What’s really wrong with Joe in Emmerdale? Painkiller addiction a blatant cover-up – OPINION
Joe’s not a well man
He’s been covering something up for a while now, but tonight’s episode of Emmerdale seemed to confirm that there’s something seriously wrong with Joe Tate… but is it the painkiller addiction? As he continued to struggle with an apparent addiction to pills, Dawn found him passed out in his car.
Confronting him with the bottle of pills she found at his side, Dawn demanded answers. And Joe was in a state, clearly in no fit state to drive home. But is the painkiller addiction Joe’s real addiction? We think not, and a later phone call seemed to confirm that he’s hiding something else.
What’s wrong with Joe?
Joe’s sick in Emmerdale – and it’s not the painkiller problem
Sobered up, he made his excuses to Dawn, telling her that he was ashamed, but ultimately getting help for his painkiller addiction. He then snuck off, alone, into a secluded room where he made a furtive phone call.
“Hey… we’ve got a problem,” he said to the mystery figure on the other end of the line.
“The thing that I didn’t want to happen… it happened. It’s just it’s getting a bit more obvious now. I don’t know how long I’ve got until people start noticing.”
While this could have been Joe discussing the more unpleasant side-effects of a painkiller addiction, it’s more likely that Joe’s drug dependance is down to a deeper issue… and that he’s clearly covering up with his lies to Dawn.
Joe’s lying about his painkiller addiction – but what does he want from Noah?
When not hooking up with Dawn or downing drugs, Joe has spent a lot of effort trying to get into half-brother Noah’s good books. This has led some viewers to speculate that he might be suffering from kidney failure… which is where Noah comes in.
“Joe wants an organ off Noah,” wrote one fan on X last night.
“Bet Joe is buttering up Noah because he’s in need of an organ donor,” said another.
“Think Joe has kidney failure,” suggested a third.
Gifting Noah a watch from their father, the late Chris Tate, Joe is keen to get Noah on side for… something. The popular theory is an organ or liver transplant, but there’s always a chance he could be genuine in his desire to make things right.
Especially if, as another fan theory goes, Joe is dying. After all, his complexion in tonight’s episode wasn’t exactly that of a well man.
Organ failure? a brain tumour like his dad’s? Issues related to the bang on the head he took as he left the village the first time around? Joe’s covering for something – and it’s only a matter of time before the truth is revealed.
Kim’s onto Joe
What Joe doesn’t know is that Kim is now aware of his issues, having recorded his private conversation.
And, knowing Kim Tate as we do, it’s surely only a matter of time before she gets to the truth of the matter.
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