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class="body__ner-ntaer"><figure data-ttid="IameEmbed" class="IameEmbedWrapper-sc-dRedg cjyRVU iame-embed"><div data-ttid="IameEmbedContaer" class="IameEmbedContaer-hptgUZ fXVBaX"><div class="IameEmbedAspectRatWrapper-hFVJps BKpgQ"><iame class="IameEmbedContent-cMdiev csnuAY IameEmbedContent lazyload" height="90" width="100%" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-orig allow-popups" tle="Embedd Frame" data-src=" allowfullscreen="" allow="toplay *; encrypted-media *; clipboard-wre; toplay; fullscreen; picture--picture"></iame></div></div></figure><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">It was a sizzlg Augt morng 2021, but si a hair-and-makp trailer parked at the Pacific Palms Rort, an hour east of Hollywood, Maya Erske and Anna Konkle were returng to the year 2000. The women, who are both thirty-four, are -creators and -stars of “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” a Hulu seri which they play versns of themselv as teen-agers, the thirteen-year-old bt iends and misfs Maya Ishii-Peters and Anna Kone. In the makp trailer, Erske sat ont of a vany mirror as a stylist wearg a face shield ed a felt-tip pen to pat hundreds of ty strok onto her upper lip, creatg the illn of a fat mtache. “I was ma fun of for beg hairy—I had a ep secury about that,” Erske told me. Bi her, a hair stylist twisted strands of Konkle’s fe blond hair around the neck of a ty curlg iron, creatg bouncy rkscrews. The women then moved to an adjacent stume trailer to plete their “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” looks: for Maya, a black bowl-cut wig that rembl a giant porci mhroom, siar to Erske’s haircut fifth gra; for Anna, a set of protdg pop- brac that mimic the on Konkle had to wear—twice. (“My orthodontist ma a mistake,” she said.) The mouthpiece cuts to Konkle’s gums and mak nearly impossible for her to eat or drk. It’s paful, but so is beg thirteen.</p><p class="paywall">All other middle schoolers on “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” are played by adolcents: the popular girls, the other outsts, the unrequed csh. Erske and Konkle don’t nvcgly pass among them, but that is the pot. Their junr-high burlque is a sight gag as well as the heart of the seri; more lerally than most teen pariahs, Maya and Anna have trouble ftg . The women were preparg to shoot an episo om the show’s third season which their younger avatars attend a popular girl’s bat-mzvah party at a untry club. At about 11 <em class="small">A.M.</em>, they entered a banquet hall si the Pacific Palms, where the party had been staged perd-specific teenybopper style. A mera crew was filmg B-roll footage of a d.j. playg the 1998 techno-pop song “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” as a triad of sequ-clad hype dancers did the Runng Man on a lamate dance floor. Teen-age extras and whe-haired elrs yarmulk checked out a statn for makg airbshed T-shirts. The women took their plac, a buffet le, and the episo’s director, Dan Longo, lled “Actn.” Erske, as Maya (short, hyperactive, impish), jiggled her body to the beat. Konkle, as Anna (tall, lanic, slouched), stood behd her, glowerg, the thro of a fatalistic mood brought on, earlier the episo, by a lson on the Holot.</p><p class="paywall">“Oh, my God, this party is amazg,” Erske said.</p><p class="paywall">“Who are the people, and why are they here?” Konkle muttered.</p><p class="paywall">“I dunno, ’s Bec’s bat mzvah,” Erske replied.</p><p class="paywall">“No, I mean, like, on Earth,” Konkle said.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">“Oh, my God. Dipp’ Dots! Dipp’ Dots!” Erske exclaimed sudnly, eyg a statn offerg ice-cream pellets. Then she got the giggl and had to stop. “Sorry, this is so bad,” she said. She took a breath and regaed her posure. “Na, Dipp’ Dots! Oh, my God. Oh, my God. O.K., I need that.” (To each other, Maya and Anna are Mai and Na.) Erske turned to look at Konkle, but then she broke aga. Konkle, stayg character, said, “What? I’m glad you’re enjoyg life.”</p><p class="paywall">“<em class="small">PEN</em>15” premièred 2019 and beme a cult h. Erske and Konkle ma the show wh the wrer and director Sam Zvibleman, who spired the pictn of Maya and Anna’s sweetly dopey male classmate Sam (Taj Cross). They are not the first TV creators to put their characters through the trials of early adolcence, but their show has ltle mon wh upbeat nostalgia vehicl like “The Wonr Years” (1988-93) or even “Freaks and Geeks” (1999-2000), Judd Apatow’s beloved seri about a pack of wsome nerds. Several shownners of the streamg era, eed om the nstrats of work televisn, have med the rnchier si of tweendom. The Netflix animated seri “Big Mouth” rivals “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” s glorly ndid approach to the arrival of puberty. But, where “Big Mouth” is characterized by r, Technilor flights of fancy (cludg memorably foulmouthed “hormone monsters”), “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” favors a punishg, slightly off-kilter realism. Erske and Konkle told me that they were fluenced by such films as Todd Solondz’s 1995 black edy, “Wele to the Dollhoe,” about a seventh-gra girl who endur, among many other celti, the sobriquet Wiener Dog. The name “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” om a schoolkid prank that begs wh a qutn: Do you want to jo the <em class="small">PEN</em>15 Club? The suckers who say y get the word Sharpied on their hands such a way that looks like “<em class="small">PENIS</em>.” “It felt appropriate to name our show after the thg that rejects get brand,” Erske said.</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p class="paywall">If you, like me, are a lennial and a reverg social reject, watchg Erske and Konkle relive seventh gra n feel alternately wistful and triggerg. The seri’ tle sequence is a rapid-fire sli show, set to Biki Kill, of real snapshots om Erske’s and Konkle’s youths. Each half-hour episo follows Maya and Anna through pool parti, athletics, school plays. The show pays lovg and amg attentn to Y2K-era teen obssns: choker necklac, Sarah Michelle Gellar, “Wild Thgs,” AOL Instant Msenger. It also unspargly picts the psychosocial dynamics of adolcence, when cliqu and tts n whtle away at kids’—and pecially girls’—self-teem. Watchg the pilot episo, which Maya learns that her name is scrawled on the wall of the boys’ bathroom beneath the acronym <em class="small">UGIS</em>—Uglit Girl School—I felt my own junr-high mortifitns e shg back: the time a boy pretend to ask me to a school dance as a cel joke, or when a blond mean girl urged classmat to hi the ketchup om me at lunch, or when a iend announced that I should really learn how to shave the backs of my kne. Yet “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” don’t appeal only to one mographic. When the show premièred, a few crics sniffed that seemed th or gimmicky; Tim Goodman, of the Hollywood Reporter, lamented “the repetive sketch feel of the whole thg.” But the majory were won over. Season 1 got an Emmy nomatn, and Season 2 got three more, cludg for Outstandg Comedy Seri. Jam Poniewozik, the <em>Tim</em> Gen X televisn cric, told me, “ ‘<em class="small">PEN</em>15’ sounds like self and nothg else—the mark of great TV.”</p><p class="paywall">When I suggted to Erske and Konkle that they were makg a “crge edy,” Erske said, “We don’t really wre jok,” addg, “Someone once lled a ‘trmedy,’ and that’s probably the clost way to scribe .” Instead, the creators and a small team of wrers pore over their yearbooks and their juvenile rrponnce. They tra real-life tal of srrg first kiss and antic masturbatn attempts. The more paful the old bis, the more cled they are to apply prsure. Gabe Liedman, a -shownner for Season 1, told me about one of the early scen they shot, which Maya, Anna, and three of their classmat film a Spice Girls-spired vio for a homework assignment. The group cis that Maya, who is half Japane, should play Sry Spice (the only group member of lor), and that she should also be the other girls’ “servant”—“bee you’re, like, tan,” one girl explas. Maya plays along, adoptg an exaggerated accent and hunchg over like Quasimodo to extract a lgh om her more popular peers. Durg the shoot, Erske did a few tak of the scene and then broke down cryg. “It sred the sh out of me,” Liedman said. “There were the leral twelve-year-old girls Spice Girls stum who have never heard of the Spice Girls, and ’s a heat wave, and Maya is heavg sobbg. I was, like, is my rponsibily, as a manager here, to shut down this set?”</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kKwZhx rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RponsiveCartoonWrapper-iTMMjI eXTYsS rponsive-rtoon AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset viewport-monor-anchor"><a class="external-lk rponsive-rtoon__image-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa RponsiveCartoonImage-hzNqyc ikeCcH rponsive-rtoon__image rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="People ffee shop ready to pounce for the only available outlet." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></a><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE gdZTpI ptn RponsiveCartoonCaptn-dokfdF hJgaLQ rponsive-rtoon__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo bsWloa ptn__text">“He’s leavg. It’s every man for himself!”