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I don't think you can talk about original concepts before the show aired as if they prove something. Veronica was originally a guy when RT was working out the specifics of the show. Concepts are always works in progress until they are screened. Only the Pilot was written and then you say Logan was given more of a role. Why is that? The Pilot was filmed and maybe RT realised that with such a volatile character you would constantly have such great stories and thus fleshed him out more. The fact is if Logan was originally the rapist then the show was not even formed as a concept yet, it wasn't a complete show - it doesn't prove anything that RT came up with more things about his character post-Pilot.

To me, Logan would never have been the rapist for the sheer fact it was too obvious. It would be like making Dick the rapist. He's such a mysogynist that everyone would automatically think it was him and if Logan had no depth he would be the same kind of mysogynist. We would have all been talking about the possibility he was the rapist too early in the season for it to be the case. No matter how Logan - in concept form - developped by the time Credit Where Credit Is Due was filmed, he would not have been Veronica's rapist. And it doesn't really matter since the show was obviously not finalised at that point. I don't think RT changed his mind mid-season and that's all that matters. Once the show was complete and it was a working unit, Logan was never the rapist, he had more depth and we were seeing that despite his psychotic jackass exterior there was something more underneath.

This show is all about the 'GOTCHA' plots. Where we are shown the obvious suspect and then discover the perpetrator was someone we never expected. Even if Duncan wasn't meant to be the rapist, that - to me - makes it obvious that Logan would never have been the rapist. His hatred of Veronica made him a prime suspect, he WAS her prime suspect even with the softening down of his charcacter on the show and it would have been WORSE if they'd never been romantically involved. For that reason, I don't think RT ever would have chosen him as the culprit.

To me, he didn't choose Duncan as the rapist because he realised that would mean Duncan and Veronica true love would be crushed forever (clearly that's not the case after season two). He chose Duncan as the rapist because it was so shocking, because it would be the most uncomfortable way for Duncan to reveal he had always known that Veronica was his sister, and because it was his first really annoying GOTCHA. It's shocking and unsatisfying because of the lack of fall out. But I do think Duncan as the rapist is appropriate for season one themes about shattering illusions, things aren't always what they appear to be. As disappointed as I was with what happened after A Trip to the Dentist, I think thematically the choice of Duncan was perfect and important. They just didn't utilise what they had as they should have, by making Veronica see that the past she was nostalgic for was nothing more than a glimmer - an illusion.

I also don't think we can really speculate on whether or not Logan would have sold Duncan better than TD. Is he a better actor? Damn straight he is. He's also more charismatic. But he's also very intense and Duncan's not meant to be intense. Duncan is meant to stand idly by, so I think it might have been incongruent that someone so dynamic was in his role. I'm not insulting JD I just think it was a better compliment to his charisma that they gave him Logan and built Logan into such a vibrant character to make use of JD's strengths. We can't say we would have liked VD better if Jason was in the role. I'm not sure how much of my attraction for Logan is Jason's portrayal, but I do like complex characters like his in other shows so I know that there are other actors who could perform layers like he does. I would still have loved Logan if Jason didn't play him, but I'm glad he got the role. Jason up against some other Logan? We can't say who would win because we haven't seen it.

I am actually really tired of shows that sell love with "Destiny: Romeo and Juliet" storylines. What I like about Veronica Mars is that she has a romantacised version of love with Duncan but it's completely wrong for her. Everyone knows it's wrong for her except her. That's much more complex than true-love-Romeo-and-Juliet-destiny. This way, loving someone is about also accepting how you've changed and grown as a character, and rejecting romantic illusions she had as a child. It's much more mature in a way.

For that reason, I know I probably still would not have shipped VD even if Jason was in the role. I think about how Duncan stopped speaking to her with no explanation and she continued to blame herself for that, never confronting him and it makes me angry even in concept form. That's not love and I resent that she believed that for so long and didn't really get ANGRY with Duncan. I know I would never have shipped VD and it has nothing to do with Teddy Dunn.

In a way Duncan reminds me of season three Max in Roswell. Jason Behr was a good actor, in my opinion, but I hated how selfish Max was most of that season and I hated Max/Liz together. It all felt like bullshit in the same way that Duncan/Veronica feels like bullshit. Both Veronica and Liz forgave too much with no real reason to offer forgiveness merely because this was their dream guy who they'd waited so long to be with and who were they to call him on his crap?

I am bringing this example up merely so you know that an actor who is not as wooden as Teddy Dunn by any means sucks just as hard in a similar role. We might have all grudgingly respected Jason Dohring but hated his idle character none-the-less if we watched the show. There is no way to make an accurate assumption about that.