Season Review: Tuca & Bertie Season Two

Overview:

Season two of Tuca & Bertie continues its examination of two birds in their thirties, Tuca and Bertie, while they negotiate the hurdles of adult life, their friendship, and so much more. These episodes push both of its titular characters to introspective places, both through visits to therapy or a serious relationship, that test them in new ways. Tuca and Bertie are used to tackling whatever life throws at them as a team, but this second season asks the question of whether these two are healthier together or apart. It’s a raw, honest look into these characters that culminates in a challenging, satisfying season of television.

Our Take:

The first season of Tuca & Bertie was heralded for its thoughtful approach towards adult friendships and the myriad of stressors that can attack individuals during their thirties. It would feel disingenuous if Tuca & Bertie’s characters were suddenly bastions of pristine mental health, so it’s appreciated that the series’ second season doubles down on the work that’s done in its freshman year. Tuca and Bertie may both understand themselves a little better than when the series began, but this actually leaves them in more vulnerable positions. One of the biggest changes that gets introduced in season two is that Bertie enlists herself in therapy. Bertie’s frequent therapy sessions are used as a way to heal her character, but they become symbolic of the larger topic of whether Tuca and Bertie are actually good for each other. This therapy angle makes sense in a narrative capacity, but the entire season is structured much like an intense, continual therapy session. It’s incredibly powerful.

Tuca & Bertie’s second season continues to celebrate its raw and unfiltered look at these two birds, but it’s seriously impressive to see the nature of topics that get tackled across these ten episodes. Cancel culture, gentrification and rent hikes, unhealthy sexual fantasies, and toxic queer relationships are all put under scrutiny, most of which aren’t the conventional topics that get explored on television, let alone in an animated series. 

Tuca and Bertie hesitantly retreat from one another and this season keeps its titular characters separated from each other in major ways. It’s a crucial lesson for these characters to not enter a place of unhealthy codependency, but it’s equally brutal to watch them erect unnecessary barriers that keep those that are important to them at an arm’s length. When Tuca and Bertie are together, they’re so distracted or concerned about healing each other that they end up neglecting themselves in the process. The season also embraces a recurring visual metaphor where an invasive moss symbolizes the unending march of progress. The moss is a central obstacle in several episodes, but once it announces itself it’s omnipresent, like pangs of guilt or worry that can’t be shaken. 

Season two of Tuca & Bertie generally features more serialization than season one, which is absolutely helpful to the layered message that’s told through these episodes. At the same time, this season never becomes so lost in its narrative that episodes begin to feel like pieces of a greater whole. Concise, episodic storytelling is never sacrificed in favor of this season’s embrace of serialization. Each episode stands on its own, but some of the most satisfying moments from the season are complex callbacks that play out over the course of several installments. The season finale, “The Flood,” is a masterpiece in this regard and it successfully stitches together a season’s worth of disparate elements into a powerful conclusion.

Tuca & Bertie’s second season gives both of its central birds a lot to worry about, but it’s impressive to see the more tender and vulnerable version of Tuca that comes forward. A major component of this season is Tuca’s new relationship with Kara, which begins as an exciting source of validation for the toucan, only for it to morph into a toxic abuse of power. Season two’s handling of Tuca’s relationship with Kara is a true triumph. It’d be easy to immediately identify Kara as a negative force, but these episodes take their time and eke out her poison in subtle ways. The power play that Kara subjects Tuca to through a series of gift pins is one of many elegant examples of the way in which manipulation reveals itself in this season. Bertie even begins to concede her subconscious to stressful forces like Pastry Pete because her sense of self becomes so skewed. Speckle remains immune to the emotional undertow that tugs at Bertie and Tuca, but this season still gives Bertie’s boyfriend a lot more to do. There are regular Speckle detours that make for the perfect brand of nonsense and continue to underscore why he’s truly Best Bird and not just some temporary figure in Tuca and Bertie’s lives. 

Season two of Tuca & Bertie is nearly an improvement on every level from its first season. It’s more confident in terms of its characters and storytelling, but the jokes also hit harder and carry a greater payoff. The one concession that’s present in season two is that these episodes are slightly less visually ambitious than the first season when it comes to some of the mixed media elements that it used for flashbacks and internal dissections. It’s entirely possible that this is the result of a smaller budget after the show’s move from Netflix to Adult Swim, but at no point does the series’ animation feel compromised. This season still has more than enough visual creativity that bursts in each episode (the extended interpretive dance sequence in the penultimate episode is a highlight). Hopefully season three will find a way to return to some of these more ambitious setpieces as it tackles new territory for its characters

On that note, Adult Swim has thankfully already announced that more Tuca & Bertie is on the way. This show deserved a second season, but its necessity to produce more content is even greater after the heights that season two hits. This show still has so much more to say. This season provides some hints towards what might get focused on next season, like the mayors’ efforts to fix the city or even an election that brings in new characters and unites Tuca with her siblings in a fresh way. It also seems likely that both Tuca and Bertie’s families will be further explored after the careful attention that they receive in this season. It’s even implied that a season three will also feature Tuca in therapy and have her readier than ever to seriously analyze herself. 

There are few shows that feel as genuine and self-assured as Tuca & Bertie, with this exceptional second season only proving that this animated series is no fluke. In a perfect world, Tuca & Bertie will get the opportunity to grow and evolve just as much as BoJack Horseman did. The series’ first two seasons give every indication that Tuca & Bertie will only develop into a more beautiful and earnest piece of television. It feels like the best has yet to come for these birds, which is extremely exciting. There’s so much more to explore before these birds fly the coop.