It has been around two years since we last visited the wonderful world of Hilda — since we last wandered through its spectacular landscapes, last encountered its magnificent bestiary, and last explored its near-forgotten legends. After the 2021 film, Hilda and the Mountain King, it was easy to think the series ended, in no small part because that was where Luke Pearson’s comics ended. There was a definite period to the story. (It didn’t help throughout its run, Hilda had long gaps between seasons, long enough to forget it existed.) And yet, Hilda returns for its third and final season, where, in addition to its weird events and quiet magic delivered with warm and imaginative animation, it also now grapples with . . .
1. How Do You Continue a Story that Ended?
Spoilers ahead.
At the end of Hilda and the Mountain King, Hilda, her mother, her friends, and Twig, the best character, saved Trolberg from being overrun by trolls. Better than that, they helped broker a truce between the trolls and the humans, vanquished a couple populist despots, and reunited the ancient creatures with the troll mother. More importantly, Hilda and Johanna saw each other, Hilda and her friends learned how important it is to listen to one another, and they all reckoned with their place in nature.
The creators — Pearson, head writer Stephanie Simpson, and director Andy Coyle — recognize there’s not much more to accomplish in Trolberg, and the episode begins with them boarding a train to a new location: Tofoten. Incidentally, they are only on the train for a few minutes, the length of a conversation. The crew also introduce new characters, like the Pooka, a lazy shapeshifter, and Great-Aunt Astrid. It’s her house they visit, and we learn she was instrumental in raising Johanna.
In order to continue the story, especially while under the mainline Hilda title, there has to be a necessary amount of reversion. While Hilda learned not to treat her friends as if they were pawns in her adventures, she spends a lot of “The Train to Tofoten” up to her usual antics. She drags Frida and David all over town, looking at stuff for a split second and before rushing off, calling it “exploring.” She descends into misery when they agree to chill by the brook, reading and listening to music. Johanna reverts to being “a mum,” hoping only to relax and take a break. There’s a moment late in the episode where Johanna does some dangerous stunts and Hilda must look at her with new eyes. “It seems like you’ve done this before,” she says, as if she hasn’t witnessed her mother accomplish all manner of stunning feats previously.
These choices make the season feel like it’s a midpoint between other seasons. Not quite a coda because it feels like the show wants to find a new identity. Of course, Hilda is no stranger to fresh material. There are six “Hilda” comics, and in order to continue, the series had to embellish and expand significantly.
2. Anyway, Tofoten
Much like the train, Coyle and Pearson don’t dwell long on Tofoten. Although no one disembanks with them, Tofoten is referred to as a new tourist destination (I think someone calls it a trap?) and people wander all over town. Tonto, the niesse, snaps photos of everything at every angle and it’s one of those times a show seems to read me. Right away, Hilda notices strange horseshoes pasted on every door. When she asks, she’s told they are there to deter fairies. So I guess they’re swapping troll love with fairy love on this one? Tofoten is more rustic and quaint, presented in such a way it feels like one bad season from falling apart.
The production team is much more interested in exploring the region around Tofoten, unsurprising since this show has always been more alive in the wider world than in the confines of a city. Hilda, for one, becomes much more animated when she runs through the trees, surrounded by odd tufts and mushrooms. “The Train to Tofoten” generally serves as a survey of this new area, of the town and the hills and the nearby woff nest. There’s not much of a plot to speak of since its main concern is getting us into a new world, knowing there isn’t the space or time to fully explore the new setting, so throwing us into a crash course of Tofoten. The characters start to do things in the third act, at the behest of Great Aunt Astrid, heading off into the woods to return a lost woff egg (“I wasn’t going to eat it!” says the Pooka when confronted), but even that feels more of a way to remind us of Hilda’s
Continued below3. Magic and Wonder
What “The Train to Tofoten” excels at is reminding us about what makes Hilda so special. There’s a long gap between seasons because so much work goes into every frame, from the grand vistas to the quirky jokes to the charming creature designs. Colors remain comfortable pastels. There’s a sense the horizon goes on forever. The Pooka, a shapeshifter who is either not great at shapeshifting or lazy about the whole thing, bends and contorts into all manner of odd shapes, always in a new form but never in a proper disguise. Of course, in Hilda, vacationing elves would explore the city in a little carriage towed by a duck.
When the animators go for it, they go for it. The climax of the episode, for instance, involves our plucky crew riding woffs (you know, those furry ball creatures with cat faces and blank expressions) above the clouds. They fly, they soar, and the animation is so good, wondrous enough and subdued enough, you share the experience. The animators also take the time to remind you of the danger in Hilda’s world. Something seems off with the plant life. A storm arrives with angry lightning bolts and loud thunder, and they take shelter in a gloomy-looking cave. In the nest, the woffs awaken and for a tense moment it seems the cave is about to collapse on top of our heroes, drawn as tiny abstract shapes staring at the chaos in utter helplessness.
Coyle, Pearson, and Simpson know we’ve been gone for a while, and they guide us back into the wonders with a controlled hand and easy unraveling, so you’re never overwhelmed, and ready to see what’s in store.
4. So, What’s Coming Up?
There are only eight episodes in Hilda season three, where the others clocked in at thirteen. (Fourteen if you want to count the movie in season two.) I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing because there were many times it felt like the show spun its wheels. As mentioned, something is happening with the iron horseshoes on the doors and all this talk of fairies. While the kids ran through town, the camera lingered on a few people for a heartbeat. The Pooka gets played for laughs for the most part, but we know there’s probably something more insidious and sad with it. And, of course, you cannot introduce a quirky great-aunt character, a character we see in the cold open writing a cryptic letter inviting Hilda and her family to Tofoten, without implying some sort of mystery about her. “Always look someone in the eyes when you greet them; otherwise, the devil will think you’re talking about them.”
I’m getting Gravity Falls vibes from the set up this season. Except, you know, with a stronger sense of wonder, a gentler attitude, and a better control of legend.
5. Hilda‘s Back, Baby! And I Admit I Missed It A Lot
“It feels so strange to be back, like it’s been forever and no time at all.”
