"Crocodile" | |
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Black Mirror episode | |
Episode no. | Series 4 Episode 3 |
Directed by | John Hillcoat |
Written by | Charlie Brooker |
Original release date | 29 December 2017 |
Running time | 59 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
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"Crocodile" is the third episode of the fourth series of the anthology series Black Mirror. It was written by series creator 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 follows Mia (Andrea Riseborough) fifteen years after she helped her friend Rob (Andrew Gower) cover up a hit-and-run death, as she commits several murders in order to cover up her past crimes. Meanwhile, Shazia (Kiran Sonia Sawar) is an insurance investigator who uses a "Recaller" that can project people's visual memories onto a screen. The writers were inspired by Nordic noir and by a similar memory technology in series one's "The Entire History of You". The first draft featured a male protagonist and Scotland as its setting. It was filmed in Iceland.
The episode garnered mixed reviews. Critics mostly found its bleakness and violence to be excessive, with further criticism of the plot twists. Some reviewers found the Recaller technology to be interesting, but not meaningfully explored by the episode. Riseborough and Sawar's performances, as well as the visual aesthetics, were acclaimed.