Kim Tate in shock arrest - is she leaving Emmerdale for good?
And who shopped her to the cops?
The tables were turned on Kim Tate (Claire King) in Emmerdale when the cocky queen of Home Farm was arrested for hiring a hitman to bump off Graham Foster.
While the real killer, Pierce Harris, is behind bars having confessed all, Kim could still face jail if she's done for conspiracy to murder, so what does this mean for her future in the village? And who tipped off the police about her evil arrangement?
It appeared calculating Kim had shut down Andrea Tate's threat to expose her on Wednesday 4th March, as she left her daughter-in-law quaking in her boots if she followed through on her warning to reveal all to the cops.
Andrea played dirty by issuing estranged husband Jamie Tate the ultimatum of shopping his murderous mother or never see his daughter Millie again. Kim was having none of it and reminded Andrea who was boss in a chilling confrontation, but the smug smile fell from her face at the end of the episode when the cops arrived and carted her off on suspicion of conspiracy to murdering her late husband.
Kim's been in some scrapes in her time and usually manages to dodge her way out, but she's bang to rights and will have to pull all manner of strings to get herself off this particular hook.
Does this mean she'll be left rotting in jail? Surely we would've heard if the iconic conniver was leaving the show, although Emmerdale are increasingly favouring the surprise on-air twist with no prior warning or publicity, as they did with Pierce's return.
Kim is confirmed as still being around next week, with spoilers teasing Andrea having to play dirty to get the truth out of her monster-in-law. Will the bad girl replace Marlon Dingle as the next villager only to be seen on visiting day?
The other big question after the arrest cliffhanger is who told the police about Kim? It certainly wasn't loyal Jamie, and Andrea was left resigned to being beaten by the bitch as she confided in Rhona Goskirk about the hit. Rhona then informed Marlon, who fumed at discovering yet another local sat back and watched him be framed for the killing but didn't seem interested in involving the authorities.
Was it Rhona wanting justice for her dead lover by punishing his enemies? Or was it Kim's sidekick Al Chapman, who lied he had carried out the hit to cover his tracks? It would be quite a twist if he did the dirty on his accomplice and threw her under the bus.
We're holding out hope it was Andrea after all, as her flash of feistiness in standing up to the toxic Tates hinted at the potential for a character that still feels underused. Maybe killing Tip the dog the night Graham died triggered her dark side and she's shaping up to be a match for cruel Kim…
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