No, it wasn't something that was really planned that far out in advance.  Just the direction that Mark felt like the show was heading in.  Craig was already on reoccurring status at that point anyways, and you can see why, because giving him a happy ending with Karen, just didn't make for good drama or storytelling, so therefore it's why through the second half of the 2nd season, and through the 3rd season up until Keith's death, there just wasn't much to do with him!!!  But yeah, his death was a surprise and total shocker to the fans that didn't know what was coming. 

And actually if I remember correctly, there weren't too many spoilers that got leaked about it either, so they did a pretty good job of concealing it.  People that read spoilers, knew somebody was going to die in the episode, but they didn't know who?  There were all kinds of speculation about which character, and I seem to remember that all 3 girls in Haley, Peyton, and Brooke got a lot of theories, as well as Lucas.  I don't remember hearing that anybody ever thought that Nathan was going to die, but I remember plenty of rumors that existed about the other main characters.  Most people seemed to believe that it was going to be one of the core though, lol!!!

I just replied to Joey in the "Naley rocks" thread I think it was lol, about this being a huge turning point for the show and how it obviously changed all the parallels and what they could tell!!!  From this point on, Lucas was out of the equation in terms of what they could tell with him and Dan's parallel with him and the Scott family, and it had the opposite affect on Nathan, as it propelled Nathan and Haley to the forefront with their family.  Don't know if it was Mark's intention at the time, if he really thought that far down the line with what it would mean for Lucas versus Nathan, but it's what ended up happening.  There will always be unlimited stuff they can tell with Nathan and Dan because of it, but that's not the case with Lucas.  Just how things ended up evolving!!!  Good thinking about all of this though, hehe!!!!

Thanks, I'm glad I could  help, hehe!!!

No, I completely get what you're saying as well, and just like you, I much preferred Lucas in the earlier seasons as well, except I did like Lucas and Lindsey together very much, and felt there was greater potential for what they could tell with Lucas had they kept that pairing, but that's another debate, lol!!  But yeah, the reason he became less and less interesting over time, is because there was only so much they could do with him, as he was already completely isolated from the Scott family at that point.  His only ties were in Nathan, Haley, and Jamie and you can see that for most of S5 and all of S6 they didn't focus on his relationship with NHJ and Dan, and the stories reflect that, once again getting back to the impact on Lucas' character that Dan killing Keith caused. 

Plus the fact that Naley already existed, limited what they could tell with Lucas and Peyton, because showing Lucas and Peyton living happily ever after with their family, presented no storyline either, because there is no parallel to draw from.  Nobody ever questioned whether Lucas would make a good husband and father one day, it was canon that he would based on how grew up, but with Nathan, it's the complete opposite because of his upbringing and the state that he was in when the show first started.  So that's why the fact he's such a wonderful husband and father IS the story because of Nathan's past, as opposed to Lucas.  Once again, all part of how the show evolved and what they can tell, and why there will always be a story in NNJ and Dan!!!  

It's okay----we do have the same convo's going on on two different threads hehe, but that's okay, I don't mind!!!  Just wait until Joey jumps in on one of them, lol!!!  He'll be riot, because he loves talking about the Dan/Nathan parallel probably more so than me, hehe!!!

Arpagian said...

I did like Lindsey as well, but I always felt she was just road kill on Lucas' way back to Peyton.(I feel like I sound like Joey-should I say Pucas' way back to Seyton-LOL)  I have been re-watching season 5 on soapnet and I must say I like it more now then I did then because the characters were more interesting then in the season that shall not be named. That being said this season is so far my fav since season 4.

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Yeah, Lindsey was definitely just a roadblock in the way of the eventually Leyton reunion lol, but with that said, I still really loved the character of Lindsey and I thought she was great for Lucas and challenged him in ways that Peyton didn't/couldn't.  And I definitely felt that Lucas was a better guy and character when he was with Lindsey. 

There were also so many other avenues and directions that they could have taken Lucas' character had they kept him with Lindsey for a bit longer.  Not forever, as we all know who Lucas was "destined" to end up with, but I do think that Lucas and Lindsey should have been around during S6 and it would have definitely helped the characters of Leyton in the long run because Mark painted himself into a corner with Leyton in S6, which is why them riding off into the sunset was really the only route to go.  There was nothing else to do with them unfortunately, as Leyton were always about bad timing and a longing for one another, not living happily ever after as a family.  But had S6 not consisted of just that reunion, then perhaps there would still be more to tell with Lucas now, and that's what I was getting at with my love for Lindsey!!! 

Plus I also really liked the dynamic that LL had with Naley and that's also something  that wasn't present and never established between Leyton and Naley, hence why we never ever got one family scene between Naley and Leyton yet we did get those scenes in S5 between Naley and Lucas/Lindsey.   That says a lot in my opinion about the direction of the show and stories that they were telling as opposed to others.  So that's also why I really liked Lindsey because I thought she blended in wonderfully with NHJ and I really bought those family scenes and that she had been around during NHJ/Lucas' college days, and was close to both Nathan and Haley, much like I really buy Clay being close with NHJ now and being connected to them and part of their family.   And it takes a special actor to be able to come in on an already established show and really sell the fact that their character has been around for a while, and I thought that Michaela nailed it as Lindsey much like Rob is doing with Clay and Scott is doing with David!!!  It doesn't always happen like that!!!  

Yeah, of course it was predictable as everybody knew what was coming, lol!!!  So no surprise at all, as the show was all about paralleling Lucas/Keith, so Lucas getting left at the alter, yeah----another no-brainer, lol!!!