Synopsis:
On vacation with Curtis, Anna and Maya are introduced to new crippling insecurities. The girls try to ignore them, but a mystical turn makes their self-doubt impossible to forget.
Pen15 got a special makeover since the pandemic happened and since the real Maya and Anna were pregnant at the same time, so we were blessed with a special animated episode. Pretty much keeping up with the 90’s/00’s timeline, the animation wasn’t flashy, and kept to a 2-dimensional, almost stop motion look.
This episode reminded me of the usual teen vacation we’re used to seeing on screen, but it gave me some nostalgia about going on vacation with my own friends. Maya and Anna go to Florida with Anna’s dad Curtis, and get into some shannigans. What made me think of my own teen years, was that they brought a camcorder to document their time. My one childhood friend and I did the exact same thing when we went on vacation together too. It was always funny to go back and watch what you guys did and sometimes make believe that you were going on a secret adventure.
Sadly, for Maya and Anna, things didn’t go as planned when they arrived, but they made the most of it. They went to the boardwalk and got caricatures drawn of them, but it took a turn for the worst, because as we all know, those type of drawings are an exaggeration of your features, and in this case, Maya and Anna took it to heart. I might have felt that way too if features I was insecure about, were exaggerated in an unflattering way. That then took over their psychies for the rest of the trip. The next day, Curtis noticed that the girls were in a funk, and offered to pay for them to get their hair braided. That’s always a classic thing to get when you go to the beach when you’re a teen. I remember girls coming back from spring break at school, and they were super tan and had braids in their hair. That always made me jealous. But continuing with their downward spiral, the girls weren’t able to go swimming in the ocean and they got sunburned. But when they sat in the jacuzzi at the hotel, they were joined by two boys. This is where the typical teen vacation comes in to play. There’s always got to be a meet cute. The guys surprisingly thought the girls were cute and wanted to hang out with them. They talked about meeting them at the teen club, and they were rudely interrupted by Anna’s dad.
That night, the girls convince Curtis to let them walk around downtown, and weirdly enough, Curtis has a little date with the manager of the hotel. The girls arrive at the club, and meet some teens, but are sad that the two guys, Ralph and Freddie aren’t there. Of course alcohol becomes involved, and while Maya starts having a great time, Anna goes into a deeper and deeper depression. Her insecurites start getting the better of her and she drinks too much. This made me feel for them because I feel like mostly all girls get insecurities when they hit their teen years, and a lot of times, those insecurites never really go away. And especially when boys are involved, you start doubting yourself a lot. The girls realize that they’re past their curfew, and head back to the hotel. Poor Anna is a mess, and it was scary to see the girls try to get home in the dark while Anna was vulnerable. When they get back, Curtis also returns and quickly figures out that Anna is drunk.
The last day of their trip, Curtis and the girls have a heart to heart, and even though Curtis is disappointed in them, he reasurres Maya and Anna that they are gorgeous and those boys weren’t worth it. When they are about to leave, the girls see Ralph and Freddie sitting outside, and talk to them. The guys reveal that they got in trouble for going in the jacuzzi, since they actually just live in the area, and they couldn’t meet them at the club. That made me mad at those guys because they lied to the girls, but I forgave them because they said that they did really want to see them again. The guys gave Maya and Anna their screenames and the trip ended on a happy note.
