Hilda, Season 1, Chapter 11: The House in the Woods
In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a show every weekday, with a short blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.
- Like so. Now that the introductions are over with, here’s my thoughts on The House in the Woods.
- I like that even though Hilda loves being in the wilderness, she snaps out of it when she thinks of how worried her mother will be.
- The change in Hilda’s facial expression when she realizes that Wood Man lost her not to an elf, but to a giant, really makes the gag.
- I wonder how a giant plays poker with someone as smaller than him as Wood Man, not to mention the elves. He must really have a good poker face.
- I like the Elf Mail system. At first it was a funny e-mail pun, but seeing it in action really puts into perspective how impressive it is for a bunch of creatures significantly smaller than a child’s foot to quickly deliver a letter from the middle of the woods to a house in Trolberg.
- I realize this is my first real piece of criticism, but I do think the scene of Johanna worrying about Hilda would work better without Alfur trying to get her attention and show her the letter. Maybe the scene later where she finally sees it could’ve instead been when the letter first arrived?
- It’s more understandable now why Johanna doesn’t trust Wood Man. The guy bet Hilda in a game of poker, and lost on purpose so he could steal back the stuff he lost.
- With how the house grants wishes, is it possible that it purposely took on the form of a homey little cabin that would remind Hilda of her old home? Perhaps someone else might find a mansion, or an inn.
- While I stand by the idea that The Tide Mice is the creepiest episode, the house is the creepiest “creature”, if you wanna count it as such. An abandoned yet nice little place for lost travelers to spend the night, granting any wishes (voiced or subconscious) so that they’re enticed to eventually abandon their normal life and stay forever.
- Always nice to see the Raven making use of his true Thunderbird form, whether it’s to carry passengers like last episode or the ending to The Bird Parade, or even just to intimidate someone who intends to hurt him and and his friends.
- And adding to the house’s unsettling nature is how it quickly shuts the door as soon as there’s no one who could open it back up.
- I have to wonder, did the house give Hilda a way home simply because she expressed that it’s what she wanted, or did it give up on the idea that she could be persuaded into staying? I suppose in the end, it depends on how intelligent the house is...
- I think this speech from Wood Man is a good way to wrap up Hilda’s arc of adjusting to living in Trolberg. Because, though she had mixed feelings, I could see how a friend’s reassurance that the wilderness will always be a part of her would mean a lot to Hilda.
