Fans of Emmerdale have slammed the soap’s latest twist in the Arthur Thomas and Archie Sharma bullying storyline.
Schoolboy Arthur has been bullying and terrorising Archie for months culminating in a horrifying incident where Archie ran away from home.
Arthur eventually confessed to hurting Archie and his mum Laurel had helped him keep the secret – until this week when Archie was injured under a falling cabinet.
In Friday night’s episode, Archie confirmed he had lied about how he was injured by telling Arthur that he had the power now.
He even threatened to tell his dad Jai and Arthur’s mum Laurel that Arthur was still hurting him so he would be sent away.
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But fans were not impressed by it and have taken to Digital Spy Forums to hit out at the show’s latest twist.
One said: “Although the scene when Archie was teasing Arthur was hilarious, it’s turned the storyline into the bully is the victim rather than the bullied.
“Which once again is a giant misstep by those behind the scenes & once again changing the personality of a character into something to fit their storyline.”
A second said: “Personally, I think making Archie bully Arthur is ridiculous and has ruined the storyline.
“Why couldn’t they just leave it at the discovery of Arthur being a bully, making Laurel realise that she needs to focus on her son and get him the help he needs – while Jai does the same for Archie? But no, we have to go through it all again with poor Arthur now the victim of Archie.”
A third said: “I don’t like the change of storyline, but both boys are good actors.”
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A fourth warned the soap on Twitter: “As with all of these kinds of torture stories, this one between Archie & Arthur has gone on for entirely too long.
“You risk having your audience no longer care what happens to Archie because they are empathy fatigued. There is no point in dragging this out further #Emmerdale.”
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