EastEnders' Max makes huge Zoe death confession in early iPlayer release

EastEnders spoilers follow for Tuesday’s episode (15 September), which is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer and hasn’t yet aired on TV.

EastEnders’ Max Branning has made a confession about his role in Zoe Slater’s death in huge new scenes. In last week’s episodes, Zoe caught Max kissing Linda Carter in the barrel store in The Vic, and Max followed her upstairs to stop her from exposing their secret.

Max didn’t know that Zoe had a head injury that was making her feel dizzy, and he ignored her cries for help as her condition worsened. Hours later, Kat was distraught to find her daughter dead in her bedroom.

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In a powerful standalone episode yesterday, the Slater Moon family discovered the horrific news, and Zoe’s body was taken away by the police – but as unwell Max returned to hospital the previous evening, he had no idea about this tragic chain of events.

Oblivious Max came back to the Square in today’s episode, with Linda having picked him up from the hospital. The pair agreed to keep their new relationship secret for now, but were concerned about whether Zoe said anything.

Max returned to the flat and immediately came face to face with furious Cindy, who had packed his clothes and tried to kick him out.

Their row spilled out into the Square, where Peter spotted Max and punched him in the face for hurting his mum. Cindy remarked that people were grieving in The Vic – and it was then that Lauren told her dad that Zoe had died.

Max and Linda caught up to talk about the tragic news, and Max insisted that he didn’t notice anything was wrong with Zoe when he saw her in the hours before her death.

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After being rejected by Lauren, Max asked Oscar if they could talk properly and he agreed. Over a drink in Container Junction, they spotted Kat sitting alone, and Oscar decided to try and speak to her.

Oscar opened up about his mum Tanya being consumed by grief when Abi died, and Kat made it clear that she didn’t want her surviving kids to lose her. Max overheard this conversation and walked off, unable to deal with the guilt.

Max continued to push his loved ones away, and that evening, Oscar arrived at the flat to check on his dad. He broke down in tears about how he hurts everyone he is close to – and told his son about his role in Zoe’s death.

"I just thought she was drunk, so I just walked away. I left her," he admitted. "It’s my fault she’s dead." How will Oscar respond to Max’s bombshell?

EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.

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