The end is nigh for Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) and Ray Walters’ (Joe Absolom) illegal operation in Emmerdale, but not before one enormous final hurrah.
The pair have been terrorising the village since their arrival, having initially targeted April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) and Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) in their drug business before it became clear they also ran a modern slavery operation, in which Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) found himself caught up.
When April revealed some of the truth to her parents Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) and Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) about what she’d got herself involved in – including believing she’d murdered a man, things turned nasty and Ray and Celia targeted her parents instead. Ray also ran Dylan over, injected him with drugs and left him for dead, to make it quite clear what happens to rats. The word ruthless doesn’t even cover it.
Going to the police was off the table after the attempted murder of Dylan, leaving Rhona and Marlon in perpetual fear of dogmatic Ray, who began extorting them for £2,000 a week.
It felt like the nightmare would never end for Rhona, Marlon, and April, who’d all even considered going on the run to escape Celia’s murderous clutches. Rhona even trashed her relationship with mum Mary (Louise Jameson) by saying some truly horrific things in a bid to get her to leave the village – which didn’t work.
Rhona’s also been trying to keep her best pal Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) out of bad man Ray’s clutches. It’s become a fulltime job just to stay alive. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel as Ray and Celia are rumbled.
When April goes missing again, everyone fears the worst and many are hiding secrets; Laurel is looking guilty as she shoves something in a drawer, Rhona makes a mysterious phone call, and Marlon guilty sends a text. All know something that they’re not willing to share, and all are terrified of what’s happened to April.
Thankfully she is safe and sound with Ross Barton (Mike Parr), who brings her home, though worse for wear. This time, April tells them everything, and is finally the one to insist it’s time for the family to go to the police, having previously stopped Dylan from squealing about getting hit by Ray in his car. Rhona worries this will only make this worse, but April cannot confirm either way – all she knows is that they have no choice.
The secret is burst wide open – Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw) takes on the role of informing anyone in the pub who will listen of Celia and Ray’s terrible operation and what they’ve done to April and Dylan. But there’s another sting in the tail to be revealed – what’s happened to Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards).
Rhona takes on the task of revealing to Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) what’s happened to his dad. She brings him into the house and gently breaks the news that his dad has been so close by all this time but being manipulated and abused as a forced worker.
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But there’s another twist – Bear is not safe and sound and returning home, he’s missing. And with there set to be the discovery of a body seen being dragged off screen, could it be his?
