It was a tale of two halves for EastEnders’ Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) tonight, as she stepped up as tower of strength for her younger half-brother, Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall) and, by extension, her mum Kat (Jessie Wallace), before reverting to her recent troublesome form and stealing from the Queen Vic till.
Zoe, and her seemingly endless supply of bombshells, has brought more drama to the Slaters’ door since her re-emergence than perhaps any other soap returnee ever.
Zoe was originally staying with (and stealing from) cousin Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), who called Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) for help, resulting in Zoe scarpering. Alfie, determined to reunite her with his wife and her mum, Kat, chased her across Europe to no avail, with little brother, Tommy, ending up being the one who brought her home.
Zoe finally set foot on Albert Square after a twenty year absence…and was immediately shot.
In a special flashback sequence, viewers learned that during her two decades away from Albert Square, Zoe had gotten pregnant and gave birth to twins.
While her family remained in the dark, audiences were shown how, tragically, her baby girl was stillborn and she fled the hospital without her baby boy, declaring her intention to give him up for adoption.
Her secret was blown when her past with incredibly dodgy P.I Greg Dolan (Dean Williamson), who she’d hired to help her find her son, came to light. As he held Zoe, Kat and Stacey hostage, seeking revenge for Zoe’s violent assault, he informed her mum and cousin of the nature of their relationship.
After Greg was vanquished, Zoe dropped another bombshell when her long term nemesis Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) returned to the Square.
As the two women went head to head, Zoe gleefully revealed that her twins had been fathered by Sharon’s own late husband, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harmon).
The bombs kept exploding as the rest of the Slaters learned of her previous involvement with Max Branning (Jake Wood).
With Stacey leaving in the aftermath of the latest revelation, Zoe’s found herself locked in a war with Jean Slater (Gillian Wright), while trying to source the funds for a private investigator.
While Sharon has previously pledged to put her own cash into the search, she’s taken a break from Walford with half-sister Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig), following her brutal attack at the hands of her step-son Joel Marshall (Max Murray).
While yesterday, Zoe continued to bug her mum for help with the money, Kat’s focussed remained on Tommy, who’s been left isolated following his involvement with Joel.
With Tommy refusing to return to school, Zoe offered to talk to him tonight. Zoe showed true heart and, with a couple of beautifully-written analogies about crisps, managed to break through to Tommy. She reminded him that though he was a Moon by name, he possessed a Slater spirit and, with that, came a reserve of strength and the ability to fight back against the odds.
Heartened, Tommy agreed with his sister and as he headed to bed, preparing to return to school the following day, Kat beamed, truly heartened by how Zoe handled the situation.
The joy was short-lived, though, when Kat discovered the till was short by a couple of hundred pounds. She was well aware of the culprit, and the audience learned who was behind the theft, too, as the next scene showed Zoe, on the phone to a new P.I, promising them further payment, with the stolen cash splayed out in front of her.
Has Zoe just annihilated any good will she’d accrued through her treatment of Tommy by stealing from her family?
