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Character Profiles > Zeke Kinski Matthew Werkmeister

Ezekiel [Zeke] Kinski 2005-
Parents: Alex and Francesca Kinski
Siblings: Katya and Rachel
Occupation: Student

Insecure and nervous, but highly intelligent, Zeke Kinski was home schooled for many years, first by his mother and, following her death, by his father, Alex, before being enrolled at Erinsborough High School. After returning from a camp for children of high intellectual potential, he found that his sister, Rachel, had befriended Bree Timmins, who herself had become something of a social outcast due to her talent for spelling. The three of them spent a lot of time together, as Bree attempted to teach Rachel and Zeke how to fit in with the other kids. Although Rachel made every effort to change, Zeke struggled to adapt and found it extremely difficult to deceive his father, particularly when Bree lied to Alex that her mother was going to be babysitting, when in fact the kids would all be home alone. Because Alex was off on a date with teacher Susan Smith from next-door, he allowed Bree’s older brothers Stingray and Dylan to be in charge, but soon came to regret the decision when Zeke ended up in hospital. Stingray had sent Zeke out to deliver a package – for the Timmins family’s courier service, Speed Freaks – a few blocks away, without realising that Zeke had no idea how to ride a bike.

As Bree spent more time with the Kinski kids, they realised that she spent most of her time lying to people, particularly adults, and challenged her to tell the truth for day. She, in turn, told them that they’d have to learn to be a little more deceitful, but Zeke quickly messed it up by telling his dad that the DVD they were planning to watch, whilst Alex was out on another date, was actually M-rated, rather than the PG they’d claimed it to be. Luckily, Alex had mellowed and was more interested in his date with Susan, but Bree wasn’t happy. Although Bree had a tendency to push Zeke around, it quickly became clear that she was developing a crush on her oblivious new friend. Meanwhile, when Alex went to Canberra on a business trip, he allowed Rachel and Zeke to stay at number 26 with Bree, and the three quickly found themselves in an interesting situation when they stumbled upon a lost cash cheque for $1000 outside Lassiter’s. Although Zeke was determined that they should leave it where it was, or hand it in to the police, the girls convinced him that taking it would be his chance to reinvent his image as a well-behaved nerd.

However, after they put the cheque into the bank, Alex soon found out, after a call from the bank manager, and was furious, but Susan convinced him that he shouldn’t be too angry, as the kids weren’t normally badly behaved. Before long, Alex and Susan were engaged, and love seemed to have touched another Kinski male, as Zeke realised that he was falling for Bree, spotting all of the clinical symptoms of love. He asked her to join him for a reptile exhibition at Science Works, but ended up forgetting about the date when his dad went missing. After Alex turned up, safe and well, Zeke apologised to Bree and they rescheduled. On the second date, Bree and Zeke shared a kiss, but he announced that he hadn’t felt the magic that one was supposed to when kissing a special someone, so they obviously weren’t meant to be. Humiliated, Bree ignored Zeke and Rachel for several days before the trio made up. Everyone’s lives were suddenly turned upside-down when a plane, organised to celebrate Lassiter’s 20th anniversary, crashed into Bass Strait. Although Alex and Susan were both on board, they were both found and returned to Erinsborough, but Zeke was concerned for Bree, whose older brother, Dylan, was missing, presumed dead. He slowly realised that he was falling in love with her and vowed to be there to support her through her grief.

The relationship was not to last long, however. When Rachel began seeing year 11 boy Jake Rinter in secret, Zeke blabbed everything to their father and a disgusted Bree told him that she couldn’t go out with such a snitch. There were soon bigger problems for the Kinskis, however, when Susan found out about Alex’s other daughter, Katya, who he’d thrown out of home at 16. The family set about tracking her down, none of them sure what would happen if they found her. With no word of Katya, there was an even bigger shock coming for Rachel and Zeke when Alex broke the news that he had terminal leukaemia and only weeks, if not days, to live. When Rachel then intercepted a call, replying to an ad in the Big Issue about Katya, she took Zeke off to the clinic where Katya was working, under the name Catherine Sangmu. They pleaded with Katya to return with them for Alex’s wedding to Susan, so she could say a final goodbye to him. Rachel also secretly hoped that Katya would agree to take her and Zeke in once their father was gone, as she felt that she could no longer trust any of the adults around her. Although Katya refused, she turned up in Ramsay Street just before the wedding and agreed to stick around for it. Before the ceremony, Alex said his goodbyes to Rachel and Zeke, asking them to look after each other, and he died later that evening.

