The post-pilot departure of Detective Lassiter's original "Psych" partner resulted from an audience misunderstanding that was too big to ignore. They thought he was married and having an affair with [Barry]," Franks clarified. Franks further explained that he felt wary of leading "Psych" viewers to turn on Lassiter too fast. Despite "all of the [Psych] characters [testing] off the charts," Franks' need to neutralize audience feelings toward Lassiter resulted in the show "moving on" from Lucinda Barry. The role of Detective Lassiter's partner was filled instead by Maggie Lawson's sensitive-yet-determined junior detective Juliet O'Hara.