The Convict's Piano
Ricky Frost (Joe Penny) is a pianist who has been wrongfully serving a life sentence after being implicated in his ex-girlfriend's murder. After injuring his hand in a scuffle and being relocated to another block, Rick meets Eddie O'Hara (Norman Fell), an older man who has spent the last 58 years wrongfully placed in the same prison after being similarly framed for a murder. The two men discover an old, dusty piano while redecorating the church cathedral, and as Rick sits down to play, he discovers himself in a completely different place. After some experimentation, Rick discovers that the piano transports whoever is playing it back in time, the exact year and place dependent on the nature of the song or composition they're playing, and returns to its point of origin if and when they stop. With this in mind, Rick attempts to find a new point in time where he can escape his troubles, and perhaps serve a little justice for his new friend Eddie.
Tropes
- Ax-Crazy: Thompson the skinhead, who's introduced trying to stab a member of a black gang when Ricky shoves him. He later threatens revenge against him by threatening to give him a "State Penn Welcome".
- Attack Hello: When he finally meets Mickey after half a century, Eddie sarcastically welcomes his old pal to his new home... by way of punching him in the jaw.
- Cassandra Truth: Ricky tells Dr. Puckett that he was transported back in time twice by playing certain songs on the old piano in the cathedral, while the doctor clearly doesn't believe a word he's saying. The next day, Ricky tells Eddie that he can come with him, offering to take him to 1928 so he can get revenge on his old nemesis Mickey Shaughnessy. Eddie retorts that he's been in prison too long to believe in magic. However, he realizes that Ricky is telling the truth when he disappears before his eyes. He receives further proof when Mickey is sent forward in time after playing the piano himself.
- Commonality Connection: In spite of the age gap, Ricky and Eddie become pretty good friends, serving life sentences in the same prison after they were both wrongfully convicted of a murder someone else performed.
- Cultured Badass: Mickey was known in his day as a notorious gangster, but as Ricky finds out, he's also pretty knowledgeable about music and is an extremely talented piano player.
- Deadly Euphemism:
- In the beginning of the episode, Ricky shoves a maniacal skinhead named Thompson who tries to stab a black inmate to save the guy's life. When Thompson confronts him later in the episode, he almost gets even with Ricky by using his blade to give him a "State Penn Welcome".
- At the end, Eddie gives Mickey a punch to the face as his own way of giving a "State Penn Welcome".
- Disproportionate Retribution: Mickey framed his friend Eddie for murder and had him wrongly incarcerated solely because he didn't want him to steal Ellen from him.
- Distinguishing Mark: Mickey has a large scar on the right side of his face, which makes his mouth look bigger when he smiles. Eddie theorizes that he seemingly obtained it in a knife fight.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Both Eddie and Ricky come out of the experience better. The former may still be in prison, but he gets revenge on the man who sent him there, and may possibly be released when news of this development comes to light. Ricky, meanwhile, gets to escape to a new life, freed from his wrongful incarceration, and even finding a new girlfriend in Ellen.
- Equivalent Exchange: Ricky is able to escape his unjust prison sentence when he plays "Someone to Watch Over Me" on the piano and is transported back in time to 1928. He realizes that he has picked just the right song and time because he remains in the past after he stops playing, in contrast to his previous trips to 1899 and 1917. Mickey, on the other hand, is transported forward in time to 1986 when he takes over the piano from Ricky to play "S' Wonderful". Eddie viciously welcomes his old friend to prison by punching him in the jaw, knocking him into the piano and breaking it. Everyone ends up happy in the end, as Ricky escapes to a new life, Mickey gets his just desserts while being trapped in the future, and his former friend Eddie has all the time in the world to get even with him.
- Famous, Famous, Fictional: Mickey Shaughnessy is a notorious gangster in 1920s Chicago, being compared to Dutch Schultz and Al Capone.
- Fantasy Keepsake: After talking to Dr. Puckett, Ricky becomes concerned that he only imagined being transported back in time by the old piano. However, he realizes that it really did happen when he finds the matchbox he got in the Shamrock Club, during his trip to 1917, in his pocket.
- The Flapper: Mickey's girlfriend Ellen, seen on his arm at a party Ricky ends up in, is a flapper in 1928, much like every woman there. Eddie notes that he was in love with Ellen, but Mickey framed him for murder to get him out of the way. When Mickey is sent to the future, Ellen appears to set her sights on Ricky.
- Frame-Up: Mickey turns out to have framed Eddie for murder in 1928, as he was a rival for Ellen's love.
- The Gay '90s: Ricky's first trip to the past takes him to a bandstand in 1899, where everyone is celebrating in the midst of a park.
- Hollywood Old: 62-year-old Norman Fell plays Eddie O'Hara, an old convict who has been in prison for 58 years, since he was framed for murder in his 20s.
- I Choose to Stay: After Mickey manages to take himself and the piano back to the present day, Ricky becomes content with remaining in the 1920s, having found a new lover in Ellen and no longer serving life in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
- Intergenerational Friendship: The elderly Eddie and the relatively young Ricky become pretty fast friends when they meet, since they're both in prison after being wrongfully convicted for murders that someone else did.
