It’s not looking like a very Happy New Year in Emmerdale for April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan). She might not even live to see it. Not if Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) gets her way.
The troubled teen’s nightmarish exploitation in Celia’s world of drug-dealing and human trafficking has finally come to an end – and not in the way we would have hoped.
After months of grooming and manipulating at the hands of Celia’s adoptive son and criminal cohort Ray Walters (Joe Absolom), April finally found the courage to break free and alert her father Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) and Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) to the danger she was in.
But this only resulted in Celia and Ray blackmailing them into paying ‘protection money’ of £2,000 a week to leave April alone – or else.
Guilt-ridden over the financial and emotional strain on her family, April approached Celia on Christmas Eve and made the selfless, heartbreaking decision to go back to selling drugs. But the Devilish Miss Daniels had a surprise bombshell to drop.
Turns out, the people trafficking trade isn’t exactly thriving in Emmerdale. Especially now Moira Barton (Natalie J Robb) has discovered that they are using forced workers on Butler’s farm and the police are very close to closing in on their operation. With too much unwanted attention, Celia and Ray have decided to flee Emmerdale and rebuild their empire in pastures new.
The worst part? Celia wanted April to come with them, and let her take Christmas Day to make her choice. How festive!
So after a tear-inducingly lovely Christmas with her family, April was ready to depart for a life of misery and subjugation.
However, the Devilish Miss Daniels had every intention of leaving her trusty employee behind – in an unmarked grave.
April has caused too many problems for Celia. And you don’t get to be the baddest people trafficker in the Yorkshire area without trusting your gut. Handing Ray a knife, she ordered Ray to make April disappear.
If that scene gave you total Snow White and the Huntsman vibes, then the New Year’s Eve episode looks like Disney has grounds to sue. After breaking Laurel Thomas’ (Charlotte Bellamy) heart by revealing his plans to leave the village, Ray lured April into the woods claiming that they needed to bury the evidence linking her to the man she accidentally killed, so they can depart Emmerdale with no loose ends.
But when April discovered the body bag was empty, Ray pulled out the knife. The only loose end Ray was there to tie up… was April.
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Desperate and terrified, April begged for her life and pleaded with Ray to see that he was a victim of Celia’s grooming – just like her. A bold strategy. But it didn’t seem to pay of as Ray advanced on April with the knife… prompting April to hit him and run for her life! Now that’s a bold strategy.
But like a messed up Cinderella, April’s luck finally ran out around midnight as she ran through the dark woods and tripped… which allowed Ray to finally catch up with her.
Making one last attempt to beg for her life, April’s words finally struck a chord with Ray. His goodbye to Laurel earlier weighing heavy on his heart, Ray finally broke and admitted he wants a better life.
Coming through as her unexpected saviour, Ray forced a fat stack of banknotes into April’s hand and told her to disappear forever – or Celia will kill her and her family. See what I mean about Snow White and the Huntsman?
This crisis of conscience is the moment fans have been waiting for ever since Ray first fell for Laurel. But Celia’s more than aware of her son’s weakness. Will April escape Celia’s clutches?
