Crocodile (Black Mirror)
| "Crocodile" | |
|---|---|
| Black Mirror episode | |
 Promotional poster | |
| Episode no. | Series 4 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | John Hillcoat |
| Written by | Charlie Brooker |
| Original air date | 29 December 2017 |
| Running time | 59 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Crocodile" is the third episode of the fourth series of anthology series Black Mirror. It was written by Charlie Brooker and directed by John Hillcoat. The episode first aired on Netflix, along with the rest of series four, on 29 December 2017.
The episode is set in Iceland, where Mia (Andrea Riseborough) helps her friend Rob (Andrew Gower) cover up a hit-and-run death. Fifteen years later, Rob wants to confess their crime, leading Mia to kill him and dispose of his body. Shortly after Mia witnesses a road accident between a pedestrian and self-driving vehicle. Shazia (Kiran Sonia Sawar) is hired to investigate the accident, and uses a Recaller device that allows her to see the recent memories of those she interviews. During an interview with Mia, Shazia slowly discovers what else had happened that night.
Plot
Mia Nolan (Andrea Riseborough) and Rob (Andrew Gower) go to a club together. Whilst driving home, Rob hits and kills a cyclist on a mountain road. He convinces Mia to help him cover up the death by throwing the cyclist's body and bicycle into a lake.
Fifteen years later, Mia is happily married and has a son and successful career. When she goes on a business trip, Rob meets her at her hotel. He shows her a news article about the dead cyclist, whose wife believes him to be alive and is still looking for him. Rob wants to write an anonymous letter telling the truth, but Mia is afraid the letter will be traced. An argument ensues and she kills Rob. She is further shaken upon seeing a road accident outside, where a self-driving pizza delivery truck has hit a pedestrian. Mia rents a pay per view porn movie to provide herself with an alibi, before disposing of Rob's body.
The man who was hit by the truck contacts his insurance company, and is visited by Shazia (Kiran Sonia Sawar), an investigator. Her job is to use a device known as a Recaller to scan a claimant's memories and verify the claim. Despite memory being acknowledged as unreliable, it is now compulsory for the public to submit to memory scans when requested. Shazia identifies witnesses to the accident but is unable to establish liability. One witness remembers seeing Mia looking out of her hotel room window, and Shazia is hopeful that Mia's testimony will allow her to prove the case—which would also allow the insurance company to pursue a lucrative negligence suit against the owners of the pizza truck.
Mia admits to witnessing the accident but, upon learning that Shazia will be using the Recaller, is hesitant to have her memories scanned. Shazia assumes that Mia's reluctance is due to her being embarrassed about watching porn at the time. Mia stalls by making coffee and tries to put together a cover story that she was alone in the hotel room. However, during the scan, Mia is unable to prevent Shazia from viewing the memory of both murders. She ties up Shazia, who tries to convince Mia that she will delete the data and won't tell anyone what happened. Mia, aware that she would be incriminated from Shazia's own memories, scans her with the Recaller. Mia kills Shazia and drives to Shazia's home to kill her husband—the only other person aware that Mia was involved in the investigation. Upon realizing that Shazia's baby son is also in the house and had seen her face, Mia reluctantly kills him too.
Police investigating the murders reveal that Shazia's son was blind and would have been unable to identify the killer; they instead use the Recaller on the family guinea pig to dredge its memories for evidence. Meanwhile, Mia cries in the audience as she watches her son's school production of Bugsy Malone. The police are seen waiting at the back of the auditorium.
Production
Whilst series one and two of Black Mirror were shown on Channel 4 in the UK, in September 2015 Netflix commissioned the series for 12 episodes,[1] and in March 2016 it outbid Channel 4 for the rights to distributing the third series, with a bid of $40 million.[2] The 12 episode order was divided into two series of six episodes each.
The episode was inspired by the series one episode, "The Entire History of You", which featured a personal implant that one could use privately to review their memories. For "Crocodile", they considered what the situation would be like if these memories were not private, developing a "cat-and-mouse type drama" that would highlight the importance of memories, and to what lengths one with a secret would go to to hide those memories.[3]
The episode was initially conceived as having a male protagonist with Andrea Riseborough reading the script with another part in mind. However, after Riseborough liked the journey of the protagonist and asked if the part could be rewritten as a woman, the script was altered in order to accommodate Riseborough.[4] Both Brooker and executive producer Annabel Jones described the change as interesting, with Jones noting that "How often do you see a mother reduced to this level of desperation?" on television.[4][5] The episode was shot in Iceland and includes scenes filmed in the Harpa concert hall.[4]
Marketing
In May 2017, a Reddit post unofficially announced the names and directors of the six episodes in series 4 of Black Mirror.[6] The first trailer for the series was released by Netflix on 25 August 2017, and contained the six episode titles.[7][8]
Beginning on 24 November 2017, Netflix published a series of posters and trailers for the fourth series of the show, referred to as the "13 Days of Black Mirror".[9] On December 6, Netflix published a trailer featuring an amalgamation of scenes from the fourth series, which announced that the series would be released on 29 December.[10]
Reception
The episode received mixed reviews. The cinematography of the Icelandic landscape was widely praised, along with Riseborough's and Sawar's performances.[11] Two critics criticised the violence and described it as unnecessarily bleak.[12][13]
References
- ^ Birnbaum, Debra. "'Black Mirror' Lands at Netflix". Variety.
- ^ Plunkett, John (29 March 2016). "Netflix deals Channel 4 knockout blow over Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror". The Guardian.
- ^ Turchiano, Danielle (December 29, 2017). "'Black Mirror' Co-Creator Breaks Down Season 4: 'We Want to Be Surprising and Unpredictable'". Variety. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
- ^ a b c Strause, Jackie (27 December 2017). "'Black Mirror' Delivers a Timely Female-Led Season 4". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ Ling, Thomas (7 December 2017). "Black Mirror season 4 episode guide: Charlie Brooker reveals new plot and episode details". Radio Times. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (27 May 2017). "Black Mirror season 4 episode titles and directors revealed". The Independent. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ Donnelly, Matt (25 August 2017). "'Black Mirror' Season 4: Teaser Trailer, Episode Titles, Directors and Stars Revealed (Video)". TheWrap. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ Hooton, Christopher (25 August 2017). "Black Mirror season 4 Netflix trailer teases all six episodes and their titles". The Independent. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ Strause, Jackie (27 November 2017). "'Black Mirror': All the Season 4 Details". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ White, Peter (6 December 2017). "Netflix Reveals 'Black Mirror' Season 4 Release Date In New Trailer". Decider. New York Post. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ Chakrabarti, Suchandrika (2017-12-30). "Black Mirror's Crocodile shows jaws closing upon an unlikely criminal". mirror. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
- ^ Sims, David. "'Black Mirror:' 'Crocodile' Is a Nihilistic Nordic Noir". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
- ^ "Black Mirror Season 4 Episode 3 Review: Crocodile". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
External links
- "Crocodile" at IMDb
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