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Its very teenage to declare all hyperbole, zero irony that your life is about to changeforever.
Theeerr-EERRAH-erNERRGHsounds of dial-up internet!
as those who were too physically pained by memories of full-body awkwardness to make it through the first episode.
The honored episode is Anna Ishii-Peters, the second-to-last installment of the season.
Tension builds and builds and builds, and then it turns into this horror thriller.
Below, Erskine and Konkle break down how they plotted out the episodes emotional beats, scene by scene.
I fantasized about turning into that second daughter in their family, Konkle said.
As for Erskine, I felt very jealous of the connection my best childhood friend had with my mom.
To get to that massive blowup, they knew they needed to start with heightened, almost smothering intimacy.
In editing, though, after they saw co-creator Sam Zviblemans direction, it became a lot more emotional.
[We] realized,Oh, this is a love story!
Creating a Twisted Love Triangle
I avoided my house when my parents were fighting, Konkle said.
I went to my friends house.
And you cant help but fantasize about,What if I was part of this family?
We wanted to play with Anna not having a sibling, Erskine said.
Whats that like, when youre sleeping over?
Its almost exciting for Anna to be like,Lets hang out with your brother.
For Maya, thats every other day.
So the jealousy starts to form there.
Like,Anna is trying to hang with my brother over me.
On some subconscious level, she knows what is going to happen with her parents.
I POOP A LOT OUT OF IT.
YOU GUYS JUST DONT REALIZE IT.
IM THE SMELLIEST SHIT THERE EVER WAS.)
During a family-dinner scene, Erskine said, it starts to turn sour.
It starts to turn a little into a horror movie at that point.
Maya is feeling so abandoned and replaced that she briefly hallucinates Anna with long dark hair.
That is, as Maya 2.0., the daughter who is actually worthy of her mothers affection.
For that shot, the first wig Konkle tried on was a bowl cut, just like Mayas.
Which is so perfect!
Because Maya doesnt evenneedbrushing anymore, because her hair is a fucking one-inch mop.
Its this love story between Anna, the mom, and Maya.
A love triangle, Erskine said.
Which is very twisted.
Maya bolts to the bathroom, where she discovers that shes just gotten her first period.
I was very close with my mom, Erskine said.
Id sleep in the same bed as her.
One night we had a fight and she was like, you better sleep in your own bed.
Youre not a little girl anymore.
Erskine was crushed, she remembered.
It felt like my first heartbreak.
Someone telling me, you better be on your own now.
And the next morning, I woke up and got my period.
It was devastating, she went on.
I lied about it for a year to everyone.
I felt so much shame.
Looking back now in hindsight, it was traumatizing.
If you dont mine for it at all, theres nothing to write.
And, she added, it was really exciting to see the blood!
(Erskine, delighted: Its CLUMPY.)
It didnt feel gratuitous to me.
It felt like part of the story.
That Especially Devastating Ending
Building to the episodes conclusion was a challenge, Konkle and Erskine said.
And how could they do it without making Maya seem like a villain?
The solution came in splitting the characters up, just as they reached their most vulnerable moments.
While Maya is shouting at Anna to get out, Annas parents arrive.
They pick her up, drive her home, and tell her theyre getting a divorce.
It felt very heightened emotionally.
All of our senses were so acute.
It was so perfect.
It could have easily become this saccharine scene, and it was just more than I could ever want.
I was just like,Youre touching me too much.
To not have your friend by your side for that, we thought would be especially devastating.
