Aaron's Story: Catching Up, Part 2

This is part two of my post catching up with Aaron's story on Emmerdale. Scroll down for the first part!

Aaron's attempted suicide and the immediate aftermath were very emotional scenes, as were the ones in the following episode at the hospital, where Chastity and Paddy lashed out at each other while Aaron lay in a coma. While Aaron's family and the rest of the village wondered why on Earth Aaron would try to kill himself, Chastity admitted the truth to her brother Cain in a very telling conversation:

Cain: I can help if you tell me what happened. Has it got something to do with that bloke that he beat up? I told him he did the right thing, I would have done the exactly the same. He didn't want someone like that touching him up.

Chastity silently gave Cain a look that left realization dawning over him.

Cain: No!

Chastity: You can't say a word.

Cain: Oh, no! Not Aaron.

Chastity: That is exactly the attitude that put him in here!

Cain: Gay?

Chastity: You got a problem with that?

Cain: (unconvincingly) No.

Chastity: Well no wonder he didn't want to tell anybody if this is how his Uncle reacts! He looks up to you, and you tell him it's okay to hate gays?

Cain: How was I supposed to know?

I think this scene made a very important point, that people's often thoughtless displays of bigotry could potentially be destroying those around them whom they love and would never consciously hurt. Cain is certainly not an open minded character, but maybe watching this scene made someone realize that the joke they told or laughed at the other day could be sending a very painful message to someone close to them.

Aaron came out of his coma without any brain damage, but he wasn't exactly thrilled to find his family hovering over him, especially his mother. When Chastity told him that she knew he was gay and it didn't matter to her, tears rolled down his cheeks as he said that it mattered to him.

Once he was alone with Paddy, who'd just finished telling him how many people loved him, Aaron admitted that he still wished he were dead. When Chastity heard this, she tried to get Aaron to agree to talk to a psychiatrist, like the hospital wanted him to do before they released him. When Aaron asked her to leave, saying that he didn't want her there any more, Chastity lashed out at him for his selfishness, for having tried to kill himself without giving a thought to what it would do to her or to Paddy.

When Aaron asked her to stop, Chastity quickly apologized and told him that he could only make her this angry because of how much she loved him. She also told him that at 18 he knew nothing about life and that he was way too young to be giving up. Chastity admitted that she was to blame for a lot in his life, but said that it wasn't her fault that he was gay and he should just deal with it, since no one else was going to. Aaron shed a few silent tears during this scene and Chastity seemed to have actually made an impact.

Aaron's understandably gloomy stay in the hospital did have one bright moment, when Adam paid him a visit. They started off with a shared laugh over how crazy Chastity was driving Aaron, but things quickly got serious.

Aaron: You should have just left me there.

Adam: Don't start that.

Aaron: I mean it.

Adam: Right, if that's how you're going on, then I'm out of here. Seriously, mate, I can't handle this.

Aaron: No, please.

Adam: What?

Aaron: I don't want you to go.

Adam: I'm not going to sit here listening to you wishing you were dead, Aaron.

Aaron: Do you know what I wish? I wish that me and you could be mates again, like we used to be.

Adam: We can. We are.

Aaron: No we're not.

Adam: What are you saying? You don't want to hang around with me?

Aaron: It's just everything has changed.

Adam: Nothings changed. You still get on my nerves, you still say dumb things, and you do even dumber things, but you're still my best mate. God knows why, though!

Aaron: 'Cause you're a weirdo.

Adam: You are. At least I'm not the one who tried to kill himself, eh?

It was so good amidst all these heavy scenes to see Aaron laughing again! I love the friendship between these two now more than I ever have. I think it's really amazing that they're telling a story about a very close, solid friendship between two guys, one of whom is straight and one of whom is gay, and that even after that attempted kiss last December when Aaron misread a moment between them, Adam isn't at all uneasy around his friend. That's a pretty powerful message, if you think about it.

Aaron was released from the hospital, after attending half of a session with the psychiatrist, and Chastity and Paddy teamed up to keep an eye on him at all times once he was home, with Chastity even moving back into the house so that they could take it in shifts.

Aaron continued to try and push his mother away, though he seemed to be slowly starting to let her back in. Aaron wasn't ready to see anyone in the gossipy village just yet, but his friendship with Adam grew stronger by the day and I loved the new lightness in their interaction with each other, and that Aaron finally had someone he could just relax and be himself with. I especially loved this exchange between them, after Aaron complained that Paddy and Chastity were there every time he turned around:

Adam: They're worried about you, mate. What you did shook them up.

Aaron: Well, I wouldn't have bothered if I'd known I'd be under twenty four hour surveillance.

Adam: That your way of saying you regret it?

Aaron: You're as bad as any of them, you'll be getting me to talk about my feelings next.

Adam: Maybe if I did that in the first place, instead of acting like a prat-

Aaron: Well, you weren't to know, were you Farm Boy?

Adam: It's true though. I should have acted differently.

Aaron: What, by kissing me back?

Adam: You wish mate!

Aaron: Don't flatter yourself, pal, you're not all that.

All of this, of course, delivered with much playful laughter between the two. How awesome is that? It's an incredible message to be sending out, as I've already said, and at the same time this friendship that had been very strained since last December has become the light hearted silver lining to Aaron's story after some very dark turns. I'd love to illustrate this with some screencaps of the two of them from last week, but I haven't been able to find any yet.

What will happen next with the Jackson situation and with the rest of Aaron's family and the village as they inevitably start to find out the truth Aaron was so desperate to hide remains to be seen, but I can't wait to see it unfold. I'm such a huge fan of this incredibly well written and acted story!

By the way, the story has been nominated for some British Soap Awards. Danny Miller has been nominated for Best Dramatic Performance, while the show in which Aaron confessed his sexuality has been nominated for Best Single Episode, and the overall story of Aaron's sexuality has been nominated for Best Storyline. All very much deserved!

Dominic Brunt, who plays Paddy, was also nominated but it was for Best Comedic Performance. This nomination was not, needless to say, for Paddy's part in Aaron's story!

It's a shame that the British Soap Awards don't do Best Actor and Best Supporting actor type awards, rather than just Best Dramatic Performance and Best Comedic Performance. Dominic really did deserve his own recognition for his work here. Hopefully, the story will sweep every award it's nominated for.

Now, I hope I've made clear that I think Danny Miller is an incredible actor. With how talented he is, it honestly wouldn't matter to me a bit what he looked like, and yet I have to say that it's an added bonus that he happens to be not only very talented, but also breathtakingly hot. I'll leave you with this evidence of that: