After whipping fans into a frenzy with "in a flash everything changes" teaser trailers, EastEnders left gobsmacked viewers with an epic flashforward episode as Christmas came early in February. During a lock-in at The Queen Victoria, Denise Fox, Kathy Beale, Linda Carter, Sharon Watts, Stacey Slater and Suki Kaur Panesar shared their stories and bonded during a lock-in at Linda's pub.
Linda, who recently lost the love of her life Mick after he seemingly drowned in a tragic accident on Christmas Day, was distraught to receive a photo of his mum Shirley capturing her son Dean Wicks in the mirror. Linda, who was raped by Dean in 2014, poured her heart out to Kathy after she went through a similar ordeal with James Willmott-Brown.
Sharon and her lover Keanu Taylor fell out in the episode after she found out he had a fling with Sam Mitchell. Stacey was still reeling from her ex Ryan Malloy returning to the square in a plan to take their pregnant daughter Lily, 12, away with him, Suki and her husband Nish expressed their interest in buying Mick's half of The Queen Vic from under Sharon's nose and Denise was fuming at the lack of interest from her husband Jack Branning.
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By the end of the episode the six women were sharing stories about their disenchantment at the hands of the men in their lives. As they raised glasses they chanted: "May they get what they deserve."
However, the scene then cut to Christmas 2023 at the pub with the ladies standing over a dead body. Stacey was seen with her hands covered in blood while Denise held a broken champagne bottle as Sharon, wearing a blood-stained wedding dress, checked to see if the person, wearing a suit with yellow jewelled cufflinks, was alive.
It has not been revealed who the identity of the dead man is. "He's dead," Sharon gasped. Amazed fans flocked to Twitter to have their say as they demanded answers and tried to work out who was dead.
@howellstweets said: "#EastEnders casually dropping a 10 month cliffhanger on a Monday night." And @kellyofscotts exclaimed: "Mind Blown!!!"
@zBxDoctor praised: "#EastEnders back at its best!!!!" @JoeMackenzie16 applauded: "#EastEnders Absolutely brilliant EastEnders."
@HasanHussain747 asked: "Now we’ve got to wait 10 months until what we just saw! Why is #EastEnders doing this to us?" @TheYOLOArtist said: "I don’t know if that’s complete genius or backing yourselves in a huge corner by Eastenders with that huge cliffhanger tonight." And @lisaneal75 wrote: "Oh my, I actually got goosebumps tonight #EastEnders that was brilliant. This feels like #whokilledlucybeale all over again!"
@_leahlovex asked: "Who’s dead? Why’s Sharon in a wedding gown and not Kat. I can’t wait until Christmas. I need answers now." @youngmaria84 tweeted: "I don’t care who’s dead I want to know who Sharon is marrying!"
@demilovatocult wrote: "The hand looked like Phil’s tbh idk." @teresamorgan10 commented: "Brilliant ep!! Who dies at xmas?! My moneys on Nish!! Roll on xmas...."
@ElloTeenah said: "So the obvious is Phil or Keanu.. but when are Suki and Nish looking to renew… who else could come back into Stacey’s life… Jack dying would rescue Denise and the kids, let’s be honest.. but then if it’s Dean… women killing off the enemy.."
Fans were also saddened to realise that soap favourite Lola Pearce, who has a terminal brain tumour and recently married Jay Brown, must have also died as they clocked a photo on the bar in tribute to the young mum.
@RJKDuggan said: "Lola is definitely dead by Christmas too." @RyanJL pointed out: "The picture of Lola on the bar." And @Vitt2TsNoC said: "That's a picture of Lola on side of the bar. So she's dead. And that's likely Sharon and PHIL'S wedding?!"
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