Last week I was wondering whether or not TPTB over at AMC brought Greenlee back with the intention of making everyone HATE her.  Now I have to wonder if Kelly Monaco (aka: Sam McCall on GH) has done something to piss off Frons and the other PTB. 

I think Sam lovers AND Sam haters can all agree on one thing:  We're soooo glad that the never-ending flow of tears has...welll, ended!  Good!  Great!  Looked like we were getting somewhere... finally.  I rejoiced when I read the spoilers proclaiming that Sam would visit The Jason in prison and come clean about her machinations as well as her non-actions in the Jakenapping.  Color me stunned when Sam did NOT, in fact, take responsibility for her part in the disintegration of the JaSam relationship, nor for the Jakenapping, but blamed EVERYTHING she did (or didn't do) on Jason and Elizabeth.  I'm sorry... WHAAAAAAAAAT?!!

Even the points she made that I could agree with (at least partially) made little sense because she KNEW from the beginning - long before she and Jason fell in love - that Sonny, Carly and the kids ALWAYS came first with him.  ALWAYS.  She knew that, she accepted it, and even admired him for his loyalty to his friends and their kids. 

Mind you, I'm not saying that makes it "okay" but since it was an established understanding from the beginning, she cannot now throw it in his face and cry foul.  She agreed to play by his rules from the start, if she later arrived at a place where those rules were no longer comfortable for her, she should have spoken up, or cut bait. 

The whole time she was reaming him out, I tried to feel for her - really I did.  She made it seem like she was so downtrodden, so emotionally abused, and so heartbroken by HIS betrayal, but... I couldn't help replaying the past year or so over and over in my head - you know?  The ACTUAL events, as they ACTUALLY played out?  (Damn those pesky truths!)  I kept finding myself answering back every one of the charges she leveled at Jason with "That's not the way it happened!"  Therefore, I really COULDN'T feel sorry for her. 

I DID, when Jason dumped her after she finally turned the corner and was on the road to recovery after her near death last year.  I also remember WHY he dumped her.  Like Sam, I didn't agree with him, BUT!!!!  I saw his point.  Yes, Sam had/has the right to make choices for her own life - to decide whether or not she wants to put her life at risk - absolutely.  I agree 100%.  However, Jason, conversely, also has a right to make choices about his life.  He decided that he didn't want to be responsible for putting Sam's life in danger again.  He didn't want to have to live with the guilt of further injury / death to her.  That is HIS right.  Unfortunately for them, their choices ultimately cancel each other out.

Now, Sam had always bragged about her sense of independence and her ability to take care of herself - she was a strong woman.  Okay... why then did she continually screech at Alexis that she didn't know who she was without Jason?  That was our first sign of trouble.  She is understandably angry at both Jason and Alexis for the breakup.  But does she behave as a responsible, strong, independent woman?  No.  She behaves like a petulant teenager who didn't get her way and is gonna make Mommy-Dearest and ex-boyfriend pay for ever crossing her.  She begins plotting to do some damage and VOILA!  The perfect vehicle for that revenge is right under her nose: Ric Lansing.   Mommy's husband and Jason's mortal enemy.  Two birds, one stone. 

She begins working her feminine wiles on Ric, who - let's face it - is just a guy and fairly susceptible to a beautiful face and a rockin' body.  Plus, it doesn't hurt that Ric is also HIGHLY susceptible to needing to possess that which once belonged either to Sonny or Jason - as it happened, Sam previously belonged to both.   A lot of Sam lovers would like to believe that the Sic sex was simply a case of drunken despair, and that Ric took advantage of Sam in her weakened state.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Yes, Sam was drunk - which was probably what she needed so she could fight down her revulsion for Ric long enough for her to actually sleep with him - but she planned to do him from the moment she caught him staring open-mouthed at her as she stood on the deck outside the lake-house, moonlight strategically showing off her silhouette to perfection.  You could see it in her eyes.  She could have turned things around right then, grabbed a sweater, gone inside, decided to wear more clothing, ANYTHING, but she saw her vehicle for revenge and she worked it.

Did she regret it?  Naturally.  Once she sobered up enough, it FINALLY dawned on her who it was she was dealing with and that Ric could use their Sic sex against HER, not just Alexis and Jason.  That took control out of her hands and she couldn't have that.  She wasn't going to let Ric be her puppet-master (and I know he would have tried) so she went to Jason to "confess".  Of course, Jason already knew and had spent the night consoling himself in the comforting arms of long-time friend Lizzeh Spencer.  For all her bleating about how hypocritical it was for her to condemn Jason for having a one-night-stand; when she had gone and sexed up his mortal enemy for payback, she sure never stopped bleating about how unfair it was for him to have a ONS.

Fast forward a bit and Sam has managed to get Jason to take her back.  He's forgiven, but it's clear to me that he hasn't forgotten.  I honestly believe he never really trusted her after the Sic sex - and why should he?  It isn't about the ONS aspect of it at all - it was about the WHO of it.  Frankly, I think she could have slept with the entire seventh fleet and it wouldn't have bothered him so much.  After all, the seventh fleet doesn't want him dead or in prison for the rest of his life - Ric does.  So, if she could do that, how is he ever supposed to REALLY trust her again?  I wouldn't.  They should have left this relationship behind them and agreed to part ways at that point.  They had forgiveness, they had understanding, they should have parted as friends.  Heck, even a youngster like GEORGIE was capable of doing that (with Dillon) - why couldn't Sam?

