Come on, Linda Carter! You know, we know, everyone who’s ever watched EastEnders knows… Max Branning (Jake Wood) is no good for you!
It’s undeniable, though, that Max clearly has a piece of her heart, and co-parenting a daughter has allowed Linda access to a vulnerable, loving and genuine side of Max that’s usually cowed down by his seemingly undefeatable libido.
They’ve been out of each others orbits for a while, the first fracture in their seemingly-burgeoning relationship coming when Max neglected to inform Linda that her son Ollie’s (Harry Farr) bullying ordeal was coming at the hands of his grandson Louis Beale (Jake McNally), in fear that it’d dampen the flame that’d recently been relit between them.
It seemed as if Max had finally won her round and the two shared a kiss, before Linda learned of his deception, told him that he sickened her and declared any potential relationship between them dead.
…but Max has an undeniable charm, doesn’t he? And soon he’d softened her heart once again, though her walls went straight back up after she went to tell him how she felt and found him getting jiggy with Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins).
In what was almost certainly a rebound fling, Linda found solace in the arms of Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp), turning our Max a pretty intense shade of green.
As it currently stands, Max is engaged to Cindy, with the two deeply devious manipulators finding – some type of – love after what seemed like an illicit affair, while he also enjoys an actual illicit affair with Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan-Levy).
Linda, meanwhile, has been swept off her feet by wonderful councillor, Clive Masters (Jason Durr) after he stepped in to help her campaign to save the community centre, taking her on a date while proving himself to be a fantastic match for our L’.
A perfect, unproblematic match?! We can’t be having that in soapland, can we?!
Next week sees Linda and her mum, Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) organise a bingo night, which is interrupted by a power cut.
Never fear, though, because Clive is near, and he saves the day – and the event – before asking Linda if she’d consider another date, to which she agrees.
Despite her growing feelings for Clive, though, she’s drawn back into Max’s web when he comforts a deeply anxious Ollie on his first day of high school.
As Linda gets ready for her date with Clive, torn between her head and heart, she learns from Kim Fox (Tameka Empson) that Max played an enormous part in saving the community centre.
When Clive arrives and confirms that the centre’s future is secure, she’s left even more flummoxed than before.
Now with a choice to make, how will Linda proceed? And, more importantly, what carnage will her decision create?!
