As Billy’s fight club and Tom’s behaviour leave fans ‘bored’, 4 other storylines that were total flops
Tom and Billy are leaving fans cold
Emmerdale is currently airing some long-running storylines that are not hitting the mark. It’s fair to say fans are fed-up with it – and it’s not the first time plots have failed to impress.
So what other storylines do you remember that didn’t capture your attention? We’ve rounded up the ones lots of Emmerdale fans are talking about.
The current storylines in Emmerdale
Although Tom’s abusive behaviour towards Belle started off as a masterpiece in soap storytelling, many viewers are getting fed-up. The consensus is that it has dragged on too long and Tom needs to get his comeuppance now.
Sadly, in real life, this sort of behaviour would not be over in a heartbeat, but soaps do have the gift of being able to speed things up or slow things down as they so wish. Fans are now really annoyed and have regularly aired their frustrations over Tom on social media.
“Tom will have arranged all of this… boring storyline,” said one after the Guy storyline on Tuesday November 5.
Another addressed the soap itself: “Dear Emmerdale, wanted to let you know the storyline has become a joke and it’s kind of insensitive to people who go through DV. I mean Tom was banged to rights but you’re doing everything to make him evade justice so now the storyline is boring.”
“The story of Tom is starting to get boring when will he get exposed?” sighed one more.
Meanwhile, Billy, Ross and the illegal fights aren’t fairing much better!
“All this bare knuckle fighting, plastic gangster business would be laughable if it wasn’t so boring,” joked one on X.
Another agreed: “All this fighting stuff needs to stop now. Silly storyline…”
“Emmerdale too much gloom and doom now. This fighting stuff is one of the worst stories ever,” said a third.
Other storylines that have failed in Emmerdale
It’s not the first time fans haven’t been happy with the on-screen antics. In fact they are now discussing it on a Reddit thread: just which storylines have failed to hit the mark?
1. Amit’s whole storyline arc in Emmerdale
Rishi died in a shock move by the soap last year. At the time it seemed he fell down the stairs. However, when his brother Amit arrived, it was revealed he had actually pushed Rishi to his death. They were rowing about inheritance money.
Rishi, a fan favourite, is sorely missed. Amit meanwhile, was evil and unlikable and it was never really clear whether he actually cared about his family or just money.
In the end, Jai found out the truth, pushed Amit down the stairs, locked him up for a few days, then blackmailed him to leave. And he did.
“They killed off great Rishi for that [bleep],” said one fan.
2. Marlon and Jessie
Remember Marlon’s fourth wife, Jessie Grant? We barely do! But let us refresh your memory. Jessie was Leo’s headteacher, but she was on the rebound from a previous relationship. However there were sparks (we must have missed them) between her and Marlon and they got together and then had a surprise Christmas wedding.
Tensions between Jessie’s sons Ellis and Billy as well as the arrival of her ex, Al Chapman, caused trouble and Jessie decided to leave for a new job in Dubai. Arguably the most emotional part of the whole thing was how little April reacted to losing yet another ‘mother’.
“Zero chemistry from them and therefore zero interest from me,” said one fan.
Another agreed: “Crazy to think that they even gave Marlon and Jessie a big Christmas Day wedding and by the following Christmas they’d already split up!”
3. Jacob and Victoria’s romance
They fought against all odds to be together, their love could not be stopped even though they knew it was wrong. And then suddenly Victoria no longer loved Jacob, actually she never had really at all, and she dumped him. It was all a bit for nothing, wasn’t it?
It was scandalous given Victoria had been his sort-of former stepmother, dating his stepdad David. But actually the age difference between her and David was more than that between her and Jacob. We could almost get on board with them falling for each other.
The reactions of their families were also dramatic with David leaving, Pollard struggling to come to terms with it and Leyla not happy at all. But then within weeks Victoria decided it wasn’t right, all the gushing she’d done was actually not real and she dumped Jacob. He’s barely been seen since!
“The Jacob and Victoria romance – where even is he, anyway?” asked one viewer.
4. The Rhona and Ivy storyline in Emmerdale
Rhona Goskirk was completely thrown (as you would be) when she discovered her ex-husband Gus had used their frozen embryos without her permission to have a baby with his new wife, Lucy. Sadly, Lucy died in childbirth and Rhona made it her single-minded mission to get custody of baby Ivy.
It threatened her entire marriage to Marlon, which was left hanging by a thread. She even went on the run with the baby so as not to give her up and ended up in court on kidnap charges. Then she betrayed the deal she’d made with Gus, tore him apart at his fraud trial and got him sentenced to eight years. Thus, giving her custody of Ivy.
That is Ivy who we’ve not seen or heard about since.
There was never going to be any winners in this storyline and all it served to do was make a previously favoured character disliked.
“Rhona getting custody of Ivy went on forever and now you never see her,” said one fan.
Read more: Who’s leaving, joining and returning to Emmerdale?
The Emmerdale Insider team also have their thoughts on which storylines the show shouldn’t have pursued!
Which Emmerdale storylines failed to work?
Kaggie Hyland, Editor-in-Chief
“I will never, as long as Emmerdale or I live – whichever expires first – understand why they had to kill off vicar-copper-killer Harriet. And at least if they had to do away with her, death by quad bike was not the one! So much potential in that character wasted and then when she was done away with – without even a funeral – shameful! And don’t get me started on the Bob and Laurel affair. Or Robert and Rebecca. Or Zak and Joanie!!!!”
Carena Crawford, Managing Editor
“One of the most baffling in recent memory was certainly Chloe Harris and her parentage. First of all, Kerry Wyatt was revealed as Chloe’s real mum – which was just odd and felt very crowbarred in. And then she left days later so we never got to fully explore the revelation. Then evil Harry Harris was revealed as her dad, something which fans had been speculating for a while, but didn’t add up because her dad’s name was Damon! Again, this relationship was never really explored given he died days after the reveal. It all felt completely pointless!”
More Emmerdale opinions
Kerry Barrett, Freelance Soaps Writer
“Katie Sugden‘s weird entanglement with Perdita and Grayson Sinclair was a big flop. Her fling with Grayson and then her giving birth to their surrogate baby and handing him over to Perdita made very little sense and once the story was done it was like it had never happened – always a bad sign!”
Tamzin Meyer, Assistant Soaps Editor
“There’s a few! The Chloe/Mack/Charity love triangle constantly went back and forth between Chloe and Charity, with the whole Super Soap Week car accident being the perfect time to kill one of them off. Yet they all survived, and Chloe ended up just leaving with Reuben. Quite the anti-climatic ending to a long and very drawn out storyline.”
“Also, Gail and Ryan’s son Oscar was barely in the show for two seconds. It seemed as though even the soap writers realised it was a flop of a storyline as soon as they started with it. Probably for the best.
“Nate’s exit storyline – poor Nate deserved a better exit. A quickly rekindled relationship with Tracy was destroyed at the flick of a switch. An abrupt and very bizarre way to leave the show.”
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am.
Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.
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