I was at my friends 30th birthday party over the weekend, so naturally, we reminisced about “the good old days,” when we’d have cyber-sex with complete strangers on AIM and awkwardly two-step to the Cha-Cha. It was around that second beer when my friend brought up Pen15.

I had seen the trailer once, and to be honest, wasn’t too impressed. While I did enjoy the song choice for the trailer, Steal My Sunshine by LEN – I was skeptical. Mostly because I was a huge fan of Netflix’s Everything Sucks! So I undeservedly judge Pen15 as Hulu’s attempt at 90s coming-of-age dramedy.

There’s been a total 90s renaissance lately.  All you have to do is browse the teen section of Target to know we’re truly at peak 90s nostalgia. I mean, they’re selling Caboodles and striped crop-tops like it’s going out of style (which I thought they were, although I kind of want to rock butterfly clips again). With 90s revival fashion in full-force, films and books based in the mid to late 90s have been blowing up. And it makes sense; a lot of us 30-something millennials are beginning to tell our stories, de-construct our childhoods and go to therapy.

I was hesitant to give this show a chance, firstly, because I’d have to pay for Hulu again to watch it. And secondly, I thought this was just another bandwagon show trying to capitalize on us said 30-somethings who still aren’t over our childhoods (me). Despite all this, I gave it a try.

I binged the whole thing in one day.

The first episode I spent the entire time noticing little details and laughing (I definitely owned that Care Bears sweatshirt) while at the same time trying to figure out if  30-year-olds playing middle school kids actually worked. After the second episode, I was sold and immediately realized what the show’s creators and stars, Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle were trying to accomplish – and they nailed it.

Throwback 90s nostalgia can only carry a film or book so far, ultimately I believe that’s why Everything Sucks! got canceled. I’m sad it ended before they worked out the kinks.  I’m not saying there weren’t some great performances by the cast, but take the 90s backdrop out of the show… and it’s kind of boring.  Everything Sucks! was too cookie-cutter for the adults the nostalgia was trying to cater to, and not relevant enough to resonate with today’s teens — resulting in an unclear point of view.

Pen15 has an incredible point of view, with girlhood portrayed in a way no other series or film that I’ve ever seen has accomplished with such devastating and smart, comedic gold. Case-in-point:

Episode 3: “Ojichan.”

This. Just this. I’ve never cringed so hard and felt so much joy at the same time while watching this episode. Female puberty is often ignored, sexualized, or used as a character flaw in films about “damaged” girlhood and family dysfunction (the movie Thirteen comes to mind). Up to this point,  I’ve never seen anything that illustrates female masturbation and sexual discovery so honestly and hilariously than in this one episode. The absolute dead-eye look Maya has on her face while she continues on an hours-long “discovery” of an orgasm is insanely accurate. The different angles, places she does it, every single thing – a wisp of hair, a mole on someone’s neck sending her over the top. I mean,  teen hormones. Am I right? And then, the GUILT. Woooh boy!

I remember that sad, sweaty shame. We’re not supposed to do gross things, we’re girls! It’s extremely refreshing to finally see the tropes of “precious” or “darling” adolescence stomped on by its truer, mortifying reality. For so long puberty as comedy has been dominated by white, heteronormative, male-driven stories — a la American Pie, Road Trip, Girl Next Door, etc. I’d love to see more diverse puberty stories be told featuring non-binary POVs and people of color.

Let’s take a look at other episodes that really struck me.

Episode 5: Community Service 

One word. THONGS. You haven’t grown up in the late 90s without exchanging a few thongs between girlfriends. Boy did I relate to the way Anna and Maya gained a sense of perceived “sexy” confidence while wearing the hot pink thong – it had me rolling. Also, when Maya keeps wiggling her butt in the mirror with an obvious body double, freaking LOVED IT.

Episode 6: Posh

Racism rears its head when Maya wants to be Posh Spice in a video school project about osteoporosis, but the band of popular white girls force her to be Scary Spice. Then, Anna only makes matters worse by trying to white-splain racism to the entire school, her white privilege on full display.

Episode 8: Wild Things 

A room full of seventh-graders and the movie Wild Things. I could not stop laughing when the camera panned to all of their stunned, engrossed faces as they watched Neve Cambell and Denise Richards go to town on Matt Dillon. AND THEN when Anna gets her first drooly kiss from Brenden – I DIED.

Episode 9: Anna Ishii-Peters

This episode has such a special place in my heart because I believe jealousy happens in 99.9% of all female friendships, especially in adolescence. In mainstream TV and films, female jealousy is almost always positioned as catty, petty or as the trope of “frenemies.” When in reality, it’s just two girls trying to define their identities, which is why female friendship is extremely intense during those teen years. Everything you do, you base or compare to your best friend. You compare your looks, your smarts, your family — it’s a part of growing up.  As a child of divorced parents, I really identified with Anna, who enjoyed having a night off from her toxic parents and learning to interact with a normally functioning family.

Episode 10: Dance 

I loved when Brenden showed up to the school dance with a spiked collar and Limp Bizkit t-shirt.  And when Anna and Maya have a simultaneous second base encounter with Brandt in the school’s gym closet, then all is right in the world again. What’s more middle school than that?

You see, this series is way more than rainbow gel pens and Backstreet Boys. It’s about holding up a magnifying glass as an adult to remind you of the ugly (or UGIS), awkward, pain of it all — and how (if you’re lucky) you can get by with a little help from your friends.