EastEnders spoilers follow.
It’s finally happening! EastEnders is officially welcoming back Zoe Slater, two months after she briefly reappeared on our screens.
Fans were treated to one of the most exciting comebacks in years back in June when Michelle Ryan reprised her role as Zoe.
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Her return aired as part of a big surprise in Ben Wadey’s first episode as executive producer and saw a troubled Zoe share tense reunions with Stacey and Alfie in a location away from Walford.
Though brief at the time, Zoe is about to make a permanent comeback to the Square, with fans eagerly waiting to see what her reconciliation with estranged mother Kat Moon will look like next week.
BBC
There’s even more at stake too. During Zoe’s three-episode stint earlier in the summer, it became clear she is hiding a dark secret about her time away – a catalyst for bigger stories to come.
But these are not the only questions we have regarding her return. Another huge talking point is whether EastEnders is finally going to address that twist regarding the twin brother she has (or possibly doesn’t have – it’s really not clear).
Back in 2015, EastEnders made the bold decision to retcon one of their biggest ever stories when Kat visited the nunnery she’d given birth in. The episode delved further into Kat’s tragic backstory and how this had impacted her adult life.
However, the biggest shock of all came when the viewers were let into the mother of all secrets – Kat had actually birthed a baby boy alongside Zoe all those years ago.
Sister Ruth, played by June Whitfield, had remembered Kat delivering twins as a teenager and found evidence of this in her records. She opted not to share this with an oblivious Kat at the time, but her conscience eventually got the better of her a few months later.
Whatever your thoughts are on the controversial twist, it led to some excellent television when Kat eventually did discover the truth in explosive scenes that ultimately led to the demise of her dad Charlie.
During a special Slater-focused week, which also saw Stacey’s postpartum psychosis story reach a peak, Kat was visited by Sister Ruth, and the whole shocking truth came to light.
Kat was furious with both Big Mo (who had played a role in the cover-up) and Charlie (who hadn’t) but her life was turned upside down all over again when Charlie had a heart attack amid all the arguing and died.
After the Charlie tragedy, Kat made the decision to head to Ireland to find her long-lost son – Luke – and this was the premise for EastEnders spinoff Kat and Alfie: Redwater, which had been announced the year before.
Now, we are sorry to have to bring up Redwater (some things are better left in the past) but viewers who watched the six-part series will know that Kat did end up finding Luke and found herself in deadly danger as a result.
That’s because one of the first major secrets to be revealed in the series was that Luke, aka Dermott, was a dangerous, murdering priest, who was, unsurprisingly, not to be trusted.
But where is Luke now? Does Kat know? Does she care? And how exactly did she escape that worrying sea situation with him?
So many questions. So few answers. But we are hoping that after eight years, Zoe’s return might finally change some of this.
Frustratingly, Redwater has hardly been mentioned in the main show since it aired, and the small matter of Kat’s killer son hasn’t been referenced at all.
When Kat returned to EastEnders in 2018, it quickly became clear that the drama of Redwater and Luke were being swept under the rug, which is where they have remained ever since.
Understandably, this has become a topic of discussion amongst fans in the years that have followed.
Some viewers are still waiting for Kat to acknowledge the mysterious twin story, while others think the whole saga should simply be forgotten altogether. Redwater was, after all, a different show, meaning it could all be retconned and written off completely as non-canon – never to be mentioned again.
And that might have worked if the story hadn’t initially been set up in the main show. But it was. Regardless of whether you watched the spinoff, Kat’s discovery about Luke – and the drama that followed, including Charlie’s death – all played out in EastEnders itself. While it is not unheard of for stories to be scrapped, it is unusual, especially one of this magnitude.
Wadey has already confirmed that Zoe’s years away from Walford will be explored when she returns.
BBC
“When we met Zoe back in June, we saw she wasn’t in a good place – and was clearly hiding secrets,” he said. “She was also insistent that she couldn’t face seeing her mum again. But why? And why has she shunned Kat for so many years?
“Since Zoe left, we know their relationship deteriorated until Zoe cut ties completely. I’ve always been fascinated as to why, especially as they left on good terms. We have twenty years of history to explore, and so much has happened to both of them since they were last on screen together.”
So, whether you are in favour of the controversial Luke twist being dredged up again or not, it would seem bizarre for Zoe not to learn that she has a twin brother as she heads back home to her family.
It would also be doing Kat a complete injustice not to mention such a life-changing piece of news to her daughter, given how much lasting damage the lies about Zoe’s upbringing have caused them both.
If it is not addressed at this point, then it likely will never be. We have waited eight years for the story to be resolved and there is no better time than now.
EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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