Belle Dingle took on her abuser Tom King in court this week’s Emmerdale and
saw him sent to prison. It was a chilling episode that really highlighted the
truth about domestic abuse, and people’s attitudes towards it.
Tom’s trial was the end of a year-long storyline that has been carefully and thoughtfully plotted with a lot of shocking moments, as well as tearjerking parts.
But did the finale really do justice to the rest of the plot? We’re not completely sure.
Was the ending of Tom King too rushed in Emmerdale?
The majority of the trial was in Thursday’s double episode. On paper, it looked that it would be plenty of time. But actually it felt rushed. The discussions with the jury were really interesting and we definitely felt engaged with the new characters we met. But we wanted to hear more.
Denise Welch’s character, Heidi, clearly had a backstory that we were desperate to hear more about. The debates threw new light on Belle’s ordeal. But suddenly, everything was resolved and Tom was found guilty – it felt like we’d only seen half of it.
We reckon Tom’s trial could even have stood up to running across a whole week’s worth of episodes. There is a fine line between giving a story the time it deserves and dragging it out, but this all felt wrapped up too quickly – Tom was only arrested a couple of weeks ago!
Some of story missed out?
In a similar vein, it was fascinating to hear Tom and Belle’s take on various incidents, then have the jury discuss how they saw it. But it felt like lots of incidents were glossed over, or not even mentioned at all.
Which then gave the impression that Belle’s ordeal wasn’t that bad, that it was being vaguely downplayed – even though we’d watched it all and seen how she’d suffered.
Belle wasn’t on trial
We understand how trials work – we know Tom’s creepy barrister Ollie had to plant reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury and convince them that perhaps Tom wasn’t guilty of everything he was accused of. And we also understand that one of the ways he was going to do that was by discrediting Belle.
BUT Belle wasn’t on trial. All the stuff about her history with Gemma seemed totally irrelevant. You know what would have been relevant, though? Tom stalking Chas and making her think she was losing her mind, back in 2013.
The real-life stories
Soaps play such an important role in raising awareness when they tackle issue-based stories like this. This storyline has been managed so well and really highlighted the horror of coercive control. And we loved the idea of including real-life stories in the trial. But aside from the one story told by juror Kenneth, the stories were just stuck on at the end. It made them feel like an afterthought.
Missing witnesses at the trial of Tom King in Emmerdale
Belle has come into contact with quite a few people throughout her ordeal who could have been witnesses for the prosecution. Rhona and Vanessa both had the measure of Tom, so did Charity and Cain, who trailed her all the way to Wales. Even the bus driver who saw Belle run away while an angry Tom pursued her would have been a helpful witness.
And of course, there’s DS Foy. Where was he?! He’s been so dogged in his determination to see Tom in court, only for him to vanish at the last minute? Very disappointing.
Now Tom’s been sent to prison and we’re looking forward to Belle rebuilding her life. It was definitely the right ending to an excellent story, but we’d have liked to see it play out slightly differently.
