Dave the cook . . . I wish they had a storyline to have him leave instead of him just never showing up again. - k-man-3
According to the information I've seen, William White, who played Dave, was indeed forced to stop working because of back problems. It may have been an indefinite situation, but after it became clear that White was unable to return, the producers introduced a new cook, Eugene. As Dave was a minor character, his backstory and fate was probably considered to be unimportant in the overall scheme of things. I may be misremembering, but I thought there was a line at some point that mentioned Dave's temporary absence, if not his ultimate fate.
I didn't mind Eugene, but I did like Dave better. Eugene did get more prominence in some episodes, such as "I Feel the Earth Move" in which he objects to Holling's corner-cutting on Ron and Erick's reception dinner menu, but as minor characters we really didn't learn too much about them except collaterally. Dave did exhibit some interesting tough tendencies, for example, in "Thanksgiving," when he explains to Joel why Indians throw tomatoes at whites, he says that it could be worse--and he gets a hard gleam in his eye as he explains that they could be using weapons instead; and in "Family Feud," when Leonard unveils the new totem pole, Dave is the one who spots the symbol of contention and orders everyone in his clan to leave in a spontaneous boycott that precipitates the feud.
Someone who used to post here recently stated that they liked the show even if they didn't like most of the characters. I'm really hard-pressed to name any characters, major or minor, whom I didn't like completely. All the major characters exhibited unlikeable tendencies from time to time (for instance, Shelly became very unlikeable in her spiteful and manipulative manner toward the end of the series). Part of the overall appeal of NX to me is that these aren't ideal characters and we have to deal with them, warts and all. That goes for the minor characters as well. And then there is the aspect of liking the character for his or her function, and not necessarily liking him or her as someone I'd like to pal around with. In that respect, I'm not sure if there is
anyone on the show I'd like to do that with! But I enjoy immensely watching them interact in the stories.
There was a cook in the Brick before Dave came aboard. He too was Native American, and it was a non-speaking role although he may have uttered a grunt or a monosyllabic response now and then. I think in "Sex, Lies and Videotape," when Wayne comes to town to see Shelly, the cook serves him some food that Wayne had ordered. Wayne then rejects the food, saying he's not hungry or something like that, and the cook shoots him a dirty and disgusted look. Priceless!
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"We hear very little, and we understand even less." - Refugee in Casablanca
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