8 Emmerdale Spoilers as Ruby is buried alive – 21st to 25th September

Next week on Emmerdale, Ruby’s in deadly peril as Joe seeks vengeance, Vinny’s confession leaves the village reeling, and Cain stands up to Sadie.

1) Joe struggles to say goodbye

Dawn’s (Olivia Bromley) loved ones gather to say their final farewells next week, following her tragic death in the aftermath of the wedding day disaster.

Although Dawn survived the initial crash and gave birth prematurely to her and Joe’s (Ned Porteous) son, her condition suddenly deteriorated soon afterwards. Her death left Joe consumed by grief and unwilling to accept the newborn baby who survived her.

Joe initially planned to bury Dawn in the grounds of Home Farm, with nobody else present. He even banned Billy (Jay Kontzle) and Dawn’s children from attending, before a conversation with Clemmie (Mabel Addison) eventually persuaded him to reconsider.

However, Joe made it clear that his change of heart didn’t mean he was ready to forgive. Declaring that those responsible for taking Dawn from him needed to suffer as he had, he asked Graham (Andrew Scarborough) to do him a favour the following day—without asking any questions.

On Monday, as Dawn’s family assemble in the grounds for the funeral, Graham is nowhere to be seen. He eventually arrives after proceedings have begun, leaving viewers to wonder whether his lateness is connected to the task Joe gave him.

Joe then attempts to deliver a eulogy for Dawn, but finds himself unable to continue. Kim (Claire King) takes over from him and pays tribute to Dawn, before promising that she’ll do everything she can to keep the family together in the wake of their loss.

However, the burial proves too much for Joe and he leaves the graveside before it is over. His decision to walk away soon becomes a source of conflict between Kim and Graham, who argue about his absence and what it could mean for the family’s future.

2) Joe’s horrifying revenge plan is revealed

Joe’s sudden departure from Dawn’s burial soon takes a sinister turn. Away from the others, he visits another freshly-filled grave and swears that Dawn’s death will be avenged.

It’s then that the full horror of his plan is revealed—Ruby (Beth Cordingly) has been buried alive!

Ruby and Caleb (Will Ash) had spent weeks plotting Joe’s downfall, tricking Billy into persuading Dawn to leave him and providing the pair with fake passports.

Although Dawn discovered the truth and returned to Joe, their scheme set in motion the chain of events that ended in her death. Now Joe’s determined to make them pay.

The following day, Caleb is in a groggy state as we find him also at Joe’s mercy. Standing over him, Joe warns that there is still more to come.

Joe begins taunting Caleb and hints that Ruby is in serious danger, enjoying the power he now holds over him.

Meanwhile, Ruby regains consciousness inside the coffin and realises that she has no way out.

She desperately tries to escape, but her strength gradually fades until she falls silent, seemingly having run out of air.

As Caleb searches for something he could use as a weapon, Joe laughs at his efforts before confirming his worst fear—Ruby has been buried alive.

Caleb begs him to release her, but Joe refuses to show any mercy. Still blaming them for Dawn’s death, he remains unmoved by Caleb’s pleas as Ruby’s time rapidly runs out.

3) Caleb plots his revenge

On Wednesday, Caleb sets his sights on revenge against Joe.

When Moira (Natalie J Robb) catches him searching for a weapon in the garage, she demands to know what he’s doing. Caleb tells her what has happened and admits that he intends to make Joe pay.

Fearing that retaliation will only make matters worse, Moira urges Caleb to abandon his plans. She warns that going after Joe won’t put anything right—it will only destroy his own life.

4) Kim steps up for Baby Tate

Meanwhile, Kim returns to the hospital to visit Joe and Dawn’s premature son.

With Joe still refusing to accept his role as a father, Kim has remained determined that the baby will be surrounded by his family. As she spends time by his side, she reflects on Dawn’s life and the grief her death has left behind.

Kim then makes another promise to protect the family’s future. This time, her focus is firmly on the baby as she vows to keep him safe, hold the Tates together, and prevent Joe from making any more mistakes.

5) Nicola and Joe discover Vinny’s guilt

Vinny (Bradley Johnson) finally comes clean next week over his role in the car crash, which killed Jimmy (Nick Miles) and ultimately led to Dawn’s death.

Vinny was using his phone during a video call with Gabby (Rosie Bentham) when he veered into Jimmy’s path, sending his car crashing into the wedding marquee.

Although Vinny has since admitted the truth to Gabby and Kev (Chris Coghill), neither has exposed his secret. In tonight’s episode, his guilt also prevented him from accepting a proposal from Lewis (Bradley Riches), who walked away hurt by his hesitation.

