Beyond the Gates Recap for December 15, 2025: Joey wanted Bill to run against Martin and Anita got a biopsy

Here's what went down Monday, December 15, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Andre became Vernon's secret Santa, Smitty held Martin's feet to the home fires, and a Hayley by any other name was just as devious.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, Hayley seemed shocked by the appearance of Bill's new client, Lynette Wise, but kept calm; both women acted as strangers when Bill introduced them. Bill couldn't take on Lynette's case personally owing to striving for a better balance between the firm and his marriage; Lynette was especially impressed to hear that the Hamiltons were soon heading to St. Bart's to spend time at the house Bill had bought for Hayley. After Lynette left, making sure to tell Hayley she hoped they would see one another again soon, Hayley snuck in a quick text to Randy.

Getting out of going home with Bill by lying that she had a manicure appointment to get to, Hayley went to Uptown to see Randy, who hoped no one had come upon their hard drives or caught on that Hayley was poisoning Bill. Hayley calmed her cousin on those scores but announced that they had to put their plans on hold. Randy suspected it was because Hayley had caught feelings for Bill, but she explained that Lynette had suddenly shown up out of nowhere. Though Randy was relieved that Lynette hadn't blown Hayley's cover, he was bothered by the coincidence of Hayley's old partner in crime, a woman she had run scams with, suddenly surfacing. Hayley and Randy were in agreement that they needed to find out what Lynette was up to.

Martin came home from an interview with a reporter, grateful for fellow reporter Smitty's advice on how to handle it. Smitty noted that Martin had received a call asking if he was planning to support a bill that would take tax revenue gleaned from gambling establishments and use it to fund treatment centers for problem gamblers – plus put anti-money laundering statutes into place. When Martin seemed hesitant, Smitty wanted to know if it was because of not wanting to upset Joey, who could still call in his marker with the congressman any day. Martin assured Smitty that Joey wasn't a factor; it was just a matter of waiting to see how the bill would evolve before committing to backing it.

Still angry from his conversation with Vanessa, Joey stomped into the back room his casino, slamming the door and telling himself that he “shouldn't have bothered.” Armstrong was surprised to find Randy there, but Randy had come to inform his boss about the bill that could negatively affect him, and to convey that another political contribution of his had been declined. Joey griped that do-gooder Martin was rubbing off on his fellow legislators, fuming that they loved getting his tax revenue while turning up their noses at its source. Randy didn't think any of that would preclude Joey from still being an influence on local politics from behind the scenes, but Joey growled that the politicians needed him and grabbed his jacket on the way out.

While Smitty was out picking up dry cleaning for Samantha, Nicole paid Martin a visit, and the mother and son got caught up about Martin having made peace with Kat and Nicole being glad that Ted had taken on a fatherly role with Eva, especially because the young woman had only had Leslie as a parental influence. Martin wanted to get Nicole's professional opinion about the anti-gambling portion of the bill; Nicole was concerned that any support Martin threw towards it would antagonize the dangerous Joey. It wasn't that Nicole wanted Martin to fall in line with Joey – she just knew that Joey could cause trouble for Martin if Martin didn't step carefully.

Once Nicole left and Smitty returned, Martin told his husband about the psychological perspectives Nicole had had regarding the bill, and how they had inspired him to augment the piece of legislation. When Martin suggested that Samantha and Tyrell could work on his campaign with them behind the scenes, Smitty didn't like the idea that Martin was trying to have it both ways: keeping his word about putting the family first while immersing himself in his run for re-election. Martin promised that the teens' involvement would be strictly voluntary and that he had every intention of prioritizing them and Smitty.

Bill, who had decided to stay behind at his office when Hayley had opted out of going home over getting her manicure, was surprised when Caroline announced Joey's arrival. When the lawyer noted that he and Joey had always been careful about not spending time around each other, Armstrong affirmed that his stopping by had nothing to do with his business or the secrets the Duprees had tasked them with keeping out of public view – he had come to suggest that Bill run for office...against Martin. Joey felt that Bill could easily take Martin's congressional seat and extolled his virtues – but when Joey railed against regulations and “high-minded elitism,” Bill realized that Joey did, indeed, have an axe to grind with the Duprees.

