Lindsay Gardner is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 on the FOX

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 television series The O.C.

The O.C.

The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...

, portrayed by Shannon Lucio

Shannon Lucio

Shannon Lucio is an American actress who played Lindsay Gardner on The O.C..Lucio is a graduate of the University of Southern California and was cast in the lead female role of the CBS television drama Moonlight , but was replaced by Sophia Myles in April 2007...

. Featured only during the first half of season two

The O.C. (season 2)

The second season of The O.C., an American television series, commenced airing in the United States on November 5, 2004, and concluded on May 19, 2005, with a total of 24 episodes. It aired Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET in the US on FOX, a terrestrial television network. In addition to the regular 24...

, Lindsay is the illegitimate daughter of Caleb Nichol

Caleb Nichol

Caleb Nichol is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Alan Dale during the show's first and second seasons...

 by his former secretary, Renee Wheeler. During her time on the series, she went on a date with her nephew, Seth Cohen

Seth Cohen

Seth Ezekiel Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Adam Brody. Seth was one of the "core four" characters on The O.C. alongside Ryan Atwood, Marissa Cooper, and Summer Roberts.-Background:...

, and was a girlfriend of her adoptive nephew Ryan Atwood

Ryan Atwood

Ryan Francis Atwood is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Benjamin McKenzie. A troubled teenager from Chino, California, he is considered the protagonist of the show, beginning as an outcast and is brought to a lifestyle of luxury by the Cohen family and is...

. Both instances, however, Lindsay, Seth and Ryan were unaware of their relation. In "The Rainy Day Women," both Lindsay and her mother departed Newport and moved away to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

Conception

Creator Josh Schwartz

Josh Schwartz

-Film school at USC:In 1995, Schwartz realized his boyhood dream of attending film school to study screen and television writing at the University of Southern California...

 described Lindsay as "a working-class, middle-class girl who comes to Harbor School, who's really smart and may challenge Ryan to use his brain instead of his fists."

Season 2

As Lindsay is introduced to Newport and viewers of The O.C. in season 2, she is shown as a studious and socially struggling new arrival at Harbor High School. In comparison to most students, she is also shown to be from a less economically advantageous upbringing. Her contrast with fellow students somewhat mirrored the acclamation of Ryan Atwood

Ryan Atwood

Ryan Francis Atwood is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Benjamin McKenzie. A troubled teenager from Chino, California, he is considered the protagonist of the show, beginning as an outcast and is brought to a lifestyle of luxury by the Cohen family and is...

 during the previous season. Over the course of the season, Ryan becomes a love interest for Lindsay.

The relationship between the two — at first tense — begins to blossom, only to be derailed by the revelation that Lindsay is potentially the illegitimate daughter of local real estate magnate Caleb Nichol

Caleb Nichol

Caleb Nichol is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Alan Dale during the show's first and second seasons...

, Ryan's adoptive grandfather. With his finances in upheaval, Caleb has apparently made regular payments to Lindsay's mother, bringing the question of paternity to light. By extension, the news about Lindsay causes Caleb to clash even more with his daughter Kirsten

Kirsten Cohen

Kirsten Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Kelly Rowan. Kirsten is the wife of Sandy Cohen, mother to Seth Cohen, and the adoptive mother of Ryan Atwood...

, though Kirsten is compassionate to Lindsay (almost zealously so, at one point).

Disputes within the Nichol family subside to the point that Caleb seriously considers legally adopting Lindsay, and thus making her an heir. The discussion is much to the chagrin of Caleb's current wife, Julie

Julie Cooper

Julie Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Melinda Clarke.-Background:...

, who begins to fear for her own potential as an heir to Caleb's supposed fortune. Julie stalls the adoption proceedings with the suggestion of a DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 test to prove Caleb's paternity.

Caleb eventually caved into the insistence of Julie into demanding a paternity test. Lindsay was devastated by this, particularly as it was at the very same party Caleb was about to announce his adoption of Lindsay to the Newport community. The test went ahead, and proved conclusively that Lindsay was Caleb's daughter. However, despite this, Lindsay and her mother moved to Chicago, leaving both Ryan and Caleb behind. It's unknown why Lindsay didn't turn up for Caleb's funeral.

It is not known if Lindsay ever met her other half-sister Hailey

Hailey Nichol

Hailey Nichol is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Amanda Righetti. Seen as something of a black sheep of the family, Hailey is the younger daughter of Caleb and Rose Nichol, younger sister to Kirsten Cohen, and older half-sister to Lindsay Gardner...

 or her stepsister Kaitlin

Kaitlin Cooper

Kaitlin Cooper is a fictional character on the Fox television series The O.C., played by Willa Holland. She was originally played by Shailene Woodley.-Season 1:...

, since none of the three characters ever appeared in an episode together.