Kyle Montgomery is the main antagonist 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 Kyle presumably serves as an adaptation of Dagget. Kyle Montgomery is a wealthy lawyer who killed his wife and tried to make her death appear as an accident, but was met with her vengeful spirit possessing another woman.
Kyle Montgomery was portrayed by Jeffrey Tambor, who also portrayed Mayor Augustus Maywho in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, K. Edgar Singer in Muppets From Space, Crazy Quilt in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Captain Flarty in Bob's Burgers, Mr. Big in WordGirl, Crocker in Batman: The Animated Series, and Dr. Zin in Jonny Quest.
Biography[]
Kyle Montgomery was a wealthy lawyer who was married to a woman named Susan. However,rriage eventually fell apart, Kyle becoming abusive to Susan, culminat.ting 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 returned from playing tennis to find that Inez had uncovered some more of Susan's things, including her high heels, ordering her to give them to the nearest thrift store.
Later, while Kyle was at work, he got a call from a woman who claimed to be none other than Susan. Picking up the phone, Kyle, not recognizing the woman's voice, was at first disbelieving, thinking that the woman on the line was nothing more than a blackmailer, but the woman, who was actually possessed by Susan's vengeful soul, revealed that Kyle committed murder. Kyle first tried to threaten legal action, but Susan clarified that it was impossible to threaten a dead person. Kyle asked where she was, and Susan replied that she was at home. She then mentioned that she was preparing Kyle's favorite drink, a Manhattan cocktail, making Kyle freeze in shock before hanging up.
Kyle then rushed home, entering to confront the woman Susan was inhabiting, a thrift store worker named Maddie Duncan, who was wearing one of Susan's dresses. Not recognizing her, Kyle tried to tell her to leave, before grabbing her and demanding to know who she was. Susan mockingly said that that was the Kyle she loved, only for Kyle to slap her, throwing her onto a nearby couch. 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 Maddie was clever, 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, but then 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. However, when the police asked for Maddie's description, Kyle, believing that Maddie knew the truth of Susan's death, decided not to give her description, claiming that he didn't want word of the attack getting out as to not harm his image or business with a scandal, or the possibility of Maddie revealing the truth. The detective asked if Kyle's career was more important than his life, but Kyle replied that since Susan died, his career was his life, and he preferred to hire private security and forget the whole ordeal. Afterwards, Kyle questioned Inez about Maddie, but when she had no answers, Kyle resolved to flee to a beachside property and sell his mansion, dismissing Inez and telling her to take the family dog with her. Before leaving, Inez asked if Kyle believed in ghosts, making Kyle order her to get out.
Before Kyle could leave, a maid from another property found Susan's shoes in the trash can and put them on, being possessed by Susan and finding the gun, promptly marching into Kyle's mansion. The episode ends with a gunshot heard from within the mansion, presumably killing Kyle.
