‘Black Mirror’ Study Guide: Crocodile

This episode elaborates on the new age panopticon and urges us to not blindly place our trust in technology.

‘Black Mirror’ is a satirical anthology series that examines the dark aspects of modern society, particularly as it relates to our relationship with technology. Each standalone episode presents a picture of a world that’s futuristic, yet believable; cool, yet horrifying. Each of these study guides will touch on some of the themes the episode explores.

The New Age Panopticon

“Crocodile”, on the surface, may seem like it has very little to say about technology, compared to other Black Mirror episodes, but this is not the case. The episode follows Mia, who goes from reluctantly covering up a hit-and-run to murdering a friend and an entire family to preserve herself. (That’s 4 murders to cover up a hit-and-run, in which she wasn’t even the driver BTW.) She eventually gets caught by what may appear to be sheer (bad) luck — looking out the hotel window at the wrong time — but that is not the case, at all. Mia was caught by the panopticon, one of themes of a previous episode, “The Entire History of You.”