The following article references domestic violence and coercive control.
Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale viewers have been left confused by a scene with Charity Dingle in the newest episode.
Thursday’s (July 25) gripping double bill saw Belle finally escape from abusive husband Tom’s clutches, only to face doubts from her own family.
Charity and Cain found Tom dishevelled in the Welsh cabin he’d been sharing with Belle, while she was nowhere to be found.
The pair were initially adversarial with the abuser, though he was able to convince them relatively quickly that Belle was the one who’d attacked him.
Tom tried to turn Belle’s relatives against her by revealing she’d had an abortion, not a miscarriage as they’d been led to believe.
In a later scene where Charity and Cain reunited with Belle at Wishing Well Cottage, Charity tried to convince Belle that Tom would forgive her.
Viewers were confused about why Charity was suddenly taking Tom’s side since she’s suspected for weeks that the villain has been controlling Belle.
Charity had also confided in Chas and Lydia that Tom reminded her of Mark Bails, who’d abused her when she was a teenager.
“Tom didn’t have to do much convincing to get Cain and Charity on side. On learning Belle had a termination, Charity’s forgotten all the red flags she spotted the other weak. Poor Belle,” one viewer wrote on Twitter / X.
Another fan argued: “The absolute irony of Charity being one of the first to notice something just isn’t right with Tom and he’s somehow done enough to convince her it’s the other way around.”
“How has charity completely fallen for toms shit !?!?! queen do better,” a third viewer complained, with another noting: “How has Charity been swayed so quickly after her adament [sic] belief in Tom’s horrible nature not 24 hours prior?
“Including the fact she was convinced that a member of Belle’s mental health team – intimately aware of her health – was not trusting of Tom.”
It remains to be seen whether Emmerdale writers will address this discrepancy. Earlier this week, Emma Atkins said she had enjoyed working closely with co-star Eden Taylor-Draper on this issue-based storyline.
“I love Eden with all my heart. We do see each other socially, but it’s great to work with her too because we’ve got some good stuff coming up,” Emma said.
“She’s going to come over and stay, and we’re going to blast through the scenes and work on it really hard, so that when we come to do this lovely episode that we’re doing, it will have real meaning because we’ll have worked on it.
“Eden is smashing it out of the park. She’s truly remarkable at the moment. I think she’s coming into her own and she’s being challenged in a way that potentially she’s never been before. She’s stepping up to the mark and I’m really proud of her as a friend.”
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
