Beyond the Gates Recap for January 28, 2026: On-the-case Smitty got busted and Kat got another hint about her future

Here's what went down Wednesday, January 28, 2026 on Beyond the Gates when every thorn had its rose, Naomi almost gave herself away, and Nicole learned she may have to go from hot mama to matriarch.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Leslie saw Ted at the country club and overheard him ordering three dozen roses. She assumed that he was doing Valentine's prep early and recalled that Ted had sent her similar blooms after the first time they'd made love – but Ted bluntly reported that the flowers were for Shanice. Ted also heavily implied that their own newfound friendship would be damaged if Leslie got in Shanice's face again; Leslie claimed she had her own man, but Ted walked off before she could go into detail about him.

At Garland Memorial's nurses station, Carlton and Shanice ended up trading notes about their dates with Nicole and Ted, respectively, each learning that the other had had “dessert.” Then Carlton went to Nicole, wanting to know if she'd have dinner with him. She accepted that date, but not Carlton's suggestion that she accompany him on a “destination” birthday party for his niece being held over a weekend. Nicole felt that was a higher level of commitment than she was ready for, and Carlton apologized for being overeager.

Leslie, having come from checking into Peaches at the hospital, ran into Marcel, who was fresh from questioning a recuperating witness. Marcel wanted Leslie to breakfast with him – but, as she was following him to the elevator, a delivery person arrived with Shanice's roses. Leslie made up an excuse and stayed behind to be sure Shanice knew that Ted had also gifted her with such blossoms after their first time in bed. Once Leslie left, Shanice dropped a stack of files – and while she was behind the station retrieving them, Nicole and a nurse noticed the roses, and Nicole reminisced about how Ted had sent her a bouquet after taking their relationship to the next level. Shanice seemed rattled.

Kat barged into Nicole's office, wanting to know why her mother was “hanging out of a dress,” not to mention hanging onto a man that wasn't Carlton. Nicole calmly stated that she was trying something new, but Kat couldn't process having seen Nicole with “Sexy Doctor of the Travelling Pants” Kial – was Nicole trying on more than those men with her “ho chic”? Nicole asked her daughter “how far back do your shameful feelings about sex go?” The psychiatrist refused to let Kat “sex shame” her and stood her ground against Kat's objections.

Later, Kat ran into Ted at Orphey Gene's and assured her dad that she'd had no problem staying behind at Uptown the previous night to talk to Shanice when Ted had needed to leave. Kat liked Shanice's energy; while Ted waited on an order of peach cobbler, he remarked that it was too bad Kat wasn't as accepting of all the women in his life. Kat didn't want to ruin the good vibe by talking about Eva and sat herself at a table once Ted departed. June came to take Kat's order but saw that she needed to vent, so Kat opened up about her father pushing his “devil spawn” on her and how she didn't like her mother running around in “bad girl couture.” The waitress noticed that there were “a lot of I's” in her complaints and suggested that “maybe the problem is you.”

June was resolute that parents were always going to be in their children's business, so all Kat could do was let that go, since there would come a day she wouldn't have her parents to tussle with. As for siblings, June related her situation with Regina, saying that the two were there for each other now despite the fact that Regina's resentment toward June abandoning her children had kept them separated for years. Kat may hate Eva wanting to be a part of her life, June said, but one day, Kat was going to need her.

Ted brought the peach cobbler to Shanice, who revealed that she'd learned his “signature move” of sending roses from Leslie, then Nicole. Although Ted was flustered, Shanice said she was flattered that she had gotten so many flowers but held off from kissing him in thanks, winking that the hospital was full of gossips. Ted asked Shanice if she were free later that night. “I'm free all night,” Shanice smiled.

Meanwhile, at the Bowman Hotel, Leslie had bribed an employee to let her into Ted's room. She pulled a pair of panties out of her purse and strategically placed the undergarments behind a pillow on the suite's couch. “When you come back to me, Teddy-Boo,” she smirked to herself, “all 'Niecy' will have is dead roses.”

Anita entered the living room of the Dupree manse and saw Vernon reading about breast cancer on a tablet. When he offered to make her an energy-boosting breakfast, she became agitated and decided she wanted him out of the room – and the house. Vernon was worried that Anita would collapse again, but she was desperate to not think about cancer for a few hours and felt overwhelmed by Vernon's well-meaning hovering. Plus, she didn't want him putting his life on hold just to tend to her; she sent him out to do anything that didn't have to do with her.

