It’s not been a great week for EastEnders – with fans spotting what appeared to be a huge blunder in a key scene, before labelling a major character’s death a “travesty”.
Spoiler warnings follow*
Tuesday (8 September) night’s episode ended on a cliffhanger as Max Branning (Jake Wood) suffered a heart attack at the altar on his wedding day to Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), teeing up a dramatic start to the next installment.
But just after the opening credits on Wednesday (9 September), Max’s loved ones were seen standing still instead of rushing to help him – before springing into action a few seconds later.
Fans on social media also spotted that the actors appeared to look towards a director before jumping towards Wood.
Sharing a clip of the blunder on X, one viewer wrote: “Did the episode start before the director said action? Surely that first shot wasn’t edited properly because why is everyone just stood there for the first few seconds?”
Did the episode start before the director said action? Surely that first shot wasn’t edited properly because why is everyone just stood there for the first few seconds 😭#EastEnders pic.twitter.com/KWp5IkW2ra
“This is absolutely bonkers,” another wrote. “The way Jack [Branning] looks up (perhaps at the director) and then jumps into action spoiled the scene for me,” said a third.
Fans were then dealt another blow later in the episode as Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) was killed off, with the character quietly dying in bed after suffering a head injury.
Zoe was found dead in the night by her devastated mother, Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) – but the storyline left a number of fans unhappy.
“Are you seriously telling me they brought back Zoe Slater, ZOE SLATER, after 20 years just to kill her off like that????” one wrote. “She didn't even get the whole episode to herself or the sad theme tune at the end.
“I genuinely hate how they brought her back just to ruin her.”
“I just can’t believe that’s the way it’s ended for Zoe,” said another. “The character deserved much better, Michelle Ryan deserved much better.
“It’s a travesty and a masterclass on how NOT to treat your legacy characters.”
After 20 years away from Walford, Zoe made a much-hyped return to Albert Square last year.
The character – who delivered the iconic “You ain’t my mother” line back in 2001 – was brought back by the recently-installed EastEnders executive producer Ben Wadey, who said at the time: “I was absolutely delighted when Michelle agreed to return, and I'm thrilled to welcome her back to Walford.
“Whilst I can't say too much at this stage, Zoe's return is just one of the many exciting storylines we have planned.”
Speaking to Radio Times, Ryan said her short comeback was always the plan: “My agent and I sort of discussed from the outset that it would be a year, and I think that when we came to look at where Zoe was going, it just seemed like a natural conclusion for her to die, because for her to run away again would have gone against everything she'd fought for; for her children. So as sad as it was to hear that Zoe was going to be killed off, I was like, ‘I completely understand that,’” she said.
“And I'd always felt that I would be going back for a year because I really do like the variety I have with my career and playing different parts. But it was such a gift to be able to go back and have a year of playing her and getting to see all my old friends like [Laila Morse] and Jessie and Shane.”
Ryan praised the “solid, brilliant cast” who she said were the “loveliest group of people”.
“There's so much camaraderie there, and I just feel so lucky that I got to go back when I did,” she concluded.
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