We thought we had it figured out.  With the news that actress Michaela McManus had landed a juicy new role on next season of Law & Order: SVU, it seemed impossible for her character of Lindsey to remain on One Tree Hill.  With Lindsey out of the picture, figuring out who Lucas invited to Vegas at the end of season 5 would be a heck of a lot easier.  Unfortunately, things just got more complicated.  According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, the head honchos over at SVU have given the actress permission to continue her work on One Tree Hill.  Ausiello wouldn't reveal how many episodes McManus would appear in, but it looks like the love triangle has once again become a square.

For the record, I didn't mind the character of Lindsey last season.  McManus may not be the Judi Dench of the small screen when it comes to acting ability, but I grew to like her character when she stood up to Lucas after calling off the wedding.  She showed some real spine and maturity, at least until the writers randomly decided that she was still in love with Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) in the finale.  It kind of felt like a cheap way to shoehorn her into the cliffhanger, which is why I was relieved when I heard that McManus had landed the gig on SVU.  We could finally stop worrying about whether Lucas would pick Lindsey, and instead focus on whether he's madly in love with Peyton (Hilarie Burton) or Brooke (Sophia Bush).

Now that Lindsey is back in the equation, is there any chance Lucas will pick her?  I suppose it's possible, but it still seems unlikely given McManus' other commitments.  Even if she did run off to Vegas to marry Lucas, the couple probably wouldn't have much of a future together.  I don't know about most One Tree Hill fans, but I'd rather not watch Lucas and Lindsey fall out of love for yet another season.  That story was old halfway through season 5, and I have faith that creator Mark Schwahn wouldn't want to repeat himself.

It feels like we've been pondering this cliffhanger forever, but it'll finally get wrapped up when season 6 of OTH premieres on September 1.


- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: Entertainment Weekly
(Image courtesy of the CW)