If Home Farm is where adults play power games, in another corner of Emmerdale, April is dragged into a much darker story.

Recent episodes show that her haunting ordeal shows no sign of stopping, and even worsens as Ray Walters begins to intrude on April’s life in an unwanted way.

Having witnessed her mother, Donna, face death and crime, April deserves a peaceful Christmas.

But the writers seem unwilling to let that happen, turning 2025 into the year she learns another very expensive lesson about the dangers of adults.

What frustrates fans most is the inexplicable absence of Cain Dingle from April’s story. Cain is always portrayed as a gruff but extremely protective man, especially of his family, especially the children. Yet, while April struggled amidst Ray’s encirclement, Cain almost completely disappeared from the screen, sparking widespread online complaints from viewers. Therefore, the fact that the show had to have the characters mention and explain Cain’s absence at the beginning of the new year became a much-anticipated detail, no less significant than other plot twists. Viewers didn’t accept the script simply abandoning April.

One typical Emmerdale explanation is that Cain is caught in a more dangerous game, still involving Ray or another criminal network, forcing him to stay in the background. This could be because Cain is being threatened, forced to keep his distance to protect April from afar, or working undercover to take down Ray without revealing it to anyone, including his family. This approach would both maintain Cain’s self-sacrificing nature while adding another layer of mystery to Ray Walters’ storyline. Audiences might get to see Cain appear at the very last minute, but the price paid for that silence is certainly not light.