As of now, I have completely finished the new series of Black Mirror. I felt a rollercoaster of emotions, as I always do. I’d have to say at this point, after finishing season 4 in it’s entirety, I’m not too bothered or itching for an announcement on whether Mr Brooker is planning a season 5 or whether Netflix are even willing to gift him that privilege. But more on my opinion at the end of this post.
Without further ado, let’s just jump straight into this. Spoiler warning as always!
[Feature image from : http://nonsoloserietv.altervista.org/black-mirror-4-trailer-di-crocodile/]
Crocodile (2017)
Netflix
Directed by : John Hillcoat
Top Billed Cast : Andrea Riseborough, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Andrew Gower, Anthony Welsh
Rated : 15
Synopsis
Crocodile opens on a couple Mia (Riseborough) and Rob (Gower) messing around and driving through what I can only describe as scenery plucked straight out of the t.v programme Fortitude. Think ‘Arctic Norway’. As always with Black Mirror, the equilibrium is short lived as the tone of the episode shifts from one of elation to complete and utter misery when the couple hit a cyclist and kill him. In an attempt to rid themselves of the guilt and the body, they decide to throw the bike and the body into the icy water surrounding their location and never speak of it again. Fast forward to an undisclosed amount of time in the future where the two have grown up and moved on with their lives, the episode continues with focus on Mia’s narrative and her career as a successful architect. After a busy day as a guest speaker at a convention in the city, Mia decides to stay in a hotel. She is visited by Rob who, overcome with grief, confesses to Mia that he is going to turn himself in for the murder, prompted by an article he has seen where the cycling victims family are still looking and waiting for him to return. Mia, angered by this, kills him to silence him at which point an incident occurs outside where a man is run over by a self driving pizza truck. (Which has now become a reality? Who knew!). The episodes prime focus shifts to a lady called Shazia, who’s job is to research into accident claims to check authenticity by using a small cubic device to access memories. She follows a chain, gaining more witnesses to the incident by accessing more people’s memories. The chain leads Shazia straight to Mia at the time of the murder and this is where the things begin to get interesting…
What do other people think?
In this review by Nick Harley for Den of Geek, he states that :
‘Maybe it’s because the show already spotlighted a memory device in season 1’s far superior “The Entire History of You.” This episode’s memory technology isn’t as sophisticated, allowing our natural biases and distortions of recalled events to impact visual recreations of our memories, a nice little twist on something that we’ve already seen, but one which the episode never really takes advantage. Nothing clever ever comes from a distortion of one’s memory. Mia (Andrea Riseborough) has her dark secrets revealed by the machine exactly in the way you’d expect. The only surprise that comes from this episode is how relentlessly it keeps pushing into more cruel, sadistic waters’
The Entire History of You is one of my all time favourite Black Mirror episodes, however Harley does have a point here. This episode’s memory is much more advanced in comparison to Crocodile. For starters, it is more like a recording of real life than relying solely on memories. Almost as if you had Sky in your head which you can pause, rewind and fast forward at your own leisure. The technology in Crocodile needs a catalyst in order for it to even get a remotely accurate memory reading, in this case it is a beer which Shazia asks witnesses to sniff and plays a song of a car passing by to transport them back to that night.
He goes on to say :
‘There are plenty of dark Black Mirror tales worthy of your time this season, “USS Callister,” “Metalhead,” (Dani edit: this is a questionable one from me but you can read my opinion on this in a couple of weeks) and even “Arkangel” all traffic in horrific, cringe-inducing moments in clever and suspense-inducing fashion without veering into too much cynicism, but “Crocodile” isn’t one of them. Though beautifully shot and wonderfully performed, the episode is a rare miss for Brooker, an indulgent, barbaric installment that will leave you feeling in need of a shower after watching.’
The review can be read in full here.
[Image from : http://www.freaksugar.com/black-mirror-crocodile-episode-trailer/]
What do I think?
Do you remember way up there at the start of this post I said that I’m not itching for Brooker to announce a series 5? Well this episode is one of three reasons. After I’d watched the first four episodes, I felt like this one was the one that fell short for me. Honestly, what was it?
The premise of this episode is intriguing enough, but I really do feel slightly disappointed this time around. Maybe it was bad direction? Maybe the actual narrative was lacking something? I don’t know. All I know is I totally agree with Harley that this is a rare miss for Brooker. It just feels like he’s running out of ideas which gives me sad face :(.
I feel like I’ve hit a wall and exhausted everything I have to say about this episode because it really just didn’t do it for me. As a result, you’ve had a pretty short but sweet post to read as opposed to my normally really detailed and analytical posts. The irrational killing spree that Mia undergoes in order to save her own skin is just positively hideous and left a sour taste in my mouth. The cinematography and the acting really was the saving grace of this episode and was the only thing that left me hanging on until the end. Like a loose tooth just hanging on by a thread. It really was spectacular and I just don’t think seeing that vast landscape on the screen can really do it justice but it does have a pretty good try.
[Image from : https://screenrant.com/black-mirror-crocodile-baby-death-disturbing/] (Also how I felt after having wasted my time watching this episode)
What do you guys think about this episode? Are you at a loss for words about it? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!
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