Samantha J.

Samantha J. is one of the characters in the American version of television series. She is portrayed by Jessica Rothe. She is also known by the nickname Sam.

Samantha is part of the group of comic book nerds seeking to uncover the secrets of the graphic novel Utopia. She is extremely idealistic, sharp-witted and a natural-born leader who believes in changing the world through action. Her father calls her a "save-the-world girl," for comments such as "Rallies don't work, they make us feel better about doing nothing."

She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

High-stakes auction
Samantha is part of a group of online friends that also includes Becky Todd, Grant Bishop, Ian Ackerman and Wilson Wilson. The group are obsessed with a comic called Dystopia and Samantha has set up online monitoring for any mentions of the comic. One day, she receives an alert that Utopia, a sequel to the comic, is going to be sold at a fan event called Fringecon in Chicago and quickly begins messaging the others to let them know. She then gets a ride to Fringecon from her father, arguing with him about social activism and telling him that rallies don't work, only direct action. During the trip, she makes notes about Dystopia, telling her father that her friends would be lost without her. She advises everyone to each only bid $500 on the comic in order to deflate the market so that they can swoop in later and buy it cheap.

The bidding reaches $5,000 and Samantha advises the owners of the comic, Ethan Lander and Olivia, to not sell, claiming that she can get them $6,000. She then messages the group to meet up. Afterwards, she finds a group of fanboys obsessing over the mythos of the comic. She is disgusted with their arguments about the characters, telling them that they aren't real, but the diseases hidden within the pages of the comic are. They are dismissive of her, but Wilson Wilson, listening from a distance, soaks in her words hungrily. She tells the group of fanboys that the real conspiracy is how decades ago, people like them tricked the world into believing that comic books were serious literature.

The group finally meets up and Samantha reveals to them that she offered a bid of $6,000. They're incredulous, as they don't have that kind of money to scrap together, and decide that their hopes rest on Grant, who has always claimed to be a high-roller. Unfortunately for them, Grant isn't there yet, and none of them know that he is actually just a child. Wish nothing else to do for the moment, the group agrees to retire for the night to Wilson's place.

A new world
Samantha and her friends arrive at Wilson's and meet his family. He then shows them his underground bunker and Samantha is in awe of his giant wall display of the pages of Dystopia, filled Post-it notes. Ian shares a photograph of a page from Utopia that he managed to sneak using his cell-phone camera. Everyone is impressed, though Samantha says that there's no way that they can figure anything out much from just one page of it. However, they do discover a drop of rain which appears to be a virus, with the message "This is our undoing." Samantha then proposes a toast and they all drink.

The group all agree that they have to have Utopia and so Samantha tells Becky to text Olivia and tell her they have the money, even though Grant still hasn't arrived. Unbeknownst to them, the text is taken by Jessica Hyde, who has the phone of Olivia, who was killed by members of the Harvest. She texts back, asking them if Grant is with them and Samantha directs Becky to text back that he is. She, Becky and Ian then leave the bunker to go get snacks. They return to a crazy scene - a car pulling up and slamming into the house's mailbox and Wilson shouting at them that Utopia is real and to get in. One of his eyes has been spooned out of his head by a member of the Harvest and at the wheel is the real-life Jessica Hyde. She drives them all to a house, demands that they burn all of the possessions they have on them and then tells them that she's going to a Goodwill. She returns and has them all change into new clothes and otherwise alter their appearances to make them less recognizable. Samantha is transformed into a Goth girl with ripped clothing, black hair and heavy eyeshadow and lipstick.

Ian starts demanding answers of Jessica, but she tells everyone to sit. Samantha promises her that she has their full attention. Later, she tries to use a computer to check out the current situation, but Jessica warns her not to use it unless she's watching. The group studies the photo that Ian managed to sneak of a page from Utopia and Samantha realizes that what they thought was a cross is actually a rash, the T-shaped rash characteristic of a flu that is currently spreading throughout the United States. "This is our undoing! Now we know what we're fighting!" she shouts excitedly. Ian says that it's all ridiculous, questioning if Jessica Hyde is even who she says she is. He gets up to leave, asking that the others join them, because they want it all to be real, but it isn't. Jessica Hyde points a gun at him and tells him to sit down. He doesn't, saying that she's not Jessica Hyde. Samantha now tells him to sit down, saying that he burned his possessions and changed his clothes, so he has to believe on some level. She says to listen to her, but Jessica tells him to stop listening to Samantha and listen to her. Ian tells her to pull the trigger if she wants and Samantha pleads with him to please stay. He sits down and Jessica turns the gun and shoots Samantha in the head. She then tells the shocked remaining members of the group that they're in a new world: hers, as Samantha bleeds out onto the floor.

Behind the scenes
The early death of Samantha at the hands of Jessica Hyde has proven one of the most controversial aspects of the series with viewers. Show creator Gillian Flynn stated in an interview that partly because she liked the idea of a character that viewers would think of as the leader being suddenly shot and killed, and also to buck viewer expectations as to the type of actors and actresses which are supposed to survive this type of genre project. Actress Jessica Rothe said of her character that while she would have enjoyed being on the series longer, she felt that in a funny way her character actually fulfilled her destiny to "fuel the Nerds on their quest to save the world." Samantha's death was inspired by an element of the film Psycho and Flynn also said that Samantha's death gives viewers a "good wobbly and puts you in an unsteady place."

Trivia

 * Samantha J.'s actress, Jessica Rothe, also appears in the episode "Respect Your Purpose" as a fashion model on the cover of a magazine. While it is uncertain if this is anything other than an Easter egg, show creator Gillian Flynn stated during a virtual panel at New York Comic Con that she had considered making Samantha a twin, as she liked Rothe's performance in the role.