5 EastEnders spoilers for next week: will Whitney get bail? Keegan arrested, plus Bex leaves

As grim as the outcome to EastEnders’s 35^th anniversary week undoubtedly was, you can see why the writers decided that young Denny had to be the one to die. His demise certainly gives those left behind plenty of plot line fuel for the months ahead. We’ll have Phil and Ben rueing their revenge mission against Keanu, while Sharon mourns the loss of her firstborn as she tries to cope with the demands of a newborn.

And let’s not forget Ian, who locked Denny in that cabin below decks, never guessing, of course, that within the space of 30 minutes, it’d start filling up with water. Having done such a rotten job at keeping some of his own kids alive, he now feels secretly responsible for the death of someone else’s. So I doubt Kathy’s advice on Thursday that he should be supporting Sharon will go down well. And what’s the betting that deceitful Dotty will use this voicemail message of a desperate Denny pleading with Ian to let him out of the boat to her own advantage?

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Farewell, Bex

I’m getting worried about the younger generation as they all seem to be being either written out or killed off. Louise went to Portugal, Dennis drowned, Keanu left on the Tube and now Bex is off travelling. If it carries on at this rate, it’ll be just Ian and Sharon sitting in the Vic eating pork scratchings and reminiscing about Walford Past.

Mind you, I’ve perhaps been too quick to predict Bex’s exit because her passport has gone missing, just as she’s about to head out the door. It’s no surprise that it’s Sonia who’s responsible – after all, she does now have a reputation for being the household’s answer to Fagin. And when Bex confronts her mum, Sonia remains adamant that Bex is making the wrong decision. But as far as Bex’s poor life choices go, this is surely an improvement on drug abuse and writing mournful ballads like Boxed Up Broken Heart?

Keegan’s arrest

We’ve seen Keegan growing increasingly disillusioned with the forces of law and order in recent months after twice being targeted by racist police officers accusing him of crimes he hasn’t committed. Next week’s drama ups the ante further when Keegan and his wife Tiffany return home to find a burglar raiding their flat. After the thief barges his way out of the property, Keegan gives chase, all of which to a heated confrontation between the two men. But by the time the police have turned up on the scene, the intruder has fled and it’s Keegan who ends up being put in handcuffs.

What’s Whitney’s fate?

Gray’s temperament doesn’t exactly suit the tensions of a courtroom, so pity poor Whitney, who’s put her faith in the short-fused legal eagle. The chances of her returning back to the Square aren’t looking good, especially when an under-pressure Gray is tasked with proving to the judge that she isn’t a flight risk. When Chantelle starts to notice her that her husband’s stress levels are spiking, he responds by lashing out at her yet again before deciding that he’s dropping Whitney’s case. Has he doomed Whit to a future behind bars?

Linda vows to stay sober

The boat trip from hell has seemingly had more of an effect on Linda than a lifetime’s worth of sobriety meetings. Her promise to stay in the wagon appears to be holding, but on Thursday, Tina walks in on the Queen Vic landlady carrying her alcohol stash. Amid concerns that Linda is about to hit the bottle again, she protests that she’s merely binning the remaining bottles she’d been hiding. But will Linda be believed?

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