Trouble has once again found its way to Walford, but this time it has a familiar name—Oscar Branning. After years off-screen, the son of Max and Tanya has returned not with redemption, but with baggage, bruises, and blackmail threats that have viewers predicting one of the darkest EastEnders arcs in recent memory.

Oscar, now portrayed by Pierre Moullier, made an immediate impression when he reappeared earlier this month. The once-bright child has been hardened by his time in the youth offender system, and though he attempts to re-enter society with laughter and street charm, the scars of his past are never far behind.

Thrown out of his mother Tanya’s house after a gang firebombed the property, Oscar landed back in Walford with no safe haven and only one real connection left: his sister Lauren. Their reunion, tinged with years of silence and missteps, took place in the unlikeliest of places—a youth detention centre. Oscar, cigarette tucked behind his ear and an ankle monitor strapped to his leg, wasn’t just visiting. He was surviving.

Lauren, torn between fear and compassion, offered her brother temporary shelter, hoping stability might help him change course. But peace was never on the cards. Oscar’s shadow—the menacing “Fat” Mike—loomed large over every attempt to live a normal life. As Oscar tried to turn things around by working at the late Martin Fowler’s fruit and veg stall, Mike’s threatening messages grew more violent, until the danger arrived at their doorstep.

What began with hushed warnings turned physical when Mike and his associate Harrison attacked Oscar. And though Lauren pleaded with him to let Uncle Jack intervene, Oscar—desperate to prove himself—made the wrong choice. Paranoia overtook him. Mistaking Lauren’s partner Peter Beale for Mike, Oscar lashed out in a moment of panic, crossing a line he couldn’t easily return from.

Lauren, devastated but not yet ready to give up, tried to reach him emotionally. In a tense confrontation, she begged Oscar to open up about what happened in the detention centre. There were flickers of honesty—moments when Oscar’s mask dropped—but they weren’t enough. Peter, furious and bruised, insisted Oscar leave. But Lauren defied him once more, taking their baby son Jimmy to his first support group alone.

It was a choice that left Oscar vulnerable—and alone just long enough for Mike to return with his most brutal demand yet: £2,000 in cash, or things would get even worse.

Oscar is now backed into a corner. Lauren and Peter have reluctantly allowed him to stay, still unaware of the blackmail ultimatum ticking like a timebomb in their own home. But how far will Oscar go to get that money? And who might he betray—or hurt—along the way?

Fans are already speculating wildly online, particularly on Reddit, where theories about Oscar’s next move are multiplying. Some fear he’ll be drawn back into gang life, others wonder if he’ll begin stealing from friends and family, or worse—entrap an unsuspecting resident in a scheme with deadly consequences.

There’s also rising tension between Lauren and Peter, whose conflicting approaches to Oscar’s crisis could lead to a full-blown relationship collapse. And with little Jimmy now part of the picture, any danger Oscar brings into the house could have horrifying consequences.

But the most haunting question remains: is Oscar still the same boy who once played with toy cars in Max Branning’s living room—or has prison, betrayal, and survival twisted him into someone unrecognizable?

EastEnders has long been known for its brutal, emotionally raw storylines—and this one may be shaping up to be the most devastating of the year.