It was an emotional day for Emmerdale’s Tracy Shankley (Amy Walsh), as her daughter Frankie started primary school.
While your daughter moving up a year is a huge moment for anyone, things felt even more intense for Tracy, as she was taking Frankie to school without Nate Robinson.
Nate was killed by John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) last year. After a fight with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), Nate was administered some medication by former army medic John, but he had a bad reaction and died.
John covered Nate’s body up, put weights to the bag and then threw him into a lake. The murder went undiscovered for the rest of 2024 and the start of this year, but a mistake made by John led to Nate’s body floating to the surface.
John had tampered with the slurry tank on Moira Dingle’s (Natalie J Robb) land because he wanted to get revenge on Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb). Due to the damage to the water supply, the lake near Butlers also had to get drained.
Tracy and Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) currently believe that a man called Owen Michaels (Simon Haines) murdered Nate.
John managed to frame Owen after creating a fake suicide note. In the letter, Owen confirmed that he killed Nate after a roadside altercation.
A couple of weeks ago though, John grew paranoid when he discovered the police had reason to believe that Owen didn’t commit the crime. They said that Owen’s note saved on his computer after his time of death, which made them suspicious.
Fortunately, John created a cover story that put him in the clear again. He enlisted help from a man called Ben, who told the police it was Owen who organised for Nate’s belongings to be removed from his house.
With Tracy trying her best to move forward, she found taking pictures of Frankie in her new uniform bittersweet in tonight’s episode. The youngster then asked after her dad, so Tracy had to tell her things work differently in heaven for Nate.
To Vanessa Woodfield’s (Michelle Hardwick) surprise, Tracy and Frankie got back home slightly earlier than planned.
Tracy told her sister that children at Frankie’s school were talking about Nate getting murdered. She was utterly disgusted, and believed pulling Frankie out of her class was better for her.
Vanessa didn’t agree with Tracy, and tried to tell her that no-one can control what children say in the playground. The siblings clashed, with Tracy believing that Vanessa was lacking in empathy about the situation.
Elsewhere, Nate’s actual killer John had a nightmare on his hands, as latest victim Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb) woke up in an underground bunker.
Mack was attacked by John towards the end of August. A bow and arrow was used which sent Mack flying, and John then used a giant boulder to break his leg.
John drugged Mack to knock him out and is now holding him hostage in a bunker near his childhood home.
On the twist that Mack is alive, star Lawrence Robb said: ‘I’m glad the secret that Mack isn’t quite dead (yet) is over. I have felt slightly deceitful over the last two weeks when people have asked me about his death.
‘While I have enjoyed being somewhat of an enigma over that time, I’m really looking forward to seeing how the drama we shot is received on screen.
He added: ‘Both Ollie and I really enjoyed shooting it, so hopefully the jeopardy of Mack’s position will keep the audience gripped!’.
