Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale fans saw John Sugden struggle with his increased guilt in the aftermath of Nate Robinson’s death.
The ex-soldier accidentally killed Nate last September amid a failed attempt to play the hero, with him later disposing of Nate’s body in a nearby lake. The body was recently recovered by police, but all eyes are on Nate’s mum Tracy who was recently arrested after his phone (planted by John) was uncovered at her house.
While John has evaded suspicion so far, his conscience is getting the better of him, as his nightmares and call for help proved in tonight’s episode (16 June).
The episode began with Aaron Dingle catching up with John in Café Main Street, after missing him at home that morning.
Aaron asked John why he was up so early, to which John explained that he’d gone for a walk and some fresh air as he couldn’t sleep.
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Putting two and two together, Aaron followed up by asking John if he was still having nightmares, and John confirmed he was.
Unaware of what the nightmares were about, Aaron blamed John’s work and him repeatedly arriving home late as the issue, so John promised that he’d return early that night and the two could have a Chinese takeaway together.
Later at the surgery, Manpreet Sharma caught John yawning and he explained that he was struggling to sleep.
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Manpreet told John they’d have a proper chat about it at lunchtime and proceeded to call Vanessa Woodfield through to be seen. On her way in, Vanessa stopped and thanked John for all the support he had shown Tracy during the difficult time.
During their lunchtime catch-up, Manpreet asked John if him helping Tracy was the reason he couldn’t sleep. John explained that part of the job was to help people like Tracy who were suffering, but Manpreet didn’t agree, telling him that they weren’t therapists.
She recommended John try some pillow spray and asked him to pass on a leaflet to Tracy about an anonymous helpline that she might find helpful amid her current situation.
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Back at home, John called the helpline for himself and explained that he was feeling overwhelmed and was experiencing nightmares as a result.
When the call operator asked him to explain his nightmares, viewers saw flashbacks of John accidentally killing Nate and disposing of his body in the lake. John, however, lied and told the operator a different nightmare about being trapped in rooms, which the operator defined as a typical “anxiety dream”.
The operator could be heard tapping away on his keyboard on the other end of the phone and John panicked when he learned that he was making notes.
John abruptly ended the call and went to hide the leaflet but instead stumbled across a note in Aaron’s handwriting about a meeting tomorrow morning.
Aaron then entered and John quickly hid the leaflet, but he remained curious about the meeting. John suggested that the two spend tomorrow morning together, but Aaron replied that he had an important meeting with a client that he couldn’t get out of.
Viewers will know that Aaron lied to John, as earlier in the episode, Aaron had called the prison to arrange a visit to see his ex-husband Robert Sugden.
Will Aaron’s lie catch up with him, and will John’s guilt get the better of him?
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
Read more Emmerdale spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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