EastEnders' Max Branning makes reckless move to show commitment to Linda Carter in early BBC iPlayer release
Warning: Contains spoilers for Monday's episode of EastEnders, which airs at 7.30pm on BBC One or can be streamed now on BBC iPlayer.
Max Branning (Jake Wood) is on the warpath in EastEnders - and he's out to try and impress ex-lover Linda Carter (Kellie Bright).
The two shared a surprise kiss last month, though things quickly turned sour when she discovered he'd lied about her son Ollie's bullying ordeal. Max had discovered that his grandson Louie was targeting Ollie, but chose to keep it from her.
There's still a spark between the two - but will his latest move prove to her that he's committed to something serious?
It was a horrific day for Linda's other son Johnny (Charlie Suff), who lost funding from his solicitors business after another run-in with twisted investor Tim Walton (Tom Ratcliffe).
As viewers will recall, Tim wanted Johnny's partner Callum Highway (Tony Clay) to gain some intel on one of his rivals so that he could discredit him. Callum refused, and Tim decided to 'test' his relationship.
Callum believed that his estranged husband Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) wanted him to retrieve a USB stick from a plush property in a bid to stop his ongoing prison stretch from being lengthened, though when he arrived at the house, realised it was rigged with CCTV cameras and that he was being set up.
Johnny soon realised that the only way they could evade Tim's blackmail would be to sleep with him.
In today's episode, Linda was mortified to learn what her son had gone through and was upset to realise that she'd only made matters worse by lashing out towards Tim. She wanted to give him a piece of her mind, and raced over to the solicitors to corner him.
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Tim had arrived to finalise the paperwork that would give Johnny his last slice of investment, though it soon became apparent that this wasn't going to happen.
The two men retreated to The Vic to complete their deal, and a disgruntled Tim decided to back out - citing Linda and Callum's behaviour as his reason to withdraw.
Johnny was devastated that his business was now on the brink of collapse, and Max listened in from afar. He heard Tim ordering a taxi, and raced outside to jump in his own car.
Linda realised that Max was pretending to be the driver and called out for him to stop, but he sped off into the distance.
What will Max do with Tim?
Read more:
- 5 EastEnders spoilers this week: Clare Bates's emotional return and Max Branning seeks revenge
- EastEnders finally confirms emotional return after 18 years for Nigel’s dementia storyline
- EastEnders' Callum Highway fears for his future after incriminating Ben Mitchell scam in BBC iPlayer release
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Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
