Karen Taylor’s shock EastEnders return storyline revealed as The Six plot to get rid of her
The returnee is seeking answers.
THROWN out of Albert Square, Karen Taylor took the blame for Albie Watts’ fake kidnapping ordeal.
But after weeks away, actress Lorraine Stanley reprises her EastEnders role as her character comes back with a vengeance.
BBC One viewers will remember that Karen fled Albert Square in late 2023 after she was exposed for being behind Albie Watts’ kidnapping ordeal.
While her son Keanu Taylor was also involved, she was willing to take the fall to protect him and Phil Mitchell (played by Steve McFadden) made sure she would never show her face in Walford ever again.
However, Karen is impetuous and in scenes due to air next week, she returns to the Square with many questions about her son Keanu who has seemingly disappeared during the Christmas season.
Coming up, Karen comes back to Walford as Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) berates her daughter Bernie (Clair Norris) when she accidentally plays an old voice note from Keanu.
Nish was bottled on Christmas Day as he was trying to get his wife Suki back home and after spending time in a coma, he was told that Keanu was responsible before eventually running away to avoid facing the music.
Upon her return, Karen causes an immediate stir but how will Phil react to seeing her?
In other scenes, Karen continues to cause a stir at the café as she clashes with Nish.
But things soon go from bad to worse when Phil arrives and demands his £50k back – the sum he gave Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) to bring Albie back home safe and sound.
Karen is determined to get some answers about Christmas as Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) team up to convince her of their version of events.
Later on, Phil and Karen continue to clash when she refuses to pay up, but she quickly twists the knife about Nish and Kat Slater’s blossoming relationship.
She then reasons that Phil’s Walford empire is slipping away – how will he react?
Worried that Karen is a threat to their freedom, Kathy decides to call the police to report Karen for Albie’s kidnapping, before Phil turns to her for advice on how to handle her return.
Elsewhere, Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) baulks at the sight of Karen and rushes back to The Vic to pack a suitcase and leave.
Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) catches Linda and tries to persuade her otherwise, but the Vic landlady is adamant she is leaving with Alfie Moon.
In later scenes, Stacey is shocked when Elaine lets slip that Linda is leaving the Square.
Later on, however, Lauren Branning’s suspicions grow as she spots Linda secretly drinking in The Vic.
Things go from bad to worse as Karen then enters and demands an audience with Linda on the events of Christmas.
What does Karen know?
While this remains to be seen, viewers will remember that Keanu isn’t too far away from his loved one in the Square as he is buried underneath Kathy Beale’s café.
Kathy Beale, Stacey Slater, Suki Panesar, Sharon Watts and Denise Fox all contributed to disposing of Keanu’s body after Linda Carter stabbed him to death in the Queen Vic.
But will Linda confess everything to Karen?
EastEnders airs from Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.
