EastEnders' Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) is on the run having faked his death to escape the debt he's in and left wife Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) with a windfall of £50,000 - that actually belongs to Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). Has the cockney con artist left his missus in danger from Walford's scariest man?

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Thursday 24 January's double episode (there's no EastEnders on Friday 25 January to accommodate BBC1's live football coverage) saw the Slaters fear Alfie had taken his own life after police paid a visit with some worrying news, and after a showdown with Phil and some shock revelations the full story emerged.

But there were so many twists and turns surrounding Alfie's fate - with Richie having made his last appearance for now on Tuesday - we thought it might be helpful to run through the intricate plot (in case you missed it, or got a bit lost) and what it means for the Moons' future…

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Debt-ridden Alfie has faked his death
Alfie's ill-fated undertaker business Blue Moon Funerals clearly wasn't a "good way to go," despite the snappy slogan, as it landed its proprietor in a mountain of debt he couldn't see a way out of. Being in the death business, resourceful Alf has staged his own demise by disappearing without a trace, bar the cryptic text to Kat he was in trouble, and abandoned his car on the edge of a cliff to make it look as if he'd taken his own life. The cops have bought the set-up, and anyone Alfie owed money to knows they won't be seeing the cash again. Apart from one irate lender…

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Alfie used Phil's £50,000 to provide for Kat and the kids
On Tuesday Alfie begged Phil to lend him 50 big ones to get him out of his financial pickle, putting up a swanky state-of-the-art car he had hidden in a secret lock-up as collateral. That car is now gone, and was not the one left on the cliff face, and a hastily hand-written note left for Kat led her on a treasure hunt to her bedroom wardrobe where Alfie had put the money. Realising he'd left it to provide for her and the kids having let them down so badly throughout the whole Hayley/Cherry debacle, Kat got a text from an unknown number at the end of the episode from Alfie saying 'Keep the faith, I'll be home soon', confirming he was still alive. All very noble, put not necessarily good news all round for Kat…

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Kat now owes Phil the money
The fatal flaw in Alfie's plan to provide this hefty nest egg for Kat is that it puts her in danger from Phil's wrath. Mr Mitchell shot round to the Slaters to demand his money back and when he learnt what the police had told the family he made it clear to Kat she was now in debt to him. Either Phil saw straight through Alfie's 'suicide' scam or he's the least sympathetic person on the planet - what if Kat really had just been widowed?! Kat now has a dilemma on her hands - does she keep the cash and put herself at risk of protecting her deceitful other half, or 'fess up to Phil and the cops Alfie is still out there? If she does decide to keep it, won't Phil get suspicious once she starts splashing out on designer gear for the kiddies?

Kat (Jessie Wallace) and Alfie (Shane Richie) on EastEnders
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It might not be over for Kat and Alfie
Alfie may out of the picture (Shane Richie is about to join the cast of West End musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie) but he's left a big old mess behind that Kat is going to have to clean up, and incoming 'Enders boss Kate Oates has already said she's not ruling addressed the possibility of whether the Moons will be reunited down the line. "I'm excited about moving Kat on with refreshing dynamics," she said in an interview this week, "but Kat and Alfie will always have that bond and if you wanted to bring it back to that, you absolutely could. I would work with Shane again."

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