EastEnders' Linda Carter powerfully confronts sick rapist Dean Wicks

Earlier in the week, Dean was taken to hospital after Linda's future stepfather George Knight (Colin Salmon) hit him and caused him to fall down the Queen Vic stairs.

As George already had a suspended sentence for assault, Dean pressing charges threatened to send the former professional boxer to prison.

However, in a twisted cliffhanger on Tuesday, Dean offered Linda a sick request: he would not press charges against George if she lied to Dean that he never raped her in 2014.

Struggling with her emotions and pressure from her mum Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) in Wednesday's episode, Linda felt overwhelmed by worry for her family and in uncomfortable scenes was finally blackmailed into lying to Dean that he didn't rape her.

Yet, unbeknownst to Linda, twisted Dean was recording their exchange on his mobile phone.

In Thursday's instalment, Linda tried to get on with her day whilst struggling but was upset following an encounter with Dean where he was outwardly pleasant with her and even referred to her as "L" – her soulmate Mick's nickname for her.

The overwhelming traumatic events led to Linda pushing her mother away and heading to the Queen Vic kitchen and contemplating breaking her over 300 days of sobriety and drinking.

However, George stopped Linda and provided her emotional support, thanking her for what she did but reminding her of how strong she is and to never let Dean break her spirit and let him win.

Following this exchange, Elaine herself approached Linda downstairs in the Queen Vic and emotionally apologised for pressuring her to give Dean what he wanted by Linda lying to his face, with Elaine ashamed of how selfishly she had behaved towards her daughter.

Elaine encouraged Linda to reclaim her power in the situation and remain firm in herself, prompting Linda to head over to Beale's Eels and display her confidence in the truth of what happened.

'I'll never forgive you for what you did to me," said Linda, "but I am going to let it go."

Twisted Dean maintained that Linda admitted she had lied but she reminded him it was because he had blackmailed her and it was a lie.

A strong Linda then affirmed: "You know, you can believe what you want, Dean. I don't care anymore. You know, I actually feel sorry for you because you don't mean anything to anybody. Nobody wants you here, nobody cares about you, loves you. You could disappear tomorrow and nobody would even notice. Now I'm going home to my family, who do love me, and this hold that you've had over us, it's gone, for good."

Aware of his private recording of the lie he blackmailed her into saying, Dean asked as Linda left: "Are you sure about that, Linda? Are you really sure?"

Before departing, Linda proclaimed: "You can't hurt me any more."

Speaking about the decision to revisit the story of Dean and his evil treatment of Linda, EastEnders executive producer Chris Clenshaw told RadioTimes.com last month: "Yeah, we always kind of knew we were going to bring him back for Linda's story this year.

"You know, he's a character that has such a historical connection to the show. As we know, he didn't get his comeuppance."

Will Dean finally face justice?

Anyone affected by Linda's story can find support by visiting Rape Crisis, or calling their 24/7 Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Line on 0808 500 2222.

Read more:

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• EastEnders boss teases "huge consequences" for Reiss Colwell lie
• EastEnders' Lauren Branning "won’t be returning on her own", teases soap boss
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EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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