On some level, I believe Sam knew that Jason didn't fully trust her.  She could feel the divide, even though they loved one another.  Once the trust is gone, it's time to fish or cut bait.  She'd always been jealous of Lizzeh and her seemingly "perfect" life, "perfect" morals, "perfect" hair, "perfect" motherishness...  Gee, I wonder where she got the notion that Lizzeh thought she was perfect?  *cough-Carly-cough*  Certainly not from Lizzeh herself.  Lizzeh has never claimed to be perfect, or that she did everything "right".  Never. Once.

It's funny how it always seems to come down to a Sam vs. Lizzeh thing for fans; when, in fact, it doesn't have to be an either-or.  Both have made HUGE mistakes, HUGE errors in judgment.  Inevitably though, neutral parties (like myself) end up sort of defending Lizzeh in the face of all the Sam lovers who (like Sam) blame Lizzeh for everything that has gone wrong in Sam's life.  The truth of the matter is:  It's not Lizzeh's fault!!  Does that mean that Lizzeh is perfect?  Certainly not!  She is keeping a ginormous and hideously cruel secret from her husband.  But, lest Sam lovers forget - she is not ALONE in keeping that secret ---- Jason is standing right there beside her, in complete agreement on keeping that secret in order to protect little Jake.  Yes, it was her idea in the first place, but those of us who know Jason and how he thinks, knows that Jason doesn't do anything unless he wants to, or thinks it's for the best.  Period.  Jason is not some feeble minded toad, being led around by his b*lls, by Lizzeh or anyone else.  Jason makes his own decisions - right, wrong, good and bad.  If HE didn't agree with Lizzeh, there's no way he would have agreed to the paternity secret. 

I wonder when Sam forgot that aspect of his personality?  She was so busy screeching to him about him doing everything that Lizzeh wanted and everything he could to protect Lizzeh, she conveniently forgot that Jason's primary focus has been JAKE - first and foremost.  Jake - an innocent baby who had no say in who his parents were or the choices they made for him.  Jake, who she so blithely stood by and watched by Jakenapped, and then proceeded to use to torture both Jason and Lizzeh, not to mention poor Lucky.  All in one breath she admits to doing this AND to blame Jason for her actions in allowing it to happen and then to continue!  ow can she sit there and tell him that she was wrong on every level, then without taking a breath tell him that Jason was wrong, too?  Like that justifies what she did?  NO!

Yes, Jason kept the truth from her about Jake's paternity.  It was a decision I disagree with, but it was HIS choice.  And he didn't do it to hurt her.  THAT?  Is the difference between Sam's actions and Jason / Lizzeh's actions.  SAM acts (or not act) for the purpose of harm or revenge.  JASON / LIZZEH to protect - misguidedly so, yes, but to protect nevertheless.  It didn't work of course, those things never do, but for me?  It's the motivation behind the deeds that scores points or doesn't. 

What happened to the Sam who (for once) was honest (partially) with her mother, Alexis, about the choices she made to perpetrate those scams to steal money from rich older men?  The one who admitted that the choices she made were hers and hers alone - that it wasn't Alexis' fault that she grew up to be a conwoman.  THAT?  Is a Sam I could totally get behind.  She owned those choices and made no excuses.  THAT is the Sam I'd like to see now.  But that's not the Sam we're getting.  We're getting the Sam who is blaming everyone else for her problems and her choices - and now is going to make THEM suffer because of it. 

She was furious because Jason dared to stand up to her ranting and raving victimization routine and tell her that he would turn her in for aiding and abetting the Jakenapping if she told anyone the truth about Jake's paternity.  She was livid - and seemingly shocked.  "And now you blackmail ME, Jason.  ME?!"  Um... yeah!  If Sam is suddenly so fond of the truth - a concept she never cared about before, then why hasn't she come clean about her part in the Jakenapping?  Guess she's not *THAT* committed to the truth when it comes to her own misdeeds, just Jason's and Lizzeh's.  Then she runs into Lizzeh and Lucky in the park and  IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN, proceeds to ream Lizzeh up one side and down the other.  IN FRONT OF HER KIDS!!!

Those are just a few reasons why I can't get behind this newfound spunkiness in Sam.  It's what I wanted for a long time, instead of the constant poor-pitiful-me wailing - but for the right reasons!  Jason is not solely to blame for the breakdown in their relationship.  Lizzeh is certainly not to blame.  Jake is definitely not to blame.  Amelia?  Meh!  Aside from the accusation of cold-blooded murder, Sam DID do everything Amelia outed her about.  It's not like Amelia lied about any of it.  Yeah, she took some satisfaction in seeing Sam unhappy - but why shouldn't she?  For all she knows, Sam DID get away with cold-blooded murder.   She's seen Sam kill with her own eyes, and she saw her ABOUT to kill Jerry when his back was turned (and so not a perceivable imminent threat to life and limb).  I'd be surprised if she didn't think Sam capable of premeditated murder.  So...not Amelia's fault.  Now Sam is acting like her sh*t don't stink?!  Sorry... can't get behind it.    Carly is one of the most selfish and hypocritical characters on GH, but you know what?  I can't hate her for it?  Know why?  Because she OWNS her sh*t.  She KNOWS she's critical, manipulative, selfish, hypocritical and unfair - but she OWNS it and never tries to pretend otherwise.  So, while extremely annoying, I'd have to cheer for Carly in any "battle" with Sam.

Until next time!
CC