But while Sam wants Samson to flee the village and escape justice, Lydia is against this course of action, ultimately persuading Samson to come clean to the police. Amid the drama, Sam ends up punching half-brother Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), who is also Matty’s stepfather; while poor Matty is targeted again in his cell.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press about how the issue divides husband and wife, Blick explained that Lydia wants to “protect, care for, do the right thing [for Samson], in the same way that Sam does. They just go about it in very different ways!”
On the rift between Lydia and Sam when the latter discovers she has urged Samson to go to the police, her co-star Hooton revealed: “It’s a knee jerk reaction, from Sam’s point of view, he feels initially betrayed by the fact that Lydia’s made [Samson] do the right thing, which is confess that things weren’t as they were originally told to be.
“Sam is completely behind his son initially, until we find out the information that he has lied to us about the incident; and then he just sees one road out for Samson, and so Sam is then on the: ‘Right, I’ll help you get out of here!’
“He puts his family first, and the morals come later, is essentially how Sam approaches the situation. Words are said [between Sam and Lydia], and Sam says things along the lines of ‘I’ll never forgive you for this!'”
Happily, Hooton assured Emmerdale fans that Sam will come round in the end. “But essentially, it’s all water under the bridge; he’s not got the most advanced brain even in the Dingle fraternity, so once he manages to get his brain into gear, I think he realises that [Lydia] has made Samson do the right thing in the long run.
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“Sam’s only thinking about the short term, what’s best to his mind for his son to not end up in jail. Sam, many years ago, did the same thing and ran away from taking responsibility for his actions, so he just sees it as the way to do things,” the actor continued.
“But, essentially, he realises that Lydia’s got this covered; she’s got Samson to do the right thing. And I think they will be fine over time.
“They have these waves where they’re sort of in opposition to each other, Sam and Lydia, occasionally. But they always come back together, and I think essentially, Lydia is the moral compass of the Dingles. The Dingles have the Dingle code, but Lydia has the correct moral way to go about things.”
But, commented Blick, it seems that Lydia may face further challenges in the aftermath of Samson’s confession, despite knowing that she’s done the best thing for him.
“I don’t think Lydia fully understands what that will mean; if if means a prison sentence, will it be a relatively short prison sentence? He’s a clever lad, he’ll be able to come back out and put his life back together. She has very much been the moral compass; but we’ll see certainly after, as this story plays out, she has to make a few tough, moral decisions herself. She’s probably a bit more Dingle code down the line than she’s comfortable with,” she teased.
We’ll have to wait and see what punishment awaits Samson, but actor Hall, who plays him, joined the chat with RadioTimes.com and other media to delve into his character’s mindset.
“As we’ve seen from Samson previously in storylines, he sometimes says the wrong things, gets persuaded fairly easily by people through either fear or fear of the unknown,” noted Hall.
“Like previously, in the pregnancy storyline when he was scared about becoming a dad. But in the end he always comes out to do the right thing, because from a parent point of view, Sam has always taught Samson to do the right thing. However wrong Samson does, I feel like he always comes out in the end to do the right thing and reverse what wrong he’s done.”
So, does Samson go to the police of his own free will in the end? The actor believes so. “I think it’s his own conscience, I really do. There’s multiple stages of pressure, the pressure will build and of course that will have an effect and potentially guide his own consciousness to tell the truth in the end. But I do think his morals are, deep down, very deep down, correct.”
