You know, like the time she got kidnapped by a mutant replicator.
And the time after that. And the time after that. And the time after that.
Hey, you don’t hit 200+ Episodes, 3 or 4 Spin-offs, and about the same number of Direct to DVD movies by being original (I mean, 15 minutes of Christopher Judge wandering around as punishment for not working out before filming? What about those of us who sat through that?).
You give people what they want, same old, same old.
The secret to writing situational comedy is that the situation has to be exactly the same 22 minutes later. No hugging, no learning.
And Sam is never going to have a satisfactory romantic relationship because she keeps pining for Jack and he’s a bit damaged goods and, in fairness to him, knows it.