Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) has made a decision in Emmerdale that will lead to another exit. The character has been spiralling since the death of partner Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley).
Dawn and Joe became trapped in the marquee wreckage after Jimmy King (Nick Miles) crashed his car through the tent. While they survived the explosion, Dawn later died in hospital after giving birth to her and Joe’s son. Joe has struggled to connect with baby Tate because whenever he looks at the little tot, he is reminded of losing Dawn.
Graham's desperate attempts
Kim Tate (Claire King) and Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) have attempted to help Joe see sense, but he’s remained convinced that being a father to baby Tate isn’t something he can do.
Graham told Kim earlier this week that he was going to do whatever he can to stop Joe from having baby Tate adopted. In today’s episode, he resorted to playing an old video of Dawn to challenge Joe’s emotions, but that didn’t work. The supportive good cop approach wasn’t working, so Graham took a different approach and made it clear that he thinks Dawn deserved better than a ‘spineless man’ like Joe.
Wound up, Joe slapped Graham. It was obvious that Graham had known exactly how Joe would react to his comments, with everything he had said carefully calculated to try and push his surrogate son into finally doing something about baby Tate.
Joe's final decision
At the hospital, Graham sensed that a breakthrough was on the horizon. He continued offering support to Joe, saying how he’d show great strength if he changed his mind about the adoption. But it wasn’t enough. Joe was absolutely adamant that baby Tate would live a better life if he had different parents.
He told Graham that the adoption would happen off the books, and asked him to investigate the potential families to ensure the baby would be going to a safe home. Graham warned Joe that if he helps with this, it will be the final thing he ever does for him.
Joe looked somewhat anxious, but nodded in understanding. From spoilers for the ITV soap, Kim will learn about Graham’s plan to leave the village, which certainly suggests the adoption is going to go ahead. He’s only been back in the Dales for nine months, but it seems Graham’s exit has been revealed.
