It’s been less than two months since Beyond the Gates premiered, but already we’d venture to say that Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis) could learn a few things about being a patriarch from The Young and the Restless’ Victor Newman (Eric Braeden). As the head of the Newman clan, Victor would never let anyone blackmail him or a member of his family to the point that Victor tiptoes around the person to prevent retaliation. Unfortunately, Vernon is doing just that when it comes to Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett).
From the first week of the show’s debut, Bill made it painfully clear that he once helped the family cover up a deep, dark secret about Martin (Brandon Claybon). While it’s been hinted that Bill helped prevent the world from knowing the young politician was involved in a murder, viewers are still waiting for this skeleton to be dragged out of the closet. In the meantime, Bill used the secret to blackmail the Duprees to attend his taboo wedding, and Vernon fears that if the family agitates Bill in the near future, he’ll use it to get revenge. Enter Naomi (Arielle Prepetit).
In the Beyond the Gates episode that aired on April 2, Naomi met with Vernon and Anita (Tamara Tunie), fuming about her upcoming case against her father. While Anita seems to be more supportive of her granddaughter throwing everything she has against her father, Vernon cautioned Naomi about taking things so far that it makes the evening news about the family infighting. We took that to also be a subtle nod of not wanting to provoke Bill.
With all that being said, we think there’s a chance Vernon could do something very Victor-like and plot against his own flesh and blood. We wouldn’t be surprised if Vernon helped Bill try to win this upcoming case. Whether that’s going to the victims Naomi represents and convincing them to drop the suit, or going to the judge presiding over the case and convincing them to overrule every motion Naomi puts forth, Vernon could actively sabotage his granddaughter.
It’s also in the realm of possibility that Vernon spies on his granddaughter and learns of her court strategy. Then in a secret meeting with Bill, he leaks the information to his former son-in-law so he’s prepared and victorious in court.
Admittedly, we’d hate to see Vernon do anything to help Bill, especially because he’s treated Dani (Karla Mosley) so poorly. However, this is a theory we have to consider, given what we’ve seen so far of the Dupree patriarch.
New episodes of Beyond the Gates air weekdays on CBS, and become available to stream the day after on Paramount Plus.
