Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) has found herself deeply unwell again in EastEnders as the Slater family desperately tries to hold itself together following the trauma of Christmas Day.

Christmas 2025 at the Queen Vic saw the return of Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman), Zoe Slater’s (Michelle Ryan) realisation that her daughter, Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness), was alive and had been in her midst for months, and the death of Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey), leading to Zoe’s arrest, leaving the fan favourite family utterly broken.

It goes back much further, for Jean, though.

Stacey Slater’s (Lacey Turner) decision to pack up and move to Brazil alongside children, Hope and Arthur, rocked Jean to her core and began the slow decline in her mental wellbeing.

Freddie Slater’s (Bobby Brazier) departure marked the first visible symptoms in Jean, as she acted incredibly erratically at his going-away party, while also revealing that she’d sent Zoe a threatening message, believing her to be the reason behind the loss of Stacey and the misfortune continually plaguing her family, hoping another incident would force her to leave.

Yesterday saw Jean throw herself headfirst into an investigation into Anthony’s death. Although seemingly, and rather uncomfortably, the initial scenes with Jean’s incident board and visit to the psychiatrist alongside Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) were played for comedy, by the end of the episode, Jean had decided that Jasmine was the murderer and had single-handedly decimated the Slater clan.

Jean’s journey with bipolar disorder has been one of EastEnders’ longest-running and most celebrated storylines, due in large part to Gillian Wright’s nuanced and deeply emotive portrayal and the fearless yet respectful writing. This humble writer has always been gripped by Jean and her mental health struggles, which made yesterday’s scenes incredibly difficult to watch.

Today, however, saw a return to form. Eve Panesar-Unwin (Heather Peace), popped in to check on Jean, who was engrossed in a video detailing some rather out-there theories on good and evil. Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter), following her visit from an erratic Jean, grabs Alfie and voices her concern for her mental health.

As Alfie explains to Eve that the chemist had none of Jean’s new medication in stock, Jean, explodes into the kitchen after hearing Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) talking to herself. Sam is spending time with her granddaughter, Charli, but Jean believes that Sam is in league with Jasmine and is working to take her great-granddaughter away.

Alfie manages to calm things, though Jean’s delusions and paranoia continue to grow as she dives even deeper into the online video, which is talking about demonic possession.

As Eve heads to check on Jean, she finds an empty room and an open window, before Jasmine is rocked by the appearance of Jean in her room. Frantic and clearly struggling to decipher what’s real and what’s happening in her head, Jean breaks, describing how her life went from a deep darkness to light when she was taken in to the heart of the Slater clan.