Finally, on the Beyond the Gates episode on July 16, Martin (Brandon Claybon) shared with Smitty (Mike Manning) his deeply held secret. The very one that has been plaguing the congressman since the new soap premiered.
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In the episode, after Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) revealed to Martin and Vernon (Clifton Davis) that Kenneth (Jason Vendryes) was officially handled (as in dead), Martin went home to an angry Smitty, who was ready to put Martin out of the house. However, Martin eventually was able to get Smitty to hear him out about what’s been going on with him, and that’s when the truth spilled from Martin’s lips.
As the story goes, one evening, Martin and Vernon were traveling home from a political event when they somehow got lost. Not only that, but their vehicle got a flat tire. Stranded on the side of the country road at night, Martin and Vernon were then approached by a truck driven by Kenneth and his friend. Kenneth and his bestie wasted no time leveling unnecessary threats and insults against the Dupree/Richardson men.
After Vernon threatened to call the cops, things escalated when Kenneth and company took to action, prompting Martin to wield a tire iron to defend himself and his grandfather. Martin beat Kenneth unconscious. When the other man lunged to attack Vernon, Martin wound up beating him to death.
In the immediate aftermath, Vernon called Chief Hawthorne (Malachi Malik) and Detective Malone (Darryl W. Handy) to fix this mess, and that snowballed into Bill and Joey (Jon Lindstrom) becoming involved. Kenneth was eventually paid handsomely and given plastic surgery, which is why it took Martin a while to recognize Kenneth while he was waiting tables at the country club.
Hearing the story, Smitty appeared to initially be understanding, but then became upset, realizing how many people knew about the original incident, and learning that Kenneth is now dead. Plus, Smitty was furious that Martin knew Kenneth resurfaced in town for a few weeks, but remained tight-lipped about it, putting their children in danger.
With all this being said, we fear this nightmare is far from over for Martin. For starters, Jacob (Jibre Hordges) is still investigating Detective Malone’s corruption, and unfortunately, Malone’s path is intertwined with the Duprees. So there’s a chance Jacob learns the truth, and given his unwavering commitment to justice, that may spell bad news for Martin. Even if Jacob’s investigative partner Smitty tries to distract Jacob from further investigating the detective for the sake of his family, Jacob is like a dog with a bone when it comes to Malone.
We also can’t ignore the fact that even if Smitty doesn’t want Martin to go to prison (at least for the sake of the kids), Smitty may not be ready to continue on in "happy bliss" with Martin. Understandably, Smitty is angry about being lied to for all these years, especially about something of this magnitude. If the couple is going to make it, then they have some extensive therapy in their future.
On a final note, Martin himself is still feeling tormented by what he’s done. The man was preparing himself to confess his deeds in a press conference before being stopped by Vernon. Can Martin keep his mouth shut and keep this under wraps? Maybe not.
Boy, we can’t wait for Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix) to learn this sordid secret. If you thought she was mad at Dani (Karla Mosley) about Andre (Sean Freeman), we imagine she’ll explode about this news involving her son.
New episodes of Beyond the Gates air weekdays on CBS and become available to stream the day after on Paramount Plus.
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