Emmerdale: Everything about Joe’s illness reveal and plot that doesn’t make sense
Joe will stop at nothing to get his new kidney
The long-running mystery illness of Joe Tate was revealed on Emmerdale last night, as was what he has planned next. Joe, the soap finally confirmed, is suffering from kidney disease, and needs an organ transplant if he hopes to survive.
Fans have long theorised that this might be the case, and explains why he was so desperate to butter up half-brother Noah over the past few months. However, as he spoke to Doctor Crowley, Joe also seemed to confirm that Noah wasn’t actually a match, making the spiking and kidnap a bit of a waste of time, at best.
At worst? They got three people killed, and destroyed a very expensive limousine.
Regardless, Joe has been forced to rethink his plan and now has his sights set on an alternative (albeit unwilling) organ donor. This likely spells bad news for Caleb, Joe’s only other blood relative in the village.
But while we wait for Joe’s next plan to play out, it’s time to reflect on what we’ve learned… and why it doesn’t make a lick of sense.
All the questions we have after Joe Tate’s illness reveal on Emmerdale
Why didn’t he just ask Noah?
Mum Charity watched with suspicion as Joe returned to Noah‘s life with gifts of expensive watches, football tickets and games consoles. Clearly he was up to something, she reasoned – and she was right. Joe wanted Noah’s kidney, and his plan involved manipulating his brother into taking a job abroad to get it.
When Noah realised what Joe had been up to and turned down the Dubai move, Joe kidnapped him anyway – spiking Noah and whisking him away to Doctor Crowley’s secret surgery (or so one would have to assume).
A complicated web of lies and deceit. But why didn’t he just ask the generally good-natured, kind Noah? Sure, he could have said no, but if Joe was prepared to kidnap him anyway, why not ask first?
Why didn’t he pay Noah?
And then, if Noah said no, Joe could always have paid Noah. A struggling village electrician, Noah is hardly rolling in it. Enough cash – which Joe has bags of – would surely have convinced Noah to part with a kidney.
If he was determined to go down the no-morals route, there’s also blackmail. A one-time verified stalker (putting it kindly), Noah’s sure to have a few skeletons in his closet that Joe could have turned to his advantage.
Why didn’t he seek private treatment?
Somewhere along the same lines, moneybags Joe could surely afford a legitimate private clinic where he’d be able to pay his way to good health? Instead, he decided to hide his secret illness, wasting months of time on Noah when he could have had a luxury (and less sketchy) private clinic do all the hard work for him.
Even Doctor Crowley isn’t sure about Joe’s plan, reminding him last night that he could just go abroad and get the whole thing sorted there instead.
Dialysis machines are loud
As fans have pointed out since the episode aired, a dialysis machine is a loud piece of equipment. That Joe’s been using it in secret in Home Farm (while his room’s been bugged, no less) boggles belief.
After spending so much time on Joe’s mystery illness, the reveal has been somewhat underwhelming. Has Emmerdale dropped the ball on this one?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYHtZwSQdDY?si=uZOLDOA8DmOy2bt4]
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am.
Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.
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