</span></div><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn RponsiveCartoonCred-bKlQqO faLAFb rponsive-rtoon__cred"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT bmQtfn ptn__cred">Cartoon by Brooke Bourgeois</span></div><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTA-eiqqMB iDCQRs"><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTAWrapper-CYIqa iTbFtf"><div class="RponsiveCartoonLkButtonWrapper-hqDAJK eSEhbj"><button aria-label="Copy lk to rtoon" class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv YsOBB button button--primary-pair RponsiveCartoonInButton-hBCBMq lpsjql" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="button"><span class="ButtonLabel-cjAuJN bBWXSg button__label">Copy lk to rtoon</span><div class="ButtonInWrapper-gFdzAL bPDyTT button__in-ntaer"><svg class="in in-pylk" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Copy lk to rtoon</tle><g clip-path="url(#clip0_3732_178637)"><path fill-le="evenodd" clip-le="evenodd" d="M16.3488 10.5017C16.2107 10.7357 16.2926 11.035 16.5318 11.17C16.7709 11.3052 17.0767 11.225 17.2148 10.991L18.4648 8.87225C19.5694 7.00002 18.9139 4.60601 17.0007 3.52508C15.0875 2.44415 12.6412 3.08562 11.5366 4.95785L9.53657 8.34782C8.432 10.22 9.08751 12.6141 11.0007 13.6949C11.1888 13.8012 11.382 13.8908 11.5785 13.9642C11.7819 14.0403 12.0058 13.9485 12.1147 13.764C12.2794 13.4849 12.1103 13.1276 11.8083 12.9992C11.7041 12.9549 11.6014 12.9044 11.5007 12.8475C10.0658 12.0368 9.57417 10.2413 10.4026 8.83712L12.4026 5.44715C13.2311 4.04298 15.0658 3.56187 16.5007 4.37257C17.9356 5.18327 18.4272 6.97878 17.5988 8.38295L16.3488 10.5017ZM7.6526 13.4983C7.79067 13.2643 7.70873 12.965 7.46959 12.8299C7.23044 12.6948 6.92464 12.775 6.78657 13.009L5.53657 15.1278C4.432 17 5.0875 19.394 7.00068 20.475C8.91385 21.5558 11.3602 20.9144 12.4648 19.0422L14.4648 15.6521C15.5694 13.78 14.9139 11.3859 13.0007 10.305C12.8127 10.1988 12.6195 10.1091 12.4229 10.0357C12.2195 9.95975 11.9956 10.0515 11.8867 10.236C11.7221 10.5151 11.8911 10.8724 12.1932 11.0008C12.2973 11.0451 12.4 11.0956 12.5007 11.1525C13.9356 11.9632 14.4272 13.7587 13.5988 15.1628L11.5988 18.5529C10.7704 19.957 8.93555 20.4382 7.50068 19.6274C6.0658 18.8167 5.57417 17.0212 6.4026 15.6171L7.6526 13.4983Z" fill="black"></path></g><fs><clipPath id="clip0_3732_178637"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath><clipPath id="clip1_3732_178637"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath></fs></svg></div></button><div class="AlertWrapper-gvFATk MdjE RponsiveCartoonLkAlertPopup-BPAXn kdMXRM shoppg-alert" role="dialog"><div aria-hidn="te" role="prentatn" class="AlertArrow-daOgye AlLda alert-arrow"></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ AlertMsage-jgAjgo bVCFRm ifgabc cxFROy alert-msage"><p aria-hidn="te">Lk pied</p></div></div></div><button aria-label="Shop" class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv YsOBB button button--primary-pair RponsiveCartoonInButton-hBCBMq lpsjql" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="button"><span class="ButtonLabel-cjAuJN bBWXSg button__label">Shop</span><div class="ButtonInWrapper-gFdzAL bPDyTT button__in-ntaer"><svg class="in in-rt" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Shop</tle><g clip-path="url(#clip0_3732_178638)"><path fill-le="evenodd" clip-le="evenodd" d="M4 3H2V4H4.23828L6.99617 15.2631C7.11483 15.6982 7.50998 16 7.96094 16H18.0365C18.4875 16 18.8826 15.6982 19.0013 15.2631L20.9648 7.26312C21.1383 6.62698 20.6594 6 20 6H10V7H20L18.0365 15H7.96094L5.03652 3H4.58055H4ZM10.0365 19C10.0365 19.5523 9.58881 20 9.03652 20C8.48424 20 8.03652 19.5523 8.03652 19C8.03652 18.4477 8.48424 18 9.03652 18C9.58881 18 10.0365 18.4477 10.0365 19ZM11.0365 19C11.0365 20.1046 10.1411 21 9.03652 21C7.93195 21 7.03652 20.1046 7.03652 19C7.03652 17.8954 7.93195 17 9.03652 17C10.1411 17 11.0365 17.8954 11.0365 19ZM18.0365 19C18.0365 19.5523 17.5888 20 17.0365 20C16.4842 20 16.0365 19.5523 16.0365 19C16.0365 18.4477 16.4842 18 17.0365 18C17.5888 18 18.0365 18.4477 18.0365 19ZM19.0365 19C19.0365 20.1046 18.1411 21 17.0365 21C15.932 21 15.0365 20.1046 15.0365 19C15.0365 17.8954 15.932 17 17.0365 17C18.1411 17 19.0365 17.8954 19.0365 19Z" fill="black"></path></g><fs><clipPath id="clip0_3732_178638"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath><clipPath id="clip1_3732_178638"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath></fs></svg></div></button></div></div></div></span></div></figure><p class="paywall">But Erske fed ahead. She explaed, “Anna started cryg, and then members of the crew started cryg. It opened up this flood of everyone sharg stori. That was a light-bulb moment. We realized, Oh, this is what this show is.” Their young -stars grew emotnal, too. Sami Rappoport, who plays Bec (the scene’s Baby Spice), told me, “Filmg that was really hard. They didn’t expect for to h as ep as did.”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">In “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” pubcence is a purgatory. “The nce of the show was that they thk they’re seventh gra forever,” Erske told me. “It is this extreme microspe. It’s, you know, termable Hell.” The one solace Maya and Anna have is that they are not stuck there alone. At the end of the first season, a boy treats both girls to a brief, above-the-cloth trip to send base si a storage closet durg a school dance. (As wh other scen that require timacy between the women and their teen stmat, this was acplished g an adult stand- and reful mera angl.) At the begng of the next season, Maya and Anna learn that the whole school is gossipg about their “threome.” “So we’re sperate sluts, great,” Maya says.</p><p class="paywall">In real life, Erske and Konkle didn’t know each other middle school. Erske grew up Los Angel and Konkle Massachetts. They first met the summer of 2008, when they were N.Y.U. unrgraduat studyg abroad, Amsterdam, as part of an experimental-theatre workshop. The curriculum was tensive and eccentric—postmorn dance, media ll’arte, mask work. Erske said that one of her early enunters wh Konkle took place a bathroom before a “Brechtian fairy-tale storytellg” showse. “We were both eakg out,” Erske said. “I had diarrhea. We bond over our I.B.S. issu.”</p><p class="paywall">In Amsterdam, and then back at N.Y.U., the pair beme separable. They disvered pleasg parallels their bgraphi—both had fathers named Peter and olr half brothers; both were the only children of their mothers’ send marriag—and a shared attractn to tellg, as Konkle put , “the most vulnerable stori, that most people would not tell at a party.” They thought about llaboratg on a project, but after llege Konkle stayed New York, where she worked as a server at Pne, the acclaimed Manhattan rtrant, and Erske eventually moved back to L.A., signg wh a small talent agency. She was landg dns only every three months or so, she said, addg, “And was for, like, Che Wars No. 2.”</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">By late 2012, Konkle was thkg about applyg to graduate school art therapy. On a whim, she took a small role a iend’s Web seri and then lled Erske, nvcg her that the time to make somethg together was now or never. Then she drove to L.A. and crashed on Erske’s uch while they wrote, filmed, and starred a Web seri of their own. The project, which they fund through Kickstarter, was a realy-TV spoof lled “<em class="small">MANA</em>.” Few people saw , but rulted three life-changg velopments: the pair land reprentatn wh the top edy talent agency Gersh, Konkle moved to L.A. permanently, and they found a third llaborator Zvibleman, who had studied filmmakg at U.S.C. and did set work on the Web seri.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><asi class="PersistentAsiWrapper-VGrR daRVRt persistent-asi" style="posn:absolute;top:to;height:to" data-ttid="PersistentAsiWrapper"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="pyw53"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></asi></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="gg6ets"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa bDyAMU body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Around then, another pair of bt iends, Abbi Jabson and Ilana Glazer, débuted their stoner edy “Broad Cy,” on Comedy Central, and beme a naway succs. Sudnly, TV executiv were lookg for the next big female duo. Konkle and Erske land several “general meetgs,” an dtry term for open-end pch ssns. One of the ias they batted around was a s lled “Fosters,” which they’d play former cult members hidg out by posg as teen-agers a foster fay. (“This was before ‘Kimmy Schmidt’ me out,” Erske said, referrg to the Netflix edy that also follows a cult pee.) In orr to generate plotl for the show, they would s wh Zvibleman and reunt tal om their own adolcence. “Maya talked about hidg her perd for a year, and Anna talked about shavg her legs,” he relled. “It was a e a mute, and their nnectn is so tense. I said, ‘The stori are beyond fascatg to me.’ ” At N.Y.U., Erske and Konkle had studied the Grotowski method, which Konkle scribed as “the ia that physily n rm feelgs and the bra.” At some pot, Erske told me, Zvibleman said, “ ‘Fet pretendg to be kids. Jt <em>be</em> thirteen.’ ”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Konkle’s most vivid experience of beg thirteen was wnsg the dissolutn of her parents’ marriage. Her mother and father had fought bterly throughout her childhood. In 2000, they announced that they would divorce, but the negotiatns took three years urt. Durg that time, Peter, Konkle’s father, refed to move out of the fay home. The hoe was divid to two hostile terrori, wh Konkle often playg peacemaker. Her mother, Ja Ryan, a retired nurse wh a hippieish vibe, relled that her dghter seemed mature beyond her years. One wter, the fay t killed Konkle’s beloved hamster, Chucky. “I llapsed on the rpet sobbg,” Ryan said. “And then Anna down the stairs and forts me. She said, ‘It’s O.K., Mommy.’ ” Konkle told me, “I was so angry wh my parents. My mom would be, like, ‘But for you wasn’t nice havg the fay together?’ And I’m, like, ‘Um, no, are you <em>sane</em>?’ ” After years of trangement, Konkle rennected wh her father when he was given a diagnosis of lung ncer, 2019. She beme his retaker durg the fal months of his life.</p><p class="paywall">Anna’s parents’ divorce is “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” at the end of Season 1, but the procs is nowhere near as long or as acrimon as the one Konkle experienced. For the scene which Anna’s parents break the news that they’re spltg up, though, Konkle adhered to the tails as she relled them. She was stg cross-legged on the bedroom floor, foldg cloth. Her parents rapped gently on the door. They livered the news ggerly while her mom, named Kathy the show and played by Melora Walters, fidgeted wh the rgs on her fgers. “ ‘My parents told me they are gettg a divorce’ is a trope, or n sound blunt and obv,” Konkle said. “I wanted to show exactly what felt like, looked like, om my P.O.V.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Konkle’s avatar rebels agast her parents, smokg cigarett and gettg dnk and stealg another girl’s pk thong, which Anna and Maya take turns wearg to school. Konkle merely spent as much time as possible away om home, often at the hoe of her bt iend, Courtney. On “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” jt before Anna’s parents announce their divorce, she spends two nights at the Ishii-Peters’. At first, the girls n through the hoe stuffed to the same giant T-shirt, and chant, “We. Are. Sisters.” But Maya soon grows weary of sharg her fay and starts actg out. In one scene, Maya’s mother, Yi, tenrly bs Anna’s hair the livg room, ignorg her dghter’s petulance.</p><p class="paywall">The part of Yi is played by Erske’s mother, Mutso, whom I met one morng this past summer at the fay home, a neteen-thirti bungalow on a sleepy si street Santa Moni. When I entered, Peter, Maya’s father, who is a ad rger for Rob Reer, ved me to remove my sho. On a shelf the fay room sat bobblehead dolls of Erske and Konkle—a gift om Erske’s half brother, Taichi, who is an edor on “<em class="small">PEN</em>15.” Mutso, who go by Mutsy, had never acted before appearg on the show. Origally om the Tokyo suburbs, she first met Peter, a dmmer the renowned jazz-fn band Weather Report, while workg as a translator for Amerin artists tourg Japan. Mutsy later married another man and had Taichi. When that relatnship end, she moved wh Taichi to the U.S., and they settled wh Peter California jt before Erske was born.</p><p class="paywall">As a mixed-race, middle-class fay, the Ersk stood out Santa Moni. From krgarten through nth gra, Erske attend Crossroads, an éle private school known for tg the children of the rich and famo. She did not que qualify for a need-based scholarship, and Peter often toured a hundred and eighty days a year orr to afford the tun. By seventh gra, Erske told me, she was no longer close wh her elementary-school iends: “I realized I’m not as rich as them. I would beg my mom, ‘I need a Kate Spa bag.’ ” In the bat-mzvah episo of “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” Maya pleads wh her parents to buy a Swarovski necklace as a gift for Bec. The same thg happened real life, except the necklace was om Tiffany. “My mom was, like, ‘Let’s jt give the tradnal eighteen-dollar check.’ And I was, like, ‘You will fuckg my life if we give that.’ ” Mutsy told me that when Erske was about thirteen she started fdg regularly wh her brother and her mother. “Taichi said was unbearable to be here,” Mutsy said. “Peter was often away, and we’d be havg the arguments. Even the next-door boys said, ‘Shut up!’ ”</p><p class="paywall">Mutsy and Peter walked me through the fay room to Erske’s childhood bedroom, which is now a gut room wh soothg turquoise walls. In the hallway outsi hung a photograph of Mutsy and a young Erske a hot sprg the Japane town of Hakone. Durg Erske’s youth, the fay went back to Japan about once a year, and their bathroom Los Angel Peter and Mutsy stalled a Japane-style soakg tub. It is roomy and pale blue, wh a foldable top ma of hoki wood. As an adolcent who longed to f , Erske stggled wh her Japane inty. “I thk I had this belief that not beg whe or lookg like other people around me ma me wrong,” she told me. But bathg wh her mother the Japane tradn was a source of fort. “We would have a really heated argument, like her screamg ‘I hate you!,’ and Maya would say, ‘Mom, let’s jt take a bath,’ ” Mutsy relled. Erske clud that rual “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” and the upg season she wrote and directed an episo that tells Yi’s backstory. “Maya kept llg me Mom on set,” Mutsy joked. “I did not like that. ‘Mom, put your hands here. Mom, do this dance.’ I am a profsnal!” She add, chucklg, “Even now, she reverts.”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">In 2014, Erske, Konkle, and Zvibleman wrote a sprawlg, sixty-page script for the first episo of “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” which Konkle affectnately scribed as “the pilot that went the trash.” Still, piqued the tert of an executive at Party Over Here, a productn pany created by the edy llective the Lonely Island. At the time, Party Over Here had a velopment al wh Fox to sign new talent and fund short proof-of-ncept shoots. Wh a budget of a hundred and fifty thoand dollars, Erske, Konkle, and Zvibleman shot a fifteen-mute “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” episo, which featured Maya and Anna primpg before a school dance while listeng to Christa Aguilera’s “What a Girl Wants.” In early 2016, they sent the vio to HBO, Showtime, FX, and Hulu, along wh a pch packet that looked like a fake yearbook. On the ver page of their master py, Konkle typed a joke about pubcent nippl and a mantra: “The thirteen year old si me liv at all tim.”</p><p class="paywall">FX told the women’s agent that the show was “too lennial.” HBO was terted, but only if the team would keep makg “short form” ntent. In a meetg wh Showtime, Erske prented a male executive wh an old snapshot of her wh her father and joked that she had masturbated right before was taken. “He was, like, ‘I’m startg to get nseo,’ ” she told me, addg, “It was the worst pch of all time for me.” Hulu ultimately mted to a one-season ntract, wh a budget that Zvibleman kiddgly scribed as “maybe the lowt you n make a show for and still have a unn crew.”</p><p class="paywall">After two years of velopment, stg began 2018. The team sought out young -stars who projected naturalism—“non-Disney, non-Nickeloon,” as Liedman, the Season 1 shownner, put . Sami Rappoport was fourteen and had never acted profsnally before. Between tak of scen which Bec had to be mean to Maya and Anna, Rappoport would apologize to Erske and Konkle. (“She told she was an anti-bullyg club at school,” Konkle said.) At first, Konkle, Erske, and Zvibleman dreamed of featurg gut stars like Eric André or Amy Sedaris playg the parts of other teen-age characters. In the end, they cid that the effect would be most powerful if Anna and Maya were the only kids school wh wrkl. “It jt further ma like aliens,” Konkle said.</p><p class="paywall">Erske and Konkle starred every episo, wrote the majory of the scripts, and were mutely volved post-productn. Their closens animated the seri, but also led to arguments and hurt feelgs. Every cisn felt acutely personal. “I remember edg till three the morng, and we had to, like, lose a send to make air,” Zvibleman said. “And we would fight to the ath over which ame to take out.” They adopted language to soften how they munited—stead of “buggg me,” Erske would say “bumpg me.” At one pot, she sought advice om Rob McElhenney, who wr and stars the s “It’s Always Sunny Philalphia” wh his longtime iends Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton. McElhenney told her that he and his partners had rolved disput wh a simple, majory-ws votg system. For the “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” team, the method didn’t stick, though. “So we me up wh another le: What’s your passn level?” Erske told me. “But then everyone would say, ‘My passn level is a ten.’ ” Konkle attributed much of the strs to the dynamics of workg as a threome: “Someone was always on an island.”</p><p class="paywall">The team’s creative tensns seeped to Maya and Anna’s story l, sometim to edic effect. At the end of Season 2, the girls prepare for a school productn of an origal, Tennsee Williams-que play wrten by their pompo drama teacher, who is played by Erske’s real-life partner, Michael Angarano. Maya is the star of the show and Anna is the stage manager, and they spend rehearsals jockeyg for power. “You guys are dog tech and we’re, like, dog art,” Maya tells her. “Tech <em>is</em> art,” Anna snaps back. (Erske told me, “Anna and I would improv how we would passive-aggrsively give each other not, and would make crack up.”) In a pivotal scene on the play’s openg night, Maya fets her l and eez. Anna mak a spl-send cisn to sprkle glter om the rafters orr to feed her a cue. Sudnly, as if a dream, the teen actors and stagehands all beg to perform a ballet unison, wh the dience swayg along. Erske and Zvibleman tend to favor cematic flourish, while Konkle prefers to prerve a more ground véré feel. Many bat end wh Konkle “on an island.” But Zvibleman said that he had lobbied both women to clu this fantasy sequence of öperative harmony. “Our hypersensivy to each other is what mak the procs hard,” Erske said of Konkle. “But ’s also what lends self to our chemistry. We alchemize a way that is the soul of the show.”