Review: Tuca & Bertie “Sleepovers”

Overview:

Tuca and Bertie find themselves on separate emotional islands when a weekend of best friend shenanigans transforms into an isolating and angst-ridden gauntlet. Tuca’s relationship with Kara heats up in exciting ways, but Tuca begins to notice certain problematic traits in her paramour that leave her more confused and fragile than when she was single. Bertie also struggles with Tuca’s recent popularity when it results in their friendship being put on the backburner, which means that Bertie is left to marinate with her doubts and increased feelings of loneliness. 

Meanwhile, Speckle avoids similar painful self-examination when he narrows in on the perfect doorknob. So yeah, everyone’s plates are full this week on Tuca & Bertie.

Our Take:

This season of Tuca & Bertie has been fearless towards the honest subject matter that it’s approached on an emotional and psychological level, but it’s also a series that routinely looks gorgeous. “Sleepovers’” flashback subtly shows off these younger versions of the central characters that are just different enough from their current versions (the way in which their character models go wild and defy structure in their more drunken and lucid moments is also a great touch and evocative of the fluid versions of the characters that populate the bombastic opening credits). Ali Wong and Tiffany Haddish provide equally precise performances that genuinely make these versions of Bertie and Tuca feel more juvenile, but still themselves. 

Tuca’s increasing infatuation with Kara has been a beacon of light in a fog of disparity–not unlike Kara’s lighthouse abode–so it’s absolutely gutting when negative traits start to present themselves in the character. There’s a lot to unpack with Kara and Tuca’s time together in “Sleepovers,” but Kara’s casual dismissal over how the last person that she dated “played the victim,” shows that Kara’s default mode is to blame others. She’s oblivious to how cruel she’s actually being to Tuca. It’s a rough exchange that just hangs over the rest of the episode while Tuca, and the audience, wait for some kind of apology from Kara, which never happens. Considering that Kara has seemed like such a bastion of positivity for Tuca, this uglier side to the character hits much harder. However, it also feels true to life where Tuca can be so excited and focused on this new relationship that she initially drowns out the red flags or just hasn’t gotten the opportunity to truly see them. 

Tuca remains the focus throughout “Sleepovers,” but Bertie goes through just as much of a journey here, albeit an internal one that she’s left to negotiate on her own. Bertie’s neediness and concerns over being left alone is a real thing that she needs to work on, but this isn’t necessarily a case of her being out of control. In fact, it’s Kara’s controlling monopolization of Tuca’s time that forces this introspection on Bertie’s part. If Tuca were instigating all of these 24-hour date sessions then it’d be one thing, but she’s actively passive through it all and does want to stay in touch with Bertie. 

These raw feelings prompt a look back into Tuca and Bertie’s past where Tuca is a drunken mess and Bertie is an even more meek version of herself (Sparkles Speckle, on the other hand, is a prince even back then). “Sleepovers” doesn’t find the best impetus to jump back in time five years, but it works well enough and becomes a satisfying framing device that’s able to provide some enlightening details from not just Tuca and Bertie’s past, but also their present. 

“Sleepovers” doesn’t spend too much time in its flashbacks, but each of these glimpses provide important details about the stability of Tuca and Bertie’s future. It feels as if this season is moving closer and closer to a finale where Bertie and Tuca split ways from each other, but episodes like “Sleepovers” make that possibility even more painful to contemplate.

“Sleepovers” continues the excellent stretch of episodes that make up Tuca & Bertie’s second season. It’s another brave installment that pushes its characters to consider difficult questions about themselves while it breaks down more stories that don’t typically populate animated comedy series. As the series’ title indicates, Tuca and Bertie are an unbreakable team, but each time this season examines that dynamic and threatens to dismantle it there are deeply satisfying results. With only three episodes left in this season, Tuca & Bertie are likely to have an emotionally messy final stretch, but one that’s absolutely essential for the characters to grow.

And beak braces are in.