PEN15: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

FAQs

What did Maya get diagnosed with Pen15? ›

They spend time reminiscing with each other, and whether they've made the right choices in their lives. When Yuki returns home, she spends time alone with Maya and Shuji, and tells them both how much she loves them. Maya is diagnosed with ADD and Irlen syndrome.

An awkward kissing scene with close-ups of tongues and lips (it is made very clear that an adult male stand-in has been used for this scene, as he has visible stubble around his mouth). A boy places his hands on a girl's chest. Giggly middle-school style references to sex acts like "BJs" and "handies" and "fingering".

At face value with its TV-MA rating, the series doesn't exactly come off as family-friendly viewing. But in the vein of Big Mouth or Eighth Grade, PEN15 can help teens (and possibly even tweens) navigate the awkward ups and downs of puberty. Of course, you'll know your child best and how they might respond to the show.

This episode was animated in part because of the shooting restrictions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic that began in March 2020.

Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle know what “Pen15” fans are thinking — that the two ended their hit coming-of-age Hulu series after just two seasons because things got too complicated to do more because of COVID.

The show picks up just two days after the events of the Season 1 finale, which included Maya and Anna being felt up by Maya's crush Brandt (Jonah Beres) in the janitor's closet at the fall dance. Brandt admitted he likes Maya, too, but warned her not to tell anyone.

In the show, during a group movie night with her first "boyfriend" (where they are watching the newly released VHS of Wild Things, of course), Anna has her first kiss, but as Konkle clarified for Vulture, she does not actually kiss the 13-year-old actor playing her boyfriend.

The show used real-life experiences and behind-the-scenes details to create a personal and natural feel. Despite production delays and challenges, PEN15 remained a popular and well-received series that ended on its own terms after two seasons.

"PEN15" Has The Most Painfully Authentic Gay Teen Storyline I've Ever Seen On TV. Watching Gabe struggle with his sexuality in the new season of PEN15, I felt like I was watching my younger self onscreen — and I'm not alone.

Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle don't just share names with the characters they portray on Hulu's PEN15, they also share the same close friendship in real life.

Why do adults play middle schoolers in PEN15? ›

Erskine emphasized that the concept of the show is not to distract from the middle school setting or from the rest of the cast (who are all played by teenaged actors), but to actually help tone down the discomfort for viewers who might cringe away from watching actual middle schoolers suffer through, well, the cringey ...

The Irlen Institute on X: "Check out Pen15 season 2 episode 12 "Grammy"! Maya has Irlen Syndrome! Thanks for helping to raise awareness @pen15show!" / X.

Prosthetics played a major role in transforming adults into somewhat teenagers. Anna Konkle had to strap on braces and Maya Erskine sported a rather clunky retainer. The actors had to fit into tight clothes and hunch over to get into character. Period-appropriate outfits for the year 2000 were picked carefully.

Erskine was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of Mutsuko Nigatawa and jazz drummer Peter Erskine. Her mother is Japanese, from Tokyo. Her mother also plays the role of her character's mother on PEN15. Erskine attended Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences and graduated from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

The name belonged to a 10-year-old girl who had just been admitted for abdominal pain. Smith listened as a doctor detailed the case. The girl's parents, Beata and Jack Kowalski, had told the hospital that Maya suffered from a neurological disorder called complex regional pain syndrome, or CRPS.

The Irlen Institute on X: "Check out Pen15 season 2 episode 12 "Grammy"! Maya has Irlen Syndrome!

'Take Care of Maya,' a 2023 Netflix documentary, highlights the struggles of a young girl, Maya Kowalski, with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Maya received a CRPS diagnosis at the age of nine in 2015 after a severe asthma attack.

Toward the end of the episode, Maya's older brother, Shuji (Dallas Liu), helps her realize she's been at the receiving end of racial microaggressions for much of her life but never pieced them in a pattern before. In classic “PEN15” fashion, Maya responds by trauma-vomiting.