The Load on Toad

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With so many irreverent side characters in Twin Peaks, it's hard to choose a favorite, but for whatever reason Toad has always been high on my list. After I recently recapped Episode 8, I got thinking about Toad and the tribute to Kevin Young Jr. at the end of the episode. So, I did a little Google research and found out a few tidbits about the actor Kevin Young. He was originally hired to work as a production assistant on the Twin Peaks set and ended up being cast as the Double R lovin' extra known only as, Toad. Kevin Young's IMDB page lists him in 4 uncredited episodes and as being a production assistant on the set of Fire Walk With Me. However many fans credit him with being a fun add on to our love of pie, coffee, bad tips, Shelly, Norma and all things Double R related. Given that he only grunted and had no actual speaking lines, what do we really know about the character of Toad?


Toad wasn't much for leaving tips as we see in Season 1 episode 4 when he leaves Norma what appears to be ten cents. She responds by sarcastically saying, "Thanks Toad, I'll be sure and get this into my retirement fund A-S-A-P!"


Toad was also known to be a messy eater as we see in Season 2 episode 11. Hank felt it was best that Toad eat in the kitchen rather than out in the dining area when he and Norma were trying to impress the famous restaurant critic, MT Wentz. 


In that same episode, Toad upset Norma by stealing food in the kitchen when her back was turned. As it turned out, the person Norma and Hank thought was MT Wentz was actually District Attorney, Daryl Lodwick played by Ritch Brinkley, may he RIP. I always thought Lodwick and Toad looked surprisingly alike.


In Season 2 episode 22 aka the Diane Keaton episode, Toad played chess with Cooper, Doc Hayward, Harry and Pete at the Double R when Cooper was trying to outwit Windom Earle's game. Unfortunately everyone was "check mated" by Pete due to the expert chess playing skills he acquired from the The Great Jose Raul Capablanca. 


Sadly, in real life Kevin Young's infant son was tragically killed in 1990 by his babysitter. There is a tribute at the end of the Season 2 premiere episode in honor of the lost child. Thanks to Dugpa, I found an article about it. Read Here --- > Kevin Young Jr.


What do you think Toad's life outside of his time at The Double R was like? Perhaps he was a logging man? A truck driver maybe? Father? Husband? A lonely soul perhaps? Is it possible he could have been a secret scholar or led a double life of some sort? The mind reels. 

Do you think side characters, such as Toad, will be featured in Season 3 in 2017? 







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