Emmerdale viewers are convinced that Joe Tate is about to embark on a new romance with DS Thea Ramsden, after spotting "chemistry" between the two characters during Sunday's episode.
Joe has been struggling to cope following the sudden death of Dawn Taylor, who died in hospital from a cardiac arrest caused by a severe hemorrhage after giving birth prematurely. The death occurred only hours after Jimmy King crashed into Dawn and Joe's wedding marquee, where he died at the scene.
Joe has since given his baby son up for adoption and has been hellbent on seeking revenge against anyone involved in Dawn's death, including Caleb Miligan and his wife Ruby, who persuaded pregnant Dawn to leave the village before she returned and died.
Drink-driving incident
During Sunday's trip to the Dales, Joe continued to hit the bottle hard and attempted to get behind the wheel of his car while drunk and drive away. Luckily, newcomer DS Thea Ramsden was on hand to stop Joe from drink driving, and took him back to Home Farm without arresting him.
Kim Tate was touched by Thea's leniency and understanding, as Joe walked through the front door after vomiting in Thea's car. Thea showed empathy towards Joe and listened carefully as Kim shared her worries about Joe, whom she said is "like a son to her".
Despite appearing to be kind towards the Tates, Thea is playing the long game with a big revenge plan against her biological estranged mum, Kim.
Fans spot chemistry
Emmerdale viewers are now certain Thea and Joe will embark on a new romance after spotting "chemistry" between the two as she helped him out. On Reddit, one person said: "Joe and Thea had more chemistry in that one scene than Joe and Dawn ever did, but TheaSerena for me! (Is there a ship name there already?)"
A second stated: "This exactly! I'm also glad I'm not the only one who thought Thea and Joe had chemistry; it'd also be an interesting way to unite the Tates by both blood and name." On X, one viewer asked: "*That* moment between Thea and Joe...what dynamic is it?", while another added: "Who's Joe going to attempt to sleep with first. Thea or Sadie #Emmerdale."
New scheme
Later in the episode, Joe appeared to have sobered up as he asked Sadie King for help with a new "problem-solving" scheme, putting his latest revenge plots into action. Emmerdale airs weekdays on ITV and ITVX.
