Samantha Mason

**Samantha "Sam" Mason** (Brooke Burfitt) was the main villainess of the 2020 Lifetime film *Maternal Secrets* (originally titled *Babymoon* and released in 2018 as *Mother of All Secrets*; aired on Lifetime on May 9, 2020).

## Introduction/Heel Turn

Samantha was introduced in the film's opening scenes as an attorney who was also the girlfriend of Jackson Lewis—the newly-elected second Senator of Delaware. Her first appearance saw her standing beside him as he gave his acceptance speech while they were at a hotel. It was followed by Jackson not only promoting his campaign manager Laura to being his PR manager, but also inviting her to eat dinner with him.

However, after Laura went to use a restroom in said hotel, she awakened to find herself naked in an office chair. Subsequently, Samantha helped Richard Outerbridge (a man who supported Jackson's campaign) pay Laura's family into keeping quiet, along with continuing to support her boyfriend until their relationship ended.

Two years later (the film's events), Jackson's mother Rose apparently lured her son to a hotel room in Bermuda using a letter during his vacation there with his pregnant new girlfriend Aubrey Ross—an art photographer and the film's main protagonist. Once he laid in the room's bed, Samantha began turning heel by making several attempts to seduce her ex-boyfriend while wearing black lingerie. He continuously resisted, and when he tried to leave, the villainess subtly threatened to make it known to the public that he was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Laura, prompting him to stay instead.

After that, Samantha violently bound Jackson to said bed (offscreen) using black zip ties and force-fed him sedatives. Further signs of her villainy surfaced when she also went out of the room at one point to meet up with Rose, with the latter expressing her happiness about the supposed rekindling of the pair's past relationship. Additionally, flashbacks throughout the film exposed that the relationship in question was difficult mostly due to Samantha's crazed behavior.

## Reveal/Death

The film's climax had a flashback unveiling the truth about what happened two years ago: Samantha found out that Jackson cheated on her with Laura, prompting her to drug her drink with his anti-epilepsy medications. Appearing to tend to her then-boyfriend's illicit lover inside the aforementioned bathroom, she snarled that there was "only room for one woman in his life" while tearing Laura's blouse open, after which Samantha took off her other clothes as well and moved her to the chair. It was also uncovered that she organized the payment to Laura's family in order to cover her tracks, with Richard being its oblivious funder.

After Samantha returned to the room, Jackson put his latest plan to escape in motion when he acted as though he was beginning to consider getting back together with her. Excited about that possibility, the delusional madwoman prepared to initiate a sexual tryst with him, only for an engagement ring to drop from his pocket onto the bed. Initially believing it was for her, Jackson informed her that the ring was actually for Aubrey, with Samantha's response being to cut him free, break a wine bottle, and use one of its shards to cut her left leg—all while "pleading" for him to "stop" his "[attempt to] kill" her. Once the police arrived, she painted Jackson as her attacker, resulting in him being taken into custody for questioning.

Simultaneously, while aboard a speedboat headed out into the Atlantic Ocean, Aubrey discovered that the woman she believed to be Rose was actually Samantha's mother. The fake Rose was also her daughter's accomplice, as she lured Jackson to the room Samantha was in using the letter, sent an email that made it appear as though her "son" believed his latest relationship was "moving too fast," and spent much of the film irritating Aubrey before offering what turned out to be false assistance. At the insistent demand of Aubrey herself, the deceptive impersonator returned herself and her only passenger to Bermuda.

Samantha ran into Aubrey after she got off the speedboat and attacked her in a rage, with Samantha's mother attempting to separate the two as the former attempted to fatally strangle the latter. During the fight, the three women were all hit by an oncoming taxi, which resulted in Samantha's death.