- Karma Houdini: The unidentified person or persons who stole Ricky's car, murdered his ex-girlfriend, and indirectly sent an innocent man to prison, apparently got off scot free.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Mickey, the gangster who had Eddie framed for murder and wrongly imprisoned, gets his overdue karma when Ricky tricks him into returning to the prison in his place, allowing Eddie to menacingly welcome the gangster with a punch to the face.
- Love Triangle: Mickey and Eddie were both in love with Ellen in the '20s. In order to remove his romantic rival, Mickey had Eddie framed for murder and had him sentenced to life in prison. When Mickey is sent to 1986 in Ricky's place, Eddie is all too willing to get even while Ellen gets together with Ricky.
- Miscarriage of Justice: Ricky was wrongfully convicted of his ex-girlfriend's murder and sentenced to life in prison just because her body was found in a car that had been stolen from him, and Eddie was similarly framed for a murder by Mickey in order to keep him away from his lover Ellen. The two men are sympathetic to each other's plights, and so are the staff of the prison, since both men were screwed over by forces beyond their control.
- "Mister Sandman" Sequence: Three of them occur throughout the episode, happening every time Ricky travels back in time by playing a song from a certain era on the piano:
- The first time, when he plays Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag", Ricky finds himself in 1899, playing at a bandstand in a park during the middle of a Fourth of July celebration. The men are wearing flat straw boaters and three-piece suits with matching waistcoats, while the women have Gibson Girl-style bouffant hairdos and gorgeous dresses typical of the Gay '90s.
- The second time, when he plays George M. Cohan's "Over There", he's taken to 1917, serving as the piano player at the Shamrock Club. The clientele there largely consists of doughboys who are getting ready to ship out to fight in Europe during the Great War, and most of the women present have bob cuts or their hair in ringlet curls.
- The third and final time, when he plays George Gerswhin's "Someone to Watch Over Me", he's placed in 1928, playing the piano at a private party in Mickey's house. The guests are all drinking illegal alcohol, Ellen and all the other women are flappers, and Mickey asks Ricky to play Gerswhin's "S' Wonderful", the most popular song of that year.
- Musical Episode: This episode is a love letter for fans of vintage songs and music, as several of them are played on the old piano to send Ricky back in time.
- The Old Convict: Eddie was framed for murder by Mickey in 1928. Ricky meets him in 1986, by which time he's been wrongfully incarcerated for 58 years.
- The Piano Player: Ricky used to play the piano all the time before he was wrongfully locked up, his stylings being so good that he's had people telling him he could be the next Billy Joel. His skills in ivory-tickling allow him to escape his imprisonment via a magic time-traveling piano he plays on.
- Point of No Return: Ricky winding up in 1928 is an unintentional variant of the trope. When he steps away from the piano to allow Mickey to take over, Mickey winds up being sent back to 1986. The now-elderly Eddie, who Mickey had framed for murder back in the 20s, punches him into the piano, causing it to be knocked over and broken.
- Riddle for the Ages: Who was it that instigated the series of events that got Ricky wrongfully thrown in prison? And how did they even manage to accomplish said events to begin with? The episode never gives an answer.
- The Roaring '20s: Near the end of the episode, Ricky plays "Someone to Watch Over Me" on the piano, so he'll be sent back there, even summing up the decade by saying "Calvin Coolidge, flappers, bathtub gin." Once he arrives in 1928, Ricky finds himself in the middle of a lavish party being thrown by Mickey, where the guests are all drinking illegal alcohol. The end of the episode has Ricky deciding to stay in 1928 instead of returning to 1986, where he's serving a life sentence for a murder he didn't commit.
- San Dimas Time: Whenever Ricky travels back in time, he is gone for the equivalent amount of time in 1986.
- Stable Time Loop: Eddie tells his fellow prisoner Ricky that he was framed for murder in 1928 by Mickey, who disappeared shortly afterwards. Ricky later discovers that playing a particular song on the piano sends him back in time to the relevant era. When he plays "Someone to Watch Over Me", he arrives in 1928, during a party being thrown by Mickey. When the gangster takes over to play "S' Wonderful" on the piano, he is sent forward to 1986, which accounts for his unexplained disappearance in 1928.
- Time Travel Episode: Wrongfully convicted prisoner Ricky finds an old piano that transports him to different eras in time, depending on the songs he plays.
- Win-Win Ending: By playing "Someone to Watch Over Me" on the piano, Ricky is able to start a new life in 1928, freed from his wrongful imprisonment. In the meantime, Mickey is marooned in the future, where Eddie, the former friend whose life he ruined, is all too eager to rough him up for all the trouble he's caused him.
- World War I: Ricky's second use of the piano takes him to 1917. He ends up playing in the Shamrock Club, a rowdy tavern packed full of doughboys celebrating with their girls before being shipped out to fight overseas.
