BBC EastEnders’ Linda Carter ‘sealed’ as Christmas killer: Revenge vow, trailer clue and red herring

EastEnders has aired many possible clues that Linda Carter will turn killer this Christmas on the BBC soap.

Linda and five other Walford women, The Six, will take centre stage as they feature in a shocking murder twist at The Queen Vic on Christmas Day. While there’s still so much to find out about the plot, we do know some key details.

One of the six women are tipped to be the killer, and a mystery male character will die in brutal scenes. A flashforward showed them dead on the pub floor, with Linda, Suki Panesar, Sharon Watts, Stacey Slater, Denise Fox and Kathy Beale all stood in shock.

Some sort of showdown has happened, with most of the women covered in blood or wearing ripped clothes, while there’s speculation of a second death being on the cards too. The mystery male has not been identified, but it’s thought to be out of Dean Wicks, Phil Mitchell, Nish Panesar, Ravi Gulati, Rocky Cotton, Keanu Taylor and Jack Branning.

Viewers have been trying to work out who the killer is and who dies for months. Here, we take a look at all the clues that could reveal Linda is the killer…

Protective wall

Something Kathy said to Linda after a twist earlier this year may tease what happens on Christmas Day. Kathy vowed to protect Linda with the help of her other pals from her rapist Dean Wicks, if he was to return to Walford.

Linda had seen a picture of her mother-in-law Shirley Carter with Dean shown in the background, proving the mother and son were back in contact. Linda feared this meant Dean would return, and later this year he did just that.

Back in February as Linda sobbed about the photo, Kathy warned that Dean would need to watch his back if he came back. She said she and Linda’s friends would build a protective wall around her and stop Dean if they had to, and it certainly left fans believing this time would come.

Things have continued to escalate between the pair in recent weeks with Dean leaving Linda in turmoil. But will Kathy or one of The Six be forced to protect Linda from Dean in the big episode later this month?

Double murder

Viewers have been speculating that a double murder could take place, after clues in the main Christmas trailer. In Linda’s part of the teaser, we see her scrubbing blood off of the floor upstairs in the kitchen – teasing the death might occur in this location.

Of course we know from the flashforward that the body is found downstairs and Linda is last to walk into the room, with a cut on her lip. Now, fans are convinced all of this could mean two people die at Christmas, with a body upstairs and a body downstairs.

Flashforward red herring

Another possible clue is that out of everyone, Linda has the least motive asides for Dean. With there being seven men at risk of being killed off, Linda only really has a reason to kill Dean as it stands, unless the death is accidental.

We also saw her enter the room seemingly after the death had occurred in the flashforward clip, hinting she wasn’t in the room and may walk into the drama unfolding. This could all be a red herring though, with clues to throw viewers off the scent and not suspect Linda.

Motive and threat

As mentioned Linda has a strong motive for wanting one of the men dead. Linda was raped by Dean in 2014, and he got away with the crime. Recently he returned and claimed the pair had had an affair, denying raping Linda.

With everything he has put her through in the past and in recent weeks, it’s not surprising Linda would be out to get Dean. But what if Dean attacks her and Linda is forced to defend herself?

After all, she did threaten to kill Dean in a recent episode as he continued to torment her. So will she end up actually killing him?