EastEnders fans are buzzing with theories that the Square’s recent addition, Marvin, has ties to Nicola Mitchell (portrayed by Laura Doddington), thanks to an eagle-eyed observation.

In the episode from Monday (March 24), the young women of Albert Square planned to ditch class in a show of solidarity for Lily Slater (Lillia Turner), who’s mourning her father Martin Fowler (James Bye). Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) was the one to propose she and Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd) should ditch school for a jaunt aimed at uplifting their grieving friend.

Despite Avani’s mother, Priya (Sophie Khan Levy), catching them in the act of truancy, she sympathetically overlooked it considering Lily’s tough time. However, their escapade went south when they encountered Marvin (Oliver Cunliffe), a drug dealer previously known to Avani for selling vapes last year, who Avani found “weird”.

Marvin offered the trio a batch of pills, an offer that Avani declined without hesitation. The situation escalated when the police showed up just as Marvin inadvertently dropped a bag of pills near Avani, reports Plymouth Live.

The girls ended up in custody, and while Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) and Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) separately came to fetch Amy and Lily, Avani found herself stranded without her parents.

To make matters worse for Avani, neither Priya nor Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara), her dad, were reachable when the police tried to contact them.

The episode concluded on a distressing cliffhanger, with Avani being informed by the police that they needed to conduct a strip search, suspecting she might be hiding more drugs. Avani also omitted any mention of Marvin to the authorities.

Yet, some EastEnders enthusiasts remembered drug lord Ravi mentioning to his partner-in-crime Nicola about dangerous pills on the market, potentially lethal. Fans are now theorising that Marvin has ties to Nicola after this hint at drug dealings.

On X, a viewer speculated: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Marvin (the lad who sold Avani the vapes last year and who dropped the drugs) is connected to Nicola Mitchell, Ravi and Nicola’s mystery partner. Recently, Nicola threatened someone for peddling dodgy pills.. #EastEnders.”

Another chimed in: “Yeah wouldn’t surprise me if the supplier of the dodgy drugs to Harry was also the one who supplied the vapes to Avani and landed her in hot water. This could lead to Ravi cutting ties with Nicola all together so he could fully focus on being a good father to Avani #EastEnders.”

A third concurred: “Yep I’m thinking this too. I wonder how far this storyline will go as well. I think more will happen.”

“Avani could have easily exposed the drug dealer at the tube station who dropped them, since she had previously bought drugs from him. Instead, she chose to play it clever.