Emmerdale fans discovered the truth about who Steph’s father is in tonight’s episode, as Caleb read Ruby’s DNA results.
Viewers know that Ruby was worried that Steph wasn’t Caleb’s daughter, and could in fact have been fathered by her own dad, Anthony. Because we also know that Anthony raped Steph when she was a teenager.
But surely, we all thought, surely Anthony being Steph’s dad would be a step too far?
Unfortunately, though, we were wrong.
The news is out about Steph’s father
In tonight’s episode, Caleb read the words “Zero per cent chance of paternity” and our hearts sank.
Because frankly this hard-hitting, brutal storyline is grim enough, without adding this extra twist.
We were hoping that the very fact of Ruby getting a DNA test would be enough for the truth to come out. We had our fingers crossed that Steph would turn out to be Caleb’s daughter. And we thought he’d twig something was going on and Ruby would reveal the awful secret she’d been keeping.
But clearly that’s not happening. Now we know Steph’s dad is also her grandad and it’s so huge we’re struggling to get our heads round it.
Grim storyline
Of course Emmerdale has explored sexual abuse before. Aaron Dingle was abused by his father, Gordon Livesey, when he was a child. Aaron recently opened up to his new boyfriend John Sugden about the lifelong scars Gordon’s abuse has left.
It’s a dark subject, there’s no doubt.
Dark enough, in fact.
Incest and abuse are bleak topics for a soap to cover. We have no doubt Emmerdale will handle this well. Beth Cordingly, who plays Ruby, has already proved many times over that she has the acting chops to absolutely nail this story. The Emmerdale writers are experienced in covering tough ideas.
But could this be a case of just because you can, doesn’t mean you should?
A twist too far?
Adding Steph into the mix of this story gives it a further twist. One that we think is a twist too far.
Ruby’s spent her life trying to protect her daughter, but of course these secrets never stay secret in soap, so it’s only a matter of time before Steph finds out the shocking truth about her biological dad.
And that has huge ramifications for her future. Plus there’s the mental trauma involved in Steph having to rewrite her whole family history and her relationship with her mother.
Ruby’s story and its inter-generational impact, has enough to it to be a six-part Sunday-night drama. We’re worried that with the speed and scope of Emmerdale – as with all soaps – this enormous, bleak, heartbeaking story won’t have the time and space to be properly explored.
We’re really invested in Ruby’s story, we want to see Anthony face justice (we’re not on board with the news that he will be murdered – but our feelings on that twist are for another time!) and we want the Fox-Miligan family to heal.
But we can’t help feeling Steph being Anthony’s daughter is a twist this already shocking storyline didn’t need.
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an early release at 7am on ITVX.Â
Classic Emmerdale usually airs weekdays at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm on ITVX.
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