Liv Dingle (Isobel Steele) put a stop to mum Sandra Flaherty’s (Joanne Mitchell) scamming in a satisfying twist to end tonight’s Emmerdale (29th September).
For months, Sandra has been desperately trying to get her hands on Liv’s money, and for a while, it looked like she might actually succeed. First, Sandra plotted to drive a wedge between Liv and her devoted husband Vinny (Bradley Johnson) by cruelly making an issue out of Liv’s asexuality and pushing Vinny towards Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham).
When that failed to work, Sandra ensured that recovering alcoholic Liv unknowingly had a drink. After taking a sip of alcohol, Liv wasn’t honest with Vinny until later, and Sandra was thrilled to have caused a row between them. But the couple made up, so Sandra found a way to prevent Vinny from going on holiday with her and Liv.
This week, Vinny was upset to find that their home was now up for sale – another issue totally down to Sandra. When Vinny and his mum Mandy (Lisa Riley) plotted to expose Sandra for who she really was, they enlisted Jimmy King (Nick Miles) to feign an interest in buying Mill Cottage. But Liv found out and kicked Vinny out, making it appear as though Sandra had won.
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As the ITV soap returned, Liv was struggling in the wake of her split – and Sandra used the situation to her advantage. She accompanied Liv to work at the Hide where Liv was stock-checking bottles of vodka for an upcoming event. Sandra tried to get into Liv’s head about having to handle alcohol in her fragile state.
Later at home, Liv returned with one of the bottles and Sandra was secretly delighted to see her swigging from the vodka. Sandra pretended to help as she took the bottle away, while Liv became sleepy as she answered Sandra’s questions and revealed too much about her ever-growing bank account.
As Liv fell asleep on the sofa, Sandra took her daughter’s phone and went to reset Liv’s password for her internet banking. But when she accessed the account, she loudly expressed her shock when she found there was only £200 there.
Liv immediately ‘awoke’ from her slumber to casually ask if everything was alright, before revealing that she knew exactly what Sandra was up to. Even better, Liv wasn’t drunk and the vodka bottle only had water in it!
In a heated confrontation played superbly by star Steele, Liv raged at her mum for her callous behaviour and Sandra protested – but it was clear to her that she had been well and truly caught out.
Sandra seemed settled by a certainty that Liv wouldn’t be calling the police, and she headed upstairs to pack her belongings. Upon making her way out of the house, Sandra said she knew Liv wouldn’t report her because she hadn’t even told Vinny anything.
But Liv coolly revealed that she had only kept Vinny in the dark because he was a terrible liar, and she couldn’t have her plan ruined. At that moment, a police officer arrived to arrest Sandra, but Sandra picked up the nearby bottle and assaulted the woman before running away.
In the village, Vinny rushed to find Liv, just as Mandy spotted Sandra and launched at her to stop her from escaping justice. Vinny and Liv were reunited and they shared an embrace, and Sandra was arrested and taken away as poor Liv watched on tearfully.
Is this the last we’ll see of Sandra, or will she be back?
Read more:
- Emmerdale 50th anniversary preview: 11 spoilers for soap’s stormy month
- Emmerdale to air hour-long special to celebrate 50th anniversary
Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV and ITV Hub. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.
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