'Around the World in 80 Days' Review: This Needless Jules Verne Adaptation Doesn't Soar Having adults play 14-year-olds makes “Pen15” funnier and, oddly enough, more genuine. As 30-something performers playing seventh graders among a sea of actual adolescent actors, Erskine, as Maya Ishii-Peters, and Konkle, as Anna Kone, aren’t meant to blend in with the cast the actors’ committed performances and entrancing spirit bridge the obvious age gap, amping up the humor inherent to their all-consuming crushes and fearsome friendship while allowing for moments of maturation to resonate more fully. After all, the design of “Pen15” seems counterintuitive to a temporary stay.

Episode 15, “Home,” is a fitting, offbeat series finale, even if the preceding episodes play slightly more melancholic, given the news, and the final scene (which is spoiled in the profile) comes across as a bit sudden.

Thankfully, the writers, directors, co-creators, and stars made their decision in time to film a proper ending.

Hulu reportedly wants more episodes, leaving the door open for a return someday, but both stars are in-demand, lining up acting gigs and creative commitments elsewhere. Buried the week of release in a New Yorker profile of series leads Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, the trades verified the news and a narrative for “why” soon formed: Erskine and Konkle wanted to end the series after three seasons, but the pandemic - which caused a delay in production and split Season 2 in half - sped up the timeline. Part 2 of “ Pen15’s” second season is also its last - its last part, its last season, its last anything.

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