Though Bill was able to commiserate with Joey over not being appreciated by the Duprees, and he appreciated Joey's confidence in him, Bill rejected Joey's offer, specifically saying that he had just promised Hayley he would be better about giving her more of his time. Joey thought that Hayley would get a kick out of being a congressman's wife and asked Bill to simply think about running; Hamilton agreed.

Later, Bill called Hayley – who was still at Uptown and not getting a manicure – to tell her about Joey wanting to back him in a congressional campaign. “It's a terrible idea!” Hayley immediately blurted out; Bill merely thought Hayley would find the notion as funny as he did, so she composed herself and replied that, for a moment, she had seen all her dreams – er, of their trip to St. Bart's – slipping away. Hayley smiled as she hung up, but slammed her phone down in frustration.

Then, Lynette came by Hayley's table, at Hayley's behest. “So good to see you again, Val,” Lynette grinned.

Dani was thrilled when Vernon popped in, and even more so when her father indicated that he needed help with a Christmas present he was planning for her mother. But it wasn't Dani's assistance that Vernon required, it was Andre's: Vernon had come across a withered newspaper clipping that brandished a photo of Vernon and Anita's first meeting in 1973 at a civil rights protest. Andre immediately understood that Vernon wanted to have the image restored so he could gift it to Anita and volunteered to dash to his condo to scan the article and run it through his image repairing software. As soon as Andre left, Vernon asked Dani why his new son-in-law still had his own place.

Vernon listened as Dani explained how she and Andre had taken baby steps, since that had been all that she could handle at first after Bill's betrayal. Dani knowingly stopped herself when she said she'd been gunshy – realizing it an inappropriate choice of words considering how she'd fired bullets during Bill and Hayley's wedding. Vernon remained troubled that Bill kept hovering around Dani because he couldn't stand to see her happy without him, but Dani stressed that Andre came home to her every night, which was more than Bill had.

Dani called it a tall order when Vernon admitted that he only wanted his daughters to find the same kind of happiness he had with Anita. Vernon knew how lucky he was, and swore that he never took Anita for granted. Andre soon returned with an update on the precious photo's progress, and Dani beamed that it had been clear from that first day that Anita and Vernon would always be together.

A distracted Anita met with Nicole at Uptown, where they discussed the aftermath of WinterFest and the fast approaching holidays. Though Nicole could tell her mom had something on her mind, Anita kept a straight face while taking a call from Dr. Ahn, who let her know that Garland's radiologist had had a cancellation – Anita could come by in an hour to have a biopsy on the breast lesion that had shown up on her exam's ultrasound. Anita accepted the appointment and deflected when Nicole wondered if anything were worrying her.

Once at the hospital, Dr. Ahn explained to Anita that 80% of tumors turned out to be benign, but it was better for them to check to make sure. Ahn was surprised that not only would there be no one supporting Anita during what could be an “unnerving” procedure, Anita hadn't told anyone about it. As Anita waited to be seen, she took a call from Vernon, with Dani shouting merrily in the background, and the matriarch looked to be holding back tears upon hearing her family.

The radiologist, Dr. Caputo, took Anita through the procedure: she would be having a core needle biopsy, they would know when the tissue sample had been obtained by a notification supplied by the equipment, and Anita was advised that she might be sore in the location of the extraction for a few days. Anita was a mix of chipperness and concern as she tried to get assurance from Caputo that the 80% benign rate was a good sign, but Caputo seemed to ignore the point.

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A montage ran as Anita experienced the biopsy, through which she did her best to keep a stiff upper lip. Once the procedure was over, and Dr. Caputo told Anita what to expect over the next 24 hours, Anita hoped they could have the results the same day. Caputo empathized, but responded that they would have to wait for a few days to get their answers. Anita's expression gave away that worry had overtaken her cheerful stoicism.

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

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