At the beginning of tonight’s Emmerdale episode Arthur Thomas (Alfie Clarke) told Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy) that Marshall (Max Fletcher) had been blanking him at school – but he could tell that Marshall was just holding himself back and really wanted to talk to him but was too scared.
Laurel knew where to place the blame – Marshall’s father.
Arthur and Marshall previously almost shared a kiss after Marshall admitted he really liked Arthur, but they were interrupted by Marshall’s father Colin (Mark Noble), who was revealed to be the homophobic councillor who had opposed the school assembly about LGBTQ+ issues.
Because of Colin’s influence, Marshall subsequently told Arthur they couldn’t be friends and that he thought being gay was ‘disgusting’ and ‘wrong.’
In tonight’s episode Laurel could see that her son was hurting in the wake of this and was missing his friend so she suggested that Arthur should send Marshall a text.
He did so and was pleased when Marshall agreed to meet him in the Hide later, especially when Marshall apologised for blanking him at school. He said that his dad didn’t want him to see Arthur, to which Arthur replied that Colin didn’t have to know.
Marshall then said sorry for previously telling Arthur that being gay was disgusting. He said that he was trying to say that he didn’t think of Arthur in that way. Arthur accepted this but said there was no reason that they couldn’t still be friends.
‘As mates? No, sorry, I can’t,’ Marshall told him. Clearly feeling very emotional, he walked out, leaving poor Arthur to be comforted by Laurel.
But while Arthur has been surrounded by love and support from his family since he came out as gay, it seems that poor Marshall is struggling to be himself while living with a father who is determined that his son will live according to his own bigoted views.
Will Arthur be able to find a way to help Marshall?
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