The Convict's Piano

"The Convict's Piano" is the thirtieth episode and the sixth episode of the second season (1986–87) of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Plot

Music is heard while a convict's hands appear to play the piano, but without an actual piano and with his eyes closed, in a prison yard. He is interrupted by a bunch of roughnecks playing football. The piano-playing convict, by name of Frost, turns and attacks the one who fell on him. He is taken to the infirmary and treated for a flesh wound. The guard then takes him to another convict, by name of Eddie O'Hara, and they converse about how Frost's ex-girlfriend was found murdered and he was convicted of it, although he claims he is innocent. They also discuss how Frost can play the piano, and it is suggested that he could play Ave Maria for the bishop who is coming to visit the prison.

They find an old piano in the reception hall that once belonged to a gangster named Shaughnessy, a friend of O'Hara's. It was sent over after Shaughnessy disappeared so that the prison population could enjoy the music, but it sat gathering dust until the present. (O'Hara admits he was a gangster but had been framed by Shaughnessy for murder after they both fell in love with the same woman). Frost investigates the piano and finds some very old sheet music in the seat. He begins playing "Maple Leaf Rag," then suddenly discovers he is playing the music in a band uniform, on a very new piano, on a bandstand in a park in the 1890s. He stops playing and shimmers back to the present in the prison. The next day, out in the prison yard, he is harassed by the guy who cut him, but O'Hara steps in. They then talk about how O'Hara was framed by Shaughnessy for murder, and how they were both in love with the same girl. O'Hara then asks where Frost went the day before, after he was left alone with the piano.

Frost goes back to the piano and finds sheet music for "Over There." As he begins to play, he appears in the Shamrock Club in 1917. He talks to an army doughboy, who buys him a beer, and grabs a box of matches. Frost accidentally stops playing when he goes to wipe his mouth, and returns to the present, dismayed. A short while later, Frost goes to the doctor to get his stitches out and tells the doctor about the piano. The doctor does not appear to believe the story, and Frost himself has momentary doubts. However, he pulls out the matchbox and realizes he is not imagining things. He goes back to the piano, but is intercepted by the same convict who has been harassing him. The convict threatens Frost, but the guard comes and they run. O'Hara shows up, and Frost tells him about the piano. He tells O'Hara to touch the piano while he is playing, so they can go back together and get even with Shaughnessy in the past. O'Hara does not believe the story either, but watches as Frost disappears while playing "Someone to Watch Over Me". Frost finds himself at Shaughnessy's house in 1928, and Shaughnessy himself comes over, upset over the absence of his regular piano player and the music Frost is playing. Frost says "the union" sent him over to fill in for the regular player, and Shaughnessy decides to invest in a grand piano and send the old one over to the prison for his "friend" O'Hara. Shaughnessy demands Frost play "S'Wonderful", but Frost does not know the song. Shaughnessy begins playing it himself, while Frost is still playing. Frost stops playing and stands up, but doesn't disappear, while Shaughnessy's girl invites him to dance. When Shaughnessy quits playing, he disappears and travels to the prison in the present. Shaughnessy demands to know where he is, and O'Hara tells him he is right where he belongs. O'Hara punches him and knocks him into the piano, which crashes to the ground and shatters into pieces—trapping Shaughnessy in the present to serve out Frost's sentence. Back in 1928, Frost, realizing what's happened, smiles as he stares at the piano which per Shaughnessy's instructions will be sent to the prison.

External links

• "The Convict's Piano" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Convict's Piano" at TV.com