I didn't get to listen to this one when it first rolled around (not sure I'd heard of EP at the time), so I've only listened to this one as Flashback Friday EP651.
This story, well... There's a few different things I feel about this one, and I'm not sure how to coalesce them into a quick paragraph. (Thankfully, that's not necessary because forums and all. But I apologise in advance if I ramble.)
First up - I really enjoyed the story overall.
I'm a sucker for Alternate Universe fiction - Escape Pod 553 'Water Finds Its Level' was a joy to behold. I love seeing stories about what could have been, and what happens when things change - I suppose that's also why I love time travel stories too. I guess in many of us there's the desire to see what could have been.
- I wish I could see her version of Star Wars prequels, with the reveal of Darth JarJar, rather than the filmmakers succumbing to fan outrage and rewriting him as a minor character.
- I first heard 'Sgr Wr Gng Dwn' (
a mashup with the music of 'Sugar We're Going Down' with the lyrics from 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs' - there should be a copy of it on YouTube) before I ever heard Sugar We're Going Down itself - so hearing it felt, to me, like music from another world when I first listened to it as an audio file.
Unfortunately the effect is significantly diminished upon multiple listenings so maybe it was just a one-off experience, in part due to sleep deprivation. ^_^
- And alas, I live in a world where Asteroid Musical (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfTFKgXqqHY ) never ended up getting made.
So although I didn't really know the names in the story and I'd only seen a couple of the films mentioned, I really enjoyed hearing how her world differed from his. (Especially the absence of Dr Strangelove.) Not sure I'd want to live there, though. Sounds like things aren't going so great there, given her eating habits.
But at the same time, although it was fun to listen to, there's some aspects of the story I found really uncomfortable. Like, the way the main character decides it's totally okay to hit on someone while she's at work and cannot avoid him (
Tip: Don't do that. It's written as sweet in movies but it's creepy in real life.) The kiss that he decides to
take, rather than her making a move. The way she's a bit of a manic pixie dream girl, just showing up out of the blue all ready to make a boring guy's life interesting
again.
All of it squicks me a little. Perhaps not as much as EP443 'This Is As I Wish To Be Restored', which is also a good story in it's own right, but this still made me feel kinda uncomfortable afterwards.
TL:DR - Good story, despite the off-putting main character.
PS: I may have spent at least half of it being like "TALK WITH HER ABOUT 'BRIGADOON' (1954 film starring Gene Kelly) ALREADY!"
Though I suppose that's because I haven't watched Twilight Zone, so that reference eluded me.