The following article contains spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale that hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.
Oh, Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley). I was really starting to like you again.
As one of Emmerdale’s arch villains, you’ve done some downright reprehensible things in your day. Think we’d all forgotten about the time you cheated on Katie Sugden (Sammy Winward) before accidentally pushing the poor girl to her untimely death?
Or when your relationship with Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) turned so toxic that he started self-harming? How about just generally being a lying, manipulative so-and-so who uses his charms to play people like pawns in a chess game?
Credit where credit is due, Robert has cleaned up his act. Ever since he started being there for Aaron and supporting him like a proper boyfriend, suddenly they were the most beloved couple this side of the Dales and the fans were cheering.
So when Robert finally got out of prison for the murder of his sister Victoria Sugden’s (Isabelle Hodgins) rapist, I, like thousands of other fans were hopeful of a fresh start for Robron.
Admittedly, there was the teensy problem of Robert being pursued by his unhinged prison husband Kev Towsend (Christopher Coghill).
Let’s not forget the unfortunate incident at New Year’s, where Robert had to save Aaron from his obsessed half-brother, serial killer John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth).
But aside from all that? Plain sailing from here on out. Fair play to you, Robert Sugden. You’ve really turned over a new leaf…
… And then you go and spoil it all by doing something stupid like framing Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb) for people trafficking.
Sorry, Robron fans. Today’s episode sees Robert lured back into his devious old ways by the weasly trust-fund baby of Home Farm, Joe Tate (Ned Porteous).
Since the late Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) ran her sickening modern slavery business on Kim Tate’s (Claire King) land, the optics of the situation aren’t looking too good for Joe’s step-grandmother. This is why he wants Robert to plant the stack of passports he found in Celia’s house on Moira to implicate her in the drug kingpin’s crimes.
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That way, Celia will be desperate to sell Joe the farm just to get the police and the taxman off her back. He even offers Rob a six-figure-sum as an added incentive.
But when Robert refuses, Joe abandons the carrot in favour of the stick… and the stick just happens to be video footage of Victoria killing John in the woods. With his sister’s freedom resting on his shoulders, Robert is in one serious pickle.
It doesn’t get any easier when Aaron finds him brooding over Joe’s threat and tells him to focus on the bigger picture – keep Victoria out of trouble. While Aaron thinks that all Robert’s got to lose is a fair bit of cash, he’s blissfully unaware of what Joe truly wants in return.
Poor Moira’s already got enough on her plate. Let’s face it – her friendship and business partnership with an actual modern-day slaver operating on her farm does not look great. Neither does the fact that Celia forged her signature on all those dodgy turkey invoices.
Let’s not even get started on the dead forced labourer buried somewhere on Moira’s land, wrapped in a blanket that’s simply teeming with Moira’s DNA.
Add to that her recent narrow escape from a multi-car pile-up disaster in Corriedale, coupled with her husband Cain Dingle’s (Jeff Hoardsley) recent life-changing cancer diagnosis, and it’s starting to look like the Soap Gods just straight up don’t like Moira Barton.
After surviving the week from hell, the last thing Moira expects is to find Robert sneaking about inside Butler’s trying to plant passports in her house. She wants to know why he’s standing in her living room. Fair question.
How will Robert get out of this one?
