EastEnders makes change to Max Branning story after emotional Abi tribute
EastEnders‘ Max Branning has managed to patch things up with his family as they’re planning a memorial for Abi – though not before he had a huge argument with Lauren.
In tonight’s episode, Lauren and Oscar met up with their uncle Jack to plan Abi’s memorial. As EastEnders fans remember, Abi was declared brain dead following a fall from the roof of the Queen Vic on Christmas Day 2017. In January 2018, her life support was withdrawn.
Earlier this week, Lauren and Oscar asked Max to help them with the memorial. He promised to come along, but got sidetracked by helping out Linda Carter and taking out her high school frenemy Bea Pollard, leaving his children annoyed.
In new scenes, Lauren’s best-laid plans had a reality check when Oscar reminded her that their father could still mess the memorial up.
“Even if it is the best memorial ever, Dad’s still gonna find a way to ruin it,” Oscar said.
“Chances are he won’t even pick up the cake without messing it up or having an affair with it,” he added, with a handy summary of Max’s shenanigans on the Square.
Later on at the cafe, Lauren and Max were surprised to find Cindy. Despite Max’s objections, Cindy insisted she should go to the memorial. She was part of the family as Steven’s mum, she told Max.
A petty tug of war over Abi’s cake ensued, ending with Max accidentally dropping it, much to Lauren’s dismay.
At home, a furious Lauren had some home truths for her dad, who tried to deflect, saying it was “just a cake”.
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“It’s not just a cake, Dad. It’s Abi’s cake!” she said in anger. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want you there.”
Max sighed when he realised she was serious, leaving Lauren with a speech he’d written for Abi.
At the Queen Vic, Lauren vented with Oscar as they both read Max’s eulogy, pleasantly surprised by the nice words he’d managed to put together.
“He needs to be there,” Oscar conceded as he read on.
“I hate the hold that that man has on us,” Lauren said, but ultimately agreed.
Later on, the family reunited to reminisce about Abi as they all shared their fondest memories of her.
As Lauren and Oscar bickered over one of his jokes, Jack let Max know he’d read right through his speech, knowing he’d used AI to write it. For his brother’s sake, the detective kept it a secret from Lauren and Oscar.