Emmerdale viewers hoping that Maya Stepney and Jacob Gallagher's grooming plot will wrap up soon should look away now, as tonight's double bill saw the manipulative schoolteacher cover her tracks once again.
Viewers knew that Maya (Louisa Clein) would be bringing Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi) into her lies as she continued to cover up her relationship with Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant), and tonight (March 21) those lies almost got Maya's dark actions exposed.
Unfortunately, once again Maya got away with it – despite inadvertently causing a lot of chaos and fear beforehand.
It all kicked off when Jacob and Maya decided to sneak into Tug Ghyll cottage to steal some time alone, but when Tracy (Amy Walsh) returned unexpectedly and heard noises upstairs, Maya was forced to think fast, and told Tracy that Leyla was upstairs with a man.
When Tracy then spotted Leyla with her new love interest Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle), Maya's lies prompted Tracy to immediately jump to the wrong conclusion and it led to a furious confrontation, leaving Jacob feeling more guilty than ever while Maya laughed at the trouble she'd caused.
"It's not funny," he told Maya when they stumbled on the argument between Leyla and Tracy. "It's all my fault."
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Later, in an attempt to defuse the situation, Maya again lied and said that it was a misunderstanding, and that there must have been an intruder upstairs – but this only made Tracy start to panic that her previous blackmailer Phil could be out of prison and harassing her again.
Unable to bear the guilt of Tracy unnecessarily fearing for her safety, Jacob jumped in to say that he was upstairs, having skived off school because he was stressed about his exams.
"I need to cancel my trip," came David's (Matthew Wolfenden) reply. "You're putting yourself under too much pressure. If you're getting this stressed out over your exams, I need to be here for you."
Related: Emmerdale reveals secret clue to who might catch out Maya Stepney
But while another opportunity for Maya's grooming of Jacob to be exposed passed without incident, the soap hinted at yet more disturbing twists to come as Maya convinced David to go away anyway while she looked after Jacob.
"I think it's best if you don't make such a big deal about it. Which is why I think you should go to the symposium," Maya told David
"You want to make him feel like you don't trust him? Kids make mistakes, but you've got to let them learn from them. Go on, let him prove to you how mature he is."
And her sweet talk worked once again, with the episode ending with Maya happily telling Jacob that they'll be spending a week alone together when David goes away.
"We're going to have the best week," she promised – much to viewers' disgust:
With viewers still hoping Maya will get rumbled soon, it's worth pointing out that it's only going to get worse before it gets better, as Louisa Clein, who plays Maya, recently shared that Maya's abuse will move "to a next level" in the coming weeks.
"There is still a lot more of the story to tell," she said.
Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.
Barnardo's protects, supports and nurtures the UK's most vulnerable children and young people.
Readers who are affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 (www.nspcc.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline on (1-800-422-4453) or the American SPCC (www.americanspcc.org).
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