Sam I Am

Season 5, Episode 9, Aired
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Episode Summary

Paige gets to know the whitelighter in her, when she meets her first charge, a man named Sam. Unbeknownst to her, Sam is actually her real father. Meanwhile, Cole rashly tries to get himself vanquished by the Charmed Ones. Piper and Leo have problems in finding a magical creature that does the babysitting part. Things go bad to worse when they're poisoned by a darklighter, leaving Sam as the only one who can save them.moreless
8.4
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Fan Episode Reviews (15)

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  • Paige's Dad and Cole's Descent...

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By iltarion, Jul 31, 2011 Report Abuse
    And Charmed's stretch of episodes rated 9 or better continues in this marvelous and gripping tale of redemption and desperation.

    Paige and Cole, heading in opposite directions, completely dominate and carry this episode, as they do through much of this great Season 5 run. Paige gets her first charge, and it happens to be her father, Sam, the whitelighter played excellently once again by Scott Jaeck. Jaeck portrays inner torture as well as anyone, and so again, we are easily pulled into his redemption story. Rose is back to the straight hair and is gorgeous this episode; her orange-red hair, pale skin and luminous black eyes are just enchanting. Actually, Holly in her black blouse and jeans is looking great too. After dying in consecutive episodes (or just about), Paige's life hangs in the balance again. Fortunately, her father comes through for her.

    Cole's time as a good guy or a sympathetic figure is over. The opening scene in the bar is very reminiscent of "Just Harried" (same bar), which can only be a good thing. Cole may have committed no great evil there, but he is clearly losing the fight with madness as he embarks on a Joker-like, convoluted plan to maneuver the sisters into vanquishing him. The scene where Sam morphs into Cole and has the darklighter attack is one of the better Charmed scenes, and I absolutely love the look of hatred that Phoebe gives Cole after Paige collapses in her arms.

    At the end, the Paige-Sam story is neatly wrapped up (too bad he doesn't return until Season 8). And the threat that is Cole begins to materialize and escalate. Tremendous.moreless

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  • Dead Beat Sam

    8.5
    "Great"
    By lenzinoH20, Jul 16, 2011 Report Abuse
    Sam I Am-Paige gets to know the whitelighter in her, when she meets her first charge, a man named Sam. Unbeknownst to her, Sam is actually her real father. Meanwhile, Cole rashly tries to get himself vanquished by the Charmed Ones. Piper and Leo have problems in finding a magical creature that does the babysitting part. Things go bad to worse when they're poisoned by a darklighter, leaving Sam as the only one who can save them. I have always felt "Sam I Am" was one of Charmed's most undderated episode. It definately has that classic Charmed feel with one of the sister's dealing with family issues mixed in with some dark story elements involving a solid villain of the week. While many found the father-daughter reunion between Sam and Paige to be a boring plot, I always thought it was well written. For once the writers skip over the cliche with Paige being overdramatic and blaming her father for abandoning her or Sam desperately trying to ask for her forgiveness. Both Paige and Sam are given time to absorb the info, get down to business and ultimately come to terms with the relationship they never had. Rose McGowan and Scott Jaeck gave great performances, not once over playing the melodrama of the situation.

    I'm glad all bets were off between Cole and Phoebe in this episode. The constant dancing around between whether they're on good or bad terms was getting so annoying. Not to mention, when Phoebe gets up in Cole's face again, I'm glad Cole was dishing out insults as well. I loved the line "I can't be good and I won't be evil, what do you want from me?" It's about time! It seems Phoebe doesn't know what she wants out of Cole another more and is more obsessed with him at this point than he is with her. Cole is suffering and it's not his demonic powers that our driving him insane, it's everyone (espeically Phoebe) calling him evil and pushing him away that's driving him insane. I honestly hate this Cole arc because the character is keeps being branded evil when he has only been soon to want to genuinely help. Phoebe is just being written poorly at this point and just comes off as a bitter, b!tchy ex wife. Anyway, Cole's manipulation of everyone in this episode was pretty sad, maybe even tragic. It does kinda make the sisters seem a bit naive for not seeing the big picture until the very last moment, but we did get some great moments out of it like Sam fake-out with Cole and the cool sequence of the darklighter shooting three arrows at Paige, Leo and Piper's baby (who now has made mom in SuperPiper, awesome!) Honestly, the fact that Cole wants to kill himself should show that the sisters should be trying to find a way to cure his demonic powers instead of Phoebe stressing about it like a loser. Bad writing there! Despite that, this was a strong episode, not only sad but tragic for Cole and emotionally rewarding for Sam and Paige. Oh and the whole business with the supernatural nannies...and elf....lame!moreless

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  • Paige meet her real dad

    10
    "Perfect"
    By gopink, Jun 23, 2011 Report Abuse
    Paige wasnt happy that she met her real dad for first time. Because her dad never raised her as family. Paige do have right to emotion. Sam is retired whitelighter and homeless. Paige have to save her dad from evil. It is really hard for Paige to accept that her real parents cant raise her cuz of Elders. Elders can take Paige as baby away permenant. Paige understood. In the ending of this episode, Paige finally accepted Sam as her real father and Sam loves Paige as long lost daughter. It is so cool to reveal by Elders and Leo cuz they sent Paige to meet a new charge.moreless

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  • Daddy Dearest.

