Joel Marshall’s (Max Murray) dark Adolescence-inspired plot swept EastEnders’ Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall) along, influencing both boys with twisted, misogynistic rhetoric.

Although Tommy never committed sexual assault or horrific violence like Joel, he still faces scrutiny for the part he played alongside his deeply disturbed friend.

Initially lonely and seeking friendship from an AI-powered chatbot, Tommy was captivated by charismatic Joel when he arrived in Walford, and Joel became his close friend, introducing him to extreme pornography and violent content.

Viewers became aware that Joel’s presence in Walford was due to him upskirting a fellow student in Australia, with his dad, Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw), paying the family of the victim $50,000 and complying with their demand that Joel leave the country.

Joel later recorded himself having sex with Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) and committed a sexual assault on the tube, convincing Tommy to record his hideous actions.

As it became apparent to the wider community that Joel was a grade-A wrong’un, Tommy’s parents Kat (Jessie Wallace) and Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) tried their hardest to convince their son to shun Joel to no avail, as Tommy dug his heels in and remained committed to the friendship.

After yet another incident at school with the boys playing explicit content to their classmates led to Joel physically attacking his step mother Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig), he turned to Tommy for help, begging his friend to hide him from the police.

ommy agreed, but the police eventually found Joel after both Tommy and his dad reported him, and they arrested him for the attack on Vicki.

Tommy has had to deal with the fallout of his venture into the ‘manosphere’ and the constant barrage of toxic content Joel exposed him to, even though he is not in a cell with his former friend.

In tonight’s episode, Kat and Alfie cautiously told Tommy that he could return to school the following day.

Tommy was horrified at the idea, with his peer group still taking to social media to ridicule and ostracise him after his involvement with monstrous Joel. When Kat tried to press, Tommy’s half-sister, Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), took a softer approach and played a video game with him, though when Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) enters, talking about Joel, Tommy flees.

While Alfie shared a drink with Ross, Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman), confirming that Tommy was strong and would recover quickly, Zoe challenged him, it being crystal clear to her that Tommy is struggling.

Later, Tommy sits alone in the café, when Lily Slater (Lillia Turner) and Ricky Branning (Charlie Day) took the opportunity to taunt him. As Ricky got fired up, Lily sent him away, though lingered back. She told Tommy that everybody hates him and he shouldn’t go back to school.

Alone and devastated, Tommy’s eyes filled with tears as the reality of the situation began to set in. Is there any way back for the youngster?