Lily slams returning Sean in EastEnders – but then her discovery is a game changer

Sean Slater (Rob Kazinsky) is back in EastEnders, which inevitably means there’s some major conflict on the horizon, right?

His first port of call is Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), whose daughter Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd) has been groomed and taken away by slimy Craig Ingram (Matthew James Bailey).

‘I actually think that this relationship is the most storied for Sean; enemies to grudging acceptance,’ Rob mused about his character’s fraught bond with Jack.

‘The speed with which two men who have a fight can become friends is almost ridiculous and Sean and Jack have one thing that binds them together – they both love Amy.

‘Will that mean they become friends or will Jack resent her first father coming back into her life?

For a long time, Sean believed Amy was his child, something Rob admits to driving his desire to rescue her from Craig.

‘Sean never stopped thinking of Amy as his child, he held her in his arms as his daughter and finding out she wasn’t his was the hardest thing that ever happened to him,’ he said.

Sean was, of course, married to Amy’s late mum Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons).

‘He will protect her and love her as only a father ever could, he swore to Roxy that he would do so and nothing stops him keeping promises to Roxy Mitchell.’

Craig settled on his plan to abscond with Amy after learning that she was about to come into a hefty inheritance – the only problem? She couldn’t access it without the help of trustee, uncle Max Branning (Jake Wood).

Luckily for Craig and his desire to get his hands on the cash, Max needed to borrow money quickly to pay off his vicious ex-wife, Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), who’d learned that Max had left Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) alone on the night she died.

Max agreed to help Amy get to the money in exchange for a loan, while also neglecting to tell Jack that Amy was with his creepy former colleague.

Though he told son Oscar Branning (Pierre Counihan-Moullier) he planned to sort out the Craig situation, it was too late, and they fled the Square, leading to the return of Sean, and the wider family unaware that Max knew of Amy and Craig’s relationship.

After spending the night searching for Amy alongside Jack to no avail, Sean returns to the Square, where he is confronted by his niece Lily Slater (Lillia Turner), who’s less than impressed that her uncle hasn’t even bothered to say hello yet and rails at him.

Back at home, Jack and Sean update the family over their progress, and things soon turn volatile when they end up in a fierce argument with Max over his decision to let Amy access her inheritance money.

With Sean heading to the Vic in a bid to reunite with the wider Slater clan, it isn’t long until Lily herself arrives, having made a big breakthrough in the case.

Amy had used a tablet belonging to Charli, Lily’s daughter, to open a bank account, something Sean and Jack are delighted to hand over to the police, hoping this can lead them to Amy and rescue her from Craig – is this exactly what they need to bring Amy home?