EastEnders has teased who attacked Joel Marshall in their latest cliffhanger, but fans suspect a trick. The teen was attacked at the end of Wednesday's episode and left lying for dead in the street.
Teenagers Panic After Attack
In Thursday's episodes, the teenagers began to panic. While Nugget Gulati said it would be "karma" if Joel died and Denzel Danes tried to get everyone to run, Will Mitchell and Lily Slater tried to tell their friends that running would make things worse. Though many of them disagreed, only Barney Mitchell was able to run away in time.
But, he was later brought to the police station by his mum, Nicola. Barney looked incredibly shifty, and later met his brother, Harry in The Arches. "Did you get it?" Barney asked Harry, who was both concerned and angry with him.
Fans Suspect Red Herring
Harry then produced a hammer and demanded to know what was going on. Barney answered that he was in trouble and Harry had to help him. Though this means all signs are pointing towards Barney as the attacker, fans aren't convinced. One called it a "red herring" and added that he was probably covering up for someone close to him.
"Barney is definitely a red herring. I’m not convinced he knows who did it but came across Joel unconscious and likely untied him and then touched the weapon. He reads a lot of books so he’s smart enough to know that his finger prints are now on it," they said. "Or he knows it’s Will who did it."
"Will seems like the kind of nice guy to snap and he’s really been trying to set himself apart from his family and I can see his character taking on the early Martin Fowler reckless path. Young and angry but redeemable. Plus, Barney and Will are cousins. He’d cover for family."
Another said the cliffhanger was "too obvious" for Barney to be the culprit and a third thought he was instead covering for Avani Nandra-Hart. The fan wrote: "No way they’re revealing the whodunnit already. I reckon Barney thinks Avani did it, found the weapon and takes it so the cops can’t get the prints off it."
But, others were already sure that Avani was not involved. They do, however, still think she will come under suspicion: "I'm calling it now Avani and Denzel kissed when they went off for there heart to heart and they are going to want to keep it a secret so everyone will kinda think they did the attack."
Joel's Return After Prison
Joel's return comes after months away in prison. The teen was locked up after he both beat his stepmother Vicki Fowler up and published revenge porn of Avani on the internet. This was part of a wider story exploring how young boys are drawn into the manosphere ideology, that positions men as superior to women and argues they should be allowed to do whatever they want to them.