    7.0
    "Good"
    By MovieMark, Mar 10, 2011 Report Abuse
    Paige reunites with her long lost father in an episode that sees Cole's subplot eclipse the wihitelighter-witch's limelight. While Phoebe's distrust and hatred of Cole is justified by his actions here from her POV, his powers are driving him up the wall and suicide seems to be the only viable solution. As with many episodes this season involving Cole, it's difficult to really back Phoebe up when Cole has done so much good with his powers. It was the right move having Cole kill two humans this week, but to be fair, if Cole were Human when they riddled him with bullets, he'd be a goner. Fight fire with fireballs, I say. The hour suffers from some notable lag factor in Paige's story, I just wasn't all that interested in Sam falling off the whitelighter wagon. Although I have to admit the misdirection and surprise reveal of Cole-as-Sam was a cracking moment, followed by an awesome bullet-time sequence that reveals Cole isn't the only invincible character on this show. All in all, it's a decent, if somewhat forgettable hour, which boasts some cool FX sequences and decent-ish dialogue.moreless

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  • Paige, I am your father

    8.8
    "Great"
    By Blinksterboy, May 23, 2008 Report Abuse
    Paige gets to meet her birth father, the Avatars make their first appearance and Cole tries to get himself vanquished. If this sounds a bit of a mish-mash that's because it is. Still, it could have been a lot worse.

    Although it's nice to see Paige centre stage for once, nothing really comes of her story. She and Sam just don't muster the energy we saw with Victor and Prue, although fair play to the writers for bringing back Sam after so long. I liked the idea of a wayward whitelighter even if it was slightly obvious he would get his wings back at the end.

    Poor Cole really is losing it. I know the official line is that his powers are overwhelming him but the sisters know how to strip them so why don't they? Phoebe must really hate him. Still, clever idea to have him use the Charmed Ones to kill him and an excellent performance from Julian once again.

    We get our first taste of the Avatars this week. Didn't realise they appeared this early. Like the Angel of Death, they seem to be beyond the world of witches and demons. I thought they were fittingly mysterious.

    Pregnancy-subplot-of-the-week involves Piper and Leo looking for a childminder. Why can't they just join a witchy babysitting circle? There seems to be a witch on every street in San Francisco. That elf nanny was embarrassing.

    Overall, some good strands but the story didn't quite hang together for me. Not quite a "Nothing Happened" episode but heading that way.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • The picture of Phoebe and Cole was blown up by Paige in the episode The Fifth Halliwell when she had the power broker's power. Edit
    • In this episode, it's shown that after "riding off into the sunset with Patty" that the Elders reinstated his whitelighter status. Why would Sam, who had clipped his wings and spent years mourning Patty, have agreed to leave her and the afterlife to go back to being a whitelighter anyway? Edit
    • As Cole is being vanquished it's visible between shots how the lights are on and then off. In the exterior shots the lights are off and in the interior shots they are on. Edit

  • Notes

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    • International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: Jsem Sam (I Am Sam) France: Invincible (Invincible) Edit
    • The WB used the promo title "Daddy Dearest" for this episode. Edit

  • Quotes

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    • Piper: Phoebe, have you lost your mind? Phoebe: No, you said it yourself. It wasn't a smart plan. (to Cole) Unless you didn't really wanted to kill us. You wanted us to be so blinded by hate that we couldn't see what you were really up to. Cole: Well, it's the only way out for me. And you want it too, so… Phoebe: Yeah, but on our terms, not yours. We won't help you commit suicide. Cole: You already have. (Using telekinesis, he pulls the potion vial from Phoebe's hand, and it breaks at his feet, inciting a huge fireball.) Edit
    • Piper (about Trevor, right after Paige dumped him): I really thought that one was a keeper. Phoebe: Why, because he was cute and funny and… oh, yeah, don't let me forget deliciously yummy? Edit
    • Piper: So wait a minute. If The Elders have lost track of him, why do they suddenly think Paige can find him? Leo: Well, The Elders have complete faith in Paige's abilities. So do I. All we have to do is trust that they know what they're doing. Piper: How are you supposed to trust people that don't answer your questions? Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Title: Sam I Am
      Sam I Am is a character in Dr. Seuss's childrens' classic book "Green Eggs and Ham". This is also a reference to Sean Penn's 2001 movie "I Am Sam", which follows a mentally challenged man who fights for custody of his daughter, alluding to the father-daughter issues that arise between Paige and Sam. Edit
    • Phoebe: What, you mean like Mary Poppins?
      Mary Poppins was a magical nanny to two children in England in the classic family film "Mary Poppins", starring Julie Andrews. Edit

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