Toby Cavanaugh is a major supporting character in the Pretty Little Liars television series on Freeform. He was portrayed by James Neate in "Pilot", and by Keegan Allen starting from the second episode of the first season.
The former lonely boy who became a police officer. Toby was the first suspect in the disappearance of queen bee Alison DiLaurentis, seen as a stalker with the girls of Rosewood, until it was discovered that he was the victim of his stepsister Jenna Marshall. He is the son of the deceased Marion Cavanaugh and the widow of Yvonne Phillips. He is currently married to Spencer Hastings.
Biography[]
Toby Cavanaugh is a shy person who was blackmailed by his step-sister Jenna to have sexual relations with her, saying that she would tell their parents that Toby had been forcing her and that they would surely have believed her. Alison told the Liars that she saw Toby spying on them from his tree house and watched them change clothes, and they believed her. Alison and her friends tried to get revenge on him by throwing a stink-bomb into the Cavanaugh's garage, which set the garage on fire and accidentally blinded Jenna, in the process. It is unknown whether anyone else was inside the garage. Alison blackmailed Toby into taking the blame for Jenna's "accident", by saying that she would tell the whole town about their affair.
Commemorating September 1, the day he became free of Jenna, and coincidentally the same day Alison DiLaurentis went missing, Toby got a tattoo: "9/01 Free At Last". This (at the time), fueled the Liars beliefs that Toby killed Ali. After a year in reform school (in Maine), Toby returns to Rosewood where he is treated as a social pariah, and suspected of being an "A" - by The Liars - and also Alison's murderer (by the whole town). He convinces the girls otherwise, starting with Emily Fields when he befriends her. He helps Emily to come out and tell people that she's gay, something that she's forever grateful for. Toby maintains his innocence in Alison's murder, is eventually cleared, and even begins a long-term relationship with Spencer Hastings.
When Mona Vanderwaal is sent to Radley after the events in the Season 2, the girls receive a text, "Mona played with dolls, I play with body parts". It can only be assumed that this message and the other escalating threats of Season 3 were from Toby. At the end of "The Lady Killer", it is revealed Toby is a part of The A-Team alongside Mona. Spencer finds this out on their one-year anniversary, and ends their relationship because of it. Spencer is heartbroken and, throughout the season, this becomes increasingly obvious. Later, Spencer reveals to the Liars that Toby is a member of the "A-Team", and she has known about it for weeks.
In "Out of Sight, Out of Mind", Spencer follows Mona into the woods, where she finds a body on the ground surrounded by camping gear. The person is wearing a biker helmet and a leather jacket. Spencer doesn't realize who this could be until she recognizes a tattoo on the mystery person's side: "9/01 Free At Last". Thinking the body is Toby's, Spencer breaks down and begins to cry; however, before she can lift the eye guard on the helmet for confirmation, Mona calls out from the woods, "He's dead," taking Spencer's attention away from the body and prompting her to chase Mona. Whether or not the body in the woods was actually Toby's was debatable and —at the time— unknown. However, in "A DAngerous GAme", it was revealed that Toby is alive and that the body Spencer found was a John Doe. Toby meets Spencer at a diner (thinking she is Mona) to say that Hanna got the babysitting job. Spencer says "I know" and raises her head to look at him. Upon realizing it is Spencer, he confesses that he joined the A-Team to protect her, stating: "Everything I've done is so I could protect you." They reunite and Toby is kicked out of the A-Team.
In Season 4, Toby's storyline centers around the fact that he wants answers about his mom's death. "A" tortures him with information about his mom's supposed suicide, in which he makes deals with the devil. He gives the RV to "A" and Spencer is upset because it could have given them information. There is a strain put on his relationship with Spencer because she told the other Liars about him making deals with A. However, he comes to his senses in "Now You See Me, Now You Don't", stating that he doesn't want A's version of the truth.
In Season 5, it's revealed that Toby went to London to find answers about Melissa for Spencer. His relationship with Spencer strengthens and scenes between them show that they are very much in love. Toby also becomes a cop; however, his graduation is put on hold when he gets into a car accident in "Taking This One to the Grave", in which he breaks his leg.
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Trivia[]
- Toby was the second A member to be revealed. He only joined the A Team to protect Spencer.
- Toby was forced to have sex with Jenna in the show. This is opposite from the books, where Toby forced Jenna to have sex with him.
- In the books he only had a crush on Emily; in the show he begins with a crush but then they become best friends.
- Toby's death has been faked twice on the show.
- When Toby's motorbike was found in "The Homecoming Hangover", he was supposed to die. Creator I. Marlene King said in an interview that she changed her mind in regards to Toby dying.
- Toby was likely the person who met Dr. Sullivan in the diner (the waitress called him "Pretty Eyes" in "A DAngerous GAme", the same nickname she gave the person sitting across from Dr. Sullivan in "Over My Dead Body").
- Spencer loses her virginity to him in "The Lady Killer", the same episode that the viewers find out he's on the A team.
- "A" fakes Toby's death to make Spencer go to Radley, and Toby found out about it after Spencer found the body and went to Radley.
- In "'A' is for A-l-i-v-e", it was hinted that Toby had a crush on Alison and almost kissed her.
- Toby gives "A" the RV for information on his mother's death.
- Along with Ian Thomas, Malcolm Cutler, Jason DiLaurentis and Kate Randall, his character has been played by a different actors/actress (James Neate portrayed him in "Pilot", with Keegan Allen portraying him from "To Kill A Mocking Girl" onward).
- Toby believes that his mom did not commit suicide, as her death report states.
- Toby seems to be friends with Caleb. Recently, he teamed up with him to find out about Red Coat and Nigel Wright.
- He and Spencer are the first characters to go to Ravenswood.
- He was mistakenly credited as Toby Marshall in the pilot episode.
- He decided that he wanted to become a police officer in "Scream For Me".