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">When the panmic arrived, the tr were the procs of shootg Season 2. Productn shut down, and they nverted one episo—the story of a girls’ trip to Florida wh Anna’s dad—to an animated special that Konkle directed remotely. They also pursued their own projects. Konkle sold a memoir to Random Hoe about her parents’ divorce, tentatively tled “The Sane One.” Erske shot a small role an upg “Star Wars” seri and booked a few bigger actg jobs that she is “not yet at liberty to talk about.” In the summer of 2020, Erske told Konkle that she and Angarano were tryg for a baby. Konkle and her partner, Alex Anfanger, had no immediate plans to start a fay, but jt a few weeks later Konkle disvered that she was pregnant. (Erske’s son, Leon, and Konkle’s dghter, Essie, were born a few months apart, early 2021.) The creators had always envisaged “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” endg after three seasons—at some pot, they would all have to move past seventh gra—but <em class="small">COVID</em> and s attendant difficulti cemented their cisn. Zvibleman, meanwhile, cid that he would leave the show. Erske and Konkle would plete the fal season alone. (On the subject of Zvibleman’s parture, the women assumed a tone of ut diplomacy. “We’re forever grateful for how much Sam gave of himself to the show,” they wrote a jot statement.)</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kKwZhx rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RponsiveCartoonWrapper-iTMMjI eXTYsS rponsive-rtoon AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset viewport-monor-anchor"><a class="external-lk rponsive-rtoon__image-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa RponsiveCartoonImage-hzNqyc ikeCcH rponsive-rtoon__image rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Couple on livg room uch talks to iend about gog out dancg." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></a><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE gdZTpI ptn RponsiveCartoonCaptn-dokfdF hJgaLQ rponsive-rtoon__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo bsWloa ptn__text">“He fally agreed to take me dancg, and then we both realized we have no ia where you’d go to do that or what even means.”</span></div><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn RponsiveCartoonCred-bKlQqO faLAFb rponsive-rtoon__cred"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT bmQtfn ptn__cred">Cartoon by Zachary Kan</span></div><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTA-eiqqMB iDCQRs"><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTAWrapper-CYIqa iTbFtf"><div class="RponsiveCartoonLkButtonWrapper-hqDAJK eSEhbj"><button aria-label="Copy lk to rtoon" class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv YsOBB button button--primary-pair 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class="paywall">In Season 3 (Hulu is llg Season 2, Part 2; premièr on December 3rd), Maya and Anna are still a un, but some of their most tense experienc are takg place penntly. Maya’s om Japan to stay wh the Ersk and is a h wh the kids at school. “Why is beg Japane special on her but not on me?” Maya asks. Anna’s grandmother mov to the fay home but soon di, and Anna stggl wh her grief. Maya starts takg meditn for A.D.D., and Anna gets a boyiend, Steve (Ch Long). Eventually, the girls ci to n away om home together but—spoiler—they don’t even make out of town. At first, Erske and Konkle had different ias for how to end the seri. Erske proposed that the fal scene they smash-cut ahead twenty years, to a hoeparty that Maya and Anna are attendg. They are adults now—no more bowl cut, no more brac. “And you don’t hear anythg, ’s jt mic,” Erske said. “Anna looks and she se Maya across the room, and they have this shared nnectn. And you don’t know, did they e together?” Erske uldn’t sell Konkle on the scene’s ambiguy. “Anna hated the ia of them growg apart,” Erske said.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-3 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">In October, Erske and Konkle allowed me to observe them at work a virtual screeng room as they wrapped up the fal scene that they ultimately agreed upon. Erske was at her home the Hollywood Hills, wearg a green T-shirt and large over-the-ear headphon. Konkle, a nearby office space, was fiddlg wh a plastic tooth flosser, but otherwise the mood of the proceedgs was bslike. The women and the fale’s edor, Matt McBrayer, each occupied a small box at the top of the screen. A larger box at the center held the qued-up footage. McBrayer clicked a Play button, and they all watched silence. In the show’s fal mut, Maya and Anna are stg on the floor of Anna’s bedroom, ghg over their own baby photos. The scene sticks to the year 2000 while makg room for the girls’ future selv. When fished, a plunky tune om the “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” sre played.</p><p class="paywall">“I thk this mic’s so betiful,” Erske said. “ ’Cse is so Maya and Anna, but feels so . . . full.” She ma a dramatic sweepg motn. The others murmured agreement. Then Erske brought up a lgerg edg quibble.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="dub26d"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa bDyAMU body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">“It’s the ntuy of emotn om the wi to Maya’s closps that I feel like don’t que match,” she said. “That’s what is that’s bumpg me. I’m sort of gettg emotnal the wi and then when we cut to me I’m, like—” She ma a goofy face.</p><p class="paywall">McBrayer played the am qutn aga, and Konkle peered at the screen.</p><p class="paywall">“It’s <em>so</em> slight to me,” she said, pchg her fgers to dite somethg very small. “I hear you. I thk the performance tracks. But you should obvly try anythg you want.” Her supportivens sound the slightt b effortful.</p><p class="paywall">Erske and McBrayer nsulted. Were there any other am to choose om? While they went back and forth, Konkle stood up and disappeared om view. “Guys, I’m so sorry to do this,” she said a few sends later, reënterg the ame. “But Essie is tired, and she needs k.”</p><p class="paywall">“All right. Well, let’s ll ,” Erske said. “I mean, ’s a betiful last scene.”</p><p class="paywall">Konkle put her ch her palm and phed her face close to the screen. “Yeah, kills me,” she said, and her ey darted off to the si.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-4 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">After a send, Erske said, “It kills me, too.” ♦</p><le-embed name="" attrs="[object Object]" childTyp="" ntentType="llout:"><hr class="paywall"/><h2 class="paywall">New Yorker Favor</h2><ul class="paywall"><li>How we beme fected by <a href=">cha e-mail</a>.</li><li><a href=">Twelve classic movi</a> to watch wh your kids.</li><li>The <a href=">secret liv of fungi</a>.</li><li>The photographer who claimed to pture the <a href=">ghost of Abraham Lln</a>.</li><li>Why are Amerins still <a href=">unfortable wh atheism</a>?</li><li>The endurg romance of the <a href=">night tra</a>.</li><li>Sign up for our daily <a href=">newsletter</a> to receive the bt stori om <em>The New Yorker</em>.</li></ul></le-embed></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="bv7slp"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><footer class="ContentFooterMagazeDisclaimer-gzKAqo iZIuUU" data-ttid="MagazeDisclaimerWrapper">Published the prt edn of the <a href="/magaze/2021/12/06" data-reactroot="">December 6, 2021</a>, issue, wh the headle “Growg Pas.”</footer></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="ContributorsWrapper-eNpWFu GWFsc ntributors" data-ttid="Contributors"><div class="ContributorBWrapper-bnVHbt gMon"><div class="ContributorBAvatar-bIGTqf eMWbvj"><a href="/ntributors/rachel-syme"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span></a></div><div class="ContributorBContent-ubQdr jZTSSi"><div class="ContributorBHear-ledood XOIEx"></div><div class="ContributorBB-fBolsO giFhKz"><a href="/ntributors/rachel-syme">Rachel Syme</a> is a staff wrer at The New Yorker. 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summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Vlent Delights of “Harley Qun”" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl ldWYvC summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery 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class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Vlent Delights of “Harley Qun”" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">Amid a sea of grim, self-ser adaptatns, the buoyant Max seri offers an antidote to superhero fatigue.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span 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data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="What We Lose When Streamg Compani Choose What We Watch" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl ldWYvC summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">The Front Row</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">What We Lose When Streamg Compani Choose What We Watch</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="What We Lose When Streamg Compani Choose What We Watch" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">Maybe don’t throw away all your DVDs jt yet.