Street of Shadows
"Steve Cranston, a man living what Thoreau called "a life of quiet desperation". A man once successful, once firmly ensconced in the American Dream, only to have it turned into a nightmare. Steve Cranston, a statistic, whose number is about to be called — from the Twilight Zone."
Steve Cranston (Charles Haid) is a construction worker who has had minimal success in scoring job offers, forcing him, his wife Elaine (Angela Gei), and his daughter Lisa (Lisa Jakub) to live in a homeless shelter. The lack of employment and finances, as well as the fact that the shelter is soon to be torn down, drive Steve to despair and desperation. He sneaks into the mansion of Frederick Perry (Shawn Lawrence), the tycoon who is planning to tear the shelter down. As he's swiping money from his wallet, Frederick finds Steve, thinks him to be a burglar, and shoots him in self-defense. When Steve comes to, he finds that he and Frederick have switched identities, and though his family treats him with hostility for being the man who shot their respective husband and father, Steve tries to use his newfound life to save the place he calls home.
Tropes
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Frederick is aggressively pursuing a new construction project, having no concerns about the impact tearing down the homeless shelter will have on the people of the area, including Steve and his family. Although he's worth over $40 million, he wants to cut costs by firing personnel where possible.
- The Cynic: Steve became one after living in a homeless shelter for years, unable to find new job opportunities and being denied the American Dream he's always believed in.
- Does Not Like Spam: As Frederick, Steve is served lobster for dinner, which he says he hates.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: While he's living Frederick's life, Steve makes it so he won't have any burglary charges pressed against him, and buys the homeless shelter's mortgage to keep it from being torn down. When he and Frederick swap back to their original lives, the director of the shelter allows Steve to take a job working on the building, establishing that his hard times are easing up.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Steve breaks into Frederick's house in order to empty his wallet. When Frederick discovers him, Steve tries to reason with him, only for the millionaire to shoot him. Next morning, Steve wakes up in Frederick's bed to find that the two of them have swapped lives. When he confronts Elaine and Lisa at Mercy Hospital, they only see the man who put Steve in a coma. Steve uses the opportunity to save the homeless shelter by buying out its mortgage and having the charges against him dropped. After he does so, he and Frederick switch back.
- Homeless Hero: Steve was once a construction worker, but drained finances and a lack of employment offers have left him and his family to live in a homeless shelter. When he swaps identities with Frederick, he works to keep him from tearing the shelter down.
- Justified Criminal: Steve has been unemployed for years and his efforts to find work have been unsuccessful. The homeless shelter where he and his family live will soon close because it can no longer pay its mortgage, having them faced with the prospect of being thrown out on the street. Feeling as though he has no other choice, Steve breaks into the mansion of multi-millionaire Frederick and plans to empty his wallet. Frederick discovers him almost immediately and shoots him. When Steve wakes up the next morning, he finds that he and Frederick have swapped lives/identities.
- Laser-Guided Karma: As punishment for his crooked ways, Frederick spends the second act of the episode in a coma after he and Steve swap lives, and Steve manages to use his finances to put a stop to the project he was gunning for.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Frederick is said to be dating a popular film actress named "Lana Taylor".
- Recycled Premise: The episode is essentially a repeat of Season 1's "Opening Day", where two different men swap lives after a near-death experience. The difference is that this episode has a somewhat happy ending.
- Ripple Effect Indicator: After Steve and Frederick swap lives, Steve's image replaces Frederick's in a photograph with Lana Taylor, and on his driver's license.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: After Steve swaps lives with Frederick, he's the only person who is able to remember their original identities. Frederick himself was in a coma at the time, so it's unclear whether he could as well.
- Working-Class Hero: Steve is a blue-collar man who has failed for a long while to find a new construction job, forcing him and his family to live in a homeless shelter.
"It has been a time of changes for Steve Cranston, and the hard times are by no means over. But perhaps now the decisions ahead will be a little easier to make. There are no easy answers, here — or in the Twilight Zone.
