Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) constantly has Bear Wolf’s (Joshua Richards) best interests at heart in Emmerdale, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to get things right all of the time.

The local vet has been dealing with nightmare after nightmare ever since Bear returned to the village from Celia Daniels’ (Jaye Griffiths) farm. First, there was covering up Ray Walters’ (Joe Absolom) murder, then there was ensuring Bear didn’t tell anyone about it, then there was dealing with him confessing to the police.

Bear is currently out on bail, which means he’s living in the village until his trial. The vulnerable man left Paddy and Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) surprised as this evening’s episode opened, as he revealed he had organised another session with Lucy, his counsellor.

This was a huge step, and Paddy and Mandy recognised this. Not wanting to risk a step back, they agreed with Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) to keep Ray’s burial a secret from Bear.

Just as Bear headed down the street though, he spotted Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) talking to Charles and Claudette Anderson (Kevin Mathurin and Flo Wilson). Claudette called out to Bear and ended up revealing that Charles and Laurel were off to the Chapel of Rest.

Bear was absolutely adamant that he wanted to go with Laurel. In the room, Laurel said a quiet goodbye to Ray, and reflected on how different his life could’ve been if he wasn’t picked up by Celia when he was a child.

The Stockholm Syndrome brought on as a result of the grooming and abuse left Bear believing he had a real connection with Ray, so he too got emotional as he said his farewell.

While this was going on, Paddy and Mandy had discovered from Claudette that Bear had gone with Laurel and Charles. Paddy was furious, and he immediately expressed his anger when Laurel walked through the door.

Bear was absolutely fine when he walked in, albeit a little emotional from what had just gone on. He went into the back room, leaving a number of residents to gossip over whether or not it was right for Laurel and Bear to say their goodbyes.

Paddy ranted to Laurel and he ranted hard, telling her that she let Bear say goodbye to his dead abuser, who he also murdered. As he continued shouting at Laurel, Paddy failed to spot Bear appearing.

He told his son to stop. Bear stuck up for Laurel and put Paddy in his place. No one knows what Bear went through on the farm, and he felt the least he could do was say goodbye to Ray, the man he killed without even realising.

Bear was deeply upset by Paddy making assumptions and told him that he should be ashamed.