Following his father’s death, Zeke refused to speak to anyone, and the family then spent Christmas with Susan’s daughter, Libby, and her family in Shepparton. Upon their return to Erinsborough, Zeke was still refusing to talk, though his thoughts revealed the pain he was in, as he spoke to his father. He apologised to Alex, explaining that when his mum was dying, he’d wished that it had been his dad instead, and now he felt guilty for making it happen. He had then decided to stop speaking, so that he would never say something so stupid and cause so much pain again. Following the funeral, Susan, Rachel and Zeke left for a trip on the trans-Siberian railway, what should have been Susan and Alex’s honeymoon.

Upon their return, Zeke was still refusing to talk, but was anxious to see Katya again and relieved when he found out that she was still around, having moved closer to Ramsay Street and got a job at Erinsborough Hospital. After one of his counselling sessions, Zeke finally opened up and spoke to Katya, but continued to stay mute around everyone else. Although Rachel struggled to cope with her silent brother, Bree found a new sympathy for him and suggested that they start dating again. The situation came to a head when Rachel was electrocuted by a faulty sandwich toaster and Zeke was finally forced to speak as he called for an ambulance. Meanwhile, a custody battle began over Rachel and Zeke, with both Susan and Katya claiming that they’d make a better guardian. Although Rachel desperately wanted to stay with Susan, Zeke was equally desperate to live with Katya, claiming that she needed her brother and sister with her. After mediation failed, the case was set to go to the family court, until Susan came to realise how important it was for Katya to make up for her past mistakes. Zeke and Rachel went to live with their older sister, but they both assured Susan that she would always be their mother.

Although the three siblings gradually got used to living together, Katya’s attempts to be a cool guardian led to Rachel and Zeke being late for school and Susan became concerned. Whilst Katya went out on a date, Rachel was determined to throw a party, but Zeke wasn’t so sure and spent the night drinking a bottle of cordial, which was actually alcohol, left behind accidentally by Stingray earlier that day. By the end of evening, he was unconscious on the couch and, when Susan called by, she was alarmed by the situation and, at the hospital, asked Katya if she was really cut out to be a guardian. Meanwhile, Zeke’s behaviour at school also gave cause for concern, as he was caught using a marker pen on lockers and desks and getting into fights with other boys. However, Rachel finally got to the bottom of the matter when she realised that Zeke was simply defending Bree’s name against bullies. Soon after, Rachel and Katya became concerned about Susan not coping in an empty house, and, with Katya also having problems bringing up her brother and sister, it was proposed that they all move to Ramsay Street. Susan was delighted with the idea and before long, the Kinskis were all under one roof. Zeke continued to struggle with his identity, however, and living with three women only made things harder for him. When he decided to try out for the school football team, he was left embarrassed, so Susan asked Karl to coach him. The pair got on well, despite their joint lack of sporting prowess, and it seemed that Zeke had found himself a role model to take the place of his dad. However, when Bree pointed out that Susan was developing feelings for her ex-husband, Zeke was left upset and angry. Things only got worse when Susan rushed to help Karl out with his senile father on the anniversary of Alex’s death and Zeke was left wondering if she had ever really loved Alex.

