Beyond the Gates Spoilers: Heather Armstrong Targets Dani Dupree First on Her Devastating Threat List

HEATHER ARMSTRONG PICTURED THE KNIFE, BUT HER REAL WEAPON AGAINST DANI IS THE TRUTH

TL;DR: On October 23, Heather Armstrong imagined stabbing Dani at the club after Dani called Andre’s old flames insignificant. Next week she grabs Andre’s hand and taunts him about Dani. No preview says Dani gets hurt, but she now sits first on Heather’s list.

A Fantasy Knife at the Club

Heather targets Dani now, and the show has stopped hiding it. On Friday, October 23, Heather Armstrong sat alone with Dani Dupree at the club and asked how much Dani knew about her husband’s past. Dani waved off his old flames as insignificant. Heather, who happens to be one of those flames, imagined stabbing Dani in the chest again and again. It was a fantasy, and nobody was hurt.

Then Vanessa McBride sat down, and Heather said that watching an ex flaunt a new partner could make her “murderous.” On screen the talk had turned to other people’s exes, but Heather’s daydream at the club tells you exactly which ex she had in mind.

The Beyond the Gates spoilers for October 26 to 30 keep Dani in Heather’s mouth. In the promo, Heather corners Andre Richardson, tells him to say hello to Dani and says she can’t wait to share mimosas with her again. Then she takes his hand: “Maybe we’ll share something else, too.” Andre shoves her hand away. Most accounts of the promo put the scene at Uptown, the club Heather owns, and none gives the day.

Should Andre tell Dani before Heather does? Write our editor at amber@soapoperamagazine.com and tell us how you would handle it.

How Heather Got Her Hooks Into Andre

This started in London, where Andre had a fling with a woman he knew as Heather Wallach. She turned up in Fairmont Crest as the younger sister of Joey Armstrong and kissed Andre on August 17. Four days later she made her terms plain: she would leave Dani alone only if Andre gave her what she wants. She has never said what that is.

On August 26, Andre was about to come clean to Dani when a text arrived: “tick tock.” He kissed Heather back on August 31, then ran. In September he told Joey about London and about something he caught on video, and Joey took his phone. Dani has never been told any of it. She knows Heather is Joey’s sister, and that is all.

On October 16, Heather watched Andre kiss Dani at the club and announced she bought a condo near Joey. Andre’s old London contact, Henry, warned that Heather would come for Dani, too, and Andre lost his temper with Dani over Heather that same day. Dani, meanwhile, accepted Joey’s double or nothing bet on her marriage.

Is Heather Coming for Dani Next on Beyond the Gates?

She already has, in her head, and the record puts Dani first on her list. Dani is the only person Heather Armstrong has pictured killing on screen. Henry named her, and she is the only leverage Heather holds over Andre. Andre ranks second, more prize than victim. Third is Smitty Smith, the loose end Heather said in July she came to tie up, now facing a drug-induced homicide charge over footage he says is doctored.

Joey is fourth, because he is the only person in town who knows his sister is secretly The Impaler, and on October 23 he wanted her to sell the condo and go back to London. Fifth come Jacob Hawthorne and his wife, Naomi Hamilton Hawthorne, who is trying to prove the Smitty footage is a fake. In the promo, Jacob tells Bill Hamilton that every move he makes against The Impaler puts someone he cares about in the crossfire. Vanessa is sixth: she was carjacked on September 29, and Joey suspects his sister.

Here is what nobody else is telling you. Heather Armstrong has never been shown hurting anyone with her own hands. Her old lieutenant Lia died in a jail cell in August, and Heather only said she was “a whole lot less trouble” that way. Every step toward Dani has been words, a fantasy or a hired hand: a condition in August, a text, a condo, an imagined knife, and now a taunt with Andre’s hand in hers.

What Next Week Can and Cannot Tell Us

No preview says Heather hurts Dani, that Dani learns about London or that Andre confesses. Andre has no line in next week’s daily previews. On Monday, a clash between Heather and Joey puts Vanessa in an uncomfortable spot. On Tuesday, the Duprees grow more worried about Dani’s marriage, and on Wednesday, Naomi and Jacob hit a snag.

My gut tells me Heather Armstrong does not want Dani dead. She wants Andre, and a dead wife only gives him every reason to hate her. If I know these writers, Heather hands Dani the London truth before Andre can, and that cuts deeper than any knife. Could Dani’s double or nothing bet be the first casualty?

Is Dani really first on Heather’s list, or is someone else in more danger? Rank them yourself in the comments.

See what else is headed for Fairmont Crest in our full two-week Beyond the Gates preview.

Dani’s Biggest Danger Is the Secret Andre Keeps

We say the knife stays imaginary and the truth does the cutting. Andre has had since August to tell his wife, and every week he waits, Heather’s taunts get louder.

Team Confess says Andre tells Dani before the next mimosa. Team Heather says she beats him to it with a smile. Pick your side on our Facebook page.