Beyond the Gates: Ted Starts Secret Third Family as Kat Reaches Her Breaking Point?

Beyond the Gates exposes Dr. Ted Richardson (Maurice Johnson) sparking a new relationship. And while Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson (Daphnee Duplaix) is fine with him dating Shanice Johnson (Ernestine Johnson), his insane former sidepiece Dana “Leslie” Thomas (Trisha Mann-Grant) is not okay with it.

His daughter Katherine “Kat” Richardson (Colby Muhammad) may have some issues if he and Shanice get really serious and settle down.

Dana “Leslie” Thomas Plants a Scandalous Trap for Shanice & Ted on Beyond the Gates

All right, so we have Shanice and Ted getting more serious by the day. They’re not just getting intimate. I think Shanice is more than a rebound for Ted. Right now, Shanice is in the smitten kitten phase, but I see Ted falling for her and Shanice falling for Ted.

This week, we saw Shanice a little annoyed when she found Leslie’s loose drawers in the sofa cushions of Ted’s hotel room. The timing for her finding Leslie’s underthings couldn’t be worse because it looks like Ted was getting all romantic and telling Shanice she’s the one he wants to move on with. This happened right after she got a bit irritated with Ted for paying too much attention to Nicole and her hot date, Kyle Rollins (Greg Vaughan), at Uptown.

Then they come back and Shanice finds what Ted’s sketchy ex Leslie left there, hoping that Shanice would find them. It’s a bit much. Good thing Shanice was smart enough to pick those panties up using a tissue and not her bare hands. She’s ranting at Ted this week that if she’s the one, who do these tacky panties belong to?

Ted Confronts Lunatic Leslie as Drama Escalates on BTG

I don’t think he recognizes them. It’s not like he’s been taking a tour of Leslie’s lingerie drawer. But Ted immediately is going to realize only one person would have left them there. The good news is I’m sure he’ll tell Shanice, “Look, this is another one of those schemes by psychotic Leslie.” I’m sure Shanice will immediately see that makes sense, and I don’t think she’s going to hold it against Ted.

But I think him living at the hotel under the same roof as Leslie is a problem. It’s a big building and a big roof, but Ted is too close to Leslie. It’s long overdue for Ted to move out of that hotel and get further away from lunatic Leslie. I’m hoping that this incident blows up in her sneaky face. I also hope that Leslie’s prank actually winds up moving Shanice and Ted’s relationship forward. That would be a little bit of karma.

By Friday of this week, he’s had enough and confronts Leslie in public about her sketchy behavior. I wonder if Ted is going to make a scene at Fairmont Crest or maybe up at the hospital because we know Leslie keeps showing up to harass and insult Shanice at work.

Class Conflicts and Insecurity in the Beyond the Gates Plot

Of course, we all know what was eating at Leslie. She was the other woman and was jealous of Nicole, who was from a good family, was educated, and sophisticated. Meanwhile, Leslie was a waitress. There is nothing wrong with that, but she felt like her being blue-collar made her less than. That was part of why she and Ted didn’t happen.

All of a sudden, Leslie is feeling fancy because of that big pile of money from Anita Dupree (Tamara Tunie) that she fell backwards into and didn’t earn. Somehow Leslie now feels better and like she’s been elevated. She’s clearly so insecure and the money’s not going to help that.

Then in comes Shanice, who’s gorgeous and smart, also educated, but not DMV royalty. Ted is not a snob. He really liked Shanice and having peach cobbler with her at Oree Jean’s. She also fits seamlessly into Ted’s country club scene. I loved seeing Shanice hand it back to gossipy Anastasia (Erica Hubbard) the other day, and Shanice consistently shuts down Leslie and doesn’t let her intimidate her at all.

Beyond the Gates Engagement Spoilers and Relationship Milestones

When Ted publicly lays into Leslie, I’m sure that’s going to reiterate to Shanice that she is his priority. We have another spoiler for Friday saying that two people get engaged. I’d be cheering if Ted went there, but I feel like it’s way too soon for them. It may be Joey Armstrong (Jon Lindstrom) that proposes to Vanessa McBride (Lauren Buglioli) or the other way around, but we’ll wait and see.

Despite them probably not being the couple that’s engaged, I do suspect we’re going to see Ted and Shanice continue to get more and more serious. I think Ted may get his own place and we could see him and Shanice moving in while they’re moving forward and evolving.

This week Ted sees Nicole playing tonsil hockey with Kial at Uptown. That’s hot on the heels of Ted seeing Nicole out with Dr. Carlton Fitzgerald (Robert Christopher Riley). She’s made it crystal clear to Ted that he’s in her rearview mirror. Nicole is single and mingling with multiple hot men. Since they’re okay with it, it’s none of Ted’s business.

Will Ted Start a Third Family with Shanice on BTG?

Here’s the point that I’m really curious about: how will Ted’s kids handle it when he gets serious with somebody else? They know Leslie was a mistake from the past. This relationship with Shanice is very much the present and possibly the future.

Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) and Kat were both very upset when they found out Ted cheated on their mom. Meanwhile, Martin has been very welcoming of his new sister, Eva Thomas (Ambyr Michelle). Martin isn’t holding Leslie’s awful antics against Eva. Martin understands and he’s tried to explain to Kat that Eva was raised being told the worst things about all of them.

Eva came to the DMV with an agenda because she’d basically been gaslit her whole life. But once she saw that Leslie had lied and misled her, Eva did try and stop what her mom was doing. She tried to stop her from breaking up Nicole and Ted. But of course, Kat doesn’t want to show Eva any grace ever for any reason.

Kat’s Insecurity Over Ted’s New Relationship on Beyond the Gates

Kat was also offended when Ted said he loves all his children equally: her, Martin, and Eva. It’s incomprehensible to Kat that Ted would love all his children the same, no matter who their mom is. I say this just because I’m curious how Kat will feel if Ted starts a third family, this time with Shanice.

Ted never intended to start the second family; that was a mistake. But Shanice has no kids of her own. She’s at the right age for her biological clock to be ticking. It’s not like Ted is over the hill. If he wants to settle down with Shanice and she wants kids, I can see Ted saying, “Okay, let’s do it.”

The other day when Kat saw Ted and Shanice at Uptown, I thought it was very nice. Kat was making an effort to get to know Shanice since both Ted and Shanice were very clear that they started seeing each other after Ted and Nicole’s divorce was official. But will Kat change her mind if Ted decides he’s going to marry Shanice and make some more babies?

Kat Struggles with Insecurities on BTG

Kat seems to think love is finite and that there’s not enough to go around when more people come into the picture. She’s feeling very insecure and threatened while saying that Eva is the one who’s insecure. I know Beyond the Gates fans are deeply divided on Kat versus Eva. I’m not going to weigh into those waters, but I’m curious to see how Kat will handle it if Ted decides to expand his family beyond Martin, Kat, and Eva.

I think Martin and Eva would be very accepting. I don’t think they would even question that if Ted wants to do that. But Kat’s reaction when Ted gets really serious with Shanice is what interests me. Even if they don’t say they want to start a family, Kat can probably look down that road and see it’s a possibility, and she’s already feeling shortchanged. Is she going to freak out? We’ll see.