Here's why Adult Swim's Tuca & Bertie, fresh off its season 2 premiere, is currently receiving rave, positive reviews from critics. The animated television series is praised for its surprisingly and deftly balanced mix of surreal humor as well as its down-to-earth commentary on mental health, female friendship, and millennial work life. Judging by the glowing reception that the first four episodes sent to critics have received, the series' momentum shows no signs of slowing down.
Despite being met with warm reviews, Tuca & Bertie was canceled by its original platform, Netflix, after just one season in 2019. Luckily, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block picked up the series a year later, raising anticipation for a long-deserved follow-up season. Created by Lisa Hanawalt, who was also a producer and the main production designer for Netflix's acclaimed tragicomedy cartoon Bojack Horseman, the show follows a pair of anthropomorphic birds, compulsive Tuca (Tiffany Haddish) and high-strung Bertie (Ali Wong), as they navigate careers, sex, and their own loving (but perhaps co-dependent) friendship with each other.
Season 2 of Tuca & Bertie currently holds a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to season 1's score of 98%. Reviewers have singled out the show's complex feminism, its high-energy tone, and its sympathetic portrayal of relevant topics like social anxiety and sexual assault.
...Tuca & Bertie remains a unique blend of exuberant surrealism, cut-to-the-bone psychology and thoroughly relatable camaraderie... The show has become a savvy vehicle through which to explore repressed trauma, workplace sexism and what may be the most simultaneously nurturing and corrosive friendship on TV.
...the cult series... makes the switch [to Adult Swim] largely unscathed, still crackling with a surreal energy that’s neatly contrasted—and sometimes commingled—with its characters’ anxieties about life beyond their 20s.
In its second season Tuca & Bertie leans harder into the delicate emotions that made Season 1 so revolutionary while never losing its sense of wide-eyed wonder. The very fact this kindness is being backed by the network known for pioneering animation makes this season feel more rebellious than ever.
Hanawalt's unique approach to animation and comedy has also garnered critical acclaim. Although the show's surreal visual style may seem too outlandish for some at first, the show's fluidity and psychedelia should win skeptics over by season 2. The laws of physics don't apply in Bird Town as character models morph and backgrounds shift, but critics have discovered that all this chaos enunciates the show's rich themes. Perhaps most significantly, however, critics have discussed Tuca & Bertie's feminist aspects, especially in regards to its new home on Adult Swim. The programming block has received criticism in the past for its male-dominated staff, so a show centering on distinctly female issues is a breath of fresh air.
Its animation, its style, its visual creativity is an essential part of its storytelling, in a way that only makes you wish more shows could so consistently dazzle your eyes, tug on your heartstrings, and send your mind reeling.
...introducing Tuca & Bertie to [Adult Swim's] lineup speaks to a desire to inspire socially relevant conversations with its programming... Tuca & Bertie smartly perks up the lineup, reminding us of the many ways that animation tells multi-dimensional stories that speak to everybody, not just the guys.
In the show’s second season, airing at its new home on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block, the series cements its status as one of the funniest, most nuanced sitcoms exploring modern female friendship... I never thought an animated show might dare not only to focus on millennial women, but to draw comedy from taboo issues like workplace harassment, STIs, mental illness, sobriety, and sexual assault.
Furthermore, the series' trippy animation and absurd tone fit snugly within Adult Swim's brand of stoner comedy. That being said, Tuca & Bertie season 2 is dealing with more human issues than the last season as the duo's personal and professional relationships get messier and more complicated. Bertie tries to overcome her anxiety while workplace harassment exasperates it, and Tuca struggles with commitment as she navigates the gig economy and her more put-together boyfriend. Hanawalt magnifies these elements while still remaining faithful to her quirky vision, suggesting that her series is on an upward trajectory.