EastEnders has concluded its run of festive episodes with a very exciting instalment – a flashforward that takes place an entire year in the

future, on New Year’s Day 2027. With Max Branning at the centre of the drama, as the episode unfolded we found out that he is involved in all sorts of trouble –and by the end he was presented with a devastating decision to make.

 

 

The chaotic and eye-opening episode asked a lot of questions, that executive producer Ben Wadey has confirmed will all be answered throughout 2026. So let’s break things down – what are we left desperate to find out?

In the opening moments of the flashforward, it didn’t take long to find out that Max is getting married on New Year’s Day 2027. Oscar even texted Radio 2 and got Scott Mills to give his dad a shoutout on his wedding day! He donned a suit and made a call to his fiancé, telling her that he can’t wait to marry her later. But who is the mysterious bride?

Her identity was kept tightly under wraps during the episode, but a montage showed that Linda, Cindy, Chelsea and (absent) Denise were all getting ready for the ceremony. Max has shared at least a fleeting moment with all of these women over the festive season, but is one of them about to put on a wedding dress?

Something big is going to happen, and Max is going to be seen as the bad guy, clearly. Lauren can’t believe the wedding is going ahead given ‘what happened’, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) is equally shocked, and whatever happened had an impact on Ian, who’s also had dealings with the bride.

It’ll also drive Jack and Max further apart and make Max and Peter’s relationship even worse.

With his reputation still in tatters, what more could happen to solidify Max as the black sheep of his family?

Who’s the bride?
While the lucky (?) lady isn’t confirmed throughout the entire episode, four candidates are revealed when Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) calls said-bride to inform her of Max’s arrest.

Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams), Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) and Denise Fox’s (Diane Parish) phones suspiciously ring at the same time, and the reveal that Denise’s daughter and Chelsea’s sister, Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu) is back lends credence to the theory that Max is marrying a Fox.

Chelsea described Max as fit in yesterday’s episode when the pair shared some seriously flirty eye contact. Linda has a child with Max, and was the reason he decided to stay in Walford. Cindy has previously slept with Max. Denise is the wild card here, though it’s stated earlier that she and Jack are on bad terms.

It’s never simple with Max, and it soon became clear that the woman he woke up in bed with is not the same woman he was set to marry. To make things even more dramatic, whoever was lying next to Max appeared to be heavily pregnant!

When things went seriously wrong for Max, he fled his flat and left this mystery woman to be discovered by the authorities. But who is the other woman in the picture, and could she be pregnant with Max’s baby?

Speaking of things going wrong, Max’s wedding preparations were put on hold when realised that he was surrounded by police. He desperately tried to escape and begged Lauren to help him hide, but his daughter decided to hand him in – and Max was arrested for solicitation to murder.

Who Max supposedly paid to kill, and whether anyone actually died, remains a mystery, but he denied this serious charge at the station. However, the situation suddenly turned on its head and Max was released with no questions asked. What changed, and what does this mean for Max?

Within the action and the intricacies of Max’s love life, there is a sinister character who arrives on the Square in a van. We never see their face in the episode, only their black gloves – and the fact that they have a gun.

The anonymous assailant spotted an opportunity and broke into No.25 to capture Lauren and Oscar. In the closing moments of the episode, they contacted Max and showed him that his children had been taken hostage, forcing him to decide which Branning offspring lives. Who is targeting the family, and will Max really choose between Lauren and Oscar?