What makes petite, sexy, soft-spoken ex-bad girl Sam McCall a good detective is what made her an excellent con artist: Nerve, a nose for intrigue, the ability to hotwire a car, and a lock pick set. Being good looking with a hot body hasn't hurt her either.
Sam's Attributes
Sam's physical attributes came in handy when she was marrying five different men and stealing their money. She also indulged in pickpocketing and grand theft auto -- 19 counts of it. The charges were dropped when she agreed to testify against her ex-boyfriend, the leader of the auto crime ring. This was all before she found true love in Port Charles, which was a case of trial and error. When she first arrived in Port Charles, Sam fooled around with the married Sonny Corinthos and then with Jasper Jacks, who originally mistook her for Brenda.
No Contest
For a while, people must have thought Sam's middle name was "No Contest" since she kept making No Contest pleas every time she was arrested for petty theft, fraud, or solicitation. It didn't matter what state she was in. If they accepted No Contest, or no lo contendere as a plea, Sam pled it. Before becoming one of Port Charles' good girls, Sam also managed, despite her stealing, to build up a history of bad debt.
Escape Artist and Use of Weaponry
The jail hasn't been built that can hold Sam McCall. Once finding herself in a small-town jail, she faked suicide in order to get out. In 2005, she escaped FBI custody, never an easy thing to do. In 2006, she got away from the Port Charles police, always an easy thing to do.
If Sam had stopped committing crimes back then, jail would not have been necessary. But committing crimes has given Sam useful skill with weapons, including drugs and sabotage. She used drugs to knock out Jax and steal two cards from the Dead Man's Hand set when she arrived in Port Charles back in 2003. She also sabotaged Jax's car. One of her big moments was Tasering Luke Spencer when she was stealing the Azure Key treasure from him. She shot and killed Diego Alcazar, but that was in defense of Jason and herself. And the gun Sonny used to shoot Dante? Sam stole it from PCPD.
Trespassing, Impersonation, and Break-ins
Impersonation is part of Sam's artillery. When she wanted to steal three Dead Man's Hand cards from Georgie Jones' room, she impersonated a math tutor. However, Sam doesn't need disguises to get inside places. Besides breaking into Jax's car, she's also broken into the Quartermaine mansion. While investigating Alexis Davis, she broke into her old school to look up her record.
Treasure Hunts and Disappearances
With her experience in salvage, Sam has always been interested in buried treasure -- the Azure Key treasure, mentioned above, and the treasure from the sunken Courage, which she stole from her equally thieving father Cody.
Sam's relationship with her father wasn't good; any psychologist will tell you trouble with men can't be far behind. Sam's relationship with Jason Morgan has been volatile in the past, and for a time, she was with Lucky Spencer. Eventually she and Jason found their way back to one another. Since Elizabeth Spencer has been involved with Jason and married to Lucky, this didn't endear her to Sam, who hired two thugs to frighten Elizabeth and the kids in the park. Another time, she saw Jake, Elizabeth's baby son, kidnapped and didn't do anything about it except lie to the police; Sam claimed that she hadn't witnessed anything. Today they have smoothed things over; Elizabeth believes that Sam has been good for Jason.
Sam McCall Today
Sam and Spinelli formed a detective agency together, Jackal P.I., and since then, life for Sam has become more stable. Her past behind her, she is content to be with Jason and work as a detective. She's also found roots in Port Charles with her mother, Alexis Davis (making Sam a Cassadine), and her two half-sisters, Kristina and Molly. Sam McCall has turned her life around. And it's a good thing. There may be not only marriage but a baby in her future. If Jason stays in the mob, she's going to need her focus and strength to keep her child safe from danger.
