Emmerdale Meena makes her final appearance in the soap as viewers praise “cinematic” exit

Emmerdale’s Meena Jutla bowed out of Emmerdale last night, as she was sentenced to life in prison for her catalogue of crimes.

While soap villains traditionally meet their maker when their reign of terror is exposed, Emmerdale flipped expectations by letting Meena live.

Her last-ditched attempt at winning her freedom came last week. After being found guilty of her crimes, Meena took Manpreet hostage. She had planned to make her escape with the help of prison officer Ian.

However, Ian didn’t go through with her scheme, and Meena was caught and thrown back in jail.

So, all that was left was for her to face her fate as the day of her sentencing arrived.

Meena was disappointed when none of the locals came to her sentencing hearing. It was Meena’s last chance to be in the limelight, so the cold-blooded killer was gutted.

However, Manpreet did appear at the last minute, needing to witness her sister’s final fate.

Viewers saw Meena sentenced to life in prison for her three murders – meaning she will remain in custody for the rest of her natural life.

The sentencing saw Meena finally lose her cool, shouting and screaming as she was taken down to her cell.

We last saw Meena pleading “don’t ignore me!”

Meanwhile, Manpreet strode out of the courtroom, having made her peace with what had occurred. Back in the village Liam made a touching speech about why those affected by Meena can’t let her crimes destroy their lives.

With viewers calling for months for Meena to pay for what she had done, many thought this was her perfect finale for the killer character.

They were also happy that Liam and Manpreet seemed to have found some closure.

“Such a powerful episode, with some stellar acting from Paige, and cinematic editing,” said one. While another added, “Great ending to the Meena storyline. And could we please have more of Manpreet striding purposefully through corridors?”

But is this really the last we’ve seen of the psychotic nurse? Well, in soap anything is possible…

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30 pm on ITV, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on ITV Hub.