Tuca & Bertie Review: Nighttime Friend (Season 2 Episode 4)

Tuca & Bertie Season 2 Episode 4, “Nighttime Friend,” finds the first half of our eponymous pair wandering the streets at night due to her insomnia. It’s a Tuca-heavy episode, which we yet to have this season. 

It all starts with a mundane evening with Bertie and Speckles as they binge-watch the latest streaming craze. However, Bertie’s not a night bird by any stretch of the imagination. She falls asleep immediately after the opening credits. 

Sleep doesn’t come easily for Tuca — her mind begins racing with a flurry of anxious thoughts the minute her head hits the pillow. This leads to Tuca exploring a city that’s teeming with nightlife.

It’s quite clear that Tuca also doesn’t want to be alone. More specifically, she doesn’t enjoy sitting (or laying) in silence with her thoughts.

Earlier this season, we were privy to Tuca’s knee-jerk coping mechanism to pain, which is to “shout” her problems into a plastic cup that she shoves behind the toilet. 

Tuca & Bertie doesn’t shy away from mental health, and it delves into that through the drastically different lenses of our titular best bird friends.

While Bertie is actively seeing a therapist and making a valiant effort to work through her internal trauma, Tuca is the carefree “party girl.” Nothing is supposed to phase her. 

Tuca’s various nighttime escapades end with her being alone, from her attempt to teach folks about sex through the Rocky Horror Picture Show-inspired faux flick, “Vintage Sexy Campy Movie,” to her infirm aunt deciding to give power of attorney to Tuca’s older sister. Everyone pulls away from her, which is her biggest fear. 

It’s never easy to face your inner darkness. If you wanted to get really figurative, you could say that the “night” is a metaphor for Tuca’s mental state — a dark place that’s filled to the brim with relentless chaos and noise. 

Perhaps Tuca’s fear of letting herself feel stems from her own lack of self-worth. When her sick aunt grants power of attorney to Tuca’s elder sister, Tuca notes that she’s the fun party girl. She doesn’t need that kind of responsibility! 

However, it’s obvious that Tuca is eager to handle responsibility of any kind. Instead of purchasing her aunt’s favorite malt liquor, she buys a teddy bear with a little “nightcap” of its own. Her aunt is trying to get better, right? 

Tuca acts as though she’s carefree but, in reality, she cares deeply about what other people think.

But it’s easier to put on a façade than to brazenly face the music, right? “Nighttime Friend” ends with Tuca growing close to a night nurse who works at the hospital wherein her aunt is staying. She’s finally able to slumber soundly when the said night nurse sings her to sleep. 

This circles back to Tuca’s fear of being alone. She’s co-dependent on Bertie for many things, and Tuca & Bertie shines a light on what happens when Tuca spends time away from her best buddy.

This show deftly handles mental health and vital societal issues with aplomb, and here’s hoping we get to see Tuca learn to love herself. 

Stray Observations: 

• Speckles getting ripped from sleepwalking with his fitness watch is a fun running bit throughout the episode. 
• “Sorry, that was me. I just dropped a pin” is a brilliant play on the “you could hear a pin drop” idiom. 
• Tuca’s argument with someone scrawling graffiti on a wall, which culminates in her retorting, “You suck!”, bringing the conversation full circle.

—

What did you think of this episode of Tuca & Bertie? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

Tuca & Bertie airs Sundays at 11:30/10:30c on Adult Swim.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

15 Best TV Friendships