Emmerdale spoilers follow from Wednesday’s episode (26 November), which is available to watch now on ITVX and YouTube but hasn’t yet aired on ITV1.
Emmerdale’s Bear Wolf appears to have chosen a side in tonight’s episode – as he helps Mick and Simo by sneaking around on their behalf. Bear’s loyalty to evil Ray Walters is called into question when he assists his fellow prisoners in planning a daring escape attempt.
After months carrying out forced labour on Celia Daniels’ farm, Bear has been brainwashed by Ray’s relentless manipulation. However, he’s since had doubts about Ray after witnessing his cruel treatment of Anya, who died on the farm last week.
As Anya was given an unceremonious burial on Butler’s Farm, Bear is plagued with fears that he could suffer the same tragic fate one day – losing his life and being discarded without his son Paddy Dingle finding out.
In tonight’s episode, Mick and Simo quiz Bear on whether he plans to join them when they try to escape from Ray and Celia’s clutches once and for all.
ITV
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Bear is non-committal, but reiterates how much he’d like to see his family again.
Outlining the plan, Mick says: “The spare key to this place is in the scullery. I saw them when I was in there. You can get them for us.”
Before long, Ray catches Bear sneaking around in the farm kitchen and berates him for breaking one of the workers’ key rules.
Bear protests that he was merely looking for pills, throwing Ray off the scent. But will he get the keys and join his fellow captives when they try to escape?
ITV
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Speaking recently about his character’s relationship with the other workers, Joshua Richards – who plays Bear – told us: “It’s not friendly but it’s not antagonistic either. I don’t think Bear is antagonistic towards anybody at this stage in his life. He is somewhat lost and adrift. He’s not really in anybody’s club or team, apart from maybe Ray.”
Asked about Ray’s manipulation tactics, he replied: “A lot of it is pointing out that ‘sometimes your previous life was absolutely dreadful’, ‘aren’t things better now because you can trust me?’
“It’s like giving a dog treats. It’s very clever manipulation. It’s very insidious. You can bit by bit instil in somebody that you are needed by them for their very existence, Ray is very successful at doing that because he has a natural charm and an ability to do get under people’s skin.”
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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