capture which character would die, leading to weeks of speculation in the New Zealand entertainment media. Television New Zealand set about launching a disinformation campaign, with all the actors involved being interviewed for publications as though they were leaving the show. The storyline saw Chris, TP, Steve, and Kirsty travelling in a car back from Leonard (Marton Csokas) and Gina's (Josephine Davison) leaving party, only for Chris and Steve to get in a heated argument that saw the car roll off a bank. Sam arrived on scene, only to witness the car dramatically explode with TP and Steve still inside. The explosion was the final segment filmed in the scene, but Galvin noted the "Simple pleasures" they had in staying on location to witness the stunt. Naufahu found TP's death upsetting and admitted, "fogging up" whilst reading the final draft of the script, "TP was just so innocent and beautiful – the writers did amazingly. So then came the challenge of doing justice to the script." Naufahu believed the death of TP saw a huge change in Sam, "When TP passed away in a car crash I sort of realized I've actually got to really work and put something into it. That was a little bit of a turning point. It was a huge storyline." The death of TP weighed heavily on Sam for the rest of his first stint, his characterisation saw him become a "bitter" and "angry" man and eventually saw him depart in 1996 after realising he was had not coped properly with TP's death. In 2014, twenty years to the day of TP's death, scenes aired that saw Sam emotionally break down to Ula Levi (Frankie Adams) and admit how TP's death had impacted his life. Reception Throughout his appearances in the nineties, Sam was described as a "hunk" and was referred to by broadcaster Robbie Rakete as a "great character". Naufahu did not realise until he returned for his second stint, the importance it was to have a portrayal of a Pacific Islander in the soaps original cast. Sam's romance with TP (Elizabeth Skeen) alongside her death, were named as one of the most memorable story lines ever featured on the soap. Her death was also voted as the shows 4th most memorable storyline by fans. The 1993 storyline that saw Sam struggle to cope with co worker Jamie Forrest's (Karl Urban) sexuality and relationship