Thought to be just a humorous supporting character, Bear Wolf – Paddy Dingle’s father – became the center of attention when the terrible truth was revealed: he was a victim of a modern slave labor network run by Celia.

After missing for weeks, Bear was found exhausted, injured and haunted.

The story was so shocking that viewers had to exclaim: “Emmerdale has never been so dark.”

Bear recounted in fear: he was hired by Celia as a “stable manager”, but then had all his papers taken away, was monitored 24/7, and was beaten if he resisted.

He was forced to work for free, locked in a warehouse, with many other workers. Celia and Ray used the “charity management” trick to fool the villagers – on the surface it was a program to help the unemployed, inside it was a sophisticated system of exploitation.

The scene where Bear tells Paddy about it makes viewers unable to hold back tears. “I used to be the strong one, now I’m just a puppet in his game.” – a sentence that makes Paddy choke up. Bear’s return brings rising anger, and Moira – who had a deal with Celia – decides to expose her to justice. But Celia still has one last card: a video of Moira at the farm, which if released would make her suspected of aiding and abetting the crime.

The ending opens when the police officially begin their investigation. Celia is summoned, Ray is still in hospital, and Bear is being protected in the Dingle house. However, in the final scene, a mysterious car stops at the Emmerdale gate – the driver is none other than Kev, a thug from Robert Sugden’s past, now hired by Celia to “handle the rubbish”. Emmerdale is about to face a new bloody season, where the strong are no longer safe and the past comes back to collect debts.