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Richard Brody</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff hlYhBH summary-em summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below-sktop-only summary-em--layout-posn-image-right summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm eamwqR" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="“And Jt Like That . . .” Has One Too Many Cosmopolans" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl ldWYvC summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Cultural Comment</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">“And Jt Like That . . .” Has One Too Many Cosmopolans</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="“And Jt Like That . . .” Has One Too Many Cosmopolans" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">The first season was a pleasant rnn; the send season has some issu.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Carrie Battan</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff hlYhBH summary-em summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below-sktop-only summary-em--layout-posn-image-right summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm eamwqR" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Tmp’s Subdued Courtroom Appearance" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl ldWYvC summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Dispatch</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" 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src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">At his arraignment on Thursday, the former Print sat agile and meek the fendant’s seat.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Katy Waldman</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm eamwqR ad ad--read-more"><div 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Story</tle><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M20 23.9508L12.5 19.7312L5 23.9508V2.95081H14V3.93211H6V22.1845L12.5 18.5536L19 22.1845V8.83866H20V23.9508Z" fill="black"></path><path class="in-bookmark-stroke" d="M23 3H20V0H19V3H16V4H19V7H20V4H23V3Z" fill="black"></path></svg></div></a></li></ul></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM eHLzLy grid--em"><div class="SplScreenContentHearLeadWrapper-jYfGAC kBeEbL"><div data-ttid="ContentHearLeadAsset" class="SplScreenContentHearLeBlock-nUOA cwQiEB"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset SplScreenContentHearLe-bGywFh gyNssY"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SplScreenContentHearLe-bGywFh gyNssY rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w, 1920w, 2240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Maya Erske and Anna Konkle red clothg surround by pk fabric." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 SplScreenContentHearGrid-kFpOdh fLkIyA"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn SplScreenContentHearCaptn-iOfEOv ckLUKG"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo iXWezO ptn__text">In their Hulu seri, Maya Erske and Anna Konkle relive seventh gra.</span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT jbIJNS ptn__cred">Photograph by Ilona Szwarc for The New Yorker</span></div></div></div></hear></div><div data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body" class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN kbAoLA article-body__ntent"><div class="ActnBarWrapperContent-lasBkU cAHp"><div class="ActnBarWrapperComponent-cjwxLS bEeSLb"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh kNjTbQ 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class="body__ner-ntaer"><figure data-ttid="IameEmbed" class="IameEmbedWrapper-sc-dRedg cjyRVU iame-embed"><div data-ttid="IameEmbedContaer" class="IameEmbedContaer-hptgUZ fXVBaX"><div class="IameEmbedAspectRatWrapper-hFVJps BKpgQ"><iame class="IameEmbedContent-cMdiev csnuAY IameEmbedContent lazyload" height="90" width="100%" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-orig allow-popups" tle="Embedd Frame" data-src=" allowfullscreen="" allow="toplay *; encrypted-media *; clipboard-wre; toplay; fullscreen; picture--picture"></iame></div></div></figure><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">It was a sizzlg Augt morng 2021, but si a hair-and-makp trailer parked at the Pacific Palms Rort, an hour east of Hollywood, Maya Erske and Anna Konkle were returng to the year 2000. The women, who are both thirty-four, are -creators and -stars of “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” a Hulu seri which they play versns of themselv as teen-agers, the thirteen-year-old bt iends and misfs Maya Ishii-Peters and Anna Kone. In the makp trailer, Erske sat ont of a vany mirror as a stylist wearg a face shield ed a felt-tip pen to pat hundreds of ty strok onto her upper lip, creatg the illn of a fat mtache. “I was ma fun of for beg hairy—I had a ep secury about that,” Erske told me. Bi her, a hair stylist twisted strands of Konkle’s fe blond hair around the neck of a ty curlg iron, creatg bouncy rkscrews. The women then moved to an adjacent stume trailer to plete their “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” looks: for Maya, a black bowl-cut wig that rembl a giant porci mhroom, siar to Erske’s haircut fifth gra; for Anna, a set of protdg pop- brac that mimic the on Konkle had to wear—twice. (“My orthodontist ma a mistake,” she said.) The mouthpiece cuts to Konkle’s gums and mak nearly impossible for her to eat or drk. It’s paful, but so is beg thirteen.</p><p class="paywall">All other middle schoolers on “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” are played by adolcents: the popular girls, the other outsts, the unrequed csh. Erske and Konkle don’t nvcgly pass among them, but that is the pot. Their junr-high burlque is a sight gag as well as the heart of the seri; more lerally than most teen pariahs, Maya and Anna have trouble ftg . The women were preparg to shoot an episo om the show’s third season which their younger avatars attend a popular girl’s bat-mzvah party at a untry club. At about 11 <em class="small">A.M.</em>, they entered a banquet hall si the Pacific Palms, where the party had been staged perd-specific teenybopper style. A mera crew was filmg B-roll footage of a d.j. playg the 1998 techno-pop song “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” as a triad of sequ-clad hype dancers did the Runng Man on a lamate dance floor. Teen-age extras and whe-haired elrs yarmulk checked out a statn for makg airbshed T-shirts. The women took their plac, a buffet le, and the episo’s director, Dan Longo, lled “Actn.” Erske, as Maya (short, hyperactive, impish), jiggled her body to the beat. Konkle, as Anna (tall, lanic, slouched), stood behd her, glowerg, the thro of a fatalistic mood brought on, earlier the episo, by a lson on the Holot.</p><p class="paywall">“Oh, my God, this party is amazg,” Erske said.</p><p class="paywall">“Who are the people, and why are they here?” Konkle muttered.</p><p class="paywall">“I dunno, ’s Bec’s bat mzvah,” Erske replied.</p><p class="paywall">“No, I mean, like, on Earth,” Konkle said.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">“Oh, my God. Dipp’ Dots! Dipp’ Dots!” Erske exclaimed sudnly, eyg a statn offerg ice-cream pellets. Then she got the giggl and had to stop. “Sorry, this is so bad,” she said. She took a breath and regaed her posure. “Na, Dipp’ Dots! Oh, my God. Oh, my God. O.K., I need that.” (To each other, Maya and Anna are Mai and Na.) Erske turned to look at Konkle, but then she broke aga. Konkle, stayg character, said, “What? I’m glad you’re enjoyg life.”</p><p class="paywall">“<em class="small">PEN</em>15” premièred 2019 and beme a cult h. Erske and Konkle ma the show wh the wrer and director Sam Zvibleman, who spired the pictn of Maya and Anna’s sweetly dopey male classmate Sam (Taj Cross). They are not the first TV creators to put their characters through the trials of early adolcence, but their show has ltle mon wh upbeat nostalgia vehicl like “The Wonr Years” (1988-93) or even “Freaks and Geeks” (1999-2000), Judd Apatow’s beloved seri about a pack of wsome nerds. Several shownners of the streamg era, eed om the nstrats of work televisn, have med the rnchier si of tweendom. The Netflix animated seri “Big Mouth” rivals “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” s glorly ndid approach to the arrival of puberty. But, where “Big Mouth” is characterized by r, Technilor flights of fancy (cludg memorably foulmouthed “hormone monsters”), “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” favors a punishg, slightly off-kilter realism. Erske and Konkle told me that they were fluenced by such films as Todd Solondz’s 1995 black edy, “Wele to the Dollhoe,” about a seventh-gra girl who endur, among many other celti, the sobriquet Wiener Dog. The name “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” om a schoolkid prank that begs wh a qutn: Do you want to jo the <em class="small">PEN</em>15 Club? The suckers who say y get the word Sharpied on their hands such a way that looks like “<em class="small">PENIS</em>.” “It felt appropriate to name our show after the thg that rejects get brand,” Erske said.