This storyline is absolutely sick.

If this was real life and a news website reported that a man set fire to his house and accidentally burned his wife as she was inside the comments would be one after the other saying what scum he was.

But Eastenders think it's a good idea to make Alfie a vulnerable victim of not knowing what else to do, even if you take Kat out of it, that fire could have spread next door. I also found it annoying that people ran into the burning building, in a real fire situation running into a building that's on fire is one of the stupidest things any person could do.

I totally get how it was written - he needed to rescue Kat, he needed the money but it is still setting a really bad example because what he did was horrible...and to do it to a lovable character doesn't make what he did any more right. He has messed up big time and there should be no way back for Alfie. And Eastenders should show him living with the consequences of this.

Bother - you just made me laugh.

I am slightly disappointed that they gave Alfie the arson storyline because it does conflict slightly with his loveable personality - on the other hand it is good to show that things are not black and white in life and when pushed to breaking point or in a desperate situation most people are capable of doing wrong - Ronnie's prison counsellor said sometimes good people do bad things and you have to try and separate the person from the action.

Realistically, Alfie would either have a breakdown, attempt suicide, hand himself in/tell the truth or live with terrible guilt for the rest of his life. Mind you, when he first came in, he had spent time in prison and he did pretend to be Chris Wright so despite his cheeky chappie personality, he was always a chancer - it was Peggy's kindness and then falling for Kat that changed him but he still has that edge and that can come out in desperate situations.

As for the news - sadly the majority in the world are judgemental. I heard recently that a man killed his girlfriend in mistake for an intruder - I was a bit shocked but I didn't judge him because though I didn't personally know the man, I didn't believe he meant to harm his girlfriend and after all he will have to live with this for the rest of his life. I did think though that he was an idiot for not thinking that there is another person in the house, checking all the rooms and ringing the police if he really thought there was an intruder - the most that would have happened then is him being told off for wasting police time.

Yes, or maybe he attempts suicide/self harms but survives or has a breakdown and goes to hospital. Is that why Frank left Pat all those years ago then? Guilt over the fire?

While I agree that he should have checked all the rooms, he did make a desperate, ill thought out decision and in such situations people are usually impulsive. Besides, if he had done that, people might start to say that the arson was thought out and calculated.

which it was, just poorly thought out.

I guess so. I can't help feeling sorry for the poor guy though. Does this remind anyone of the kind of thing John Stape in Corrie might have done?

I'm liking the fire story and the aftermath but cannot understand why Alfie felt so desperate and to start the fire was the only way to sort things out? Did he even think about consulting social services and the housing department, with a wife and three very young children they would probably not have been evicted and certainly would not be out on the street. His pride might not have liked it but surely this is better than the action he took?

I'm of the opinion that he knew Kat was in there and set it alight deliberately. I look forwards to seeing him sharing a cell with Bubba for the rest of his miserable life. Ernie too.

I'm hardly Alfie's biggest fan but he really didn't. His actions were foolish and stupid (if no other reason that with terraced houses his neighbour's were endangered if it had got as far as the loft and spread) and of course illegal but he had done his best to ensure that the house was empty and thought that only one room would be damaged.

I don't see what they can do with Alfie now especially as Mick knows he set fire to the place. It's a shame as I actually like Alfie but they have made it so there is very little that Alfie can do now. They should have just left him, Kat and the children as a happy family.

Pretty much yes. Phil had done it as a favour for him to claim the insurance for the car lot (he was also in serious financial trouble) and he just couldn't handle the guilt of a young man (the homeless boy) having died because if it and not being able to confess because Phil would also get into trouble. Plus of course the money worries were still there.

It all got too much and one day he just walked away in a daze and when he returned we learnt he'd spent time in an institution.

Yes he was desperate and honestly didn't think that it would spread and was empty anyway but taking the photo out of the house all together rather than just another room showed a certain amount of forethought and that he knew there was a possibility it would spread. And as I said before, if it had got to the loft it would have spread to the other houses in the block and he hadn't made sure they were empty had he.

That is why Arson carries such a heavy mandatory sentence, because even 'little' fires can get out of control so quickly and kill people even if it wasn't the initial intention.

