Having been on the air for over thirty years, The Simpsons has introduced a massive number of characters over the years. This means there are some characters who never had their full potential realized, even after only appearing in a single episode, including Samantha Stankey. In the third season, The Simpsons introduced Samantha, a sweet newcomer to Springfield who began a romance with Milhouse, but there was enough implicit potential with the character that she should have become a reoccurring figure in the show.
Samantha is introduced in Season 3, Episode 23, "Bart's Friend Falls in Love." Having recently moved to Springfield with her family, Samantha adjusts to the town when she's placed into Ms. Krabappel's fourth-grade class. There, she meets Bart Simpson and Milhouse Van Houten, with the latter taking a romantic interest in her.
It wasn't long before the pair began to spend every moment they could together, even sharing their first kiss in Bart's treehouse. Growing jealous of how distant his friend is becoming, Bart ends up telling Samantha's father about Milhouse. Proving to be an incredibly strict father, he pulls Samantha out of Springfield Elementary and sends her to Saint Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls, a local Catholic School.
Although Samantha adjusts quickly and seems happy in the school, she tells a dejected Milhouse that they can't be together anymore and gives him one last kiss before leaving. Samantha only plays a principal role in this episode, with the character largely only ever appearing in crowd shots or small gags, such as a brief cameo in Season 6, Episode 24, "Lemon of Troy;" however, Samantha had a great deal of unrealized potential that the show lost.
While The Simpsons has many boys for Bart and Lisa to interact with, there are very few consistent girls within that same age range. Sherri and Terri are typically portrayed as one-note bullies to Lisa, and Lisa's friend Janie rarely appears across the course of the show.
Having Samantha as a regular part of the cast could have given Lisa a consistent friend and Bart a reoccurring counter to his antics. Plus, she could have helped Milhouse become less comically pathetic. It would have also likely allowed him to develop a more complex relationship with other members of the cast, like Lisa, who's often the subject of Milhouse's unrequited feelings. Having Samantha be primarily connected to Bart and Milhouse instead of Lisa would also allow the show to still explore how lonely Lisa is, while allowing her to have a friend when an episode calls for it.
Even if Samantha remained at Catholic School, it would have allowed the show to touch on a different perspective and side of Springfield. It would also allow the show to have an excuse for why she may not be in some episodes. Her stern and explosive father could have also been a welcome contrast to the unpredictable but laid-back Homer, and her mother could have filled out a role in the cast as well.
More than anything, the appeal of Samantha is that she was a nice character. In a town largely populated by unapologetic jerks, having a newcomer with a sense of modesty and kindness would have been a welcomed voice of reason against Bart's more wild antics. Samantha quietly had great potential as a character, and it's a shame the series never played her up more.
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