PEN15
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And can you really blame them?
As the show begins its final bow, we see Maya and Anna drifting even further apart.
Anna and Maya are both going through it, but on different levels.
Anna is acting as a go-between for her mom and absentee dad.
(Annas dad appears to have stayed in Florida with Aline.
Maybe hes still a cartoon; hes certainly two-dimensional.)
She is also giving up on God.
These are not developmentally appropriate issues!
But neither is the Holocaust unit that kicks off Annas existential crisis.
Time and time again, I am struck by the depraved indifference of this schools faculty.
Mr. O introduces the concept of the Holocaust to the class with a classic lack of sensitivity.
The kids immediately derail the lesson by declaring whos Jewish, and Mr. O lets it happen.
Anna, however, internalizes the suffering in the world.
Its interesting seeing a pre-9/11 existential crisis for an American teen.
The late 90s were all about feeling that end-of-history vibe.
Meanwhile, the seeds of every awful thing to come are in this school.
Its all bubbling under the surface, ready to metastasize in the years to come.
Anna eventually brings a bullet to school, saying shed want to kill Hitler with it.
Becca, a girl who has never not looked at Maya and Anna with condescension.
At the party, Maya is overcome with the glitz and glamour of a Broadway-themed bat mitzvah.
Anna, meanwhile, has a panic attack at the thought of doing the Electric Slide.
Only Maya and her innumerable glow sticks remain.
She dances like a madwoman while Anna freaks out from the strobing light.
Steve teaches Anna triangle breathing and shares his stolen creme de menthe.
And kiss they indeed do.
Anna and Steve lock lips while Maya stands right next to them.
Weve all been at least one of those people in middle or high school, right?
Trying to make the third wheel feel okay while still being too horny to function?
Steve says he doesnt usually go for younger girls, but Anna is different.
You know, that thing all older men say to every younger girl they encounter.
After the dance, both Maya and Anna reconnect with their mothers.
A shitfaced Anna finally expresses that this divorce is causing her emotional unrest.
Kathy suggests talking to her, but what she really needs is therapy.
Maya gives the pendant to a sleeping Yuki and apologizes for spending so much.
