This week’s Emmerdale review is written wearily as we force ourselves to watch another bout of illegal boxing and all the toxic men in the village trying to out do each other.
But there were some less exhausting parts too. Here’s what we thought of the action in this week’s Emmerdale review.
Boxing boredom in our Emmerdale review
What on earth is all this then? Nothing about this illegal boxing story makes sense. In no particular order, here are the things that have been bothering us this week…
First up, how is Jade both a two-bit boxing promoter running fights in random barns, and at the same time a criminal mastermind with enough contacts to threaten Billy’s kids and know that Billy’s wife used to be an addict?!
How are her henchmen so evil and strong that they can beat Ross to a pulp, but not bright enough to pick up the money belt that looked like it might have belonged to Martin Fowler.
Why were the people watching the fight a rag-tag group of weirdos but somehow with enough cash to place bets so massive that they had to pay for them with rolls of money? It’s all a mystery.
Dawn stepped up
Dawn came up with the brilliant idea of Billy throwing the fight. Which was a) surprisingly smart for Dawn and b) totally what Jade should have done last week.
But as it happened it didn’t matter, because John called the police and everyone scarpered. And we were left groaning that this whole awful story still isn’t over.
Dawn’s back
It’s hard to remember now she mostly wanders round with a chip on her shoulder and a laundry basket on her hip, but Dawn used to be quite interesting. And she had a bit of an edge to her. We caught a little glimpse of that old Dawn this week and we liked it!
There was a definite spark between her and Ross, which reminded us how much we liked them together back in the day. And it was quite amusing how all the big men – Ross, Billy, Aaron – were scared of Jade, while Dawn just sent her packing. More, please!
Tina’s back, too in our Emmerdale review
Tina’s back in Emmerdale but unlike Dawn, she’s bearing no trace of the old Tina Dingle whatsoever. Unlike some fans, we liked Tina when she first came back for Zak’s funeral – but she’s not quite doing it for us. Mostly because she’s so completely different from the old Tina!
First time round, Tina was smart, with a sharp-tongue, and a quick brain. She was a bit classier than the average Dingle – we’re not talking Kim Tate classy but you know what we mean – and she was ambitious, albeit ruthless.
New Tina is a carbon copy of Rose Jackson, in her scheming and lying, and she even looks a bit like her. She probably is entitled to some of Zak’s house but we don’t much care either way.
And we still don’t understand why or how Mandy kept the identity of Vinny’s mum a secret.
Why so much hate for Tina?!
Another thing that’s got us scratching our heads over Tina is why everyone hates her. We admit she did wrong during her time in Emmerdale, but she was devoted to her family and grief-stricken over the loss of her brother Ben.
She and Mandy were always besties and their goodbye was heartfelt and emotional. She even begged Mandy to go to London with her and left her cousin the fancy car Frank Tate had bought her.
We sort of get Mandy having mixed feelings about her now given the Vinny sitch, but what about the rest of the Dingles? It’s all very confusing!
What’s the point of Ella?
We are reluctant to say this out loud because we love Paula Lane, who plays child killer Ella, but what’s the point of her now her secret’s been revealed? Give her something to do! We liked her almost-friendship with Cain, and her bonding with Manpreet for starters. Her backstory does make her hard to like, but surely there’s a place for her somewhere in the village?
Dingles united
One thing we did love about this week’s episode was the bonfire night fiasco with the Guy who looked like Tom King! Tom’s reaction was totally predictable, as he threw a massive tantrum, shouted at poor Amelia, and whinged to Uncle Jimmy.
And we LOVED the Dingles’ Spartacus moment when they all took the blame. The Dingles at their absolute best!
Loving John
We are really enjoying John and Aaron’s budding romance. They’re so good together and it seems they’re on an even keel now after a pretty rocky start.
Which probably means it’s time for Robert to come back, wouldn’t you say? Hint, hint, Emmerdale writers…
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm.
Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.
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