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Veronica’s Boys: Duncan Kane and Logan Echolls |
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Friday, 07 July 2006 |
By Shabnam Parker
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Teddy Dunn as Duncan Kane. Photo copyright 2006 UPN. | When Veronica Mars first hit our shores here in South Africa, I was appreciative that M-Net chose to show such a cool show. I mean, Veronica kicks ass in the profoundest of ways. She is the embodiment of sass. But her arrival meant other things, too: the usually rigid world of espionage experienced through the more familiar eyes of teenage Veronica, estranged friendships that have the most interesting contradictions, and of course great eye-candy - in particular, Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn) and Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring). These two Neptune boys may both be from a wealthy background but they are two very different personalities, which is a quite staggering set of circumstances seeing as they are best friends. There is that old adage that says opposites attract and all that, but Duncan’s sensibilities don’t appear to fit with Logan’s showiness…and yet, they’re still buddies.
There must be some unwritten rule - or it’s the way the silver screen works - that one inevitably chooses which side to sit or whom to admire more, even if both characters have commendable qualities. Frequently one finds two male characters ultimately positioned against each other whether consciously or not: Michael and Max from Roswell, Dean and Jess in the early days of Gilmore Girls, Dawson and Pacey in Dawson’s Creek, recently Sam and Dean from Supernatural and yes, Duncan and Logan in Veronica Mars. In all of the above cases I have chosen the former, and Veronica Mars was no different; the moment I laid eyes on Duncan, I was taken by the quiet innocence, the serious mouth and those deep blue eyes. None of which could be compared to Logan, whom I deeply despised. He was brash and vulgar and even though his witty comments made me laugh intermittently, there were always more negatives than positives.
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Jason Dohring as Logan Echolls. Photo copyright 2006 UPN. | But moment by moment, in gradual stages that went by unnoticed, Logan Echolls made his mark on my subconscious. In the weeks to follow some sort of chemical imbalance occurred and a change of allegiance slowly began to occur…a change that took me by surprise when I felt my sympathies move in Echollsian circles. Ever since the first outburst of Logan love, I’ve been puzzled, and as a consequence have realized the merits of Jason Dohring’s character. Logan is as complex a character as I’ve encountered and it surprises me that it has taken me so long to recognize this. He has shades of grey that not even Angel, one of my favourite tormented characters, can compare with. The layers that make up his being is an intense roller coaster ride through sheer idiocy, crassness, wit, a gentle vulnerability that outclasses all his arrogant behaviour and moments of tender enlightenment.
Duncan, with his boyish charm and super sweetness, was to become second in command. After watching “Ruskie Business,” one of my favourite episodes to date, I became aware that I could not ever go back to having Duncan at the number one spot. Not after Logan - with all his bravado and sarcastic remarks, his cool exterior and rich kid authority, his jackass behaviour and careless way - breaks down and cries in the arms of Veronica. Not after I’ve come to know that there is more to him than meets the eye. The elements of his vulnerability was evident previous to “Ruskie Business” but was always coated in his own brand of indifference, indifference that overshadowed what he truly felt inside and for me, it’s refreshing to know that Logan has a heart, that he is indeed human and that his complexities are just a segmented part of his life.
As a result of this new profound interest in Logan Echolls, I became interested in the man behind the character as well. Too often, characters and actors become one person in the eyes of fans and up until “Ruskie Business,” Logan was always just Logan, never Jason Dohring, who is an interesting personality in his own right. I look forward to learning more about him.
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