Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) is getting bolder as he cottons on to Ray Walters’s (Joe Absolom) game in Emmerdale, but will his bravery be his undoing?
Ray has been keeping Dylan and April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) under his control under the guise of them owing him loads of money. But as the pair have worked their backsides off to pay him back, it’s becoming clear Ray has no plans to let them go or clear their debt.
‘I think he’s had a bit of a troubled life’, star Joe Absolom said when discussing Ray.
‘And I think he’s got an interesting set up with his mum. And I think when he comes to Emmerdale, the village, he finds characters that challenge that and make him question that.
‘And I think that makes him more human at times. I think as everybody is, there’s many different facets of everybody. I read James Norton said there’s a thug in everybody, and I thought that was quite good.
For Dylan, his own safety and freedom isn’t his main priority, it’s his girlfriend’s. After she was put in the position of being forced into a situation with a man who wanted more than drugs, Dylan is ready to take Ray on.
Ray is also under pressure from head of the operation Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths), who expects him to keep Dylan and April in line.
After his latest job, Dylan tries to do a handover with Ray out in the open. This is not how Ray does business and he gives Dylan a short shrift, but he’s forced to ditch the bag Dylan gives him behind a wall.
Ray catches the eye of DS Carter, who’s in town to see Kev (Chris Coghill), so he brazenly goes over to talk to the DS in an act of misdirection.
After the two talk, Carter carefully watches him leave, with Ray fully aware, so he’s forced to sidestep the bag and leave it for to be collected later.
Unfortunately for him, before he can get back to it, the bag gets picked up by Ross, who’s helping Vinny and Lewis move their stuff. Ray is raging to find his bag has been taken to Dale View and demands Dylan does whatever it takes to get it back.
But Dylan is unsuccessful as Ross (Michael Parr) catches him out. He tries to turn on the charm with Vinny (Bradley Johnson), but Vinny refuses to let him in. Dylan is stuck – he has to get the bag back, but there’s nothing he can do.
While Dylan is occupied with his bag dilemma, Ray asks April to meet someone. April is terrified after what went on before, especially as Ray told her she must do whatever’s necessary to keep the client happy. She has no choice but to say yes.
April and Dylan are both going through it, but neither feel they can share with the other. Dylan is a perceptive young lad and asks April what’s wrong, but she fobs him off.
Desperate Dylan puts on an act of buying flowers to swipe Vinny’s keys and let himself in, but there’s no bag to be found. He goes back to Ray, who is livid to learn what Dylan has cost him.
But there’s a twist in the tale; Dylan has the bag and chooses to keep the contents – all the money – for himself. His plan is for him and April to run away together. It’s the perfect crime. But these two are daft if they think Ray isn’t one step ahead.
As they believe they have their freedom, Ray is quick to remind them the horrifying situation they find themselves in with a video message from their boss.
Has Dylan’s brave act forced Ray to take serious measures?
Reflecting on the inevitable moment where April’s family discovers what’s been going on, Joe added: ‘I’m intrigued when that sort of comes out because basically April is a Dingle, so she has all that weight with her. And then I have stuff with Marlon and Rhona.
‘And eventually that leads to scenes with Cain, where Cain starts to get suspicious. So, yeah, people start tweaking that this isn’t just a sort of mother and son. People are new to the village and these people are bad news.’
