Emmerdale fans ‘devastated’ as fan favourite Bear Wolf endures sad twist

Emmerdale viewers were left “devastated” after things got worse for Bear Wolf on Friday night’s episode of the ITV soap after everything the fan favourite has already been through

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Things got worse for Bear Wolf on Friday’s edition of Emmerdael

Emmerdale fans were left “devastated” after things got worse for Bear Wolf on Friday night’s episode of the ITV soap. The former professional wrestler, who has been played by Joshua Richards since 2019, has been through the mill in recent months, having become a victim of modern slavery at the hands of evil Celia Daniels and Ray Walters on their farm.

In January, as part of a major flashback week, it was revealed that Bear had killed Ray following his imprisonment and after being released on bail, he has been struggling with his guilt ever since, struggling to sleep and turning to alcohol to cope.

On the latest episode of the Yorkshire-based serial, Bear tried to obtain painkillers from GP Manpreet Sharma but she refused to give him them, aware that he had been given opium whilst in slavery and therefor unable to have any. Turning to drink, an angry Bear injured himself when he punched a mirror and took himself off to hospital.

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Bear attacked Jacob in the hospital(Image: ITV)

Once there, he begged Jacob Gallagher (Joe Warren-Plant) to prescribe him painkillers, but he reminded him that as a student doctor, he would not be able to, although he did help him with his cut hand. Not being able to get painkillers enraged bear, and he grabbed the young medic and held him in the same wrestling pose he used to strangle Ray to death.

Jacob kicked a trolley and the loud noise startled Bear so much that he came to his senses and stopped the attack, but it was then that Bear’s son Paddy (Dominic Brunt) arrived, along with his wife Mandy (Lisa Riley), and told him that the police were on their way to take action. Following the ordeal, Doctor Todd (Caroline Harker) cornered Jacob and demanded an explanation as to how the student doctor had ended up in that position to begin with.

She raged: “You didn’t think at all. In fact, for a supposedly intelligent young man, you really are remarkably stupid. You cannot let personal relationships affect patient care.

“You seem to think the fact that you know someone means you can ignore all our protocols. But if you carry on behaving so irresponsibly in my department, I will have you removed from the course!” She later changed her tune, and sent Jacob off to the canteen to get a coffee and recharge. But it had all proven too much for him, as he took himself off to the toilet, looked in the mirror and cried.

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Mandy and Paddy became frantic as they realised Bear was missing (Image: ITV)

In the final moments of the episode, Paddy and Mandy wondered where Bear had gone as he was nowhere to be found, and no one had seen him either. Already worried about his father, who was missing for months before being discovered within the slave ring, Paddy began to panic as he realised he didn’t have his phone with him and had likely wandered off into the night. Sure enough, in the final shot of the episode, Bear was seen wandering through the city.

Fans instantly took to social media to react to the sad twist, with one writing on X: “An appreciation tweet for the fantastic Joshua Richards! Seeing Bear’s gradual decline in his mental health since Ray’s death has been devastating to watch. I hope this storyline leads to Bear being sectioned and getting the help he needs.”

Another said: “Bear walking through the streets alone[crying emoji] This reminds me of April’s life on the streets episode from last year,” whilst a third wrote: “The way that nurse speaks to Jacob is vile! [angry face emoji] Bear is mentally unwell and Jacob was only trying to help him.”