"Beyond the Gates" Week 11 Review

The events of Week 10 were quite explosive, to say the least. When an explosion happens, all that's left is to look at the rubble, the aftermath. Here's one of the few things I know about soaps: they have, well, phases. I feel like what we watched in Week 10 was the conclusion of a long angle that began with the show's premiere and ended with the episode that aired on May 2. So now that everything came flooding out during that week, we have to wonder what the aftermath would be.

That's where Week 11 comes in. Similar to Week 10, it was abbreviated. European soccer took over Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving three days to fill Week 11. Even so, it was quite an aftermath:

May 5

Oh, Nicole. Nicole, Nicole, Nicole. When Leslie spilled all of that tea, I had mixed reactions when it came to Nicole. Half of me did feel for her, as I should. After all, she found out that her longtime hubby was no good and lowdown. However, the other half of me shook my head and felt that she should have seen this coming, as I should. I love Nicole, but her naivete could fill up Inglewood's Intuit Dome at least three times. Seriously, how are you a well-respected therapist and not have any semblance of side eye regarding shit she should be concerned about?

In the Monday episode, this was Daphnee Duplaix's best performance of the series so far. Nicole's angst, her doubt, her heartbreak--all played to massive perfection by Duplaix in that moment. She's one of the main reasons why I got into this soap in the first place.

May 8

Regarding the Thursday episode, I want to make this all about Eva. Yes, Eva was part of this whole thing with Leslie. Yes, Eva was caught in the middle. Both of these things can be true. Nicole's face-to-face with Eva for the first time since learning that she was Ted and Leslie's love child saw Nicole tell Eva that while she was to blame for a lot of thing, she was not to blame for Ted's affair, and she added that she didn't hate Eva. Neither statement shocks me. Nicole knows who the right people to blame are: Ted and Leslie. Yes, Eva was a product of the affair, but being angry at Eva would be like being angry at Eva simply for existing. None of us ask to be here. That's a fact.

And yes, Eva is a victim in all of this. She was lied to by Leslie. She was led to believe that Ted didn't want her in his life, when in actuality, Ted had no clue about Eva. The Monday episode ended with Eva being locked out by Leslie, who formally kicks out Eva in the Thursday episode. So yeah, Nicole's right to have some semblance of sympathy for Eva.

May 9

The same can't be said, however, for Kat. Kat was right to suspect Eva, but she's now in rubbing it in mode. I commended Kat for weeks for being sharp, but now, my respect for her is starting to decrease. The kicker: she actually told Tomas not to be friends with Eva. Ever. That's wrong. Thankfully, Tomas didn't listen, and we see Tomas and Eva conversing in Friday's episode, but... so does Kat. And what we see from Kat is quite, IMO, disturbing. The look she had. That's not a look of disappointment. That's a look that says she may resort to trying to get Eva out of the way.

I admit, I'm tooting my on horn with that last sentence, but what if I'm right? What if Kat really goes off the deep end and tries to resort to all stops to get Eva away from Tomas? Remember: Eva's pretty much in babyface mode at this point; maybe not "white-meat," but still, she's not really up to something. Kat going after Eva at this point would really make Kat look bad. It would make Kat look insanely jealous; emphasis on insane.

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So that's Week 11, and Week 12 will be a full five-day week for the hit soap. Week 11 gave us one hall of a fallout, and it should be interesting to see what we receive in Week 12!