EastEnders spoilers follow for Wednesday’s episode (October 23), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC iPlayer and hasn’t yet aired on TV.
EastEnders’ Jean Slater has made a big decision about Tommy Moon in the show’s latest episode.
This week, Alfie returned from Birmingham and discovered that Tommy’s abusive behaviour had continued while he was away and that Tommy had punched Kat.
Alfie confronted Tommy about his actions, and he and Kat thought they had finally got through to their son, but a family takeaway night soon went very wrong.
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Tommy lashed out at his younger brothers, then when Freddie tried to intervene, he trashed the living room before pouring hot soup over Freddie’s arm.
In today’s episode, Freddie returned home in the early hours after a long trip to A&E, and he told Jean that it wasn’t an accident.
Alfie, who had accompanied Freddie to the hospital, checked in on Kat, but they clashed when she continued to defend Tommy.
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The next day, Kat was determined to tread carefully with her son, but Tommy claimed that it was him who had been hurt, threatening to call social services again.
Meanwhile, Freddie ended up revealing to the Slaters that Kat was scared of Tommy, so Jean demanded the truth from Kat and Alfie about what had been going on.
Alfie and the Slaters told Kat that they needed professional help with Tommy, but Kat was adamant that she didn’t want anyone else getting involved, scared about what her son might say about her.
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Jean decided to try and speak to Tommy herself, but at the flat she witnessed him hurting Bert and Ernie, and she and Alfie were horrified to discover that the twins had bruises on their arms.
Alfie was astonished when Kat continued to protect Tommy, but she called him “melodramatic” and said she got the final say in what happened to their kids.
Kat also refused to listen to Jean and asked her to leave, but Jean felt like things had become more serious now the twins were involved and told Harvey that she had to intervene.
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As Kat walked on eggshells around Tommy in the flat, Jean reluctantly made a call to social services, declaring the situation an emergency.
What will be the consequences of Jean’s big decision?
EastEnders airs on Mondays – Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage
EastEnders has worked with Family Based Solutions and Parent Educational Growth Support (PEGS) on Tommy and Kat’s story.
Family Based Solutions (www.familybasedsolutions.org.uk) and PEGS (www.pegsupport.co.uk) are organisations which offer advice and support on child-to-parent abuse.
EastEnders has also consulted with the NSPCC (www.nspcc.org.uk) on wider aspects of Tommy and Kat’s storyline.