Caleb Miligan’s (William Ash) famous last words in Emmerdale were when he told his brother Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) he could handle Sadie King (Patsy Kensit).
Many a foolish man has said similar, including Cain Dingle himself. Some have died because of it.
Yet super-bitch Sadie is so savvy, she’s managed to get herself under Caleb’s roof without him even realising what she’s done. She is on Joe Tate’s (Ned Porteous) payroll, hired to obliterate Caleb and Ruby (Beth Cordingly), and is doing so from the inside out. It’s working.
Joe recruited her just as she prepared to skulk out of the village after being found out as lying about dead Jimmy King (Nick Miles) cheating on his wife with her.
Sadie was only too thrilled to jump on board with Joe’s plot – with no home or money, she literally had nothing to lose. And everything to gain, given that she’d already started laying the groundwork by becoming Ruby’s friend.
Caleb is proving a challenge, but Sadie loves a challenge. She starts by sowing seeds of doubt. The first seed is the minute thought that wine-seller Ruby might have a drinking problem. Ruby constantly has a bottle of wine in her hand, and Sadie is only too quick to make Caleb aware.
With some gentle manipulation, Caleb’s concerns for Ruby’s drinking grows. Sadie tells him she’ll make sure to look after Ruby and Caleb willingly trusts her, distracted by concern for his wife and failing to see Sadie slowly moving in for the kill.
The next stage of her manipulation is to convince Ruby that Caleb is trying to control her. She takes Ruby to the pub and tells her Caleb told her to keep an eye on Ruby. This has the desired effect of bringing out her famous rebellious side.
But Sadie’s not done, she stirs the pot with discussions in the pub about Manpreet’s (Rebecca Sarker) past, which leads to a debate that makes Ruby look bad. As Caleb steps in, Sadie turns on the friendly charm to Ruby while lying to Caleb that she’s helping his wife.
Her plan is working, the cracks are showing.
Sadie now outright suggests Caleb is controlling and though Ruby’s not initially convinced, she sees that Sadie is just trying to help.
Sadie has Ruby right where she wants her and easily convinces her to bosh some wine before an important business meeting. Caleb walks in on this, having had Sadie in his ear that Ruby has become a booze hound.
He hits the roof, which plays into Sadie’s game that Caleb is trying to control Ruby. It’s too perfect.
Things just get even better for Sadie, as the client witnesses this and the Miligans all but lose the deal. The couple blame each other and Ruby storms off, leaving Caleb to believe her problem with alcohol is real. Ah, Joe’s sweet revenge plan is coming together nicely.
Caleb and Ruby have weathered many a storm, but is Hurricane Sadie the one to blow them apart?