Push Comes to Hug
During the course of the series, Arnold hugs Helga three times. The first two happen because he thanks her for finding his hat, then because he thanks her for getting her dad to sponsor his float idea for the city parade. But when he hugs her for the third time, Arnold never offers an explanation as to why, which leaves Helga confused, yet delighted simultaneously. So why does he hug her that time?
If you remember prior to this scene, during much of the episode, Arnold was dreaming about visiting Arnie in the country and meets Arnie’s friends, who are the exact antitheses of Arnold’s own friends. The two most important people in the dream are Lulu, who is the exact antithesis of Lila, and Hilda, who is not actually the antithesis of Helga, but is Helga when she is being her true self.
Arnold’s dream has a purpose by taking the viewers deep into his subconscious, where he knows how Helga feels about him and that he may repressed feelings for her. As I said before, the dream relationships between Arnold, Arnie, Lulu, and Hilda are the mirror images of the relationships between Arnold, Arnie, Lila, and Helga in real life. Lulu is created to show Arnold that Lila is not the right girl for him, and Arnold knows this subconsciously. On the contrary, he falls for Hilda, which shows he could very well fall for Helga if she showed her real self more often.
So within his subconscious, he knows about Helga’s feelings for him, and Hilda is there to show Arnold that Helga is the perfect girl for him.
Anyway, back to the moment he hugs Helga. No explanation is ever provided, and it appears very random, but given everything that happened to Arnold has dreamed and what is happening in his subconscious, there is likely a psychological reason for it. As an old Hey Arnold! friend of mine, as did an anonymous writer who wrote an essay about this episode, once stated, maybe Arnold hugged Helga because it was a way of his subconscious giving him a push towards her, or a nudge in the right direction, to help him realize that she is the perfect girl for him.
As for when he says, “Wow, Helga! It really is you!”, I was initially confused about what that line might mean. But then I got to thinking of how Arnold seemed genuinely happy to see Helga and that maybe he realizes, on a subconscious level, that she is worthy of love from him and that he can love her. So he expresses it with those words, as if he’s really saying to her, “It’s you! You’re my true love!”, like my friend once suggested. I really liked that thought, because it seems to tie in with the idea that Arnold is beginning to realize that Helga is the girl for him, so maybe what he said to her was his way of saying just that.
In conclusion, Arnold’s dream in this episode tells us that Lila is not the girl for him, but that Helga is the right girl for him. And while Arnold knows this subconsciously, he just needs to find it in there, figure it out and come to terms with it on a conscious level, and, finally, accept it and take action. And when he does, he will have finally found the girl of his dreams. ;)
special thanks goes to my good friend foreverfrozensolid for making the gif for me!
Regarding Hilda & Arnold, I've always believed the same. Hilda was there to prove that Arnold unconsciously knows about Helga's true self and his feelings for her. That much it's been very well explained and I agree with what has been said.
Now, when it comes to Lulu, I would add that the writers tried to explain that first impressions aren't always right, too.
What I mean is that when Arnold first met Lulu, he was smitten with her at first sight (obviously because she resembles Lila), but then, when he got to know her, he completely lost interest in her. Because, even if she was ignoring Arnie and focusing on him-as he would've loved that Lila have done back when she for Arnie-, he still disliked her unfaithfulness. In a way, this could be said about Lila, as well. Lila once thought that she had feelings for Arnold, we all know that she moved on from her mistake, and then she fell for Arnie. Her "second option", to call it something.
And this is what happens with Arnold, he liked Lulu, he realised she wasn't right for him and then, he truly took an interest in Hilda. From my point of view, this hints Arnolds situation with Lila and Helga, as well.
Though, that it's just my opinion.