Mia

An architect who commits multiple murders to hide a hit-and-run from fifteen years prior.

Mia (Andrea Riseborough) is the protagonist of 'Crocodile,' the third episode of Black Mirror series four, which premiered on Netflix on 29 December 2017. Fifteen years after helping her friend Rob cover up a hit-and-run death, Mia works as an architect and lives with her nine-year-old son. When Rob threatens to expose their secret by writing an anonymous letter to the victim's wife, Mia kills him in a hotel room. To prevent discovery, she subsequently murders insurance investigator Shazia, Shazia's husband Anan, and their baby son. The episode concludes as police use a 'Recaller' on a guinea pig that witnessed the final crime, leading officers to find Mia crying silently at her own son's school production of Bugsy Malone.

Quick Facts

Episode appearance

Crocodile

Role

Protagonist
Architect
Murderer

Key relationship

Rob
Shazia
Anan
Mia's Son

Setting

Iceland

Lore & Background

Mia's story begins with a cover-up on a mountain road where Rob, intoxicated after a party, kills a cyclist. Mia helps him throw the body into a lake. Fifteen years later, as a married architect delivering an important presentation, she encounters a newly sober Rob who intends to send an anonymous letter to the victim's wife. Fearing the letter will be traced, they argue, and Mia breaks his neck.

While playing pornography in the room to create an alibi, she witnesses a self-driving pizza delivery truck hit a pedestrian from her window. This incident brings Shazia, an insurance investigator using a 'Recaller' device, into Mia's life. The Recaller projects visual memories onto a screen; Shazia strengthens them by making subjects smell beer from a nearby brewery and replaying songs from passing cars. Her investigation leads her to a dentist who saw Mia watching the accident, forcing Shazia to drive to meet Mia.

Reader's Guide

Mia is portrayed by Andrea Riseborough, who auditioned for Shazia before asking to rewrite her as the protagonist, arguing a mother could find strength in desperation. Originally conceived with a male protagonist and set in Scotland, the script changed to feature Mia in Iceland during its largest snowfall in forty years. The production team filmed scenes involving the pizza van over two nights, using heaters and hoses to manage the snow. Director John Hillcoat described the episode as a 'pitch-black comedy of errors' about human responses to technology.

The title 'Crocodile' stems from an analogy by creator Charlie Brooker comparing anxiety to a virtual reality jungle trip where one might be attacked immediately. Mia's character reflects a shift from the panicking male murderer trope, with Hillcoat noting her ambition as a 'deep inner flaw.' The episode ends with dark humor: the baby is blind, and a guinea pig witnesses the crime.