SweetBeak

***SweetBeak***is the tenth episode of **Season 1** of *Tuca & Bertie* and in the series overall*.*It aired along with the rest of Season 1 on Netflix on May 3rd, 2019.

## Episode Synopsis

*'Tis the season for fighting the pastry-archy when Tuca encourages Bertie to open her own bakery. But can they deliver the goods in time for molting day?*

## Plot

Tuca and Bertie return home just in time for Molting season. While Bertie is in the Molting Day spirit, singing a holiday song on the radio and wearing a green holiday sweater, Tuca is not, as she hates the holidays because every year her sister Terry makes her and her siblings do a group video call and its always awkward for Tuca because they have nothing in common and they always tease her about her messy apartment. Todays the day they’re supposed to call each other. Bertie assures Tuca she still has her and Specjle as they pull up to their building. Tuca thanks Bertie for the great road trip.

However, when Bertie arrives home Speckle is upset at her for leaving for days with no explanation, and not speaking to him, which worried him, and all right before Molting Day. He ends up exploding to the point he’s tearing up, insisting to Bertie she need to be open and communicative with him, and he can’t be her rock all the time, she needs to be his sometimes too. Bertie tries to apologize, and Speckle reveals that he decided to do something without telling her and bought a house - a complete tear down that he’s gonna rebuild for them. Before he leaves to continue construction he tells her she cannot keep running away from him and she needs to be honest

Tuca attempts to clean her apartment but she doesn’t make much progress. However she doesn’t get any notification from her siblings about their video call.

Tuca comes with Bertie to Pastry Pete's where she tells him she quits, even after he tells her he wants her to manage his new patisserie. She says she will open her own bakery in three days.

Outside Bertie panics but Tuca assures her she can do anything and take it step by step. Bertie wants to name her bakery Sweet Beak, and their trademark pastry will be sweet rolls filled with lemon cream. However they try to buy bulk supplies, rent a kitchen space, but she gets denied for all of them.

Bertie makes Tuca come into a church they walk past that is putting on a children's play of the origins of Molting Day.

St Oriole was a slovenly and stubborn bird who refused to migrate south with his family, and they returned in spring to find him having molted all his feathers and frozen to death. His ghost flies over Bird Town, dropping sweets reminding everyone to keep their loved ones close.

During the play Tuca gets upset at her siblings still not having called her, and she bursts into tears and runs out after it’s over.

She tells Bertie that even though she said she hates doing the calls with her family they’re better than nothing, and she doesn’t want to call them because she’s scared they don’t want to talk to her, and that they’ll lose touch forever and she’ll have no connections left. Bertie tells Tuca she just needs to show people she cares and to not take them for granted. She then starts crying, fearing she ruined things with Speckle. Tuca hugs her and says go get him.

Bertie arrives at the house he bought, which is shown to be in poor condition and missing half the roof, which Speckle is shown fixing when she arrives. She admits she’s taken him for granted when he makes her feel like everything will be ok, and due to things that have happened to her she has trouble trusting people, but she doesn’t want to be that person anymore and wants to be in the present with him. She gets flustered and starts to leave but Speckle grabs her arm and they passionately make out.

Tuca gets back to her place and finally cleans everything up, even putting a door over the hole in her floor she created three episodes prior. However she can’t yet muster up the courage to call her sister.

The next morning, despite the two of them having sex, Speckle says everything isn’t fixed with them. Bertie says even if their relationship has holes they might still have a good foundation, because he’s her home. Speckle appreciates the words but he still needs time.

Bertie is shown having gotten declined for a booth at the Molting Day market despite the fact she paid a deposit. She discovers from Baker Barb, who meets with her in secrecy behind one of the booths, that Pastry Pete has blacklisted them from being able to sell bake goods in their town - it’s his turf.

Bertie goes to confront him. Calls him out for his predatory behavior, but he throws it back at her saying she still learned under him and a]enjoyed the attention she got from it. He continues to verbally abuse her as he grabs her hair and pins her against the wall, saying "I made you, and I can ruin you”. Bertie says she doesn’t owe him anything and leaves.

Tuca then reveals she filmed the whole thing on her phone. Bertie sends it to the lizard lady that runs the WTUS meeting, within several hours the video spreads everywhere, a mob of women are shown protesting outside his bakery, and Pastry Pete's reputation is ruined. The lizard lady announces on the news covering their protest to support Sweet Beak.

Bertie gets a huge influx of orders, and Tuca gets the help of Draca and her turtles, Bruce, Dapper Dog, and her old Templates to help. Speckle them arrives with a truck to help Bertie deliver, saying he’ll always be there for her. Everyone in town is shown loving the pastries.

By night they have delivered all the orders. Tuca finally is ready to call her sister. Terry reveals she didn’t call because Aunt Tallulah is in the hospital with cirrhosis, but she’s stable and she’s taking care of everything like she always does. She tells Tuca she knows she’s never been good with family stuff. Before Terri hangs up Tuca says she loves her, Terri groans but says she loves her too. Tuca is glad she called.

Speckle alerts them they got more orders, some of which are way on the outskirts of Birdtown, and Bertie wonders how they can get them all delivered by morning. Tuca gets the idea to get a giant Rent-A-Hawk that carries them in his talons as they deliver all their orders, and poops all over Pastry Pete.

Bertie tells Tuca the further they go, where everything just looks like little boxes, the less it seems to matter, but when they get closer down, to see the details, she cares so much more, especially seeing everyone celebrating Molting Day and having dinner. Tuca tells her she wants to go see her auntie and her sister, and she doesn’t want things to be weird with them anymore. Bertie assures her she'll always be there if she needs her.

Tuca then gets the hawk to do loop-de loops, to Bertie’s horror then excitement, as the episode ends.

## Trivia

* Molting Day is introduced, essentially the show's equivalent of Christmas
* This is the first appearance of Tuca's sister, Terri
	+ Terry's husband and child are photographed with her on the Molting Day post card she sent. They would be properly introduce in Corpse Week.
	+ Terry is voiced by Tariji P. Henson, but in subsequent appearances would be voiced by Natasha Rothwell
* Speckle bought a house to repair, and he would be seen working on it throughout the course of Season 2.
* Bertie has not been to work in a week, but no one has noticed.