Steve Burton, Kelly Monaco "General Hospital" jason sam
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

“JaSam” going their separate ways might be exactly the thing that ultimately brings them back together.

For fans of General Hospital‘s Jason and Sam, her recent conversation with Dante was tough to hear. Clearly, the events that went down at the cemetery following Sonny’s memorial service had been eye-opening for the beauty.

“If Jason and I were still together,” she mused to Dante over drinks, “things would have played out much differently for me today.” Asked how, she explained that under other circumstances, “I would still be at the cemetery helping clean up the mess. Instead, I’m here, with you, having a drink.”

Looking both beautiful and sad, she told Dante, “I’m just not a part of Jason’s world.”

“So what does that make you?” Dante asked.

After pausing for a moment, she replied, “I think you can call me… Sam” before unleashing a smile which seemed to banish the lingering sorrow from her eyes.

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Certainly, it’s not gone unnoticed by viewers that since separating from Jason, Sam has been spending quite a bit of time with Dante. Headwriters Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor have indicated that there could be new love interests on the horizon for the estranged pair… and that such a move wouldn’t necessarily mean JaSam fans should give up hope.

“Sam and Jason will always love one another,” O’Connor insisted during our recent chat with the scribes, adding that the couple were committed to their current separation because they believed it to be in the best interest of their children.

“However,” he added, “that commitment may waiver once one or both of them start to explore other romantic options.”

It’s a tale as old as, if not time, certainly soap operas. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy and girl start seeing other people. Boy and girl realize they really still love one another. Boy and girl mess up several lives while trying to get things back on track.

Look at The Young and the Restless’ Victor and Nikki or The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Brooke and Ridge. Each pair is undeniably soulmates, yet they’ve gone on to forge relationships with others during rough times in their own.

Only time will tell if Sam and Jason will ultimately reunite. But for the moment, it appears that Sam is ready to accept the consequences of her own decision by forging a new life for herself. Could she and Dante grow closer? It’s certainly a possibility, what with him being divorced from Lulu — whom you’ll recall collapsed and was eventually put into a long-term-care facility just as she was attempting to declare that she still loved him.

Sam loves Jason, whom she can’t be with. Dante loves Lulu, whom he can’t be with. That’s the kind of baggage that makes a Dante/Sam pairing a storyline-palooza. But what do you think, General Hospital fans? Is it time for Jason and Sam to truly go their separate ways for good, or is this simply a bump in the road for the longtime couple? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, then check out the photo gallery to see if you could imagine Jason moving on with any of the lovely ladies we’ve selected for him.