Bree’s discovery that she had been accidentally swapped at the hospital, meaning that Janelle and Kim weren’t her real parents, led to an identity crisis which gradually filtered down to Zeke. At first, she went for a ‘Paris Hilton’ look and, fearing he’d be left behind with all the changes, Zeke tried to keep up. But just as he’d perfected his new look, Bree turned up dressed like a goth. Zeke’s insecurities about his relationship only increased, and he also found it difficult growing up in a house full of girls. Although horrified when it emerged that Susan and Karl had been having a secret affair for weeks, Zeke patched things up with Karl, his only male role model, over a game of chess and came to accept that Susan still needed some love in her life, even with Alex gone. His relationship with Bree also took a new turn, thanks to Bree’s new friend, Anne Baxter, who was blind. Interfering Anne sent a letter to Zeke, claiming that it was from Bree, which told him that she loved him. Zeke was touched and it made him more secure in the relationship, until Anne then blurted out that she’d typed the letter. As the weeks went on, more similar incidents led Bree to believe that Anne was trying to ruin her life and take over her relationships with her friends and family, but Zeke couldn’t really see what she was talking about, unable to picture sweet Anne as a master manipulator. Events finally came to a head on the night of the school formal, when Zeke decided to take Anne instead of Bree. Later that evening, in the General Store, Anne presented a sob story to Zeke about how her parents didn’t love her like a normal child and she’d never even been kissed by a boy. Zeke leaned in and kissed her, putting the final nail in the coffin for his relationship with Bree, and leading to Anne being cast out from the Timmins house. A desperate Anne then broke the news to Janelle that she was her biological daughter – the real Bree Timmins.

With the truth out, it wasn’t long before Anne was whisked away by her parents, who were adamant that they didn’t want to know the Timmins family or have the past raked up. Zeke found something new to distract him, however, when Toadie told him about a stash of girly mags in the loft, which had kept the young male residents of number 28 entertained for years. But things took a strange turn when Zeke found Katya as the centrefold model in a copy of Ambrosia. He attempted to keep the information to himself, stashing the magazine in his bag as he left for footy training, but one of his teammates, Garrett Burns, found it and made copies, which soon spread across the school and hospital. Katya was left with no choice but to reveal the truth to her younger siblings – she’d spent her late teens battling a drug addiction and had used any means possible to make money, including posing for those photos. Zeke and Rachel realised how hard their sister had worked to get her life back on track and become a nurse, but Zeke found himself facing a lot of flack for his sister’s past. Katya suggested that Zeke could easily impress his mates by claiming that he regularly hung out with his big sister’s glamorous model friends. The plan worked and, before long, Zeke was being invited by team captain Garrett to become part of the footy team and play in the final the following week, where he won everyone over by scoring the winning goal.

Not used to such adulation, Zeke’s new-found popularity quickly went to his head as he started speaking like a ‘gangsta’, tried to get a tattoo and had a couple of dates with bimbo Madison Sullivan. When new P.E. teacher Pepper Steiger arrived at the school, the boys were all impressed and Zeke had the added advantage that she’d just moved in next-door to him, with some other new tenants at number 30. When Zeke then started cleaning the house for the newcomers, he couldn’t resist stealing a pair of Pepper’s knickers from the washing line and bragging about it to his mates. But when Pepper found out that her knickers were being passed around the classroom, she nipped the matter in the bud, warning Zeke that his behaviour was childish and hurtful and agreeing not to take the matter further, if he cleaned the house for free, for the rest of term. Although this marked the end of Zeke’s sudden charge of hormones, his crush on Pepper only got worse. As Zeke watched Pepper interact with her fiancé, Frazer Yeats, he concluded that she wasn’t being treated well. After helping Pepper to organise a romantic picnic in the park, Zeke was then shocked as he hid in the bushes and overheard the pair talking about their fake engagement. Later that night, Zeke was out practising his cricket techniques when Pepper suddenly appeared and started talking to him about how her feelings for him were more than just friendship and, although it was wrong, she wanted to take things further. Zeke thought his luck was finally in, until he found out that she had been sleepwalking and the things she had said were meant for Frazer.

