Abe lashes out once again.
Note: The following article references physical and emotional abuse.
Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Hollyoaks is set to continue the domestic abuse story surrounding Abe Fielding and Cleo McQueen.
The soap has followed the pair’s on and off relationship since Abe followed Cleo back to the village in January.
There have been signs that Abe is controlling and gaslighting Cleo, and in March he lashed out at her and threw a vase at the wall when he found out she had confided in her ex, Joel.
Last month, Abe broke up with Cleo, telling her that her traumatic past causes her to push people away.
This week’s episodes see Abe try to get Arlo and Marie to bond, which gets him back into his mum’s good books.
He decides to try the same charm on Cleo, and it works, as the pair get back together once again.
But things aren’t plain sailing for long, when Abe sees Cleo talking to Joel before his wedding.
Later, Tony gives Abe an unhelpful run-through of Cleo’s exes, creating even more friction in an already tense time.
In next week’s episodes, the situation between the pair escalate even further – in dramatic scenes, Abe beats Cleo with a bouquet of flowers.
While he plays down the severity of the attack afterwards, Cleo later continues to challenge Abe about his abuse.
Back in March, actor Nadine Mulkerrin spoke to Digital Spy about the show’s depiction of Cleo’s relationship with Abe.
She said: “I think [her relationship with Abe] is really quite worrying and we’ve got lots of red flags happening. This is the classic tropes of sort of an abusive relationship – it doesn’t have to be obvious, it can be controlling and coercive control.
“I think that’s the story we’re telling though – how sometimes something can be right in front of your eyes but you can’t see it and you’re asking yourself, ‘Am I going crazy?’.
“He’s so good at gaslighting her and love-bombing her and manipulating her, so he is a very dangerous individual.”
Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.