Next week, Kev urges Vinny to pull himself together and continue with his plans to marry Lewis. When Vinny insists that he intends to do the right thing, Kev assumes that he means repairing the damage between him and Lewis.

Instead, Vinny seeks out Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) and tearfully admits that he was responsible for the crash. He also reveals that he was using his phone at the time, leaving Nicola horrified.

The following day, Vinny heads to Home Farm and makes the same confession to Joe. Joe says nothing in response, but the threatening intensity of his silence leaves everyone fearing what he may do to Vinny.

On Wednesday, Nicola arrives at the pub and deliberately puts Gabby on the spot by asking her to say a few words about Dawn. Knowing the part she played in distracting Vinny, Gabby struggles to find the words.

Nicola then interrupts and publicly exposes the truth, announcing to everyone in the pub that Vinny caused the fatal collision whilst talking to Gabby on his phone.

6) Lewis questions his future with Vinny

Now aware of the devastating secret Vinny has been keeping from him, Lewis is hit hard and begins to worry about their future.

Kev does his best to offer comfort, but whether Lewis knows that Kev kept the truth from him remains to be seen.

Seeing how deeply Nicola has been affected, Kev privately fears what she’ll do when she discovers that he also knew the truth and kept it from her.

Later, still stunned over the news about Vinny, Carl (Charlie Joyce) reveals that he’s making a video for Jimmy’s funeral. He adds that whilst searching through his dad’s laptop, he’s found a series of voice messages.

Nicola panics and quickly invents an excuse to take the laptop from him—worried about the kids discovering Jimmy’s supposed double-life—but what will she discover herself amongst Jimmy’s messages?

7) Cain takes a stand against Sadie

Elsewhere in the village, Cain (Jeff Hordley) is forced to prove where his loyalties lie, as Sadie’s (Patsy Kensit) return causes fresh tension between him and Moira.

This week’s episodes saw the former lovers come face to face for the first time in 20 years. Their last encounter in 2006 ended with Cain stealing £2.5 million from Sadie and abandoning her at an airfield, and she wasted little time in attempting to demand the money back.

Their conversation then took an emotional turn as Sadie claimed that she had discovered she was pregnant with Cain’s child shortly after he left, only to suffer a miscarriage a few months later. She told him that they would have had a daughter.

Sadie also propositioned Cain, challenging him to prove that he was still the same man he claimed he’d always been. Cain knocked her back, but later admitted that he had missed the danger and excitement they once shared.

Moira returned to find the pair talking and was far from comfortable with their renewed contact. She later confronted Sadie in The Woolpack and warned her to stay away from Cain.

When Sadie taunted her by claiming that Cain had been undressing her with his eyes, Moira revealed that he had cancer. The news took Sadie aback, but her attempt to suggest that she and Moira start again was firmly rejected.

Next week, Moira’s suspicions resurface as she questions why she ended up being the one to tell Sadie about his diagnosis. Convinced that he enjoyed the attention from his former squeeze, she angrily accuses him of deliberately keeping quiet.

As her anger grows, Cain explains that he kept quiet because Sadie had been opening up about the miscarriage. 

Sadie walks in before the row is resolved, but Cain doesn’t allow her presence to drive a further wedge between him and Moira. He sides with his wife in front of her, leaving Sadie in no doubt about which woman comes first.

8) Ross ends Jacob’s custody fears

Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) was left devastated this week when Sarah (Katie Hill) admitted the truth about Dr Caitlin Todd’s (Caroline Harker) death. He discovered that Sarah had accidentally caused Todd’s fatal fall, while Charity (Emma Atkins) had falsely confessed to protect her granddaughter.

Sarah also revealed that Charity had conceived Leyla naturally with Ross (Michael Parr), rather than using Sarah’s egg as they had believed. Although Jacob was furious over the secrets she had kept from him, he ultimately decided that they should remain in the village and face the situation together.

Meanwhile, Sarah tried to help Charity by withdrawing her false claim that her gran had killed Todd deliberately, explaining that she’d lashed out after learning the truth about Leyla.

However, she stopped short of admitting her own involvement, leaving Charity to continue taking the blame whilst the police quizzed Sarah over her changing account.

With the truth out, Jacob feared that Ross might now stake a claim to Leyla. Ross tried to put his mind at rest, insisting that breaking up their family had never been his intention.

But Jacob remained anxious after pointing out that Charity had never signed the parental order, which would have formally established him and Sarah as her parents.

Next week, as Sarah talks to Ross in The Woolpack, he again rules himself out of any legal bids for Leyla.

With the threat of a custody battle lifted, Sarah and Jacob can breathe a little easier about their future with their daughter.

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