The following article contains spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale that hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.
Ray Walters (Joe Absolom) has been leading a double life on Emmerdale for a while. On one hand he’s the vile criminal who’s capable of manipulating and exploiting children, even running Dylan (Fred Kettle) down in cold blood. He’s the one who watched Anya (Alya Al-Shabibi) suffering and dying and then threw her body in a barn.
This is the side of him that’s controlled by Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths), but we’ve seen another side of him when it comes to his romance with Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy). With her he’s gentle, polite and respectful. Laurel really does bring out the softer, more human, side of Ray.
So when Laurel invited Ray’s mum Celia to join her and Ray for lunch in Wednesday (December 17)’s episode, it was always going to be fascinating to watch as the women who represented the two sides of Ray came face to face.
Over salmon and potato salad, the awkward lunch opened with Celia being typically direct. ‘Laurel – why do you like my son?’ she wanted to know.
She observed the interaction between her son and Laurel like a cat watching a mouse, and when Ray was out of the room she took her chance to pounce. She strongly hinted that Ray was a player who couldn’t be trusted around women and left Laurel to draw her own conclusions. ‘I’m hoping he’ll behave for you,’ she told Laurel. ‘Because you are very sweet.’
Her work done, Celia then headed off, leaving Laurel feeling deeply troubled. Ray knew that Celia had said something to Laurel, and when she tried to brush him off he lost his temper – which only made Laurel more upset with him and she told him to leave.
Ray went back to the farm where he found Celia furious with him. She wanted to know why he was ‘besotted’ with Laurel, who was ‘like a limp lettuce.’ Ray angrily replied that Laurel is worth a million of Celia.
The scene that followed was brutal to watch. Celia clearly believed that there was a real risk of losing her control over Ray if he wasn’t brought back into line. When he started to say that Laurel was his one chance of happiness she pretended to sympathise, drawing him in for a hug and smiling at him – and then slapped him hard across the face.
‘You think she’ll make your life easier? She won’t. Because you need someone to keep you real, someone who’ll stop you drifting off into these fantasies of yours.’ She grabbed his face.
‘She doesn’t know you. She doesn’t want you the way you think she does,’ she said. ‘Because you are weak, Ray. You are so weak you need someone to tell you when to speak, how to feel, how to exist.’
By now Ray was in tears as he listened to a speech he’d probably been hearing versions of his entire life, as Celia demonstrated that she was totally in control of him.
Can't wait for the next twist?
Hi, I’m Maisie Spackman, a Soaps reporter at Metro. I cover all the latest spoilers and gossip from Weatherfield to Walford.
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In a horrible show of mock-caring about him she told him to wipe his face before anyone saw him. ‘They already pity you. Let’s not confirm why.’
She turned and left, and Ray’s emotions all surged up in him and he punched the wall so hard the plaster fell off.
Is this the moment that Ray could turn against Celia?
