Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) is at his breaking point in Emmerdale, and it is all due to his boss, Doctor Caitlin Todd (Caroline Harker). The vile surgeon is taking great pleasure in systematically chipping away at Jacob's confidence. What began at Hotten General Hospital has now followed him into the village, as Caitlin has chosen to move in with Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick).
Jacob is seeing far more of Doctor Todd at present, as he is on paternity leave. A couple of days ago, Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) gave birth to a baby girl named Leyla. Jacob and Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill) believe the baby belongs to them following a surrogacy arrangement, but the little girl is actually the daughter of Charity and Ross Barton (Michael Parr). With access to medical records, Doctor Todd quickly discovered Charity's secret. She used this information to her advantage, telling Charity to make Jacob drop the complaint he was pursuing against her with the hospital's HR department.
Jacob complied, but he has continued to endure Doctor Todd's awful behaviour. This week, she made a comment to Sarah about how Jacob could not wait to return to work after his paternity leave. Frustrated, Sarah confronted Jacob, leading him to break down and reveal the full extent of what his boss is putting him through. Sarah vowed to help him and offered words of encouragement in today's episode when it became clear he was close to giving up the fight.
With newfound confidence, Jacob visited the HR representative at the hospital again, wondering how he could prove that Todd is bullying him when she is so meticulous in her actions. To his horror, he discovered that Caitlin had filed a complaint against him. The HR rep revealed that Caitlin had created a file full of evidence that seemingly proves Jacob is being inappropriate with her.
Believing he needed to take matters into his own hands, Jacob went to see Doctor Todd at Tug Ghyll and attempted to force a confession out of her while recording everything on his phone. However, Caitlin has apparently done this sort of thing before, as she quickly realised what Jacob was up to. With the recording now useless, Jacob left the house, wondering if this nightmare would ever end. Completely alone, he screamed to let out his negative emotions.
Jacob is trying to remain strong in this fight, but the scene at the end of the episode confirmed that a worrying darkness is growing inside him. Keep poking the bear, and eventually it will snap.
