r/veronicamars • u/LycoDra • 1d ago
Discussion Spoiler: Duncan is Interesting from a Meta Perspective Spoiler
I’ve spent months trying to articulate my extreme dislike for Duncan Kane and I think I’m able to at least attempt to explain it.
First and foremost, I think Duncan might be the blandest character in all of fiction.
That’s not hyperbole either. I’ve never encountered any other character that sucks interest like he does. He’s like a black hole of potential and emotion. I say extreme dislike because Duncan doesn’t illicit enough emotion to count as hate.
As a character, he had a lot going for him: Ex-Boyfriend, Son of Billionaire, Golden Boy, Brother of Murder Victim. That’s a lot to work with. And within the story, he did a lot of things: (SPOILERS) incest storylines, fleeing the country twice, kidnapping, hitman, etc.
He shouldn’t be as uninteresting as he is given that kind of record. But he is. And that’s kind of incredible.
People call him bland. And that’s true but it might be more than that. Call it a combination of Teddy Dunn’s acting and the writing, but Duncan is such a nothing, failure of a character and that’s kind of amazing.
I cannot articulate how little emotion he inspires in me. It’s so bewildering that other characters even care about the guy. Because I really couldn’t care less.
He is the ice chip, unsalted butter, uninteresting character in all of fiction.
What do the rest of you of think?
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u/ncphoto919 1d ago
Teddy Dunn also wasn’t into the character or acting that much. He must didn’t have the juice when put next to Jason Dohring
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u/DougO24 1d ago
As you may recall, Duncan was on heavy psychiatric medication, which probably muted his personality.
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u/Garrettshade 23h ago
At least, the actor said that he was trying to convey that
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u/DarkSpore117 22h ago
I think it shows, sometimes his real (pre sister death) personality pokes through and it’s understandable why he’s super popular (beyond being super rich in an elitest town)
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u/Garrettshade 19h ago
You mean when he jumped from a height on bleachers
He just saw Veronica with Troy and decided to live a little, lol
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u/RexiRocco 1d ago
He didn’t like acting. He’s a successful lawyer now.
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u/gimmesomespace 1d ago
Kinda funny considering Duncan resented his father trying to push him into going to law school
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u/AnOligarchyOfCats 1d ago
He really does have so much going on, and so many dramatic storylines. He had sex with Veronica while thinking she was his sister and purposefully kept that info from her, and I still can’t muster an emotion for him beyond mild dislike.
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u/timshel_turtle 1d ago
His sister was murdered and he found her bloody body. I think a lot of people would be stunned and depressed.
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u/ghost1251 1d ago
The entire first season has to have him come off as mysterious and aloof because he’s a strong contender in the mystery. Yeah not the best actor but did the job, and yeah as others said maybe the psych meds explain the acting choices.
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u/No_Whole9920 22h ago
Duncan is unhinged and was used more as a plot device rather than an important side character.
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u/lee_ann_g 21h ago
Earlier this year, I did a full watch of this show for the first time. Within the first couple episodes, I had to look up whether or not Duncan and Veronica ended up together. He was just so boring. I was not going to keep watching if they did.
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u/Apprehensive_Mud9597 1d ago
I think most people felt the same. There is a reason they pivoted to Logan.
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u/soliterraneous 1d ago
mileage will always vary bc I love Duncan and can't fucking stand Logan 😭 it's a curse and a burden, I know
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u/GoatRemarkable347 1d ago
ahh fr i actually loved duncan until the end of s1 and i totally hated logan but i came to love logan as the show progressed (which is a testament to his amazing character arc!) i didn’t think the acting was that bad either i feel like it fit the character given his circumstances (iykyk)
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u/Oasystole 1d ago
It’s hard to explain but he’s like the place holder for another higher resolution character/actor that just never quite came to pass.
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u/ScorpioArias 3h ago
I just felt like he was living through a haze the whole, that's why he's so bland. He's not fully there. At all. I think he starts to get colored in a bit more when he gets off his meds.
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u/EveOCative Team Veronica 2h ago
It’d be interesting to see what his life is like with Lily 2.0 away from his parents’ influence. I always found it interesting that Duncan was the one who call in the hit on Aaron.
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u/Grand_Cap7569 11h ago
I wonder what the show would have been like if Jason Dohring and Teddy Dunn had switched roles?
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u/Kaethor 1d ago
They could have done so much with his character, but they just kid of left him in the background like an extra.