Emmerdale fans have spotted what they see as a glaring plot hole in the coercive control storyline involving Belle and Tom King.
The village vet has been mentally and physically abusing his wife Belle Dingle for months. Not only has evil Tom has been gaslighting her, he’s punched her in the stomach and stuck her hand under a boiling hot tap.
However, during Thursday’s (May 23) episode, he managed to manipulate the situation, leading an overwhelmed Belle to lash out at him. Much to viewers’ frustration, several villagers witnessed the incident and sided with Tom, overlooking a key detail from earlier in the storyline.
Fans of the soap pointed out that Tom had previously misdiagnosed a dog with cancer and was prepared to euthanise it without consulting his colleagues Paddy Kirk and Vanessa Woodfield. Despite confronting Tom about his error, Vanessa seemed to forget this when she saw him in distress after being pushed by Belle, rushing to his side along with Rhona Goskirk.
However, there were also those amongst the soap’s followers demanding an end to this harrowing storyline. “Control desk, we need the Tom storyline wrapped up ASAP,” one fan said.
Another agreed: “This Tom and Belle story is just awful to watch, now he’s the victim.” One viewer expressed their impatience with Tom’s storyline commenting: “I can’t wait until Tom and his really bad hair have been outed as the nasty, manipulative horrible human that he’s turned out to be.”
Belle’s friends, Vinny and Mandy Dingle have also been hinted as possible supporters for Belle during her coercive control nightmare. Tom has ruthlessly singled them out in his efforts to increasingly isolate – and gain more control over – his partner.