</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p class="paywall">If you, like me, are a lennial and a reverg social reject, watchg Erske and Konkle relive seventh gra n feel alternately wistful and triggerg. The seri’ tle sequence is a rapid-fire sli show, set to Biki Kill, of real snapshots om Erske’s and Konkle’s youths. Each half-hour episo follows Maya and Anna through pool parti, athletics, school plays. The show pays lovg and amg attentn to Y2K-era teen obssns: choker necklac, Sarah Michelle Gellar, “Wild Thgs,” AOL Instant Msenger. It also unspargly picts the psychosocial dynamics of adolcence, when cliqu and tts n whtle away at kids’—and pecially girls’—self-teem. Watchg the pilot episo, which Maya learns that her name is scrawled on the wall of the boys’ bathroom beneath the acronym <em class="small">UGIS</em>—Uglit Girl School—I felt my own junr-high mortifitns e shg back: the time a boy pretend to ask me to a school dance as a cel joke, or when a blond mean girl urged classmat to hi the ketchup om me at lunch, or when a iend announced that I should really learn how to shave the backs of my kne. Yet “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” don’t appeal only to one mographic. When the show premièred, a few crics sniffed that seemed th or gimmicky; Tim Goodman, of the Hollywood Reporter, lamented “the repetive sketch feel of the whole thg.” But the majory were won over. Season 1 got an Emmy nomatn, and Season 2 got three more, cludg for Outstandg Comedy Seri. Jam Poniewozik, the <em>Tim</em> Gen X televisn cric, told me, “ ‘<em class="small">PEN</em>15’ sounds like self and nothg else—the mark of great TV.”</p><p class="paywall">When I suggted to Erske and Konkle that they were makg a “crge edy,” Erske said, “We don’t really wre jok,” addg, “Someone once lled a ‘trmedy,’ and that’s probably the clost way to scribe .” Instead, the creators and a small team of wrers pore over their yearbooks and their juvenile rrponnce. They tra real-life tal of srrg first kiss and antic masturbatn attempts. The more paful the old bis, the more cled they are to apply prsure. Gabe Liedman, a -shownner for Season 1, told me about one of the early scen they shot, which Maya, Anna, and three of their classmat film a Spice Girls-spired vio for a homework assignment. The group cis that Maya, who is half Japane, should play Sry Spice (the only group member of lor), and that she should also be the other girls’ “servant”—“bee you’re, like, tan,” one girl explas. Maya plays along, adoptg an exaggerated accent and hunchg over like Quasimodo to extract a lgh om her more popular peers. Durg the shoot, Erske did a few tak of the scene and then broke down cryg. “It sred the sh out of me,” Liedman said. “There were the leral twelve-year-old girls Spice Girls stum who have never heard of the Spice Girls, and ’s a heat wave, and Maya is heavg sobbg. I was, like, is my rponsibily, as a manager here, to shut down this set?”</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kKwZhx rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RponsiveCartoonWrapper-iTMMjI eXTYsS rponsive-rtoon AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset viewport-monor-anchor"><a class="external-lk rponsive-rtoon__image-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa RponsiveCartoonImage-hzNqyc ikeCcH rponsive-rtoon__image rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="People ffee shop ready to pounce for the only available outlet." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></a><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE gdZTpI ptn RponsiveCartoonCaptn-dokfdF hJgaLQ rponsive-rtoon__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo bsWloa ptn__text">“He’s leavg. 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She explaed, “Anna started cryg, and then members of the crew started cryg. It opened up this flood of everyone sharg stori. That was a light-bulb moment. We realized, Oh, this is what this show is.” Their young -stars grew emotnal, too. Sami Rappoport, who plays Bec (the scene’s Baby Spice), told me, “Filmg that was really hard. They didn’t expect for to h as ep as did.”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">In “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” pubcence is a purgatory. “The nce of the show was that they thk they’re seventh gra forever,” Erske told me. “It is this extreme microspe. It’s, you know, termable Hell.” The one solace Maya and Anna have is that they are not stuck there alone. At the end of the first season, a boy treats both girls to a brief, above-the-cloth trip to send base si a storage closet durg a school dance. (As wh other scen that require timacy between the women and their teen stmat, this was acplished g an adult stand- and reful mera angl.) At the begng of the next season, Maya and Anna learn that the whole school is gossipg about their “threome.” “So we’re sperate sluts, great,” Maya says.</p><p class="paywall">In real life, Erske and Konkle didn’t know each other middle school. Erske grew up Los Angel and Konkle Massachetts. They first met the summer of 2008, when they were N.Y.U. unrgraduat studyg abroad, Amsterdam, as part of an experimental-theatre workshop. The curriculum was tensive and eccentric—postmorn dance, media ll’arte, mask work. Erske said that one of her early enunters wh Konkle took place a bathroom before a “Brechtian fairy-tale storytellg” showse. “We were both eakg out,” Erske said. “I had diarrhea. We bond over our I.B.S. issu.”</p><p class="paywall">In Amsterdam, and then back at N.Y.U., the pair beme separable. They disvered pleasg parallels their bgraphi—both had fathers named Peter and olr half brothers; both were the only children of their mothers’ send marriag—and a shared attractn to tellg, as Konkle put , “the most vulnerable stori, that most people would not tell at a party.” They thought about llaboratg on a project, but after llege Konkle stayed New York, where she worked as a server at Pne, the acclaimed Manhattan rtrant, and Erske eventually moved back to L.A., signg wh a small talent agency. She was landg dns only every three months or so, she said, addg, “And was for, like, Che Wars No. 2.”</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">By late 2012, Konkle was thkg about applyg to graduate school art therapy. On a whim, she took a small role a iend’s Web seri and then lled Erske, nvcg her that the time to make somethg together was now or never. Then she drove to L.A. and crashed on Erske’s uch while they wrote, filmed, and starred a Web seri of their own. The project, which they fund through Kickstarter, was a realy-TV spoof lled “<em class="small">MANA</em>.” Few people saw , but rulted three life-changg velopments: the pair land reprentatn wh the top edy talent agency Gersh, Konkle moved to L.A. permanently, and they found a third llaborator Zvibleman, who had studied filmmakg at U.S.C. and did set work on the Web seri.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><asi class="PersistentAsiWrapper-VGrR daRVRt persistent-asi" style="posn:absolute;top:to;height:to" data-ttid="PersistentAsiWrapper"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="pyw53"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></asi></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="gg6ets"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa bDyAMU body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Around then, another pair of bt iends, Abbi Jabson and Ilana Glazer, débuted their stoner edy “Broad Cy,” on Comedy Central, and beme a naway succs. Sudnly, TV executiv were lookg for the next big female duo. Konkle and Erske land several “general meetgs,” an dtry term for open-end pch ssns. One of the ias they batted around was a s lled “Fosters,” which they’d play former cult members hidg out by posg as teen-agers a foster fay. (“This was before ‘Kimmy Schmidt’ me out,” Erske said, referrg to the Netflix edy that also follows a cult pee.) In orr to generate plotl for the show, they would s wh Zvibleman and reunt tal om their own adolcence. “Maya talked about hidg her perd for a year, and Anna talked about shavg her legs,” he relled. “It was a e a mute, and their nnectn is so tense. I said, ‘The stori are beyond fascatg to me.’ ” At N.Y.U., Erske and Konkle had studied the Grotowski method, which Konkle scribed as “the ia that physily n rm feelgs and the bra.” At some pot, Erske told me, Zvibleman said, “ ‘Fet pretendg to be kids. Jt <em>be</em> thirteen.’ ”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Konkle’s most vivid experience of beg thirteen was wnsg the dissolutn of her parents’ marriage. Her mother and father had fought bterly throughout her childhood. In 2000, they announced that they would divorce, but the negotiatns took three years urt. Durg that time, Peter, Konkle’s father, refed to move out of the fay home. The hoe was divid to two hostile terrori, wh Konkle often playg peacemaker. Her mother, Ja Ryan, a retired nurse wh a hippieish vibe, relled that her dghter seemed mature beyond her years. One wter, the fay t killed Konkle’s beloved hamster, Chucky. “I llapsed on the rpet sobbg,” Ryan said. “And then Anna down the stairs and forts me. She said, ‘It’s O.K., Mommy.’ ” Konkle told me, “I was so angry wh my parents. My mom would be, like, ‘But for you wasn’t nice havg the fay together?’ And I’m, like, ‘Um, no, are you <em>sane</em>?’ ” After years of trangement, Konkle rennected wh her father when he was given a diagnosis of lung ncer, 2019. She beme his retaker durg the fal months of his life.</p><p class="paywall">Anna’s parents’ divorce is “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” at the end of Season 1, but the procs is nowhere near as long or as acrimon as the one Konkle experienced. For the scene which Anna’s parents break the news that they’re spltg up, though, Konkle adhered to the tails as she relled them. She was stg cross-legged on the bedroom floor, foldg cloth. Her parents rapped gently on the door. They livered the news ggerly while her mom, named Kathy the show and played by Melora Walters, fidgeted wh the rgs on her fgers. “ ‘My parents told me they are gettg a divorce’ is a trope, or n sound blunt and obv,” Konkle said. “I wanted to show exactly what felt like, looked like, om my P.O.V.