Chapter 5: The Job

General
**Gallery**

This article is about one of the episodes from the Netflix-exclusive television series.
You may be looking for the graphic novel series of the same name.

## Credits

### Head Writer

Stephanie Simpson

***The Job*** is the fifth episode of the third season, and the thirty-first episode overall, of the Hilda TV series. It was released on December 7th, 2023 on **Netflix**.

## Synopsis

When Hilda's father comes for a surprise visit, she joins him on a mysterious errand to the castle ruins on behalf of a shady man known as "The Polecat."

## Summary

 This section contains spoilers of an episode, movie, or book.

The episode opens in a harbor, where a ferry is about to leave for Trolberg. The boat is already starting to move when at the last moment a man climbs on board. He is barely able to pay for the ticket with the little money he has. When asked by the captain what he hopes to find in Trolberg, he shows the captain a pendant containing a photo of Hilda as a baby.

Sometime later, in Hilda’s house in Trolberg, Johanna is about to go shopping with Alfur, while David and Frida drop by to discuss with Hilda how to best spend their Saturday afternoon (Frida wants to go to the library to do homework, but neither David nor Hilda agrees). Just as Johanna is about to leave, the man from the boat shows up at her door. His name is Anders, and he is Hilda’s father. Hilda is overjoyed to see him again, since the last time he dropped by was when they still lived in the Wilderness. Anders is introduced to Tontu, Alfur, Frida and David. The latter two are quite surprised to see Anders as Hilda never mentioned him. They both assumed he was dead.

Anders offers to take Hilda and friends out for lunch, and promises Johanna to make sure Hilda is home around five. Johanna clearly has no high hopes Anders will keep his word but allows Hilda to go. They head for The Salty Maiden for lunch. Along the way, Hilda tells him more about her adventures. While eating, Anders tells Hilda’s friends how Hilda has her adventurous streak from him. He plans to stick around for some time, at least if he can find a job.

No sooner has he spoken, or a shady man known only as The Polecat enters the Salty Maiden, looking for someone that can do a job for him. While the other guests carefully avoid him, Hilda immediately volunteers Anders. The Polecat accepts. He wants Anders to go pick up something for him at the castle ruins just outside the city. It has to be done before sunset. Since Hilda knows a faster way there, she volunteers to come along. Since Anders has no car and Johanna’s car was destroyed by a troll, the Polecat loans Anders his truck, which for some reason has a huge dent in the door. David and Frida are concerned, but Hilda is just happy to spend some time with her dad.

Along the way the truck gets a flat tire, which delays Hilda and Anders. While they change the tire, Twig finds a petrified troll with a bell around it’s nose. He brings the bell to Hilda, who decides to burry it. She tells her father about the time she got turned into a troll. Anders feels sorry for having missed so much. To cheer Hilda up, he allows her to drive the truck for a while. By the time they reach the ruins, it’s already sunset. As they enjoy the view, Anders invites Hilda to go camping next weekend. In Trolberg, Johanna gets worried since Hilda is still not home. She calls David and learns that Anders and Hilda went to the Castle Ruins, so she borrows the car from David’s mom to get there herself. By now the sun has set and the troll from earlier has awakened. He too is on his way to the ruins.

In the ruins, Anders and Hilda find two associates of The Polecat, Gunther and Garth, who are busy pulling a heavy chest out of a hole, but no luck. Anders fetches a rope from the truck and Hilda wraps it around a rafter so they can make a pulley. As the haul the chest up, Gunther begins to tell them more about this job: the chest is filled with gold and is part of a Trolls’ hoard. The Polecat found it after bribing a Vittra for information, but the troll caught him snooping around and angrily chased him away. The dent in the truck is from a rock the troll threw at it. Hence why he send other people to fetch the chest for him.

Now that she knows the chest belongs to a troll, Hilda refuses to steal it, and Anders sides with her. This leads to a skirmish with Gunther and Garth. Then Johanna shows up, and is not happy about the antics Anders and Hilda got themselves in. To make matters worse, the troll shows up too to reclaim his hoard. The troll causes Hilda to drop the keys to the truck. Gunther and Garth immediately grab the keys and make a run for it, leaving Hilda, Anders and Johanna to deal with the troll. To save his family, Anders distracts the troll. The troll chases Anders deeper into the ruins and corners him in the dungeon. But as the troll approaches, two shadowy, cloaked figures appear behind Anders and reach out for him. The next moment, Anders is gone, much to the surprise of the troll.

Hilda, believes the troll has eaten her dad, but he shows her he hasn’t . She and Johanna search around the ruins for a while, but find no trace of Anders. Johanna fears he has run off again, as he always does when he feels overwhelmed. Disappointed that her dad left again, Hilda returns home with Johanna.

## Featured Characters

### Humans

* Hilda
* Anders
* David
* Frida
* Johanna
* Ferry captain
* The Polecat
* Gunther (unnamed in this episode)
* Garth (unnamed in this episode)
* Peg legged sailor (cameo)
* White haired sailor (cameo)
* Unnamed captain (cameo)

#### Elves

* Alfur
* Unnamed Elves (cameo)

#### Trolls

* Unnamed troll
* Amma (cameo; seen on poster)

#### Fairies

* Phinium (silhouette only)
* Lydia (silhouette only)

## Trivia

* Wood Man, Trylla and David's mom are mentioned but make no appearance. Trundle's brother is also indirectly mentioned when Hilda recalls what happened to her mom's car.
* It is revealed that Johanna never got a new car after her previous one was destroyed in Hilda and the Mountain King.
* The song played during Hilda and Anders’ car ride is “Grand Final Day” by DUCK LTD.
* The song played during the end credits is Oslo by Guðbjörg Hlín Guðmundsdóttir.