Hello all! Welcome back to my weekly reviews of Hilda. This week we move on to the fifth episode of Season 1 – ‘Chapter 5: The Troll Rock’.
‘Chapter 5: The Troll Rock’, Season 1, Episode 5 (Release Date: September 21, 2018)
Synopsis – Hilda and Johanna arrive at Hilda’s school for a parent-teacher night. The kids all show off their various science projects, with David’s being his rock collection. Once that is done, the teacher, Ms. Hallgrim, turns off the lights in order to show a short film about the school’s history. Only a few minutes into the film the projector is suddenly knocked off its stand. When the lights are turned on, David’s collection of rocks is scattered across the floor, with one particularly large – and troll-shaped – rock being closest to the downed projector. Ms. Hallgrim is convinced that Hilda threw it, and she locks the rock in one of her desk drawers. Ms. Hallgrim tells Johanna that she wants to talk to her privately later, and Hilda fears that she is going to be transferred to a class for students with behavioral issues.
When Ms. Hallgrim’s desk begins to shake, Hilda realizes that the larger rock from David’s collection must have been a young troll. She tells Frida and David, who insist that no one must know about it or David could be put in jail. The three of them, with the help of Alfur, manage to get the rock out of Ms. Hallgrim’s desk undetected, but are too late – the sun has gone down. The baby troll wakes and wreaks havoc on the classroom before running into the hallway. Hilda, David, and Frida chase after it but lose it in the vents. Ms. Hallgrim catches up to them and demands that she speak with Hilda and Johanna in her office.
Ms. Hallgrim informs Johanna that Hilda is always causing disruptions and is a bad influence on David and Frida. She requests, as Hilda feared, that Hilda be moved to a class for kids with behavioral difficulties. Johanna refuses, insisting that the very fact that Hilda made friends with Frida and David indicates that she is adjusting to life in the city. At that moment, the baby troll falls down from the ceiling. Hilda is able to grab ahold of it, much to Johanna and Ms. Hallgrim’s surprise, but a much larger troll appears outside the window. Ms. Hallgrim tries to call for help, but Hilda stops her by saying she doesn’t want to cause a panic. Seeing the baby troll desperately reaching out for the adult one, Hilda realizes that they are mother and child and that the mother had managed to make it past the wall to search for its baby. The troll smashes through the window and wall and looms over Hilda, but stops when Hilda holds out its child. Satisfied, the troll takes the baby in its arms and leaves. Impressed by Hilda’s resolve, Ms. Hallgrim drops the issue of Hilda’s transfer.
My Thoughts – This was an episode that I don’t remember being particularly fond of my first time through the show, but it grew on me a lot this time. A large part of that is its use of the trolls, perhaps the most commonly recurring fantastical creatures on the show (besides elves, of course, given that Alfur is a main character). Throughout most of the episode, the trolls are treated like horror movie monsters, which gives the episode an atmospheric and surprisingly tense feel. The sequence of the baby troll running around the classroom as little more than a shadow wreaking havoc was particularly well done. Another highlight was the mother troll looming outside the teacher’s window. The creature’s sheer size and its glowing eyes, combined with the storm raging behind it, served to make the troll truly intimidating and scary.
At the same time, the episode’s treatment of the trolls builds on a significant moment from ‘The Hidden People’. There was a sequence early in that episode where Hilda was being chased by a troll that seemingly wanted to eat her, but at the last moment she realizes that it just wants her help removing a bell from its nose. Similarly here, Hilda comes to the realization that all the mother troll wants is her baby; as soon as Hilda returns her child to her, she leaves without causing any more harm (well, except to the statue). This drives home the fact that although they are strong and prone to fits of anger, trolls are generally gentler, more intelligent, and less interested in humans than the citizens of Trolberg make them out to be. This dichotomy between how people view trolls and the way they really are will continue to be a factor as the series continues.
A part of the episode that I really underrated before was that we get the chance to see Hilda, Frida, and David really work together as a team. We saw some of that last week, of course, but in that episode Hilda and Frida kind of alternated taking the lead role and David was just kind of there. This time around all three of them are on more of an equal footing (even if it is Hilda that ultimately saves the day), and it was cool to see that dynamic in play. David especially was able to (at least somewhat) overcome his intense fear of trolls to help them try and catch the rogue baby. The friendship between Hilda, Frida, and David is one of the best parts of the show, and it was great to see it really blossom in this episode.
Episode MVP – Hilda. She faces down an angry mother troll and barely flinches. If that doesn’t qualify her for MVP, I don’t know what does.
Folklore Connections – We already discussed the folkloric connections regarding trolls back in ‘The Hidden People’ and didn’t really add much on that front in this episode, so I’ll just repost what I wrote back then:
“Trolls also form a very important part of Scandinavian mythology. Typically portrayed as very large, grotesque, and clumsy beings that live in secluded mountain caves, they nonetheless are often shown to be crafty tricksters with a strong connection to nature. This seems to be a pretty apt description for the troll we see in this episode (well, maybe minus the trickster part).”
Although, looking at it now, I think we can see some of that trickster nature in the baby troll’s actions in the classroom.
For further information about trolls in Swedish folklore, see the Sweden tourism site’s page.
My Totally Arbitrary Episode Ranking – A very solid B.
Trivia/Stray Observations –
- “I don’t want to give too much away, but I might read a poem!”
- “I swear I picked these out of your hair myself.” “You did!”
- “This box is filled right to the brim!” That could have come across as sarcastic, but I love how proud David’s dad sounds.
- “Life in the Elf Counties is quite dull now that you two aren’t obliviously stomping on our houses everyday.”
- “I would never, I love rocks!”
- “Hilda, please raise your hand. Also, this is science class.”
- “Trust me, if a troll were here this wouldn’t help you at all.”
- “David, would you say I’m disruptive in class?” “No, I wouldn’t say that in class. What if the teacher were talking?”
- “What if it’s an accident?” “Then you get a hundred years!”
- “Yes…I’m…watching them dance.”
- “It must be one of those earthquakes that only furniture can feel.” “Oh, I’ve heard about those!”
- “Vents are so much bigger in films.” Right you are, David.
- That opening montage of the troll trying to find a way into Trolberg really does show that they are much smarter than everyone believes.
- I appreciate the principal’s dedication to the drum roll bit.
- Those nittens are adorable.
- We finally learn Johanna’s profession – graphic designer. This will come up more later on.
- The baby troll ripping up the ‘How to Spot a Troll’ poster was a fun background gag.
- This episode was not specifically adapted from one of the graphic novels, but it was combined with ‘The Bird Parade’ in the tie-in novel ‘Hilda and the Great Parade’.
- I just stumbled across this Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild version of the Hilda intro, and it’s perfect:
That’s it for this week! Next week we will continue with ‘Chapter 6: The Nightmare Spirit’.
Please share any thoughts about the episode below. Make sure to spoiler tag any references to future events in the series in case anybody is stumbling across the show for the first time, and follow all of the Avocado’s rules and guidelines.
Thanks for reading!