Yahoo Sport 
EastEnders - Linda Carter's mystery call explained
EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders' Linda Carter made another mysterious call in tonight's episode (March 23), as the future of The Queen Vic remains uncertain.
Sharon currently believes that she's going into business with her best friend Linda, having shown interest in buying Janine's share of the pub, in the wake of Mick's tragic disappearance on Christmas Day.
However, fans know that Linda actually has other plans and has been in cahoots with a mysterious character.
If we go right back to the start of the year, a grief-stricken Linda wanted to cut her ties with the pub and sell up altogether. This was short-lived when she learned she couldn't do anything until Mick had been declared officially dead.
Linda later heard that Janine — who's in prison — wanted to sell her share, and began pursuing possible buyers.
Although Linda's best-case scenario appeared to be going into partnership with Sharon, Suki and Nish came up with an impressive counteroffer, leaving her torn.
Not willing to go down without a fight, Sharon roped ex-husband Phil into buying into the gym, giving her the cash she needed to outbid the Panesars once and for all.
Despite the seemingly good news, Linda's uncertainty was palpable — especially when Sharon started discussing some of her new ideas for the place.
Fearing that Sharon may disrupt her normal running of the business, and not convinced that she can trust the Panesars, Linda confided in Patrick.
Patrick urged Linda to think outside the box and bring in someone who had the Panesars' business acumen but wasn't going to change things too much. Most importantly, he advised Linda to get on board with someone she fully trusted.
Taking his advice, Linda made a secret phone call, saying: "I've got two offers on the table, both keen. But if you can come up with the cash, then I will ditch them and go with you. Just think about it. In a few months, we could be running this place together."
She followed this up with another call to the mystery recipient in Thursday's episode.
After Sharon excitedly made reference to their impending joint membership, Linda's awkwardness was palpable.
"I am not hassling you", she said on the phone. "But have you got the cash for The Vic or not because we are running out of time?"
While the person on the other end remains a mystery for the time being, fans will no doubt be wondering if this links to Linda's involvement in that Christmas flashforward scene.
Teasing what's coming up for Linda in particular over the next few months, EastEnders' boss Chris Clenshaw said: "Linda's world has been thrown upside down by seeing a photo of Shirley with Dean, but she's forced to focus on who her new business partner will be or face losing her home. Both Sharon and Nish are hoping to get the keys to the castle, but her knight in shining armour may not be who you think."
This has also left some fans wondering if the suit of armour behind Stacey in the flashforward scene is a form of symbolism.
Discussing the story that everyone is talking about, Kellie Bright – who plays Linda – said: "I felt very excited when I heard about it. I was very intrigued. I'm still intrigued because I don't really know that much about it, other than what has just been shown. I think it's a really clever thing that the team have come up with, I can honestly say I'm really thrilled to be part of it. I'm excited about it.'
"I think we're all really excited to be in it together. We've very quickly formed a WhatsApp group called 'The Six', because that's what Chris Clenshaw said he'd been referring to us as in the offices before people knew.
"What I love is, obviously I get to work with Tish [Letitia Dean] a lot, which is fantastic because I love her, but I don't actually get to work with a lot of the other actresses very much at all. So I'm really pleased about that — although I don't actually know how much interaction we are going to have over the next year. Obviously, I know it's going to culminate into a story that involves us all, but I think the threads leading up to that are all our individual stories."
Sharing her own theory on what happened, Kellie added: "I mean this is all guesswork on my behalf, but in my mind, I haven't done it. But that is just based on nothing other than what I think or felt when we were filming it.
"I've got a feeling. I had a very strong feeling, or more of an idea, that the victim was going to be a really big player in this show. And I've slightly changed my mind, and I think it might be someone who is not in the show yet, a character that we're yet to meet.
"If I had to put money on it, I don't think it's me and I don't think it's Di [Diane Parish]. I also think it could be a group thing, with the women all protecting each other. But who knows? They could be protecting Linda!"
The Sun has also recently reported that Strictly Come Dancing star Molly Rainsford is tipped to join the show as part of a new family moving into The Queen Vic later this year.
EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer.
Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage
You Might Also Like
