WARNING: This article is full of spoilers for today’s EastEnders episode, which is streaming on BBC iPlayer now but has not yet aired on BBC One, and sees Oscar appear to vanish into thin air.
EastEnders viewers have been left scratching their heads after Oscar seemingly vanished from today’s episode, despite featuring heavily in promotional material for the soap’s big week of special episodes.
The BBC’s latest EastEnders event, titled The Night That Changes Everything, sees each episode unfold over the same dramatic evening as Vicki and Ross’s wedding.
While plenty of huge storylines have taken centre stage, fans have become distracted by one glaring omission.
EastEnders airs a week of special episodes
Monday’s episode focused on Denise struggling to get her head around the devastating news she had cancer. The episode saw Denise get the details from her doctor, before breaking down in Yolande’s arms as she fought to comprehend the battle ahead of her.
Tuesday’s episode focused on Ian and Chelsea, after Ian unwittingly knocked Jordan down in a car collision. After driving drunk Kathy home, Ian was stunned to find the police at his door, claiming he had left the four-year-old for dead on the road and that he was over the drink-driving limit.
Today’s episode has been billed by the BBC as Max’s episode, with tomorrow’s focusing on George. But fans are all complaining about the same thing – the fact they believe the promotional picture for Max’s episode is misleading.
Where is Oscar in EastEnders?
Tuesday’s episode saw Max down on one knee. Today picks up with him waiting to hear whether Cindy will accept his impromptu proposal. Of course, Cindy isn’t wowed by his drunken antics, especially when she discovers that he proposed with someone else’s ring he found at the wedding.
Vicki is less than impressed with Max for upstaging her on her big day. And Max is annoyed when everyone laughs at him, and he pretends it was all a big joke.
Later, Max walks Linda home and ends up at the car lot. Priya finds him and persuades him to go back to his flat for a nightcap.
Of course, one thing leads to another. Soon Priya seduces Max, and the pair inevitably end up sleeping together. But all this drama surrounding Max happens without a single appearance from Oscar.
Considering the promotional image for Max shows him at the centre, with Cindy, Lauren and Oscar around him, fans could be forgiven for assuming that Oscar would be part of the drama.
Lauren had a scene in Tuesday’s episode where she almost kissed Mark. And, of course, Cindy has been seen on screen all week. However, Oscar has been mysteriously absent throughout the special episodes, and fans aren’t happy…
EastEnders fans annoyed as Oscar appears to vanish
“Why were Lauren and Oscar so featured in the promos when none of them did anything today? Lauren had her plot with Mark and Peter yesterday. But Oscar has done nothing so far. How is this happening?” fumed one fan on Reddit.
“I totally agree,” said a second fan. “I wonder because they know Oscar and Lauren are popular with the viewers, they used the two of them deliberately as a marketing ploy to get people to watch. It doesn’t make sense otherwise. Especially when we’ve seen other cast members more than either of them so far this week.”
Over on X, fans are saying the same thing. “So Lauren and Oscar appear in Max’s promo for today’s episode, but they literally don’t appear. What was the point of Oscar being in this promo when he literally hasn’t appeared in any of this week’s episodes?”
With one special episode still to come, viewers will be watching closely to see whether Oscar finally turns up before the dramatic week draws to a close.
Read more: EastEnders spoilers for next week: First look as Denise’s future takes another bleak turn