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Sam Braddock
Constable Sam Braddock, SRU: Team One

Constable Sam Braddock, SRU: Team One

Full Name: Samuel W. Braddock
Nickname(s): Sammy, Samo, Samtastic
Gender: Male   Male
Status: Alive
  Occupation Affiliation Rank / Title
 ●   Police Officer   Metro Police   Constable
            ●     SRU       Team One Badge Number 8302
 ●   Armed Forces   Canadian Army  
            ●     Joint Task Force 2       Former Master Corporal
 Portrayed by: David Paetkau
 First Appearance:
 Scorpio
 Last Appearance:
 Keep The Peace, Part II
List of Appearances

Samuel W. "Sam" Braddock works as a professional sniper and entry expert in the SRU. He is a former Master Corporal of Canada's Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2) which provided sharpshooting experience and close quarter battle (CQB) tactics. At the end of the series, Sam was promoted to Team Leader of Team 3. He is married to Julianna Callaghan and they have a daughter, Sadie.

Biography

Sam's family is not often talked about on the series, due to the fact that Sam rarely gets along with his father, a highly respected and feared military man whom was once referred to as "Colonel Badass". His father holds the rank of General and disapproves of Sam leaving the special forces to join the SRU. In Season Three, it is revealed that when Sam was 9 years old his younger sister was struck by a speeding car in front of him. The force was so fast and strong that it knocked her right out of her shoes -- leaving them beside Sam, while she died upon impact. The memory stops him briefly when he finds a young blonde woman in a pool of blood with no shoes on. Sam, however does have another sister - Natalie Braddock, who first appears in Season Three and continues to recur on the series.

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Sam's military identity cards.

Sam Braddock left JTF 2 (Joint Task Force 2, Canada’s elite Special Operations counter-terrorism force) to join the SRU after serving out two tours. It's revealed that during an operation in Afghanistan, while Sam was serving as a sniper, his unit was clearing out an area and he was told that he was cleared to fire. When the gunfire had died down, and a body count reported in, Sam was devastated to find out that one of the dead was his teammate and friend. He's never kept this fact a secret, nor will he ever hide what he's done in the army -- however, it does bring him pain, and guilt whenever it's brought up. This was mentioned in Episode:Behind The Blue Line. It is also revealed that Sam served in Task Force K-Bar, the main special operations team led by US Special Forces during the initial invasion of Afghanistan. This would mean he served at least 7 years in the armed forces.

Strategic Response Unit

Initially Team One has trouble accepting Sam as they had no say in his joining of the team. He's viewed as the rookie and outsider for the first few episodes, and is even put on a coffee run for the team while on call. At first, Sam believes that lethal force is always the solution rather than negotiation - causing the rest of the team to become sceptical about his place on Team One. However, as the series goes on Sam becomes another valued member of the team and is considered to be family. His views slowly start to change, and has even lashed out for using lethal force - most viewable in Behind The Blue Line

Sam's loyalty to the team is proven when his father tries to pull some strings and offers Sam the opportunity to rejoin JTF2 where he can "make a real difference". Despite his father's pressuring, Sam tells him that he can make a difference in the SRU, and declines the offer - causing a strained relationship with his father. Sam's cocky confidence and sense of entitlement have matured, and Sam proves himself to be a disciplined and crucially valuable member of the team. His experience as a sniper in JTF2 leads him to be the main sniper in the SRU, and there's rarely a moment where he loses "the solution". However, Sam fights hard to earn back his self confidence in negotiating, which was shaken in "Behind The Blue Line" when he wasn't able to save a troubled ex-soldier with whom he had bonded.

One year after the events of Keep the Peace, Sam was promoted to the Team Leader of Team 3 as the successor to Donna Sabine, who was killed in an explosion caused by one of Marcus Faber's ten bombs.

Relationships

Julianna Callaghan (Amy Jo Johnson) and Sam Braddock (David Paetkau)

Julianna Callaghan and Sam Braddock

Since his recruitment onto the SRU team, Sam has had feelings for Jules. In Eagle Two, he kisses Jules and offers to drive her home after he realizes that she blames herself for the events of the day. The two begin to date secretly over a period of episodes, as there are rules against team relationships. This includes Jules dropping Sam off three blocks from work, and making him walk the rest of the way, so not to be spotted together. When Jules is shot in Between Heartbeats, Sam wants to go in the ambulance with her. Instead, he is told to take the "Sierra One" position. At the same time, Ed is captured by the subject sniper who wounded Jules. Sam has to take a difficult shot while the subject has a gun to Ed's head and succeeds, saving Ed's life. Despite procedure, Sam demands that he goes to the hospital first to see Jules - but Gregory Parker sends him to follow the rules like he's supposed to. He rushes to the hospital afterwards, where he holds Jules' hand and cries for not protecting her.

