And working with Zvibleman, the stars have found a way to push the extremes. But Anna’s sadness at her family’s domestic friction generally isn’t funny at all. Some of that drama is mortifyingly right on the cusp of laughter, like the humiliating events Maya encounters at a slumber party. What’s astonishing is that as we begin the second season, it doesn’t feel at all like veteran actors using a bowl cut or orthodontics or kitschy ’00s fashion as crutches, a development confirmed by how effectively the second season uses these exact same characters for drama. The tendency when approaching the first season was to feel like Erskine and Konkle were doing something that wasn’t sustainable - the stuff of an audition reel or a comedy sketch, but perhaps a trick that would wear thin after an episode. Along the way, they make a new friend (Ashlee Grubbs’ Maura) and dive into the world of junior-high theater. Meanwhile, Anna is struggling with her parents’ (Taylor Nichols and Melora Walters) in-home separation, which leads to a brief dalliance with witchcraft. Their attempts, particularly from Maya, to get closer to Brandt lead to awkward party interludes and a newfound interest in wrestling. The new season picks up basically where we left off at the end of last season, with Maya (Erskine) and Anna (Konkle) reveling in the aftermath of a school dance that climaxed in a moment of closet intimacy with brooding Brandt (Jonah Beres). Instead, you can just appreciate the bracingly honest, wonderfully embodied, frequently (though, by intent, not always) hilarious thing they’re doing. Something strange happens to Pen15 in the first half of its second season (seven episodes premiere this week, with the rest launching in a hypothetical future): For the first time, it’s possible to forget, if only occasionally, that Erskine and Konkle are executing a high-wire stunt.
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