EastEnders fans have taken to social media after a recent episode to express their disgust at a recent plotline in Linda Carter’s (Kellie Bright) story.
A scene in tonight’s (November 22) episode saw Linda give in to rapist Dean Wick’s (Matt Di Angelo) demands that she tell everyone she lied about being raped, after he threatened to go to the police about George Knight (Colin Salmon) attacking him.
Dean tore Linda’s life apart when he raped her in 2014, and she has spent the last nine years trying to rebuild it.
However, Dean’s return to the square has left her in pieces, and she is determined to do whatever she can to get him out of her life.
Following Dean’s hospitalisation at the hands of George, Linda came to the decision to go along with what he wanted her to do, much to the horror of many loyal EastEnders fans.
A number of viewers took to social media to reveal that they were ‘disgusted’ by the scenes which saw Dean record Linda as she lied that she had wanted to have sex with him that night, and had said she was raped because she was scared of husband Mick’s reaction.
This Linda and Dean storyline has got out of hand now. I can’t believe this #EastEnders
— MB 🇸🇱 (@marykay_xo) November 22, 2023
for the first time ever i will be skipping linda carter scenes because i physically can not watch her do what dean told her to do. #EastEnders
— shan’s tw!tter (@LMIXTEARS) November 22, 2023
While some revealed that they couldn’t bear to watch the scenes, others expressed their concerns for how this storyline would affect real life survivors of rape and sexual assault, pointing out that it sets the wrong impression.
Just saw the latest episode of #EastEnders and that story with Linda and Dean is disgusting. Really up there with the baby swap as one of the dumbest stories they’ve done. You raise awareness for an important cause and wash it all away in an instance for the sake of cheap drama.
— KingⓂ (@MadZz_98) November 22, 2023
The Linda story is so triggering and frankly disturbing and depressing to me. Very disappointed they chose to go in this direction. Victims of SA deserve better. I’m
Out! #EastEnders— Gillian (@gilvan2416) November 22, 2023
I know it's all about creating dramatic tension and stuff, but I'm not really a fan of how the Linda and Dean thing is playing out in EastEnders. Just feels in very poor taste.
— 𝑆𝐼𝐴𝑁 𝑇𝐻𝑌𝑀𝐸𝑆 🥂 (@SianThymes) November 22, 2023
Linda is set to be a part of a huge murder this Christmas, which viewers have been looking forward to since it was first teased in February.
A flash forward episode showed Linda, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and Denise Fox (Diane Parish) all surrounding the body of a dead man, who’s identity has been kept secret.
With the women having toasted to the men in their lives who had hurt and betrayed them, promising that they would ‘get what they deserve’, viewers were expecting a story of female empowerment, which saw these women regain control in their lives and relationships.
However, fans have been left concerned that the latest development in Linda’s storyline was purely to serve the murder mystery, and are now wondering if it was actually worth it to see the character so broken.
the six has been sold as empowering women and celebrating men “getting what they deserve”
so far all ive seen is the focus being directed mainly at who the (male) victim is, and the women being manipulated, belittled and victimised.
tonight’s doof doof is horrific. #EastEnders pic.twitter.com/wzXTRtRaKg
— frances 🌷 (@frankiedot_x) November 22, 2023
It remains to be seen where Linda’s story is set to go from here, but we can only hope that she will be able to get justice of some kind.