Though Sam knows Team One cannot remain a man down while Jules recovers from her gunshot wound, he is shown to be hostile and cold towards new recruit, Donna Sabine. This is especially evident in The Fortress when Sam stalks out of the exercise room after Donna enters, and then at the start of Clean Hands, as Sam comments that he doesn't see the point in hazing Donna since she's not going to be around forever. Ed seems to be aware that Sam is not keen on Donna, but never makes a point of making Sam feel bad about it. When Jules is finally healthy enough to return to the team by episode Aisle 13, she wants to call off her relationship with Sam. She returns to Team One at the end of Remote Control, and while Sam gives her a thumbs up at the news Sergeant Parker is not going to separate them, the couple officially breaks up because they "can't keep breaking the rules forever", and neither one of them wants to leave Team One, as they both consider the team family. The discomfort Sam has felt at Donna's presence on the team is over as she transfers to Team Three to facilitate Jules' return to Team One.

In spite of the split, Sam is still seen flirting with Jules on various occasions, and is often incredibly protective over her and wants to keep her safe. However, in the Season 3 finale both Sam and Jules are questioned by Dr. Larry Toth about their relationship, which brings them both to the revelation that they still love each other. In the Season 4 premiere, Jules shows up at Sam's apartment and he tells her that their love for each other "isn't just going to go away", and they kiss passionately before being interrupted by Sam's sister, Natalie. At the end of the episode they are informed that they are under strict orders from Dr. Toth to keep their relationship at a professional level, as personal feelings could potentially violate the "priority of life" code all officers must adhere to. During the rest of Season 4, they are in a secret relationship that they are keeping hidden from Team One. However, it appears as though Greg Parker knows that the two are once again in a relationship, and is worried by it. Later Dr. Toth finds out about their relationship after reviewing a call from A New Life where Sam and Jules talk about a hypothetical honeymoon. Toth threatens to suspend Greg Parker for continuing to turn a blind eye to their clandestine relationship. Later though, in the episode Priority of Life, Sam proves that, while on the job, professional commands supercede his personal feelings. This leads to official approval for the couple to stay on Team One continuing their relationship.

Sadiebraddock

Sam with his wife, Jules and their daughter, Sadie

In We Take Care of Our Own, it was revealed Jules is 7 weeks pregnant with Sam's child. However, the two don't inform Team One until five weeks later, after their marriage ceremony in Keep The Peace, Part I.  Later in We Take Care of Our Own, Jules and Sam argue about whether Jules will enter a possibly dangerous structure to rescue children from a daycare - Sam is little overprotective more than usual due to the fact Jules is carrying his child.  In Keep The Peace, Part II, Sam has a near-death experience when he cannot defuse a bomb, and Jules is obviously scared and then relieved when he makes contact with the team again.  At the end of the last episode of the series, the viewers learnt the two have a daughter named Sadie. It is assumed that Jules is still serving on Team One, however, Sam has been promoted to Team Leader of Team Three, filling a vacancy left by the death of Donna Sabine. He loves Jules more than anything.

Trivia

  • Sam is not a confident swimmer and admits to Jules that he's a bit uncomfortable in and around water (he grew up in a desert).
  • Sam does not like the mellow sounds of easy rock.

  • Sam becomes the new team leader of SRU Team 3 after Donna Sabine is killed in season 5 episode 12.

  • Sam's parents in Keep The Peace, Part II are played by David Paetkau's actual parents. He flew them in from Vancouver in order to have them on set.

  • As stated in Between Heartbeats, the paint Sam and Jules used in renovating her house is called Santorini Sky. David Paetkau, Sam's actor, proposed to his wife, Evangeline Duy, on the island of Santorini.

  • Sam's traumatic experience of "firing the fatal shot in an incident of friendly fire" suffers from a severe continuity error. In The Element of Surprise, Sam tells Ed that he shot "his buddy Matt" from 1.5 kilometers away. In Behind The Blue Line, Sam tells Darren Kovacs that he shot his "best friend", Ben, from 2 kilometers away. One thing is for sure though: Sam most definitely used a 50 cal.

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