Hollyoaks fans have branded Grace Black (Tamara Wall) ‘irredeemable’ after she groomed vulnerable teens Frankie Osborne (Isabelle Smith) and Dillon Ray (Nathaniel Dass) as part of her child exploitation operation.
The gangster returned to her villainous roots last year, taking control of the human trafficking racket after Freddie Roscoe (Charlie Clapham) left her for Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe).
The storyline took another dark turn when she proceeded to target Frankie – her own niece through marriage – branding her ‘perfect’ for the operation due to her vulnerability after the abuse she suffered at the hands of twin brother JJ (Ryan Mulvey).
Grace wasted little time in gaslighting the teen, with unsettling scenes this week seeing her encourage a concerned Frankie to have sex with men in exchange for money, manipulating her into thinking it would help her take back control after her ordeal.
While Grace is no stranger to criminality and ruthlessness, her humanity has previously outweighed her villainy, thus fans reckon she’s gone too far this time – and is now past the point of redemption.
X/Twitter user Roscoe Barnes wrote: ‘Incredibly dark episode tonight. Surely there’s no way back now for Grace and Rex (who is more complex than I even thought after his confession to Ste).’
Fellow social media user Maria echoed such a sentiment, writing: ‘Grace can’t be redeemed. She’s legit manipulating a vulnerable 17 year old into thinking she needs to do this to take her power back after being sexually abused. She’s legit profiting off it.’
Tasha Louise, meanwhile, shared a classic picture of Grace Black, writing: ‘I want this Grace back, she’s always been a baddie but I’m so gutted they’ve made her character irredeemable this way.
Michelle concurred with such a statement, writing: ‘The old grace would never do this to frankie after supporting her through her ordeal with JJ.’
Danny added: ‘This episode made me feel sick for Dillon and Frankie. Leave my poor babies alone. And honestly are we supposed to just accept that this is Grace now?????’
Discussing Grace’s gaslighting, actress Isabelle Smith – who plays Frankie – told Metro: ‘[Frankie] does kind of trust Grace. She’s had some decent one on one chats with her. She’s basically her auntie, so I think that Frankie thinks she’s in safe hands.
More Trending
‘You would do, you wouldn’t even question it and the kind of gaslighting situations that are going on are making Frankie think that it’s all her idea and she wants to do this and she wants to go down this path.
‘I think that’s hard for the audience to maybe get their heads around but I think it’ll make sense in the end.’
Hollyoaks streams Mondays to Wednesdays from 6am on Channel 4’s streaming platform, or catch episodes on TV at 7pm on E4.
If you’ve got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us soaps@metro.co.uk – we’d love to hear from you.
Join the community by leaving a comment below and stay updated on all things soaps on our homepage.
MORE: Another Hollyoaks exit ‘confirmed’ as character toasts to the end of an era
MORE: Hollyoaks confirms unexpected and very dark Grace Black twist as Vicky reels
MORE: Hollyoaks exit ‘sealed’ as unexpected alliance looks set to spell the end for show favourite
