This article contains spoilers from an episode of EastEnders scheduled to air on BBC One on February 8. It is already available to view on BBC iPlayer.
Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley) has departed Walford once again in EastEnders.
The beloved character left at the end of last year after stealing Phil Mitchell’s (Steve McFadden) money. Recently, however, she decided to head back home in search of her son Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters).
Keanu was killed on Christmas Day by Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). While The Six – Linda, Stacey (Lacey Turner), Suki (Balvinder Sopal), Sharon (Letitia Dean), Denise (Diane Parish) and Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) – all know his body is currently buried under the café, residents of Albert Square believe he ran away shortly after a showdown and discovering Albie wasn’t his child.
Karen thought Phil and Sharon were the reason behind Keanu’s sudden disappearance. She spent the majority of the day picking for information from the likes of Phil, Jack (Scott Maslen) and Stacey but failed to get to the truth.
Bursting into the pub, Karen turned her attention to Linda, who was already somewhat drunk.
Linda tried her best to keep quiet, but when Karen touched a nerve and wondered how she would feel if the ordeal happened to Annie or Ollie, fragile Linda very nearly said something risky – but then Kathy arrived.
That evening, Bernie Taylor (Clair Norris) found Karen and urged her to take Kathy and Phil’s deal and leave Walford again. She said Keanu was apoplectic with rage when he discovered the truth about Albie, and will more than likely return in the future perfectly fine.
Karen listened to Bernie and knew she was right. After apologising to her daughter, Karen found Phil and Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) and informed them she was leaving as well.
Outside, before saying goodbye to Bernie, Karen said that she knew people in Walford were lying to her, and secrets don’t stay buried for very long.
With that, she hopped into a cab, put her sunglasses on (this is the new Karen, after all) and departed Albert Square.
Karen is absolutely right – secrets always get revealed in the end – but just who will discover the truth about Keanu Taylor’s disappearance?
