- "You're highly intelligent, but you're shameful of that fact, so you play it down with the use of inappropriate behavior, and you live in fear of showing weakness so you hide behind a constant barrage of jokes and sarcasm. [...] I've noticed you overly enunciate words at times, which I suspect is some kind of nervous reaction to confrontation or awkwardness."
- — Declan paints a perfect psychological profile of Shawn
Declan Rand is a rival of Shawn's, and pretends to be a professional criminal profiler by using his keen observational skills, much the same way that Shawn pretends to be a psychic. Declan also managed to steal Juliet's heart, further annoying Shawn. Declan owns his own helicopter, which he also flies himself. He is extremely rich, and only pretends to be a criminal profiler as a hobby, as opposed to Shawn, who pretends to be psychic in order to pay the bills, and to keep from getting in serious trouble for lying to the SBPD for so long. Declan is also one of the few people who knows that Shawn is not a psychic, since he used many of the same tactics to trick people into thinking that he was a criminal profiler.
Appearances[]
Shawn 2.0[]
In "Shawn 2.0", Declan first appears at the coffee shop that Shawn and Gus visit every morning. He manages to impress barista Minka by correcting Shawn's answer to a tricky movie question, which annoys Shawn because he is supposed to be the know-it-all. At the crime scene of Lucy Friedman, Declan again steals Shawn's thunder by revealing the aerosol connection before Shawn has a chance to. As a result, Gus says "He's smart. Knowledgeable of film. Crime-solving machine. He's Shawn 2.0." Declan then shows up Shawn again at the police station, being on the receiving end of all the attention after it's revealed he's a criminal profiler. What's worse, he publicly corrects Shawn on more movie trivia and Juliet has already agreed to go on a date with him. When Shawn voices his scepticism in his abilities, Declan gets Shawn's psychological profile spot-on.
Declan has figured out that Lucy, Veronica Miller and Peter Hodges were all killed with hemlock, and given that all three victims were over 60 and suffering from major illnesses, he theorizes that they are looking for a woman in her thirties with an overwhelming compassionate side who has started carrying out mercy killings. Although Shawn is the one who gets the police to check out the liver transplant list, Declan still gets all the credit because his psychological profile fits the new-found suspect Catherine Bicks. Declan fascinates Juliet by explaining that the killer uses sociopathic rationalization to justify her euthanistic intentions to herself, since she still has her entire life ahead of her and the victims don't.
Although Catherine first seems innocent and Lassiter gets angry with Declan, the sketch by the sketch artist gives them enough reason to go back. When they discover that Catherine has already flown the coop, Declan theorizes that she suffers from a major depersonalization disorder (DPD), explaining that she is probably detached from her mental and emotional process and is not driven by fear. He therefore suspects her next move will be logical more than anything. Shawn recognizes that Declan quoted a passage from a book series verbatim and concludes that Declan is a fake, confirming as much when he calls Harvard and they state he never went there.
When he and Gus drive to Declan's house to confront him with their suspicions that he's the murderer, they find out that he's filthy rich. He lives in a big fancy house, has his own helicopter and has hired Curt Smith to play guitar by the pool. Declan explains that he made a bunch of bets against the housing market when he was running a small hedge fund six years ago, and a few months later he had a fortune. Since then, he has simply pursued his passions. At first he wanted to become a sushi chef, but when he discovered that that would require a seven-year education he ventured to apply the psychology knowledge he learned from his therapist dad and go into criminal profiling. He fudged a few qualifications and found out he was pretty good at it, so he decided to pursue it further. Shawn threatens Declan to tell Juliet he's a fake or else he will, but then Declan reveals that he knows Shawn is a fake too and might have to share that information with Juliet. Shawn tries to get Henry to fire Declan, but Henry declines since Declan's really helping out and there are no legal requirements to call yourself a criminal profiler.
When the gang visit a parking garage where Catherine has been sighted, they find Declan haunching over her dead body. He's arrested and put into custody, but since Shawn knows he didn't do it he consults with him. Declan says that he used a police radio to get to the garage first to show up Shawn again. He doesn't know who the murderer is, but does say that Catherine somehow looked even healthier than before. This puts Shawn on the right path and leads the gang to the real murderer, Maddie Bicks. Back at the police station, Declan has decided to come clean to Juliet. She feels betrayed, but also admires his honesty and still agrees to go on a date with him, much to Shawn's frustration.
One, Maybe Two, Ways Out[]
In "One, Maybe Two, Ways Out", Shawn is forced to ask for Declan's help in order to utilize his helicopter to track a suspect. Declan further annoys Shawn by insisting on confessing his involvement in the case to Juliet.
Extradition II: The Actual Extradition Part[]
In "Extradition II: The Actual Extradition Part", Juliet reveals to Shawn that she has broken up with Declan, but does not tell him why. Later on in the episode, it becomes apparent the she broke up with him because of her attraction to Shawn, which she never fully lost.
Trivia[]
- According to Shawn, Declan has "the world's worst name and the most impossibly dark eye lashes on any man ever."
- Just like Shawn, Declan is apparently a fan of the chick-lit series Internity.
- The qualifications he fudged include masters in psychology and criminology from Harvard, as well as an MBA. However, the two glowing recommendations from police chiefs are probably real.
- He apparently fears that Curt Smith and Neil Finn are plotting to throw a bender in his house.
- Declan is no longer called on to help the SBPD after he reveals that he is a fake; however, this does not bother him much, since he was only helping them as a hobby, and not as an actual job.