Emmerdale ‘confirms’ Vinny’s bleak exit story – but it’s not the one you think

Emmerdale spoilers follow for Thurday’s (September 24) episode that is now available to view on ITVX and YouTube. The episode in question will air on ITV1 on at 8pm.

Things are unravelling at lightspeed for Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) – at this point, it’s clear he won’t be getting a happy ending.

And honestly? It seems a bit cruel, doesn’t it?

Poor Vinny has had a really rough ride of it since he first set foot in the village, as the Rodney Trotter to mum Mandy Dingle’s (Lisa Riley) Del Boy, and his abusive dad Paul Ashdale (Reece Dinsdale) followed shortly after, continuing his campaign of terror against poor Vinny.

After Paul met a fiery end, Vinny’s love affair with Liv Flaherty (Isobel Steele), that saw the two elope and get married after she was framed by serial killer du jour, Meena Jutla (Paige Sandhu), came to a devastating end when poor Liv was crushed by a caravan during a deadly storm.

After all of that trauma, he moved on to a relationship with Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham), but with his deep-rooted confusion about his sexuality bubbling to the surface, he found himself as perfect prey for the truly vile Mike (Macaulay Cooper), who lured him in via a dating app, later brutally beating and extorting him.

With his secret – and the truth that Gabby had slept with another man – coming to light, their relationship shattered almost as soon as the ink was dry on the marriage certificate, leaving Vinny finally free to explore who he truly is and what he truly wants.

Enter Lewis Barton (Bradley Riches).

It was all very ‘will-they-won’t-they’, but eventually things fell into place, and our hearts melted when Vinny and Lewis made things official, battling through the drama that soapland inevitable served the duo and eventually falling in love…

…then he had to go and answer that damn phone to Gabby while driving, didn’t he?!

Vinny caused the recent apocalyptic car crash that claimed the lives of Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley) and Jimmy King (Nick Miles), and despite his attempts to keep his secret buried, his guilt got the better of him, and he confessed all to their respective partners, firstly Jimmy’s widow, Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler), and then Dawn’s fiancee, Joe Tate (Ned Porteous).

Joe encouraged Dawn’s other love interest Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) to batter Vinny, leading to a collapse later on.

With Vinny’s exit fast approaching, we presumed that he’d be leaving the Dales in a box, before taking up residence in the village’s incredibly crowded graveyard…but apparently not; it looks like he’ll be seeing out his days in a cell.

Today’s episode saw Vinny wake up in hospital, beaten and broken before he and Mandy crumbled into each other’s arms over recent events, with Mandy reaffirming her love for her boy, knowing he’d never truly cause any harm purposefully.

No sooner had Vinny made it to his feet, though, he was arrested for causing death by dangerous driving and was whisked away for an interview with the police.

Vinny told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as he detailed exactly what happened on that fateful day, confessing all to the police and fully unburdening himself of the guilt of causing so much carnage.

After the interview, DS Thea Ramsden (Chelsea Edge) told Vinny that the CPS was pressing charges, and that he was looking at a custodial sentence.

Over a grim montage of Vinny being formally charged and processed, it became clear that, in having escaped death at the hands of Billy’s fists, an equally grim fate still awaits him, and, honestly? I still think it seems cruel.