Having got past his “school stud” phase, Zeke got back together with Bree, but soon had something new to worry about when Katya became involved with Guy Sykes. Guy was a former acquaintance of Katya’s, with whom she’d committed numerous robberies in order to fund her drug habit. Having found out that she was now clean, Guy had tracked her down and blackmailed her with video evidence of her past crimes. At the same time, Guy had befriended Rachel and Zeke, claiming to have been at nursing college with Katya. The kids had little reason to doubt his story, until Katya found herself in a coma, after confronting Guy with a gun, and ending up the victim of the bullet. In the weeks that followed, Guy, convinced that Katya had hidden $10,000 before their confrontation, started searching Ramsay Street and was caught at number 30 by Zeke, who was cleaning there. Zeke then caught Guy standing over Katya’s bed holding the defibrillator, about to try and shock her back to life. As Katya stirred from her coma, Guy turned on Zeke and was about to attack him instead, when Katya grabbed one of the paddles and shocked Guy, who collapsed. Once she was well again, Katya was taken into police custody and released on bail just in time for Christmas. Things finally seemed to be going well for Zeke as he thought back on losing his father the previous year and accepted Karl as his new dad. Things with Bree were also going well, as he bought her a kitten named Willow as a present (little realising that she actually hated cats). But, as the family prepared to set off to see Libby and Darren in Shepparton, Katya called in at number 32 to see Ned, only to be confronted by a gun-wielding Guy.

When Zeke went over to the house to find his sister, he ended up caught in the siege as well, along with Steph, baby Charlie and Toadie. As the situation continued, Zeke was eventually the hero of the hour when, as Guy was threatening Steph, he hit him over the head with a book. Although everyone managed to get out, Toadie was shot and ended up in emergency surgery, while Katya realised that the family was in danger and disappeared from Erinsborough, skipping bail in the process. Worried that his sister would be in more trouble unless she returned in time to sign in at the police station, Zeke decided to track her down and, when he heard that Bree’s mum, Janelle, was heading to Walker State Park with her new boyfriend, Senior Sergeant Allan Steiger, he remembered that it was a childhood holiday destination. After hitching a lift in Steiger’s truck, Zeke managed to track Katya down to a cabin, but Bree was caught and forced to tell Steiger everything. Katya, meanwhile, refused to go back to Erinsborough with Zeke, but it was too late, as Steiger caught up with her and contacted the other officers. After being beaten up in hospital, Katya finally came to her senses and agreed to give evidence and, as Zeke spent a few weeks in South Australia, training with the Adelaide Crows football team, he called home and told Katya about a job as a medical assistant with the team. She got the job and left Erinsborough and, soon after, Zeke returned home. In the weeks that followed, things changed at home for Zeke and Rachel, as Karl confided in them that he was about to propose to Susan. And he was on hand to comfort both Bree and Rachel when Stingray died suddenly, after developing an aneurysm only days after saving baby Kerry Mangel’s life by donating bone marrow to her.

Within days of newly-married Karl and Susan returning from London, the Kinski-Kennedys happy union was in danger when Susan told Karl that Izzy Hoyland’s baby, Holly, who he had helped to deliver, was his daughter. Karl decided that he had to return to London and see his child, while Susan was left alone, but only briefly, as she was soon surprised by the return of former flame, and ex-priest, Tom Scully, who was the new principal of the high school. Zeke and Rachel grew concerned by his presence, worried that Susan would choose to take him back and end her marriage once more. As he worried about his future, Zeke also started to examine his relationship with Bree. As he watched Rachel and her new boyfriend, Ringo happily kissing in public, he began to wonder why his girlfriend was never that affectionate towards him. And so, as Susan chose Karl over Tom and the Kinski kids found that they were secure at home, Bree and Zeke decided to end their relationship, realising that perhaps they were better off as friends than boyfriend and girlfriend.