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Konkle’s avatar rebels agast her parents, smokg cigarett and gettg dnk and stealg another girl’s pk thong, which Anna and Maya take turns wearg to school. Konkle merely spent as much time as possible away om home, often at the hoe of her bt iend, Courtney. On “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” jt before Anna’s parents announce their divorce, she spends two nights at the Ishii-Peters’. At first, the girls n through the hoe stuffed to the same giant T-shirt, and chant, “We. Are. Sisters.” But Maya soon grows weary of sharg her fay and starts actg out. In one scene, Maya’s mother, Yi, tenrly bs Anna’s hair the livg room, ignorg her dghter’s petulance.</p><p class="paywall">The part of Yi is played by Erske’s mother, Mutso, whom I met one morng this past summer at the fay home, a neteen-thirti bungalow on a sleepy si street Santa Moni. When I entered, Peter, Maya’s father, who is a ad rger for Rob Reer, ved me to remove my sho. On a shelf the fay room sat bobblehead dolls of Erske and Konkle—a gift om Erske’s half brother, Taichi, who is an edor on “<em class="small">PEN</em>15.” Mutso, who go by Mutsy, had never acted before appearg on the show. Origally om the Tokyo suburbs, she first met Peter, a dmmer the renowned jazz-fn band Weather Report, while workg as a translator for Amerin artists tourg Japan. Mutsy later married another man and had Taichi. When that relatnship end, she moved wh Taichi to the U.S., and they settled wh Peter California jt before Erske was born.</p><p class="paywall">As a mixed-race, middle-class fay, the Ersk stood out Santa Moni. From krgarten through nth gra, Erske attend Crossroads, an éle private school known for tg the children of the rich and famo. She did not que qualify for a need-based scholarship, and Peter often toured a hundred and eighty days a year orr to afford the tun. By seventh gra, Erske told me, she was no longer close wh her elementary-school iends: “I realized I’m not as rich as them. I would beg my mom, ‘I need a Kate Spa bag.’ ” In the bat-mzvah episo of “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” Maya pleads wh her parents to buy a Swarovski necklace as a gift for Bec. The same thg happened real life, except the necklace was om Tiffany. “My mom was, like, ‘Let’s jt give the tradnal eighteen-dollar check.’ And I was, like, ‘You will fuckg my life if we give that.’ ” Mutsy told me that when Erske was about thirteen she started fdg regularly wh her brother and her mother. “Taichi said was unbearable to be here,” Mutsy said. “Peter was often away, and we’d be havg the arguments. Even the next-door boys said, ‘Shut up!’ ”</p><p class="paywall">Mutsy and Peter walked me through the fay room to Erske’s childhood bedroom, which is now a gut room wh soothg turquoise walls. In the hallway outsi hung a photograph of Mutsy and a young Erske a hot sprg the Japane town of Hakone. Durg Erske’s youth, the fay went back to Japan about once a year, and their bathroom Los Angel Peter and Mutsy stalled a Japane-style soakg tub. It is roomy and pale blue, wh a foldable top ma of hoki wood. As an adolcent who longed to f , Erske stggled wh her Japane inty. “I thk I had this belief that not beg whe or lookg like other people around me ma me wrong,” she told me. But bathg wh her mother the Japane tradn was a source of fort. “We would have a really heated argument, like her screamg ‘I hate you!,’ and Maya would say, ‘Mom, let’s jt take a bath,’ ” Mutsy relled. Erske clud that rual “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” and the upg season she wrote and directed an episo that tells Yi’s backstory. “Maya kept llg me Mom on set,” Mutsy joked. “I did not like that. ‘Mom, put your hands here. Mom, do this dance.’ I am a profsnal!” She add, chucklg, “Even now, she reverts.”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">In 2014, Erske, Konkle, and Zvibleman wrote a sprawlg, sixty-page script for the first episo of “<em class="small">PEN</em>15,” which Konkle affectnately scribed as “the pilot that went the trash.” Still, piqued the tert of an executive at Party Over Here, a productn pany created by the edy llective the Lonely Island. At the time, Party Over Here had a velopment al wh Fox to sign new talent and fund short proof-of-ncept shoots. Wh a budget of a hundred and fifty thoand dollars, Erske, Konkle, and Zvibleman shot a fifteen-mute “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” episo, which featured Maya and Anna primpg before a school dance while listeng to Christa Aguilera’s “What a Girl Wants.” In early 2016, they sent the vio to HBO, Showtime, FX, and Hulu, along wh a pch packet that looked like a fake yearbook. On the ver page of their master py, Konkle typed a joke about pubcent nippl and a mantra: “The thirteen year old si me liv at all tim.”</p><p class="paywall">FX told the women’s agent that the show was “too lennial.” HBO was terted, but only if the team would keep makg “short form” ntent. In a meetg wh Showtime, Erske prented a male executive wh an old snapshot of her wh her father and joked that she had masturbated right before was taken. “He was, like, ‘I’m startg to get nseo,’ ” she told me, addg, “It was the worst pch of all time for me.” Hulu ultimately mted to a one-season ntract, wh a budget that Zvibleman kiddgly scribed as “maybe the lowt you n make a show for and still have a unn crew.”</p><p class="paywall">After two years of velopment, stg began 2018. The team sought out young -stars who projected naturalism—“non-Disney, non-Nickeloon,” as Liedman, the Season 1 shownner, put . Sami Rappoport was fourteen and had never acted profsnally before. Between tak of scen which Bec had to be mean to Maya and Anna, Rappoport would apologize to Erske and Konkle. (“She told she was an anti-bullyg club at school,” Konkle said.) At first, Konkle, Erske, and Zvibleman dreamed of featurg gut stars like Eric André or Amy Sedaris playg the parts of other teen-age characters. In the end, they cid that the effect would be most powerful if Anna and Maya were the only kids school wh wrkl. “It jt further ma like aliens,” Konkle said.</p><p class="paywall">Erske and Konkle starred every episo, wrote the majory of the scripts, and were mutely volved post-productn. Their closens animated the seri, but also led to arguments and hurt feelgs. Every cisn felt acutely personal. “I remember edg till three the morng, and we had to, like, lose a send to make air,” Zvibleman said. “And we would fight to the ath over which ame to take out.” They adopted language to soften how they munited—stead of “buggg me,” Erske would say “bumpg me.” At one pot, she sought advice om Rob McElhenney, who wr and stars the s “It’s Always Sunny Philalphia” wh his longtime iends Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton. McElhenney told her that he and his partners had rolved disput wh a simple, majory-ws votg system. For the “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” team, the method didn’t stick, though. “So we me up wh another le: What’s your passn level?” Erske told me. “But then everyone would say, ‘My passn level is a ten.’ ” Konkle attributed much of the strs to the dynamics of workg as a threome: “Someone was always on an island.”</p><p class="paywall">The team’s creative tensns seeped to Maya and Anna’s story l, sometim to edic effect. At the end of Season 2, the girls prepare for a school productn of an origal, Tennsee Williams-que play wrten by their pompo drama teacher, who is played by Erske’s real-life partner, Michael Angarano. Maya is the star of the show and Anna is the stage manager, and they spend rehearsals jockeyg for power. “You guys are dog tech and we’re, like, dog art,” Maya tells her. “Tech <em>is</em> art,” Anna snaps back. (Erske told me, “Anna and I would improv how we would passive-aggrsively give each other not, and would make crack up.”) In a pivotal scene on the play’s openg night, Maya fets her l and eez. Anna mak a spl-send cisn to sprkle glter om the rafters orr to feed her a cue. Sudnly, as if a dream, the teen actors and stagehands all beg to perform a ballet unison, wh the dience swayg along. Erske and Zvibleman tend to favor cematic flourish, while Konkle prefers to prerve a more ground véré feel. Many bat end wh Konkle “on an island.” But Zvibleman said that he had lobbied both women to clu this fantasy sequence of öperative harmony. “Our hypersensivy to each other is what mak the procs hard,” Erske said of Konkle. “But ’s also what lends self to our chemistry. We alchemize a way that is the soul of the show.”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">When the panmic arrived, the tr were the procs of shootg Season 2. Productn shut down, and they nverted one episo—the story of a girls’ trip to Florida wh Anna’s dad—to an animated special that Konkle directed remotely. They also pursued their own projects. Konkle sold a memoir to Random Hoe about her parents’ divorce, tentatively tled “The Sane One.” Erske shot a small role an upg “Star Wars” seri and booked a few bigger actg jobs that she is “not yet at liberty to talk about.” In the summer of 2020, Erske told Konkle that she and Angarano were tryg for a baby. Konkle and her partner, Alex Anfanger, had no immediate plans to start a fay, but jt a few weeks later Konkle disvered that she was pregnant. (Erske’s son, Leon, and Konkle’s dghter, Essie, were born a few months apart, early 2021.) The creators had always envisaged “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” endg after three seasons—at some pot, they would all have to move past seventh gra—but <em class="small">COVID</em> and s attendant difficulti cemented their cisn. Zvibleman, meanwhile, cid that he would leave the show. Erske and Konkle would plete the fal season alone. (On the subject of Zvibleman’s parture, the women assumed a tone of ut diplomacy. “We’re forever grateful for how much Sam gave of himself to the show,” they wrote a jot statement.)