EastEnders spoilers follow for Tuesday’s episode (March 11), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC iPlayer and hasn’t yet aired on TV.
EastEnders has confirmed the identity of Tommy Moon’s mystery online friend, in the show’s latest episode.
With Tommy having lived with Zack for several months, his return home last week caused concern for Kat, who was scared that her son’s violence and anger would continue.
This week, Kat struggled to trust Tommy alone with the twins, which led to more tension. But the pair managed to resolve their differences, and Kat and Alfie bought him a new games console – so he could continue talking to his mysterious new friend online.
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In today’s episode, Kat asked Tommy to check on his cousin Lily after school, who is grieving her dad Martin, but Tommy said that he had plans to play online with his friend Matt.
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Kat was worried by the fact that she hadn’t yet met this new friend, and she later tried to check Tommy’s messages with Matt on his console.
Alfie caught her snooping and tried to help, but neither of them were able to work the console. With Kat scared about their son’s safety, Alfie suggested that they ask Tommy for the truth.
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When Tommy returned home from school, Kat and Alfie asked him for more information about Matt. Their concerns grew when Tommy said that he had only ever spoken to his friend online.
But Tommy then made it clear that he wasn’t in danger from his online friend, as ‘Matt’ is an AI chat bot and doesn’t really exist.
He showed Kat and Alfie how his communication with his AI friend worked and explained that it was helping with his loneliness – even saying, "It’s like Matt’s all I’ve got".
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Alfie tried to keep an open mind about this technology, but Kat appeared devastated by her son’s admission and made it clear to Tommy that they were always here to support him.
Could Tommy’s friendship with ‘Matt’ do him more harm than good?
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.
