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.

After twenty years away, Zoe finally returned to Albert Square — and someone immediately shot her.

A special flashback revealed that during her twenty years away from Albert Square, Zoe got pregnant and gave birth to twins.

While her family stayed unaware, the flashback showed Zoe losing her baby girl at birth and fleeing the hospital, determined to give her baby boy 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 Zoe defeated Greg, she dropped another bombshell when her longtime nemesis Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) returned to the Square.

As the two women clashed, Zoe gleefully revealed that Sharon’s late husband, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harmon), was the father of her twins.

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.

Sharon previously pledged to invest her own money in the search, but she took a break from Walford with her half-sister Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) after her step-son Joel Marshall (Max Murray) brutally attacked her.

Zoe kept pressuring her mum for money, but Kat stayed focused on Tommy, now isolated after his ties 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.