Bear Wolf’s situation gets worse (Picture: ITV)
Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards)’s harrowing ordeal in Emmerdale takes another dark turn soon, when his life is hit by a tragic loss.
Bear left the village a few months ago after he began to feel worthless and his relationship with his son Paddy (Dominic Brunt) broke down. Bear said he was heading for Ireland to visit an old mate, but when the friend cancelled on him, Bear vanished for several months.
We recently saw that he’d been in a bad way, living in his car. When he was at this low point he was spotted by Ray Walters (Joe Absolom), who offered him work and a place to stay – which was how Bear ended up at Celia (Jaye Griffiths)’s farm along with a group of people who’d been similarly groomed and exploited into working under terrible conditions.
With their lives totally controlled by Ray and Celia, Bear and the others have had their spirits broken by constant manipulation and threats of violence.
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‘It’s like giving a dog treats,’ Joshua Richards told us. ‘It’s very clever manipulation and very insidious, that you can bit by bit instil in somebody that you’re needed by them for their very existence. Ray is very successful at doing that because he has a natural charm and he has an ability to get under people’s skin.’
Within this bleak scenario, Bear has made one real friend.
A woman called Anya (Alia Al-Shabibi), who previously tried to escape and ended up staying with Ruby (Beth Cordingly) and Caleb (William Ash) for a short time before being returned to the farm, has befriended Bear and the two have shown each other genuine support and care.
Joshua explained: ’I think there was a glimmer of light for him but it was almost like a reminder of little Eve, his granddaughter, that an almost innocent soul was shining in the darkness and he recognised it.’
Anya’s condition deteriorates (Picture: ITV)
Sadly, Anya was injured when trying to make her escape and her condition deteriorates rapidly with the wounds becoming infected.
Bear does his best to look after her and bags Ray to get her some antibiotics.
Ray gets too preoccupied trying to charm Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy), but is called back to the farm by Celia. Anya’s condition is much worse and she’s in and out of consciousness.
Bear is absolutely distraught when, despite his care, Anya dies.
Bear has been working as a slave on Celia’s farm (Picture: ITV)
His sorrow turns to fury when he discovers that Ray has dumped Anya’s body in the feed shed.
He turns on Ray, rage and grief boiling over into violence as he berates Ray for the disrespect and inhumanity he’s shown to Anya. For the first time, Ray is genuinely afraid of what Bear might do and feels his control over the situation slip away.
Bear is currently a weakened and defeated character whose mind and body have been methodically beaten down by Ray and by the terrible situation he finds himself in – but could the tragedy of Anya’s brutal death could be the catalyst he needs to start to get out of the situation?
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