Kat soon arrived, annoyed by the noise from Leslie's house being built across the street. Anita had discovered that sending Rowena out with a basket of food for the workers often halted the construction, and she was proven right. However, Anita could see that Kat was worked up, so Kat begged her grandmother to do something about Nicole, who was probably with a different man every night. Anita emphasized that Nicole had had a life before becoming a wife and mother, which had indeed included pre-Ted partners – she was happy that Nicole was exploring that part of herself again.

Grudgingly, Kat realized that Anita was right, but Mrs. Dupree promised to touch base with Nicole just to see where she was at. After Kat exited, Anita called Nicole and informed her that they needed to have a serious discussion.

Smitty entered the brownstone ragged and yawning, with Martin noticing that his husband had been out all night. The reporter explained that he was chasing a story, but asked Martin not to worry, because he hadn't been on the streets alone. Martin worried that, if Smitty were investigating the wrong person, it could affect his campaign – but Smitty was certain that his work would only end up being a benefit, though he couldn't discuss particulars. Smitty tried to take a nap after Martin got a call to meet Vernon at the club.

An equally exhausted Jacob was at Orphey Gene's, where he promised Naomi he was being careful while undercover. He regretted not being able to give his wife any details and mentioned that Elon was on his way for a debriefing. Being asked about what her day would entail, Naomi blithely said that she would be looking into preventative cancer treatments...which confused Jacob, since Naomi had tested negative for the BRCA gene variant. Naomi blubbered that she was amassing info for her mom and took off as soon as Elon arrived, which Jacob found frustrating.

As Jacob went over what had happened during his attempts to infiltrate the illegal “red market” blood plasma ring, Elon informed a surprised Jacob that he had learned the syndicate was run by someone who called himself “The Impaler” – and that Jacob could end up in great danger if he “broke character” at any time. When Elon mused about pulling Jacob out of the investigation, Jacob resisted and suspected that there was another reason his dad wanted him off the case.

Elon frowned that Jacob had been a great beat cop but that he wouldn't become a great detective while acting from having something to prove. Jacob countered that Izaiah might have been right that nothing they could do would ever please Elon and got up to leave, running into Marcel. Malone wondered if Jacob had “stake[d] Dracula yet,” and Jacob wondered if Marcel had deposited any payoffs that day. With Jacob gone, Elon told Marcel about “The Impaler” and worried for his son's safety. Marcel offered to keep his ears open and give Jacob a heads-up if he heard anything about the syndicate boss.

Nicole was more amused than annoyed when she answered Anita's summons, hearing about Kat's concerns and noting that Anita herself had worn skimpier outfits than she had while appearing on Solid Gold. The recent divorcée swore she wasn't getting a personality transplant – which made Anita glad, since she'd be needing Nicole to step into the role of family matriarch if she didn't survive her bout with cancer.

When Nicole said that Anita wasn't going anywhere, Anita rebuffed the idea of her family indulging in magical thinking. To that end, Anita showed Nicole a binder she was working on which would guide Nicole in leading the family if she wasn't there to do it herself. Nicole promised to abide by it, but “only if it [became] necessary”; she was wary about hugging her mom owing to the possibility of reduced immunity, but Anita pulled Nicole into an embrace anyway.

Martin joined Vernon at the club and noticed when Vernon was not fully listening to his campaign plans. Vernon confided in his grandson that he'd thought Anita had “met her Maker” when she'd collapsed the previous night and sighed that Anita had kicked him out of the house. Martin thought it had been big of Vernon to give Anita her space, but Vernon lamented that trying to be strong for Anita was taking its toll on him. The congressman implored the former senator to come to him if he needed to talk; Vernon had been a rock for Martin, and now Martin wanted to reciprocate.

Naomi popped in on Shanice at the nurses station and lied that she had collated a list of specialists for Dani, since she had the BRCA gene mutation – could Shanice offer any recommendations for the oncologists and plastic surgeons within? Afterwards, Naomi approached Carlton's office door but couldn't bring herself to knock on it.

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Jacob was on his way to a workout at the club as he spoke to Naomi on the phone, with neither Hawthorne telling each other the complete truth about their activities. Then, Smitty, who had been unable to sleep and so began studying his notes, called Jacob over; he had eavesdropped on the syndicate boss and his courier once Jacob had been done with them and wanted to present his discoveries. However, Jacob admonished Smitty for not waiting in the car and being a lookout as he had been told to do. Smitty was chastened when Jacob fumed that Smitty's reckless actions could have blown Jacob's cover.

Beyond the Gates airs weekdays on CBS and streams on Paramount Plus.

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