Susan Montgomery

Susan Montgomery is the titular protagonist of "Dead Woman's Shoes", the first segment of the ninth episode of the first season of the 1985-1989 iteration of The Twilight Zone, the episode airing in 1985. The episode is a remake of the classic series' "Dead Man's Shoes", and Susan is presumably an adaptation of Dane from the original episode. She is the wife of main antagonist Kyle Montgomery, who was murdered by him but returned as a vengeful spirit. While she possesses bodies of living women, she sees her true appearance in mirrors.
Susan Montgomery's true appearance was portrayed by Pia Gronning, while the bodies of the women she used were portrayed by Helen Mirren and Tyra Ferrel.
== Biography ==
Susan married a wealthy lawyer named Kyle Montgomery. However, their marriage eventually fell apart, Kyle becoming abusive to Susan, culminating with Kyle pushing her off the second-floor balcony of their house during a party, Susan breaking her neck and dying. He managed to make the witnesses, police, and his maid, Inez, believe that the fall was an accident due to Susan drinking too much, having Inez get rid of Susan's things while pretending to be in mourning. A month later, Kyle had Susan's last pair of high heels given to a local thrift store. Unbeknownst to Kyle, Susan's spirit lingered in the shoes, and sought vengeance against her murderous husband.
The shoes were soon picked up by a thrift store employee named Maddie Duncan, who tried them on, being possessed by Susan. Susan got up and promptly left the store for Kyle's mansion, brushing aside a man who was trying to flirt with her and hopping into a taxi. Susan, apparently not realizing she had a different appearance, entered the mansion, where the maid, Inez, tried to stop her. However, Kyle's dog still recognized Susan despite her new appearance, and Susan told Inez about the illicit bonus pay she had been receiving, something Inez knew only Susan would know. While unnerved, Inez was still disbelieving, and Susan decided to take a shower. However, she didn't seem to realize that her shoes were what anchored her spirit to Maddie, and thus took them off, making Maddie regain control of her body. Inez tried to shoo her out, but Maddie put the shoes back on, allowing Susan to take over again.
Back in control, Susan put on nicer clothes and called Kyle at work. Kyle didn't recognize Maddie's voice, but Susan told him about the fact that he murdered her, and mentioned Kyle's favorite drink, a Manhattan cocktail, making Kyle freeze in shock. Kyle then hung up and rushed home, confronting Susan in the living room. Not recognizing her, Kyle tried to tell her to leave, before grabbing her and demanding to know who she was. Susan mockingly said that she remembered the Kyle she loved, only for Kyle to slap her, throwing her onto a nearby couch, where Susan admitted that she got very familiar with Kyle's far more abusive side near the end of her life. Kyle then recognized the shoes Susan was wearing, asking where she got them, to which Susan responded that Kyle bought them, and that she was wearing them when Kyle pushed her off the balcony. Kyle tried to deny his murder again, saying that Susan simply fell from the balcony, but Susan repeated that she knew exactly what happened that night. Kyle, trying to write it off, began laughing, noting that asking where she was that night, thinking she was a partygoer and insisting that Susan was dead. While he kept yelling, Susan abruptly went over to him and kissed him, making Kyle realize that Maddie's body was, in fact, possessed by Susan.
Horrified by the revelation, Kyle remained frozen while Susan recounted her death from her perspective, remembering feeling that the fall was eternal, but then Kyle ran to retrieve a revolver from a nearby box. However, Susan revealed she already had the gun, and began shooting at him, prompting Kyle to flee the mansion as Inez called the police. Kyle managed to outrun Susan and jump a fence onto another property, Susan finding that her high heels were preventing her from running properly. However, when she removed her shoes, her spirit was expelled from Maddie's body, and Maddie, frightened by her inexplicable blackout and seeing a gun in her hand, threw the weapon in the grass and ditched the shoes in a trashcan. Shortly afterwards, Kyle returned home to talk to the police, telling them of the events, simply claiming that Maddie was insane. Kyle then promptly fired Inez and opted to move to the beach, but before he could leave, a maid from another property found Susan's shoes and put them on. Susan, now in the maid's body, then found the gun and returned to Kyle's house, finally killing him and presumably passing on.
== Navigation ==
Category:Female
Category:Posthumous
Category:Deceased
Category:Noncorporeal
Category:Fighters
Category:Lethal
Category:Successful
Category:Karma Houdini
Category:Villain's Lover
Category:Vengeful
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:One-Shot
Category:True Neutral
Category:Heroes by Proxy
Category:Spouses
Category:Possessors
Category:Titular
Category:Victims
Category:Science Fantasy Heroes
Category:The Twilight Zone Heroes