Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) has shown a rare vulnerability in today’s (24 July) Emmerdale.
It’s been a fairly tumultuous year for the Dingle patriarch. He’s undergone a radical prostatectomy operation following a cancer diagnosis, and later discovered that it hadn’t worked.
There was also the wrongful imprisonment of wife Moira (Natalie J Robb), who was accused of manslaughter and human trafficking, after two bodies were found on their homestead Butler’s Farm. She was framed by Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley), who was being blackmailed by Joe Tate (Ned Porteous).
Ultimately, she decided to sell her share of the land and business, and the Dingles were forced to start their own agricultural venture at Wishing Well Cottage.
It’s got off to a rough start, as within weeks, son Kyle Winchester (Huey Quinn) began starting a number of fires on their land. He felt that he was drifting apart from his dad, and was effectively seeking attention.
Kyle isn’t the only one who Cain is having difficulty connecting with. He’s drifted away from Moira, who admitted to Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) earlier this week that they hadn’t been intimate for a while.
She felt like his decision to go on an impromptu camping trip was to get away from home, and worried whether they’d ever be able to get their relationship back on track.
While Cain was away with Kyle – and an uninvited Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) – tensions began to boil over. Cain was furious that his son found it easier to confide in Graham, and was angry that he was following his lead on the trip.
Storming off into the night, Cain stumbled down a hill and landed beneath a fallen tree. He was trapped, and wasn’t discovered until the following morning.
Fortunately, Monty the dog led Kyle and Graham to the scene of the accident. While Graham went to find help, Kyle was afforded some much needed time to talk with his father.
During their conversation, the teenager expressed a belief that he was a disappointment to Cain because he didn’t possess the typical Dingle ‘tough man’ demeanour. He also asked his dad whether there was a moment in his life that he’d felt scared.
Cain hesitated to answer, but that night, revealed that he’s never felt more scared than he does right now.
Moira listened in from the staircase, clearly fearful of what the future holds.
Can the Dingle clan rebuild?
Read more:
- 5 Emmerdale spoilers for next week: Dawn Fletcher under suspicion ahead of exit and Serena Sugden risks being caught out
- Emmerdale exit revealed for long-running character after over 20 years in popular role
- Emmerdale star teases “complex year” ahead for Charity Dingle after nightmare labour
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and from 7am on ITVX.
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