While the audience was still guessing, ITVX released an early episode that caused social media to explode: Bear didn’t go far – he was tricked and imprisoned for forced labor right in the farm area on the outskirts of the village.

In the first minutes of the episode, the scene of Bear being blindfolded and dragged into a dark warehouse made viewers unable to breathe.

The farm owner coldly said: “Work peacefully, you will have money at the end of the month.

Run away and lose your life.” The whole room had only one flickering light bulb, a few other men were also locked up, everyone was exhausted.

The director of Emmerdale created a twist that was both painful and terrifyingly real. Bear – who was once strong, a famous wrestler – was now turned into cheap labor. He carried bricks, washed the cage, slept in a damp warehouse. The scene of him sitting by the wall, his eyes red, whispering “My son probably thinks I’m dead…” made fans speechless.

Joshua Richards – the actor who plays Bear – revealed to Metro that he initially thought he was about to be “cut”, until the scriptwriter called and said: “No, you’re about to have the biggest storyline of your life.” And yes – the Bear Wolf story is becoming a highlight of Emmerdale, a shift from family drama to a deeply human social drama.