"Crocodile" sees Andrea Riseborough pushed to the edge. The Battle of the Sexes star, who actually convinced the Black Mirror creators to change the role to a female part for her, plays a successful architect who has a horrifying incident from her past come back to bite her. "Crocodile" is set in a near future where insurance companies have a device that can access your memories, which leads to complications when Riseborough's character needs to be questioned.
The beautiful landscapes of Iceland create an otherworldly feeling throughout the episode, and it's exciting to see a woman get to take on a role so savage. Unfortunately, the character also ends up doing a long list of maddeningly stupid things in the wild second half, which takes away from its impressive start. The ending, like a lot of Black Mirror's stories, is frustrating, but at the very least it hammers home just how far a woman (and mother) will go to protect her life.
