Jacuzzi (PEN15)
| "Jacuzzi" | |
|---|---|
| PEN15 episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 8 |
| Directed by | Anna Konkle |
| Written by | Anna Konkle |
| Original release date | August 27, 2021 |
| Running time | 40 minutes |
| Cast | |
| |
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"Jacuzzi" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American cringe comedy television series PEN15. The episode was written and directed by the series creator and star Anna Konkle, her first directing credit for the series. It was released on Hulu on August 27, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the episode is animated, a first for the series. "Jacuzzi" is also a special 40-minute episode, the longest yet in both seasons.
Plot
Maya and Anna are taken by Anna's father Curtis on a road trip to Florida. They plan to meet a group of boys in the hotel jacuzzi, but they are stood up and left wondering why. On the boardwalk, the two get their pictures drawn, but find that their drawings are caricatures, with Anna's nose extended and Maya's hair greatly exaggerated. This leads them to believe that the boys at the jacuzzi stood them up because they are ugly.
Production
Development
The eighth episode of the second season, a "pivotal Florida faction" episode, was animated instead of the normal live-action.[1][2] Konkle also shared that the original idea for the episode was to keep it in the live-action format and have the characters don a prosthetic nose and prosthetics on the face, however due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, filming was temporarily shut down in California.[1] As for the dialogue of the episode, Konkle and Erskine both started out recording their own homes. However Konkle was able to record in a booth near the end of the episode.[1] On Reddit, Konkle shared that she expected the final six episodes in the second season to be released on Hulu sometime in January 2022, in the more common live-action format.[3][4] Dan Schimpf and Alex Anfanger were accidentally listed on the press release as directors.[2]
About the insecurity that Anna and Maya experience in the episode after a boardwalk drawing of them as caricatures leads them to think they are ugly, Konkle, who directed and wrote the episode, said "The first time you discover insecurities stays with you for the rest of your life, so can we use this device and tell almost the entire episode through an exaggerated image? That was what we were excited about ... The experience is of going away on vacation and expecting it to be great and it not being great, and waiting for something to happen that will be fun and not really ever getting there, and the cherry on top being this is the moment the stuff about myself I didn’t want to feel. How do you cope with that?"[1] Erskine said that the idea for the episode first came up during writing, when they were planning what the limitations of the episode would be during filming and post-production. One challenge was how far to go with the "exaggerated insecurity" because the "world is our oyster."[5] The voice recording was done before the animation.[5]
Animation
The animation style ended up being hand-drawn, according to animation supervisor and episode executive producer Angela Stempel.[1] Erskine and Konkle "spent time looking through different references and illustrations and settled on the idea that the original versions of their characters should be as close to what they really look like as possible. Then, when perspective switches so that they are seeing their caricature come to life, the animation would emphasize and exaggerate what they think are their flaws."[1] Konkle and Stempel both thought of color as a necessary factor to the Floridian environment.[1] For the animation studio, the series turned to Starburns Industries, which specializes in "stop-motion, traditional 2D, CG animation and live-action production"[5] Starburns had previously worked with the series in the second episode of the second season, "Wrestle".[5]
Erskine said the animation option "fell into our lap perfectly."[5] The series was leaning towards animation like that used in shows such as The Ren & Stimpy Show, Doug, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, and Beavis and Butt-Head, with Erskine saying "There was something about it that was in the back of our head, which [this episode] isn’t matching that but it’s where we started in terms of like dream animation. It was really calling back to that time where the show takes place and when we grew up. And those animations were a little odd, and dark sometimes, and kind of took on this quirky tone that we felt matched up well with PEN15."[5] However, the series eventually went with Starburns partly because it had done the animation on Anomalisa (2015). On whether or not the series would continue with the animation format in the future, Erskine said that it likely wouldn't happen but to "never say never" because it would be interesting to see how animation and live-action work interspersed, together.[5]
Critical reception
Emma Fraser of What to Watch praised the episode, saying "One reason why the writing is so effective is that it taps into mean comments we all carry around. No matter if middle school was 20 years ago or less than a year, it is easy to get sucked back into a state of self-doubt." Fraser went on to compare the animated episode with what a live-action adaptation would have looked like, explaining that "The deviation from live-action doesn’t strip away any of the emotion and while I would love to see the original vision, this animated special taps into Pen15’s ability to make you laugh while sending a shiver up your spine about the past."[6] Saloni Gajjar of The A. V. Club praised the twists and turns the episode's plot presented, saying that the episode "is a solid midseason outing ... because it’s a reminder of the show’s incisive hilarity. The animation is new, so it’s not top-notch unlike other adult animated shows on TV. It’s brightly toned and without too much fanfare, but it conveys the messaging sharply without losing Pen15's trademark awkwardness and light-heartedness."[7]
Speaking to the tonal shift between parts one and two of the second season and how the two sections are very different, Dana Kitichens of Paste Magazine said that "Depending which direction the show goes tonally, I wouldn’t be surprised if most viewers think of this as Season 3. As for me, I’m hoping that with a return to live action comes a return to form for one of the best comedies on TV ... it would have been more interesting to introduce the animation at this point in the story, which could have amplified the body dysmorphia when the girls woke up as their caricatures. Instead, that change in format was taken for granted in a scene that stretched the definition of continuity at the beginning of the special."[8] Stuart Heritage from The Guardian noted that because of the animated format, the fact that the main actors were actually in their thirties is better hidden. Stuart said "If this is the only time that Pen15 attempts an animated special, then it has been a total success."[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Turchiano, Danielle; Turchiano, Danielle (2021-08-27). "Why 'Pen15' Turned to Animation for a Pivotal Florida Vacation Episode". Variety. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Curto, Justin (2021-07-22). "PEN15 to Make Like an After-School Special and Go Animated". Vulture. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
- ↑ "r/PEN15 - Per Anna's IG story: next batch of new episodes (after the animated special) coming "in about 6 months"". reddit. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
- ↑ Wang, Lydia. "The Story Behind Pen15's Surprise Animated Special". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 White, Abbey; White, Abbey (2021-08-27). "'PEN15' Co-Creator Maya Erskine on Producing Animated "Jacuzzi" Episode During Pandemic, Pregnancy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
- ↑ August 2021, Emma Fraser 27 (2021-08-27). "'Pen15' 2.08 Review: Jacuzzi (Animated Special)". whattowatch.com. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
- ↑ Gajjar, Saloni (August 27, 2021). "Pen15 animated special: Another hilarious, aching look at teen woes". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2021-09-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Kitchens, Dana (2021-08-26). "PEN15's Animated Special Is a Departure that Could Signal Lasting Changes". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-09-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "'Excruciatingly relatable': why Pen15's animated special might be its best episode yet". the Guardian. 2021-08-27. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
External links
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