Welcome back to Boomb Tube! Here, we will be catching you up on the week in comics TV, both through micro-reviews, as well as links to our full-length TV reviews. We also tend to review series that are dropped all at once weekly so there are a few ‘older’ shows mixed in for good measure. Are we missing your favorite show? Let us know in the comments!
Echo – “Lowak” (E2, Disney+)
Read our full review by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Hilda – “The Job” (S3E5, Netflix)
“To be honest, I sort of figured you died when she was a baby,” David says when he meets Hilda’s father, Anders. “So did I,” Frida says. “I assumed it was some kind of horrible illness.” Hilda shrugs it off. “Your exact whereabouts never came up,” she says to her father. Anders, however, is very much alive and very much wants to get more involved in Hilda’s life.
Absent fathers tend to fall into one of three camps: 1.) they’re dead; 2.) they’re too busy with work to give time to their families; or 3.) they’re carefree and absent-minded. Anders falls into the latter, vaulting over docks to catch his ferry, taking jobs with shady characters who call themselves The Polecat because it was what’s available. There’s a scene where he and Johanna have a conversation and I felt Johanna’s annoyance and impatience with Anders to my core. You get an entire marriage story in a brief exchange. You also get a quick glimpse into their parenting philosophies by how they react when Hilda leaps into some rafters.
The Hilda team throws everything at their boards and shrugs it off if it doesn’t stick. The musical was at least fun. The fairies in Tofoten provided an intriguing framework, which Pearson, Simpson, Ferguson, and company must recognize because they often return to those hooded figures. In some meeting, someone must have asked, What do we know about Hilda’s father?, and so here’s Anders. The fact it took so long for this character to warrant more than a mention speaks to how little concern anyone had for his existence. Which Anders seems to realize because he jolts and looks uncomfortable at any mention of fathers.
So many characters have been already introduced this season, and the interesting ones, the ones with weight, like Great Aunt Astrid and the Pooka, get shafted. It felt like they found some direction with Johanna’s backstory, but that’s abandoned as well, or maybe saved for more depth later this season. “The Job” has some fun moments, like Hilda behind the wheel, but it feels weighed down by uncertainty and indecision. Also, since Anders seemed so irrelevant, I’m willing to bet he’ll be around a lot for the rest of this season. –Matt Garcia
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – “WHODIDIT” (E6, Netflix)
In case you missed it, read our full review by James Dowling.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – “2 Scott 2 Pilgrim” (E7, Netflix)
Read our full review by James Dowling.
