Tuesday's Emmerdale featured a telling moment involving Joe Tate that could expose whether he is responsible for Billy Fletcher's attack, just before Billy is due to wake from his coma on the ITV soap.
Despite being released by police and maintaining his innocence, Joe's behavior at the end of the episode was notably strange. He has the strongest motive for hurting or even killing Billy, having been told by Caleb Miligan that Dawn Taylor, Joe's pregnant fiancée, kissed her ex Billy—though fans know Dawn rejected Billy's move.
The Teasing Scene
In a scene with Dawn, Joe's reaction to an update about Billy's condition seemed to suggest guilt. Dawn told Joe that doctors planned to wake Billy from his coma the next day. Joe repeated her words, appearing stunned and possibly worried, and stared at her with what looked like a panicked expression that Dawn noticed.
She told him: "So hopefully he wakes up and tells us exactly what happened." Her tone hinted suspicion, while Joe said nothing and simply nodded. This raises the question: does this prove Dawn thinks Joe is the attacker, and is Joe worried Billy might identify him?
Or Is It a Red Herring?
Alternatively, Emmerdale could be tricking viewers, with Joe innocent. Actor Ned Porteous, who plays Joe, spoke exclusively to the Mirror about whether Joe could be guilty. He said: "I think Joe has it in him to do a whole bunch of things. Yeah. I think the beauty of this character, and the fun I've been having with the character, is the duality between his capabilities for great good and great evil."
Porteous added: "I think as a thematic tool, Joe, and characters like Joe, are extremely useful for the screenwriters, because we can see that he is a good dude, but he has no practice at it. He's volatile, he has a complete lack of control of his emotions." He continued: "So, if you were to get to him, he'll get you back sevenfold."
Asked if Joe would struggle to prove his innocence given his dark history, Porteous said: "Absolutely. I think everything that Joe does in this village is guilty until proven innocent, because why on earth wouldn't it be? We've only ever seen Joe do bad things to people, apart from the one or two people that he's let close to himself and his heart that know that he's not completely evil."
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
