Crocodile

An insurance agent is investigating a minor car accident, using a device that reads the witness's memory. But one of the witnesses inadvertently reveals to her a dark secret from the past, which she must now cover up at all costs.

I have a lot to say about this "Black Mirror" episode, but a deeper analysis requires specific details that would spoil the story, and for a full experience, it is best to enter this adventure with as little prior knowledge as possible. For the most part, it is predictable enough that the additional information I would present here would completely ruin it.

Many resent its unconvincingness, in the sense that it is not in human nature to choose the path that the protagonist took, and that on that path she could not physically perform everything she does in the episode, and on top of all that she does it so nonchalantly and still no one caught her in the act.

True, the story has holes and illogicalities, but it is not so naive, because this is not about the average person, but about someone driven into psychopathy by fifteen years of guilty conscience combined with the urge to protect the family. The drama of a mentally unstable mother, who struggles with a guilty conscience and tries to keep the family together, sinking deeper into madness and eventually turning into a monster, is shown strong and impressively enough to distract you from the holes and illogicalities.

Many also blame it for not being in the spirit of the "Black Mirror" series. And I agree with this too. While "Black Mirror" deals with the positive and negative impacts of technology on the individual and humanity as a whole, basing plots on specific examples of (mis)use of technological advances, this episode is based on the characterization of the protagonist, while the Sci-Fi element is there just to push the story in the desired direction and provide the final plot twist.

If not a particularly representative episode for "Black Mirror", viewed outside the context of the series, "Crocodile" is a great psychological drama-thriller. With a well-balanced pace and duration, a great choice of scenography, a tense atmosphere, and a story that gradually transforms from a drama into a thriller and pushes further to the edge of horror, it held my undivided attention until the final twist, which serves as both a shocker and a comic relief.

All this, along with the fact that the protagonist is so skillfully brought close to the audience that I sympathized with her all the way, and even at times cheered for the monster to get away with her crimes, is reason enough for me to disregard all the clichés, holes and illogicalities in the story.

8,5/10.

Really solid Episode. Even though this is one of the longer episodes of season 4 at 59 minutes, the pacing was so well done that every moment feels as tense as the last. This is classic black mirror, giving you a glimpse into the not so distant future, leaving you with that feeling afterward like only Black Mirror can. 8/10

I am very shocked at the number of derogatory comments about this episode. I thought it was excellent. Black Mirror is fictional drama, it's not real life and the posters who are questioning the logic of the programme really are missing the point. Logistics and technology out of the equation, it really is just confirming that bad things can get progressively worse when not addressed properly. I thought the acting was superb, the location of filming was isolated and desperate (like the main character) and I would say this is my second favourite Black Mirror after San Junipero.

I am amazed at the negative reviews; this is a train wreck episode and I mean that in a good way. It is compelling television- The twist is not something you would expect and maybe some of these haters just didn't like it- The setting in Iceland is stark and it is a brutal story. Brilliant.

Season 4 started off ok with USS Calliper. It didn't feel like Black Mirror as much as it did just another sci-fi flick though unfortunately. Episode two was a definite step in the right direction, and was overall fantastic. Crocodile, however, hurt to watch towards the end. I literally found myself sitting up in my chair and saying , "No. Please, they can't do this." It made me physically uneasy afterwards. And that, right there, is what I wanted from this show. We see a woman slowly throw out all morality in an effort to keep her name clean. What made this harder to watch was the fact that her actions are more than likely not too far off from what could actually happen in real life. This is one of my favorite episodes of Black Mirror so far, and I hope they put out more content like this, as terrible as that sounds.