial, Shanice watched as Ashley and Grayson tried to get their schedules lined up so they could see each other again. After Grayson got on the elevator, Naomi arrived, and both she and Shanice wanted details. Ashley was coy until she finally confirmed that she had invited Grayson to her place for a nightcap and that the result was “really, really good.” She likened her experience with Grayson to finally trying a different ice cream flavor after always ordering the same one. The women squealed when Ashley, who was starting to see what she had missed out on, declared that she couldn't wait to have another taste of this particular variety.
Later alone with Ashley, Shanice remarked that the other nurses would be jealous because Ashley had gone out with Grayson. Ashley purred that they'd had their chance; besides, Grayson had asked her for a date on multiple occasions, but until now she'd always found a reason to decline. When Shanice gently warned Ashley about “[getting] your butter the same place you get your bread,” Ashley smoothly fired back, “Who exactly is buttering Dr. Richardson's bread?” Shanice claimed that she wasn't, and Ashley advised her boss/friend that she might want to do something about that.
In Bill's office, he and Dani disembraced, and Bill told Hayley that Dani didn't have her hands on him. Dani repeated what she'd told Bill about thanking him for being a rock for her and their daughters, prompting Hayley to spout that it must be comforting, knowing Chelsea and Naomi would have someone to turn to should “worse come to worst.” Dani took it in stride and left, but Bill was angry that Hayley had used a sensitive moment to twist the knife with Dani for her own amusement.
Hayley fumed that Bill was always taking Dani's side, but Bill countered that it had been Hayley who had benefitted from Bill blowing up his marriage and divorcing Dani. Moreover, there was nothing funny about the possibility of his children and/or their mother getting cancer. The Hamiltons then lunched at the country club, where Bill gave a chatty Hayley monosyllabic answers. Bill got up to greet Naomi and Jacob, and Naomi thanked Hayley for having texted her with her concern – news which surprised Bill. After the Hawthornes moved on to their own table, Bill silently took Hayley's hand.
Anita came down from sleeping in but brushed off feeling drained to Vernon. When Kat and Samantha suddenly arrived wanting to talk about potential cotillion dresses, Vernon tried to subtly shoo them away, but Anita proclaimed that she felt wonderful and offered to talk about anything but chemo. Looking over the gowns Samantha had her eye on, Anita remembered Kat's debut and thought back to performing at a cotillion afterparty with The Articulettes. The singer had never heard of a cotillion, but gazing over the sea of strong, confident women, she'd hoped that she would be granted such an audience again someday – and because of Vernon, she now had that in her own family.
Dani came in, and Vernon expressed his worry that Anita had accepted company when she really hadn't been up for it. The patriarch was also concerned over how Dani was handling learning she carried the BRCA gene mutation; Dani said she felt fortified, and a large part of that had come from Vernon's example. Dani recognized that Vernon was still uncomfortable with her leaning on Bill – and even that Hayley didn't like it – but she was convinced that Naomi and Chelsea needed their father during such a volatile time.
As Dani, Samantha, and Kat gushed over the dresses, Anita seemed to become woozy, and she had to admit that perhaps all the activity was “a little much” for her. Samantha and Kat were sorry, but Anita reassured them that she'd found a lesson in their visit – that even she had limits.
Eva was stunned when Ted told her about Anita's cancer, and how the whole family had been further affected by it given the danger the BRCA variant had presented. Ted acknowledged Eva's condolences; when Eva was certain that Kat must have been “a handful,” Ted explained how Kat hadn't wanted to get tested. Ted felt that pressuring Kat to have the screen done would have pushed her even further away, and Eva marveled at her father's ability to see past people's fronts. Dr. Richardson attributed that to being a plastic surgeon; he could often tell when people were trying to fix their inside by altering their outside.
Ted knew that Kat had to be in agony as Chelsea waited to find out whether or not she had tested positive. Despite knowing he had no right to ask based on how badly Kat had treated her, Ted hoped that Eva would reach out to her half-sister. Eva wasn't willing to do it for Kat...but she was willing to do it for Ted.
At Orphey Gene's, Jessica confused June by ordering salade niçoise and ratatouille. Tyrell explained that Jessica was mocking her cotillion prep, which Jessica labeled “elitist nonsense.” After June took the teens' real orders and only half-jokingly said she had enough trouble with English, Tyrell reminded Jessica that she had agreed to talk to Anita about debutante matters. Jessica replied that she had left a message for Anita but that she hadn't yet returned it. Tyrell understood, saying that “the whole fam's kinda shook” about the presence of cancer within it.
When Jessica devised that she could “bomb out” with the whole debutante thing before being presented “like a prize cow,” Tyrell said he would boycott the ball with her if he wasn't already expected to attend to support Samantha. Although she still thought of the whole thing as “fake old money bougie flexing,” Jessica considered that being a deb “wouldn't totally suck” if Tyrell was to be her escort. After all, Tyrell was going to be there anyway...
Kat and Samantha arrived at the diner, with the teen girl feeling awful that she hadn't “clocked” how poorly her great-grandmother had been feeling. She went to join her brother and his girlfriend, while Kat stayed behind to face Eva, who had just walked in. Eva expressed her sympathies about Anita's cancer and offered to be there for Kat should she need an ear while waiting on news about whether Chelsea carried the variant. Kat found Eva's outreach insincere and told Eva to stay out of her family. Eva charged that her gesture had been genuine – and that, one day, Kat was going to need her. Only then, Eva would be reminding Kat of her words no matter what Ted wanted.
Samantha was surprised that Jessica was interested in her portfolio of ball gowns. Jessica announced that she wanted to see them, because she was indeed attending the cotillion – now that she would be on Tyrell's arm.
Shanice visited Ted in his office, bringing him chocolate ice cream from the hospital cafeteria. She seductively fed him some, and he then responded in kind – just moments before the cup wound up on the floor from Shanice and Ted grasping each other's faces in a passionate kiss.
Anita grudgingly admitted that chemo was going to be rough on her. Vernon recalled that the doctors had said there would be bad days and good days, and he convinced his beloved to take the mansion elevator to the second level instead of climbing the stairs.
Trending
As Dani let herself out of her parents' house, she received a text from Chelsea – which notified her that the test results were in.
Beyond the Gates airs weekdays on CBS and streams on Paramount Plus.
Reply
