Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale‘s Tom King turns his attentions to manipulating his young cousin Angelica next week.
Tom tries to seek help from Angelica after losing the support of his uncle Jimmy and ex-girlfriend Amelia Spencer, who were his only allies left.
This week’s episodes saw Tom ɢᴇᴛ ᴄʜᴀʀɢᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄᴏᴇʀᴄɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟʟɪɴɢ ʙᴇʜᴀᴠɪᴏᴜʀ and assault after the police found damning new evidence on his tablet computer.
Tom then made matters worse for himself with a failed attempt to escape justice by fleeing the country, so he’s now being held on remand as punishment for breaching his bail conditions.
Next week, misguided Angelica feels sorry for Tom and tries to contact him in prison.
Tom seizes on this opportunity by immediately flattering Angelica, who’s soon taken in by his false claims that his estranged wife Belle is to blame for everything.
Emmerdale viewers know that Angelica has faced a tough time since being released from the Secure Children’s Home, where she served a sentence for the car crash that caused Heath Hope’s death.
With Angelica feeling like she doesn’t truly belong in the village, she’s now vulnerable to Tom’s manipulation techniques.
When Tom later appears in court for his first hearing, he pleads not guilty – meaning that the case will have to go to trial.
Afterwards, Tom phones Angelica from prison and begs her to get her father Jimmy back on his side.
Later in December, the story continues as Tom writes a letter to the King family and Angelica begs Jimmy to read it.
Jimmy reluctantly sees what Tom has to say, but quickly realises that the letter is a blatant attempt to trick his family again. He screws up the note, much to Angelica’s dismay.
When Angelica continues to push the issue, Jimmy agrees to visit Tom in prison.
Tom puts on the performance of a lifetime by crying fake tears in front of Jimmy. However, Jimmy warns that he’ll only give Tom his support if he does the right thing by changing his plea to guilty.
As Tom stubbornly refuses and continues to blame Belle for everything, Jimmy realises that he’ll never change and walks away.
Despite this latest rejection from Jimmy, Tom realises that Angelica could still prove useful to him and he asks his solicitor Ollie to give her a task.
Angelica obediently complies, posting a video online which she hopes will help Tom ahead of the trial.
Could this help to tip the balance in Tom’s favour?