EMMERDALE has taken a big swing with its latest bombshell child killer storyline - and I for one am glad that they have.
These are exactly the types of storylines that soaps should tackle.
For all the sensationalism, huge stunts and so-called issues-based storylines - the hearts of soaps should be people.
And they shouldn’t shy away from damaged people like Ella.
Yes, she’s a killer and yes she killed a child as a child - but she’s settled in the right place - Emmerdale makes Midsomer look like the safest place in the UK.
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Throw a stone and the likelihood is you’ll hit a killer, and then they’ll hit another killer thinking they threw the stone.
Undoubtedly there is going to be a backlash to this storyline.
It’s only a matter of time before there are comparisons to real-life cases like Jamie Bulger’s killers or Mary Bell, but they would be unfair.
People will obviously have strong feelings about it - and Ofcom might want to gird itself for the inevitable onslaught.
But as unseemly as it could be described - this is a powerful storyline.
Bosses have played a blinder by casting Paula Lane - and by slowly integrating her into the village and showing her true personality.
Hints of intrigue, but not over the top, have suggested she’s linked to serial killer Meena Jutla - and she is, just not in the way everyone thought.
Meena was a breath of fresh air in soapland - a serial killer who enjoyed herself. She didn’t agonise over every little kill - she celebrated them with a Britney Spears dance medley usually.
Ella’s a breath of fresh air too - but in a much more human way.
She’s no angel, there’s no magic bullet suggesting she’s now A Good Person after doing A Bad Thing.
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She’s human. She’s schemed to get Liam away from love rival Chas Dingle, she’s been terrified that she’s about to be exposed and she just wants a home.
If nothing else, by playing this story Emmerdale has done what soaps should do - and bravely tackled a subject that others would shy away from.
Ella is a child killer, but she was a child too. Just like Kyle Winchester.
She’s damaged, and was abused beyond horror, and when faced with losing the one good thing in her life - she lashed out and became a killer. Just like Charity Dingle.
She made a mistake and bitterly regrets it - just like Moira Dingle.
She suffered horribly, made a mistake, ran away and changed her identity and tried to forge a new life - just like Lydia Dingle.
Having Cain Dingle be the one to offer her support showed a depth of character and storytelling that has actually, to be blunt, been missing from Emmerdale for a long time.
Hopefully they can keep it up and not ruin it by doing something silly like revealing actually the horse did it. Again.
