EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders' Lauren Branning was haunted by memories of her younger sister Abi following her return to Walford in today's scenes.
Monday's episode (January 8) saw Lauren open up to Sonia and Whitney about being back on the Square, where she was faced with constant reminders of Abi's life and death.
While the show's ardent fanbase will undoubtedly remember the tragic circumstances surrounding Abi's demise, here is a quick reminder if you don't:
How did Abi die?
Abi passed away in January 2018, following a tragic accident in the show's Christmas special a few weeks prior.
Abi first appeared in EastEnders in July 2006 when she moved to Albert Square with her family – Tanya, Max and Lauren. Her half-brother Bradley (who also died in similar circumstances) was already living there at the time.
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It will come as no surprise that Abi had a turbulent time during her 11 years on the Square, and had been having an affair with Lauren's fiancé Steven in the months before she died.
Abi even learned that Steven had lied about having a brain tumour so Lauren couldn’t leave him and aided this by giving him medication that would make his 'symptoms' seem more realistic.
Abi later discovered she was pregnant with Steven's baby but was left heartbroken when he ended up dying after being injured by Max in a fire at Ian’s restaurant.
Lauren was horrified when she later found out about all this, but did eventually make peace with her sister.
Things eventually came to a head when Lauren and Abi learned of Max's involvement in James Willmott-Brown's big revenge plan.
Tanya's surprise Christmas Day return, a few weeks after this, served as the final nail in the coffin for Max, who found himself on the roof of the Queen Vic, where he was preparing to jump.
The show's hour-long festive special that year ended with Lauren and Abi falling from the roof while trying to talk him down.
While Lauren managed to escape with relatively minor injuries, a heavily-pregnant Abi's situation was a lot more serious.
The medics managed to save her baby daughter – later named Abi in her honour – but Abi herself was declared brain dead.
She passed away not long after in in January 2018, when her family were strongly advised to turn off her life support.
Speaking about Abi's sad ending, Lorna Fitzgerald – who played her – said to Digital Spy at the time: "I was really overwhelmed by the response. When we were filming those scenes, it was really sad and I thought everyone was incredible. But in the past, I'd sometimes get comments like 'Abi is such a bitch'! I did wonder if maybe people would be happy to see her go!
"But it wasn't like that at all. All of the comments were about how sad it was. It was nice to see that the character had touched so many people and they were sad to see her leave."
Discussing the nature of Abi's final scenes, Lorna added: "It was very relaxed! It was quite a weird experience really, because it was a case of coming into work, getting paled up, having greasy hair and then lying in bed all day. I couldn't complain!"
Lauren then left Walford shortly after Abi's death, making brief returns in 2022 for Dot's funeral, and in a special episode in 2023.
It was later announced that Jacqueline Jossa would be making a full-time return as Lauren, whose return story kicked off over the New Year.
Lauren's return – what will happen next?
Today's scenes saw Lauren finally released from her brief stint in police custody, following her cousin Penny's deal with the police.
Lauren was arrested at the airport after Penny planted a huge supply of drugs in Lauren's bag when they were travelling on a flight from Paris to London together.
With Lauren facing a lengthy prison stint as a result, a guilty Penny was forced to face the consequences and ended up cooperating with the police over the drug dealers she was involved with.
Despite her relief at being released, it didn't take long for Lauren to acknowledge that living in Walford wasn't going to work in the long-term, and she was soon making plans to leave again.
However, Sonia stopped Lauren leaving by revealing that she’s got another sister in Walford.
Viewers know that Lauren's dad Max is the biological father of Linda's young daughter Annie, following their one-night stand in 2021.
Linda has been determined to keep Max from learning about Annie's paternity ever since she was born. but Lauren's discovery could now change everything…
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.