</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kKwZhx rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RponsiveCartoonWrapper-iTMMjI eXTYsS rponsive-rtoon AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset viewport-monor-anchor"><a class="external-lk rponsive-rtoon__image-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa RponsiveCartoonImage-hzNqyc ikeCcH rponsive-rtoon__image rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Couple on livg room uch talks to iend about gog out dancg." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></a><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE gdZTpI ptn RponsiveCartoonCaptn-dokfdF hJgaLQ rponsive-rtoon__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo bsWloa ptn__text">“He fally agreed to take me dancg, and then we both realized we have no ia where you’d go to do that or what even means.”</span></div><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn RponsiveCartoonCred-bKlQqO faLAFb rponsive-rtoon__cred"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT bmQtfn ptn__cred">Cartoon by Zachary Kan</span></div><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTA-eiqqMB iDCQRs"><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTAWrapper-CYIqa iTbFtf"><div class="RponsiveCartoonLkButtonWrapper-hqDAJK eSEhbj"><button aria-label="Copy lk to rtoon" class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv YsOBB button button--primary-pair 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class="paywall">In Season 3 (Hulu is llg Season 2, Part 2; premièr on December 3rd), Maya and Anna are still a un, but some of their most tense experienc are takg place penntly. Maya’s om Japan to stay wh the Ersk and is a h wh the kids at school. “Why is beg Japane special on her but not on me?” Maya asks. Anna’s grandmother mov to the fay home but soon di, and Anna stggl wh her grief. Maya starts takg meditn for A.D.D., and Anna gets a boyiend, Steve (Ch Long). Eventually, the girls ci to n away om home together but—spoiler—they don’t even make out of town. At first, Erske and Konkle had different ias for how to end the seri. Erske proposed that the fal scene they smash-cut ahead twenty years, to a hoeparty that Maya and Anna are attendg. They are adults now—no more bowl cut, no more brac. “And you don’t hear anythg, ’s jt mic,” Erske said. “Anna looks and she se Maya across the room, and they have this shared nnectn. And you don’t know, did they e together?” Erske uldn’t sell Konkle on the scene’s ambiguy. “Anna hated the ia of them growg apart,” Erske said.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-3 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">In October, Erske and Konkle allowed me to observe them at work a virtual screeng room as they wrapped up the fal scene that they ultimately agreed upon. Erske was at her home the Hollywood Hills, wearg a green T-shirt and large over-the-ear headphon. Konkle, a nearby office space, was fiddlg wh a plastic tooth flosser, but otherwise the mood of the proceedgs was bslike. The women and the fale’s edor, Matt McBrayer, each occupied a small box at the top of the screen. A larger box at the center held the qued-up footage. McBrayer clicked a Play button, and they all watched silence. In the show’s fal mut, Maya and Anna are stg on the floor of Anna’s bedroom, ghg over their own baby photos. The scene sticks to the year 2000 while makg room for the girls’ future selv. When fished, a plunky tune om the “<em class="small">PEN</em>15” sre played.</p><p class="paywall">“I thk this mic’s so betiful,” Erske said. “ ’Cse is so Maya and Anna, but feels so . . . full.” She ma a dramatic sweepg motn. The others murmured agreement. Then Erske brought up a lgerg edg quibble.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="dub26d"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa bDyAMU body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">“It’s the ntuy of emotn om the wi to Maya’s closps that I feel like don’t que match,” she said. “That’s what is that’s bumpg me. I’m sort of gettg emotnal the wi and then when we cut to me I’m, like—” She ma a goofy face.</p><p class="paywall">McBrayer played the am qutn aga, and Konkle peered at the screen.</p><p class="paywall">“It’s <em>so</em> slight to me,” she said, pchg her fgers to dite somethg very small. “I hear you. I thk the performance tracks. But you should obvly try anythg you want.” Her supportivens sound the slightt b effortful.</p><p class="paywall">Erske and McBrayer nsulted. Were there any other am to choose om? While they went back and forth, Konkle stood up and disappeared om view. “Guys, I’m so sorry to do this,” she said a few sends later, reënterg the ame. “But Essie is tired, and she needs k.”</p><p class="paywall">“All right. Well, let’s ll ,” Erske said. “I mean, ’s a betiful last scene.”</p><p class="paywall">Konkle put her ch her palm and phed her face close to the screen. “Yeah, kills me,” she said, and her ey darted off to the si.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-4 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">After a send, Erske said, “It kills me, too.” ♦</p><le-embed name="" attrs="[object Object]" childTyp="" ntentType="llout:"><hr class="paywall"/><h2 class="paywall">New Yorker Favor</h2><ul class="paywall"><li>How we beme fected by <a href=">cha e-mail</a>.</li><li><a href=">Twelve classic movi</a> to watch wh your kids.</li><li>The <a href=">secret liv of fungi</a>.</li><li>The photographer who claimed to pture the <a href=">ghost of Abraham Lln</a>.</li><li>Why are Amerins still <a href=">unfortable wh atheism</a>?</li><li>The endurg romance of the <a href=">night tra</a>.</li><li>Sign up for our daily <a href=">newsletter</a> to receive the bt stori om <em>The New Yorker</em>.</li></ul></le-embed></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="bv7slp"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><footer class="ContentFooterMagazeDisclaimer-gzKAqo iZIuUU" data-ttid="MagazeDisclaimerWrapper">Published the prt edn of the <a href="/magaze/2021/12/06" data-reactroot="">December 6, 2021</a>, issue, wh the headle “Growg Pas.”</footer></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="ContributorsWrapper-eNpWFu GWFsc ntributors" data-ttid="Contributors"><div class="ContributorBWrapper-bnVHbt gMon"><div class="ContributorBAvatar-bIGTqf eMWbvj"><a href="/ntributors/rachel-syme"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span></a></div><div class="ContributorBContent-ubQdr jZTSSi"><div class="ContributorBHear-ledood XOIEx"></div><div class="ContributorBB-fBolsO giFhKz"><a href="/ntributors/rachel-syme">Rachel Syme</a> is a staff wrer at The New Yorker. 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rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="What We Lose When Streamg Compani Choose What We Watch" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">Maybe don’t throw away all your DVDs jt yet.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Richard Brody</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff hlYhBH summary-em summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below-sktop-only summary-em--layout-posn-image-right summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm eamwqR" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="“And Jt Like That . . .” Has One Too Many Cosmopolans" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl ldWYvC summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Cultural Comment</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">“And Jt Like That . . .” Has One Too Many Cosmopolans</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="“And Jt Like That . . .” Has One Too Many Cosmopolans" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">The first season was a pleasant rnn; the send season has some issu.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Carrie Battan</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff hlYhBH summary-em summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below-sktop-only summary-em--layout-posn-image-right summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm eamwqR" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Tmp’s Subdued Courtroom Appearance" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl ldWYvC summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Dispatch</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Tmp’s Subdued Courtroom Appearance</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Tmp’s Subdued Courtroom Appearance" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">At his arraignment on Thursday, the former Print sat agile and meek the fendant’s seat.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Katy Waldman</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm eamwqR ad ad--read-more"><div 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