It wasn't long before Zeke had struck up a new relationship with Lolly Allen, Lou Carpenter's daughter, who had moved back to Erinsborough from the country. After weeks of pretending not to like each other, Zeke and Lolly went on their first date to the movies. The date went well, but ended badly when over-protective Lou turned up at number 28 and interrupted them. Once he had gone, the pair shared a first, awkward kiss, a moment that was captured on camcorder by Rachel, who was desperate for something interesting to raise the profile of the school's blogzine. After learning that Rachel had uploaded their kiss onto the internet, they took revenge by kidnapping her stuffed pony, Krispy, a toy that very few people knew about, but something that she couldn't bear to be parted with. Zeke and Lolly's romance quickly faced a big obstacle when she decided to return to the country, where she missed her half-siblings Braiden and Keisha. They agreed to remain a couple, and Zeke joined her as Lou drove her out of Erinsborough, but only a few weeks later, Zeke was devastated when Lolly dumped him by text message.

With his love life dead in the water, Zeke had other things to worry about when Susan ran down Bridget Parker, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the new family who had moved in at number 26, following Bree and Janelle's move up north. As Susan faced the prospect of going to jail, and decided that she would have to be punished for leaving Bridget disabled, Zeke and Rachel pleaded with her to change her plea to 'not guilty'. Susan eventually agreed to this, but at the trial, things took a dramatic twist when it was revealed that the symptoms Susan was displaying, which had caused her to black out behind the wheel, were more serious than the menopause, as had first been diagnosed. Following another series of tests, and another misdiagnosis, Susan was found to be suffering from multiple sclerosis. Karl and Susan's daughter, Libby returned to town to help out and support everyone, and Zeke and Rachel slowly started to feel pushed out, worried that, after the deaths of their mum and dad, they were about to lose someone else close to them, despite Karl's assurances that Susan's condition could be managed. Soon, both Kinski kids were finding outlets for their emotions - Rachel started seeing older man Angus Henderson who later turned out to be the new substitute English teacher at the school - while Zeke accepted an invitation from Jessica Wallace to attend an illegal rave party. Zeke's big night out proved to be a revelation, and he enjoyed himself for the first time in months, even finding himself a new girlfriend in the form of Jessica's scatty best friend Taylah Jordan, with the pair staring up at the stars together and sharing a kiss.

When Libby caught Zeke coming home, he confessed everything, and she agreed not to pile any more worry on Karl and Susan at the moment, and even dealt with an incident in which Zeke got into a fight with Justin Hunter, who started marking cruel remarks about Susan. Soon after, the teens made plans to attend another illegal rave, lying that they were going to an all night movie marathon at the local cinema. As Zeke and Taylah came clean to the others about their relationship, the night ended in tragedy when the roof of the building caved in, trapping many of the party-goers in the rubble. Trapped alone, Zeke was surprised to hear the voices of Libby and Karl. Libby, feeling responsible for the whole mess as she hadn't told her parents about Zeke's late-night antics, had rushed into the warehouse, followed by Karl, but just as they were all reunited, a secondary collapse occurred, leaving them all trapped, and knocked Libby unconscious. Zeke was upset when Karl instinctively went to help Libby, but realising that she was trapped, returned to get Zeke out. Though angry, Zeke did his best to help, managing to free both himself and Karl, and they quickly got help inside, pointing out to the rescuers exactly where Libby was trapped. Though they all made it out alive, Jessica wasn't so lucky. As Zeke tried to deal with the feelings of abandonment thanks to Karl's actions in the warehouse, he turned to Ringo, who had just started a relationship with Jess, for support, rather than his own family.

Following a ceremony by the river to say a final farewell to Jess, Zeke started to soften slightly towards Karl, and he admitted to Libby that he understood why Karl had gone to her instead of him, it was his natural instinct. He told her that it wasn't Karl's actions that had upset him, but the realisation that neither of his parents were still around, and there was nobody on Earth who would risk their life for him in that way. But Karl was determined to make Zeke realise just how loved he was, so they also had a little chat, with Karl telling his stepson that although he loved all of his natural children, he'd had no option to do that, whereas he'd had the chance to get to know Zeke and was truly honoured to be a part of his life.

Magic Moments
Episode 4791: Zeke's Arrival

Biography by Steve

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