I actually think the photo could be his downfall (if he doesn't just crack and confess) - somebody will find it or he will retrieve it and somebody will want to know how it survived. It's still in the frame so he can't say Spencer or someone sent him a copy. They might have seeded it last night with Stacey being upset about losing her photos of Bradley.

Though that said, nobody ever found the evidence Michael put in the bin the night of his murder - Alice's bloody clothes wasn't it?

I'm worried it can damage Mick as well. So quickly off the back of him covering for Ian, is he now going to keep quiet and jeopardise his family relationships to protect another bloke he has only just met?

Kat's injuries aside, Alfie has committed a serious crime and I don't see how he can get away with it. Perhaps he killed Lucy Beale as well and is being given a massively dramatic exit storyline. To be honest, I'd accept that just to see the back of him.

Maybe they've done this precisely to show some of these stories you see in the News in a different light? to wonder what their circumstances were, what could have made them resort to such dangerous, drastic and desperate measures rather than just condemn them? But, by the same token, they are demonstrating how easily things can get out of hand, how disastrous the consequences can be which surely will act as a deterrant to anybody in a similar situation rather than giving them the idea.

I do agree that they should show the long term effects on everybody involved but the risk is that some viewers will be complaining that it is boring within a couple of months.

Agree about the photo. I don't think it was put in to show forethought, but as a device to expose him. He might delay it by going back and removing the frame, moving the photo and then bringing it out one day, saying that Spencer sent him a copy. I can see Kat eventually phoning Spencer to thank him and finding out that he didn't send any copies.

When we saw Alfie looking at the photo of Nana before he started the fire on Monday, I (and someone else also mentioned it in the episode thread) thought that it was showing that he knew that she wouldn't approve of what he was doing. It could also be that knowing that, he couldn't bear to have her photo in there at the time.

Absolutely - there is a world of difference between a criminal and a person that commits a criminal act. Of course any crime requires some form of punishment but sometimes good, usually law abiding people can be driven to do something wrong in extreme circumstances.

As I say, I try not to be judgemental and whilst not excusing it (arson is a stupid, dangerous act under any circumstances) I do tend to assume that there must be more to these news stories of people setting their own houses on fire with families in it.

I have a slightly different view on the killing your girlfriend thinking it was an intruder. The most obvious recent case was Pistorias and my view on that was given the 'intruder' was locked in another room, why didn't he just get as far away as possible and wait for the Police. He may not have known it was his girlfriend but he knew someone was in there, someone who might have broken into his home but was,kt an immediate threat as they were locked in another room. So, by firing several bullets into it he knew was probably killing somebody. But, he might have been scared, not thinking straight and SA has very different attitudes to guns and dealing with intruders in your home.

Yes that is an idea - it wasn't just to save it for himself but because he couldn't bear to have her 'looking' at him as he committed the act.

I'm sure it will trip him up though and can see it being Stacey that works it out.

Time for that ham Shane Ritchie to go and never return

If Phil, Ben, Stacey, Ronnie, Janine, and Ian can recover I'm sure Alfie will

Another day and half assed murderer Alfie is still walking the streets. I fear that he will strike again soon and you'll all be sorry you didn't listen to me.

I don't see how Kat can ever forgive him. There are four kids living in that house and as proven he did not know for sure it was empty.

I also feel Dot is a bit of a forgotten victim in this. An elderly woman has been forced to leave her home because of him. What if Dot had been in there and the fire had spread? Arson is a very dangerous thing.

Lol!

You make him sound like Jack The Ripper!

Strike again? What? Another match?

I'm more than a match for Alfie Moon!

We could call him Alfie The Striker, mystery arsonist of Walford!

If Alfie and Kat are staying then this storyline will have to be swept under the rug like Stacey killing Archie. Somewhere down the line Alfie will be outed and a few months later everyone will have forgiven and forgotten. It really is sensationalised drama just for the sake of it. Can anyone really see Kat walking around with burns on her face for the rest of her days?

I read somewhere that alfie dies soon. Maybe he kills himself if it's true. I prefer darker story lines with alfie and if the rest of the story is done well it could be quite emotional.