The tween scene
This CBC Gem drama explores wonders — and awkwardness — of middle school
A thong is a wondrous and mysterious thing — at least it is to middle-school girls. For as long as they can remember, their bottoms have been neatly wrapped in full-coverage underwear, but ... a thong? That's the territory of womanhood.
And so, you can understand Grade 7 student Maya Ishii-Peters strutting down the school halls in season 1 of teen dramedy Pen15, hips swaying and hair swinging as she tries one out for the first time. The thong is stolen (and properly laundered), but Maya and her BFF Anna Kone just can't bring themselves to return it. So day after day goes by while they strut, gleefully counting how many boys check them out.
They're just like any other girls navigating the threshold of adulthood. It's just that their portrayers, Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle (who also created the show), are fully grown women only pretending to be 13.
Pen15, now streaming its second season on CBC Gem, is set in the early 2000s and has covered everything from racism and underage drinking to learning how to shave your legs and pretending to be pop stars. It cleverly builds on the lega
cy of awkward teen shows such as Blossom and Degrassi, and more recently Netflix's Never Have I Ever and Everything Sucks.
“I thought I'd gotten closure on some things that hurt me so much when I was 13, but while we were filming I realized it was still pretty raw,” says Erskine. “We got to reflect on what it was like at that age and not try to fix it, but we did do a little rewriting of history.”
Physically transforming into 13-year-olds was also an adventure — especially since all their co-stars
are actually that age. Erskine, 33, sports a bowl cut onscreen while Konkle, also 33, wears braces.
Looking back now, Erskine has a lot she'd want to tell her 13-yearold self — and it's something any 13-year-old would do well to hear.
“I'd tell young Maya, `Don't worry about being turned down by all these guys and being the ugly friend.
“You will grow into yourself and your beauty. Life's going to keep changing and you're going to do great,'” she says.