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Port Charles has finally given all us single people an excuse to use
at high school reunions, wedding receptions, and office parties. Simply put, none
of our life partners has ever been born.
The idea of soaps ripping off movies is nothing new. Neither is whacked out
storylines. In the past few years, we've had at demonic possession, cloning, angels,
and a talking doll; with all that, why not time travel? So, Nelly the computer
has given we fans of PC both: a crib sheet from Frequency with a
healthy dollop of Back to the Future for added flavor.
There is a problem here, one that screenwriters, the cast and crew of Star
Trek: Voyager, and now Brown and Esensten can't seem to avoid. Time travel
is a paradox, and as soon as Frank started talking to Cookie on that 30-year-old
computer that still managed to interface with a flat-screen monitor, Karen should
have faded away. But then we'd be completely without a story, and that gives us
another paradox. And gives me a nosebleed. So let's just avoid trying figure out
the basic physics here, and stick to the story.
It's funny, but if you can ignore the violations of space-time (which I'll
admit is asking a lot), this stuff breeds wonderful and compelling stories. There's
the aforementioned Back to the Future, Classic Trek's "The
City of the Edge of Forever," and Babylon 5's "War Without End."
This is not to say that "Time in a Bottle" is on that level, but in
its own strange way, this little story is the best one of the current arc. And
this is coming from someone who was grinding his teeth over the start of the story.
There are a few reasons to recommend it. Firstly, Marie Wilson and Jay Pickett
make a cute couple. Watching Karen and Frank fumble around a relationship with
pizza and beer is a nice change from candles, flowers, and the Harlequin romance
trappings we often see. Secondly, PC has undone a big mistake and recruited
Denise Galik back as Rhonda Wexler. Even though Karen's face has changed over
the years, Rhonda, as ever, is Rhonda, and maintains a vital link between where
Karen came from and who she is now…or who she was…or something. Lastly,
there are all the little touches that make this complete. There's the period music
(even with the ad naseum playing of the titular "Time in a Bottle"),
the truly ghastly furnishings in Cookie's house, and most importantly, the exploitation
of Rhonda and Karen's back-story.
So, I guess the best way to describe the story would be "weird,"
with "really weird" a very close second. Having said that, "Time
in a Bottle" is a cut above "Fate," and here's hoping we actually
get a third novella.
Until next time, Port Chuck.
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