‘Tuca & Bertie’: Irreverent spin on relevant, relatable issues

Ali Wong (left) and Tiffany Haddish voice Bertie and Tuca, respectively.

The lead characters of Netflix’s latest animated series “Tuca & Bertie” may be anthropomorphized avian creatures, but the issues that concern them aren’t strictly for the birds. The problems they face—some are serious, many of them silly—are situations a good number of young adults will find relatable.

Tuca (voiced by the hilarious Tiffany Haddish), a loudmouthed toucan, and Bertie (Ali Wong), a timid song thrush, have been best friends and roommates for years.

The 30-year-old bird women support each other through thick and thin.

But the reckless and the prudent are suddenly separated by Bertie’s decision to have her architect boyfriend, a robin named Speckle (Steven Yeun), move in with her. It quickly becomes clear that managing their daily activities in Bird City without each other will take some getting used to.

The 10-episode series, which starts streaming today, follows how 30-year-old Tuca navigates the urban jungle after she moves out of their apartment and forges her own path as a happily unattached single female.

Making these episodes livelier, steamier and comedically more potent are exciting guest stars who include the exceptional likes of Jane Lynch, Isabella Rossellini, comedienne Awkwafina and Laverne Cox (“Orange is the New Black”), the first openly transgender performer to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy.

Scene from
the 10-episode animated series

While aimless Tuca shuttles from one odd job to another, Bertie is thinking of expanding and diversifying—from her humdrum career as a data processor at Conde Nest to a more fulfilling “career on the side” as a baker.

As diligent as she is hardworking, Bertie is good at what she does—unfortunately, she is for the most part underappreciated at work. To convince her boss that she deserves to be promoted after three years of working like crazy, she has to endure a lot of “irritants” in the workplace, not the least of which are opportunists and show-offs like Dirk the Rooster, who keeps taking credit for Bertie’s brilliant ideas!

But Tuca comes to Bertie’s rescue when she sees her less-than-assertive best friend being taken advantage of. Aside from a user-friendly coworker’s unethical behavior, Bertie has to learn how to protect herself from sexism and her supervisor’s inappropriate behavior.

Tuca may be loud and uncouth but, more than anything, her bark is worse than her bite. She’s what you’d call “hard on the outside and soft on the inside.”

From left: Bertie (Wong), Tuca (Haddish) and Speckle (Steven Yeun)

In Episode 8, for instance, when Tuca finds herself inexplicably entangled with a cult-like organization, she even saves the asinine Dirk the Rooster from getting burned at the stake!

Their friendship isn’t a one-way thing, however. In Episode 3, when Tuca goes out on a date with the simian Deli Guy she’s long had a crush on, Bertie shows her BFF some love and support when the budding romance unexpectedly goes pfft.

If you think the show relies solely on its actors’ comedic irreverence and timing by ignoring character development, you’ve got another think coming. In the penultimate episode of Season 1, we get wind of a traumatic swimming incident from Bertie’s past that had turned her into the indecisive and insecure bird woman she is.

There are more satisfying dramatic moments in “Tuca & Bertie’s” thematically significant series finale. This time, Bertie helps Tuca come to grips with a deeply concealed family problem that explains why the latter has deemed it necessary to always look—and sound—tougher than she actually is.

But that’s what genuine friends do—they always see through our knee-jerk impulses, fears and insecurities. They know that, sometimes, a bosom buddy’s bravado is just another call for help.