Netlfix Crocodile
Black Mirror hits a homerun with the new Crocodile episode from Season 4. Crocodile is the third episode in the lineup, and it may be one of the darkest episodes of the entire series. The ending, however, has left some fans with some questions, which we will attempt to explain below. This post will have MAJOR spoilers for Crocodile from Season 4 and spoilers for previous seasons, so don’t read on unless you’ve already seen the episode.
At the end of the episode, everything comes full circle and Mia becomes the monster, the person that years earlier she never wanted to be. And it’s all because she did a favor for a friend (albeit, a favor she really shouldn’t have been doing in the first place.) When she realizes Shazza saw her memories of the murder after using the corroborator device, Mia panics, kidnaps Shazza, and kills her. She then kills the only person who knew where Shazza was, Shazza’s husband, and ultimately kills Shazza’s baby too. As an alert reader pointed out in the comments below, there are two interpretations for this story’s ending.
Interpretation One: The Guinea Pig Is the Key
Mia feared that Shazza’s baby saw Mia in the house, and thus could have been a witness alerting the police to Mia’s involvement in the murder. She needlessly killed the baby, as we later learn, because the baby was blind. If there was any way to make a terrible murder even worse, that was it. But Mia missed another key witness: the guinea pig. It’s not clear how the police could trigger the guinea pig’s memories, since they can’t actually talk to the pet about what happened. But the police likely played sounds and put scents near the guinea pig that they hoped would trigger the memory. And it worked. The guinea pig couldn’t explain what it was seeing, but the police could still read the memories and see Mia in the guinea pig’s mind.
If some of this sounds familiar, it’s because a memory-recording device was also used in The Entire History of You. But in that episode, the device was implanted and recorded everything the person saw. That device recorded what happened perfectly and there was no room for error. In contrast, memories in this episode are tricky and aren’t completely accurate. So legally, it’s unclear just how heavily they can rely on the guinea pig’s memory. But they can likely now use that as enough probable cause to read Mia’s memory (again) and see exactly what she did.
Mia’s life is over. If we are to believe that some of these episodes take place in the same universe, then perhaps Mia will be facing a White Bear type of punishment after this. Child killers likely won’t get off easy. We have to assume that the ratings of Nosedive don’t exist in this timeline, or should would be downvoted so much that she likely wouldn’t be able to do much of anything ever again, even if she were ever released from prison. But the chances that she might end up at a White Bear camp; well that depends on the timeline.
Interpretation Two: The Police Weren’t There for Mia At All
Varun Reddy left a comment below providing an alternative interpretation to the ending that is so fascinating, I couldn’t ignore it. Guinea pigs actually have very poor vision. They keep their eyes open all the time, even when sleeping. But their vision itself is relatively poor, although they can distinguish colors. A guinea pig’s eyes are located on the sides of his face, letting him see 340 degrees. They can also see 33 images per second compared to humans’ 22 images per second. But they lack depth perception and can actually be easily injured from their poor eyesight. So they rely on sound and smell more for navigation. This leaves us with a question as to whether the police were even able to get anything from the guinea pig’s memory that was useable at all. Varun suggested that the cops might not have been there to get Mia at all. “Cops were there not for Mia. The ending is about guilt shame and paranoia…” This is a good point. Just as Mia’s friend was guilt-ridden all his life and it eventually caught up with him, it’s possible that Mia may not be caught and be living with guilt and paranoia for the rest of her life.
But as commenter “Coward Stern” added below, even without the guinea pig’s memory, the cops are likely to still eventually realize Mia is the murderer. Think about how many people she killed and all the evidence she left behind. With technology as advanced as it is, it’s not likely that she’ll get away with this for long.
What did you think of this episode? Which interpretation do you agree with? Let us know in the comments below.