Joe Tate in Emmerdale is a mystery wrapped in an enigma, bundled up in a puzzle and sprinkled with lies. In short, he’s very confusing indeed!

He first arrived in Emmerdale years ago, claiming to be Tom Waterhouse, wooing Debbie in order to take revenge on killing his dad, Chris (which she didn’t do). And frankly it’s been downhill since then.

Stealing Caleb’s kidney was a definite low point, but there’s the sneaking around, the seduction of Dawn – it’s a lot.

We’ve got to be honest, we’re a bit bewildered by it all. Here’s what’s got us scratching our heads about Mr Tate.

Why did he steal Caleb’s kidney?

We know we’ve been over this before, but we still can’t quite get our heads round all the sneaky lying, subterfuge, kidnapping, spiking, stabbings and cover-ups being an easier way to get a kidney than just using the good old NHS. Even if it was the second-time round.

Does Joe Tate really love Dawn in Emmerdale?

At first we thought Joe was using Dawn for some sort of nefarious plot. Possibly he was desperate to get his hands on her hoodies. Who knows?

But as time has gone on, he seems to be genuine about his feelings for her. He even came back to Emmerdale for her, instead of taking his stolen kidney and heading for the hills.

And yet, we still don’t believe a word he says. Does he really want to play daddy to Dawn’s boisterous kids, and go through chemo with Evan, and help with homework and all that being a step-parent entails? We can’t see it, somehow.

What’s he doing sniffing round Caleb?

Now, we have never stolen anyone’s kidney, that’s true. But if we had, we’d probably stay far, far away from the person whose organ we’d nicked. But somehow, due to his Deep and Everlasting Love for *checks notes* whiney Dawn, Joe’s decided to return to Emmerdale.

And that means, he needs to stop Caleb digging into his stabbing and subsequent kidney removal. So now know he was on the hunt for dirt about Mr Miligan, to use as leverage in case Caleb finds out what he’s done.

Except, we can’t help thinking there’s not much that’s worse than nicking someone’s kidney. And he actually doesn’t know anything about Anthony, so why all the fuss?

Why is Joe Tate so interested in Anthony in Emmerdale?

Of course, some people might think being an accessory to murder, and cleaning up afterwards is worse than stealing a kidney. And to be fair, they’d probably be right. So the risk of Joe sniffing round is that he’ll uncover what went on with Anthony.

But we’ve been wondering how he figured out the murder from a single comment by Steph and a trip to the woods. Joe should work for Hotten police because he’s a much better detective than anyone there.

Why is he still being nice to Noah when he doesn’t need his kidney any more?

Maybe Joe is genuine when it comes to Noah, but we’re confused about why he’s being so nice to his little brother, now he doesn’t need his organs any more.

Where is Dr Crowley?

Dr Crowley was a regular visitor to Home Farm for a while there before the big kidney kidnap. But now he’s vanished. Slunk off into the ether as mysteriously as he arrived. But where’s he gone?

Why doesn’t Joe need him any more, given that he’s bleeding through his dressings and doesn’t even have the inclination to get jiggy with Dawn? Bring back Crowley, we say.

What happened at Christmas?

Cast your minds back to the build up to Christmas and Kim and Will renewing their vows. Remember all the skulduggery that was happening back then, with Will being told to act by Kim’s sinister yet handsome financial advisor?

It was all part of a plot to bring Kim down – or so we were told. And then Joe showed up, Will died, and the whole thing was forgotten (just like Will himself, we can’t help but notice!).

So what we’re wondering is whether that plan is still, well, the plan, or whether the new kidney plan overtook the old plan, and now there’s no plan at all? Any ideas?

Was Joe Tate in contact with Jamie Tate in Emmerdale?

Joe is Jamie Tate’s nephew, and after all the to-do with Will and financial-advisor Peter, Joe did mention he’d seen Jamie.

It seems the pair – though both as dastardly as one another – weren’t in cahoots but had been talking.

Which begs the question why Joe didn’t just ask him for a kidney instead of stealing one?!

What actually is Joe Tate’s job?

He’s got unlimited funds, an encyclopaedic knowledge of whisky, contacts in Dubai, mates in Chicago, access to criminals, doctors, nurses, private clinics and dialysis machines… and yet we’re not sure exactly what his job is.

We mean, Chris Tate was wealthy, there’s no doubt. But not wealthy on this scale. And Rachel – Joe’s mum – worked in a school so she was hardly a moneybags.

But despite all the cash, Joe never seems to do any actual work!