The following article contains spoilers from the episode of Emmerdale dated October 1. It hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX and YouTube.
Kim Tate (Claire King) got her hopes up in Emmerdale today, as Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) returned from the hospital with his baby son.
She believed that he had finally seen sense and decided to be a father to the little tot, but she quickly discovered the heartbreaking reality.
Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) has spent this week trying to get Joe to change his mind about having Baby Tate adopted. Yesterday, he resorted to playing an old video of Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley) to remind Joe how excited they both were at the prospect of being parents, but it didn’t work.
He then commented on how Joe is being spineless by giving Baby Tate up. Graham’s harsh words resulted in him being slapped by Joe, who regretted his actions after.
But provoking Joe in this way was all part of Graham’s plan. He really tried his best to get through to Joe and convince him that he would be making a massive mistake if Baby Tate was adopted, but it sadly didn’t work.
Joe asked Graham to check through the potential families for Baby Tate and ensure he went to a safe home. Graham played his final card in this moment and told Joe that if he helps with this, it will be the last thing he does for him, and he will leave his life forever afterwards.
Even the threat of losing his father figure didn’t stop Joe. In today’s episode, he arrived at Home Farm with Baby Tate in his arms, and poor Kim quickly assumed that Joe was ready to be a dad.
Joe confirmed that he only brought Baby Tate to Home Farm so that Kim could say goodbye. She was absolutely devastated…but the bad news didn’t end there.
Kim discovered that Graham was also leaving.
She begged Graham to stay, but he knew that he had to go. Just before he left, Graham told Kim to keep an eye on Joe, because he really needs someone on his side right now.
Graham left Home Farm with Baby Tate in his arms, telling everyone that he’d give the tot to social services prior to the adoption.
That afternoon, a heartbroken Kim headed to the pub with Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick). As she spoke about Baby Tate, it was clear that Kim was trying to emotionally distance herself from the situation. She knew that Joe wouldn’t get his son back and as much as it broke her heart, there was nothing she could do about it.
Unbeknownst to her, DS Thea Ramsden (Chelsea Edge) was listening to Kim’s comments. Viewers know that Thea is Kim’s daughter, who was also put up for adoption when she was a baby.
Thea quietly grew annoyed at what Kim was saying about Baby Tate, taking her apparent acceptance of the adoption as further evidence that Kim had never truly cared about the daughter she gave up herself.
How much longer will Thea keep her identity a secret?
