Themes and Ending Explained
Black Mirror ‘Crocodile’: Story and Ending Explained
The title ‘Crocodile’ is symbolic of Mia herself, who’s become a cold-blooded and ruthless killer. We’re meant to sympathize with her at the beginning of the episode, but once she’s confronted by Rob, she begins to show her true colors as a cold killer who’s willing to do anything to keep herself safe, evident from the way she disposed of Rob’s body without any hesitation. It’s even more damning as the episode goes on, and we see the lengths she’s willing to go to protect herself, including killing an innocent child.
Digital Spy has a great theory about where the Crocodile title came from, and they suggest that it’s also a reference to the term “crocodile tears.” After we see Mia go on her murderous rampage, she starts tearing up during her son’s recital. However, because we’ve seen how heartless she can be, these could very well be crocodile tears with the intention of garnering sympathy from the audience.
Motherboard also has an interesting take on this Black Mirror episode, citing Mia’s negligence as a direct cause of her killing spree. Before Shazia visits her, she tells her husband that Mia might not want her poking around in her head, which implies that Mia would have some sort of power in deciding whether she wants to be connected to the recaller. This also means that when Shazia stated that it was a legal requirement, she had to be lying. Later on, she gives Mia a small tablet with the EULA, and Mia brushes it off saying, “It’s a bit of a long read, isn’t it?”
As Motherboard so aptly puts it:
“Scientific studies have shown that basically no one reads EULAs, and that the lengths of many of them rival that of novels. It’s hard to blame Mia for not reading the EULA. But I would like to kindly suggest that if you find yourself in a situation in which the options are to read a long legal document or submit to exposing the details of a murder you recently committed, you should probably read the document.
We don’t know what the recaller’s EULA says, but chances are it would have given Shazia’s company wide latitude to do whatever it wanted with the images it recorded from Mia’s head. It also probably would have said that she didn’t have to submit to the test if she didn’t agree with the terms, presumably allowing her to simply have to live with the guilt of one murder rather than a bloody rampage.”
In that sense, we could say that Crocodile also subtly fits in a more sinister underlying message of what could potentially happen if you neglect to read those lengthy EULAs. It’s an interesting note in the episode that’s quickly overshadowed by the oncoming killing spree.
Lastly, sharp-eared Black Mirror fans will also notice that this episode makes use of the song ‘Anyone Who Knows What Love Is’ by Irma Thomas, which is basically the Black Mirror equivalent of ‘The Rains of Castamere.’ The song has played in past episodes (15 Million Merits, White Christmas, Men Against Fire), and it’s usually used as a tool for foreshadowing and to provide a clue to the audience that something bad is about to happen. The song itself is about an abusive relationship, and in the cases of 15MM and White Christmas, the song reflects Abi’s dissatisfaction and inevitable reliance on the ‘system,’ and it serves as a clue that Beth was potentially in a toxic or unhealthy relationship with Joe.
In Crocodile, the connection between the song and theme of the episode is a little less clear, but perhaps it could be seen as a sign of Mia not being able to truly escape her past. As much as she tries to distance herself from Rob and the hit-and-run incident, those memories are always going to latch on to her no matter what.
For more on Black Mirror, be sure to search for Twinfinite.
