Tuca & Bertie Season 1 Review

May 6, 2019 at 4:47pm
By Jason Stettner

This is a Netflix Original Animated Series that follows two bird women that live in the same apartment complex. They’re both in their thirties and at different points in their life. Bertie (Ali Wong) is moving on in life having moved in with her boyfriend bird Speckles (Steven Yeun). The other is Tuca (Tiffany Haddish) and she seems to be stuck in the same spot in life. Both are still deeply part of one another’s lives and this does cause conflict.

In general, it’s their bond that’s the main focal point of the series. While it might be slightly hidden behind some silly things, there’s actually a deep look at human connections and some on topic items that present themselves as the show progresses. It might be very hard to get into at the start as I really hated it a couple episodes in, but then really appreciated the structure and setup one it got rolling.

This series is also from the team behind BoJack Horseman so it has a similar look to it. That being said, it’s really nothing like that show. It’s a much zanier, weirder look at life and it’s from a different perspective. Just don’t expect the same type of humor or situation that you might be used to from BoJack. Looks similar, but is an entirely different stallion. One with feathers…

Going back to the art style element, this show is backed with bright colors. It’s just got a sort of zaniness that might make it hard for some to watch. It does however get more serious as things progress. This leads into some deeper material and I believe it shows a perspective that’s perhaps overlooked often in shows.

The quality of the animation was generally excellent here. Though like the show, it can be all over the place. So many weird transitions, sounds and just odd scenes. This makes some of it rather hard to watch, or at least I think so. The voice works was solid, excellent group for the various parts. They have some very imaginative characters in here, and they use most of them well. I should also mention that this is very adult in nature. It was a very mature animated series in terms of language and sexual content, but with birds.

The Conclusion

Tuca & Bertie Season 1 is a solid animated original series that delivers a deeper look at the friendships of women at meaningful part of their lives. It brings a style that feels like BoJack Horseman, but it’s different in almost every way. There’s a strong cast here that works well together and match their birds very well. It might be some fantasy world, but they have many contrasts to real world issues and themes are on point for the time.

The struggles of moving on in life when some lag a bit behind, acting out and of course dealing with issues in professional places. It might be trying to provide some laughs while doing so, but you can see the darker themes in here. I didn’t find this to be particularly funny, but I did get some laughs throughout. It can actually be rather serious at times, with some charm thrown in their to give an awe factor to what’s going on. It’s a neat new world they’ve built and it has potential to grow further over time. This season did wrap things up quite well, it hit many issues and also moved past some of them.

Tuca & Bertie Season 1 Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Content Access was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 6.5