Credit: ABC screenshot 

In October, it will have been a year since General Hospital killed off Sam McCall, bringing to an end Kelly Monaco’s 20+-year run as the beloved heroine, and now even more than then, we find ourselves mystified, stuck asking the same question: Why?

In the immediate aftermath of the devastating plot twist, Monaco’s castmates — in particular Dominic Zamprogna (Dante) and Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) — were given some terrifically emotional material to play. But the overall impact of Sam’s passing? Not much, right? Especially considering her long and storied history on the show.

Heck, even though half of Port Charles had reason to want to kill her killer, unhinged holy roller Cyrus, we didn’t even get a murder mystery out of the deal. (At least we know who offed him, which we still can’t say about poor Austin.)

So what was the point of putting Sam in the grave? Monaco has hinted at backstage goings-on. (Read her statement here.) But from a story perspective, what was the point? Dante, to whom Sam just had gotten engaged when she met her untimely end, was almost immediately moved into the story of comatose ex-wife Lulu’s awakening (and then into the retconned plot that made him and Brook Lynn Gio’s parents).

Alexis has had her hands full trying to keep daughter Kristina in some semblance of check. (Good luck with that!) Former husband Drew has been more concerned with lovergirl Willow’s kids than his and Sam’s daughter, Scout. Ex Jason, as always, has been about the Corinthoses and their needs. Even Danny, Sam and Jason’s son, has been nudged to the backburner while pal Rocco deals with his growing family tree.