I like Beyond the Gates’ Dani, but is she absolutely delusional?

I know it’s been said that "love can make you do crazy things," but even still, Beyond the Gates’ Dani (Karla Mosley) is starting to baffle me.

When the soap first premiered, I was instantly hooked and drawn in by Dani. On one hand, I sympathized with her knowing her ex-husband Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) cheated on her with former family friend Hayley (Marquita Goings) and the latter duo was getting married in the country club the Duprees frequented. Additionally, Bill was moving his mistress-turned-new-wife into the very community where Dani lived. Topping this off was Bill forcing the Duprees to attend his wedding to Hayley. Dani had to deal with a lot thrown at her in the first week of the show, and selfishly I’m glad she did.

What I mean, is that because Bill and Hayley pushed so many of her buttons, Dani gave us some great soapy moments. Her punching Hayley to end the series premiere episode was an entertaining scene, which was only bested by her pulling out a gun at Bill’s wedding. It was also fun to see her attempt to ease her frustrations about Bill by giving into the flirtatious whims of Andre (Sean Freeman).

Having said all that, as much as I enjoy Dani, I’m starting to think she’s delusional. My first inkling came when she went to Bill’s hours before he got married and begged him to leave Hayley and return home to her. Dani wanting him back after all the cruel things he’s done left me stunned. Heck, outside of Hayley, Dani stated that Bill repeatedly cheated on her throughout their marriage.

I found myself fully perplexed and scratching my head by the end of the Beyond the Gates episode that aired on March 10. Bill had Dani arrested for the gun stunt she pulled at his nuptials. Making matters worse, Dani’s son-in-law was the one to do the honors of slapping on the cuffs. It appeared Dani was heading for a lengthy trial process until Hayley, of all people, begged Bill not to go through with this. And instead of Dani being incredibly thankful to Hayley, she found herself almost swooning over Bill.

In a conversation with Anita (Tamara Tunie), Dani stated that she felt Bill backing down was her “invitation back to the dance.” In the former model’s mind, Bill only backed down because he still loves her and wants to continue playing this toxic game with her. Despite everything, Dani claimed to still love her ex and it became clear she’d jump at the chance to reunite with him.

Why in the world would she want to get back together with someone who repeatedly disrespected her throughout their marriage, and has subsequently been nothing but rude and condescending post-divorce? Plus, Dani is acting as if Bill having her arrested is the equivalent of the traditional flowers and candy. Her thought process seems absolutely bonkers. I haven’t witnessed an onscreen love this twisted since Empire’s Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) and Lucious (Terrence Howard) Lyon, and even then, Lucious showed some traditional signs that he cared about Cookie.

All in all, I’m still on the Dani Train, but wow I need her to wake up. I get she spent most of her adult life with Bill and gave up her career for him, but is she really going to go after him again?

New episodes of Beyond the Gates air weekdays on CBS, and become available to stream the day after on Paramount Plus.