Sam McPherson

Sam McPherson is a principal character on Popular. She is portrayed by Carly Pope.

Character
Sam is an ambitious student journalist, setting moral stakes and integrity forth in her endeavours, but sometimes deviating when she gets tunnel vision (notably regarding Brooke McQueen), in no small part spurred on by the loss of her late father, journalist Joe McPherson. Sam always aspires to do what's right, and her ambition can spell conflict with her friends, which she usually manages to work out by allowing herself to be vulnerable and honest about her feelings.

Relationships
Sam and Harrison have known each other since they were kids. Though they are friends, there's a definite romantic subtext to a lot of their one-on-one conversations, like two friends becoming teens and possibly developing romantic feelings, though they never talk about it in the first few years of high school. Harrison harbours a life-long crush on his next-door-neighbour, Brooke, the most popular girl in school with whom Sam finds herself in a rivalry as Sam and Brooke's parents get together. This pushes any subtext closer to the surface over their sophomore year as Sam compares herself with Brooke and even asks Harrison if he thinks she's prettier than Brooke. Sam also teases Harrison about Brooke, and Carmen at one point mentions how Harrison always used to try and sneak into Carmen's house whenever Sam would sleep over when they were younger. Sam reacts to this embarrassed, as though she's aware of the unspoken feelings between herself and Harrison, and doesn't want Carmen or anyone to poke at it. All in all, they are best friends and call each other and are honest with each other. As Sam gets a serious boyfriend and Harrison gets together with Brooke, all of their unspoken feelings surface and they have to deal with them, which results in them kissing and Sam cheating on her boyfriend.
 * Harrison John

Sam and Carmen are also childhood friends and while both are very driven, their goals and reasoning are vastly different. Carmen, despite growing up with an alcoholic mother and a family who bodyshamed her and gave her an eating disorder that she gets bullied for, is a very optimistic, loving and kind person, who puts herself out there even if she risks getting hurt. Sam is the opposite, mourning her father's death and hiding from the world. Through their friendship, Carmen inspires Sam to take risks with her heart, and Sam stands by Carmen whenever the cheerleaders attempt to bully her.
 * Carmen Ferrara

Sam and Lily have been close friends since they were young and are both very passionate and vocal about their interests.
 * Lily Esposito


 * Josh Ford


 * Brooke McQueen

Trivia

 * Sam is arguably the protagonist of the series
 * She speaks the first lines of the show, to Harrison.