Last week, I touched on how it felt like Hilda was setting up the pieces for its finale. “The Ghost” mostly continues this trend. There’s an overarching plot, sure, but, as a whole, feels more like a prologue. As always, warning: spoilers.
1. Frida’s Falling Apart
Usually she’s so put together. Usually she’s so fierce. But in “The Ghost,” Frida finds her life in chaos. She wakes up one morning to discover her room is in total disarray. Naturally, Hilda and David find themselves very confused. This untidiness seeps out into Frida’s every day life, tarnishing her bid for class president, causing her to make simple mistakes, the kind Hilda and David know Frida would never make.
They quickly become convinced there’s a ghost or something who’s trashing Frida’s place, due to the fact that her favorite book is missing, and thusly set up a surveillance system to try to nab it. Quickly, we learn Frida herself is not a tidy thinker. But, for as long as she can remember, no matter how much she trashes her room, it always resolves itself the next day. “Isn’t that how rooms work?” she asks.
Eventually, the trio ends up at the graveyard to try to figure out what the heck is going on. Because of course that’s the first place Hilda thinks to go.
2. Creature of the Week
Although they came to the conclusion mostly by chance, Hilda, Frida, and David do meet up with some ghosts. The mysterious librarian gives Hilda and spell to resurrect them, though I think it mostly gives the trio the ability to see said ghosts. Those dudes are getting up and floating around all over the place, looking for the junk they left behind. “The hardest part about dying is leaving all your stuff behind,” the librarian tells them. “What about loved ones?” Hilda asks. “Well. The good thing about loved ones is that they eventually die, too.”
There’s some nice animation as the ghosts burst out of their grave. Their skeletal remains form within their spiritual shapes. The animators sell the terror from the first but they have a lot more fun with the gags. The episode delves into a wrestling match. The ghosts throw out their limbs and whatnot to trap Hilda. Definitely some clever uses.
The big reveal, though, comes near the end. A Nisse pops out from under Frida’s bed and steals another one of her books. These guys play it big in “The Black Hound” comic and since an adaptation of that storyline acts as the season finale, we’re getting a strong clue of the direction this series is going.
3. David Gets His Moment
Timid, frightful David. He doesn’t like putting himself in danger, doesn’t like taking unnecessary risks, and always ends up with a bug in his hair. He’s all too happy to follow Frida and, now, Hilda around. These two girls who are much stronger and more confident than him. So it’s cute he’s so delighted to see some of Frida’s rougher edges. Any time he gets put in a corner, any time he gets put down, he’s finally able to shoot back, “You’re just as untidy as me,” or “Well, you’re still messy.” It’s a small act of defiance, yes, but if Neville Longbottom ever taught us anything, sometimes standing up to your friends helps you more than anything.
4. Hilda and Her Friends
“The Ghost” literally opens with Hilda running down the street in a panic, screaming, “Make way! Friend emergency!” Practically every choice she makes comes down to how she’ll be able to help her friends. Frida needs to wrestle a ghost to get her book back and have another ghost return to cleaning her room to show his appreciation for her keeping his book in such nice condition? No problem. David is being haunted by a bunch of nightmare demons? Might as well talk to the Rat King to see what they can do. And while Frida and David appreciate the gesture, they clearly don’t know how to tell Hilda all these ridiculously dangerous situations might sometimes be too ridiculously dangerous.
At the same time, there was an emptiness in Hilda’s life she never could define. Now that it looks like that void has been filled, that desire for contact with other people, she does not want to let it go. She can’t imagine letting it go. When tempers flare in the final few minutes, this leads to a fracturing Hilda never could have anticipated.
Continued below
5. The Foundation
So “The Ghost” is a fine enough episode of Hilda. It has some good gags. The creatures of the week are goofy fun. It even does something with its characters. However, it doesn’t feel complete. it doesn’t come close to some of the best episodes of the season. It feels more like an installment of a Marvel movie or something, where a bunch of stuff gets teased for a future installment, only to tease for the next installment, et cetera. The to be continued ending feels abrupt.
I wonder how a show like this does work best. We’re in an age where the demand is mostly for serialized adventures, where an episode isn’t telling the whole story but an entire season is weaving together a narrative. And that’s what works best for a lot of things. Is a larger narrative what works best for Hilda though? Does playing out a multi-episode arc truly benefit the show’s style, tone, and humor? Hilda, thus far, has been a delight. Spectacular. Among the best things Netflix has produced. But this just fine episode, this good enough episode, this teasing for the future oboy oboy episode lacks something.
Which makes it just fine.
