Miranda Croft

> Miranda. Who is she? She was with us that night. Why didn't you tell me more about her?
> I didn't know you had to track her down after my brutal murder.
> Okay, that's fair enough.
>
> Cassandra Bowden and a hallucination of Alex Sokolov

**Miranda Croft**, also known as **Elena King**, is a main character in the first season of HBO Max's *The Flight Attendant*. She is portrayed by Michelle Gomez.

She’s a hardened, savvy businesswoman with anger-management issues who Cassie meets in Bangkok. Later, upon returning to America, Cassie begins encountering Miranda and suspects her having killed Alex Sokolov, while Miranda actually suspects the same of Cassie. The two end up becoming unlikely allies as the truth about Alex and what happened in Bangkok begins to come to light.

Michelle Gomez returns as Miranda Croft returns in the second season of *The Flight Attendant* in the fourth episode, "Blue Sincerely Reunion." She is credited as a guest star.

## Throughout the Series

### "In Case of Emergency"

Cassandra "Cassie" Bowden has a flashback of meeting a woman in a red dress, Miranda, while out on a date with Alex Sokolov. She cannot recall who she is or what her relationship is to Alex.

### "Rabbits"

Spurred on by her memory, Cassie begins making inquiries about Miranda, unaware that Miranda is now following her. At one point, when Cassie goes out, Miranda breaks into her home, sees her passports and something else which seems to startle her. As Cassie leaves a bar in which a woman named Sabrina described Miranda as being like a stalker, Miranda tails Cassie, pulling out a butterfly knife.

### "Funeralia"

Miranda pursues Cassie and gets angry after she is held up by a group of street performers which cause her to lose the trail. Cassie discovers the evidence of Miranda's break-in to her home and becomes more determined than ever to learn what she can about her. She crashes Alex Sokolov's memorial service and tries to get information from his parents, Janet and Edward. Then, on the train home, Miranda and Cassie come face to face.

### "Conspiracy Theories"

Cassie kicks one of her high heels at Miranda to slow her down, then begins fleeing along the train to get away from home. Miranda pursues for a bit, knocking out of her way anyone that she sees as an obstacle, but is forced to give up when she realizes that she would only end up being caught by the authorities. Later, Miranda has a meeting with a man named Victor, who tells her that she messed up and that he pays her so that things won't become a headache. He tells her that things have become complicated while she's been busy *not* cleaning things up and that Janet Sokolov is now threatening to freeze their remaining assets. He orders her to return immediately back to London, despite her pleas that he not sideline her. Instead of heading immediately to London, however, Miranda pays a visit to Sabrina Oznowich. Sabrina, a pleading tone in her voice, claims that she didn't say anything to Cassie, then admits that she did, but she was drunk at the time. Miranda forces her way into the room, saying that she's only there for a chat. Shortly afterwards, however, Cassie shows up and starts banging on the apartment door, hoping to get Sabrina to talk to her. She then flees the building upon realizing Miranda is there, only for Sabrina's body to thud on the ground next to her.

### "Other People's Houses"

Miranda places a call to a woman named Cecilia, who tells her that she needs to give up and go home because she's in direct violation of Victor's orders. Miranda, however, is not ready to go home, as she has learned about a private apartment of Alex's where he has a computer connected to his workplace. When she gets there, however, she discovers that the computer requires an authenticator code to access. Unable to crack it, she destroys the computer in a fit of rage. Later, as she sits listening to calming affirmations which don't seem to calm her down at all, she receives a call from Victor. He says that it sounds like she might still be mad that he benched her. When she claims not to be, he tells her that she was getting sloppy. "But now you're back in London and we're all good, right?" She agrees that they are, but he asks if she's lying to him. "Of course not," she replies, ending the call.

### "After Dark"

Miranda watches as the FBI agents Kim Hammond, Van White and Chavez investigate the Lionfish headquarters. She places a call to Cecilia, asking what the deal is, and Cecilia explains that thanks to Cassie, Lionfish had to clean everything out overnight. She asks Miranda how she even knows about this, given that Victor had told her to go back to London. Miranda says that she just has to clean things up before Victor learns she's not in London and Cecilia replies "good luck with that." Miranda asks her to tell Victor that she's in London if he asks. Cecilia asks Miranda would do that for her and Miranda replies that she'll pay her. Cecilia agrees to a few more days.

After the FBI agent Chavez is slit in the throat and left for dead in a back alley, she claims his gun and other personal effects. She watches as Cassie is driven off to jail following a rampage and then returns to her car to listen to affirmations when a man grabs her from behind and starts choking her. She manages to fend him off and kills him by stabbing him in the eye. She is next seen after Cassie exits the jail, somebody having posted bail for her. She points a gun at Cassie, telling her "We need to talk."

### "Hitchcock Double"

Miranda leads Cassie under a garage door in a lonely alley. There, she tells Cassie that she wants "it," specifically the money taken by Alex. Cassie claims not to know anything, that she's only a flight attendant. Miranda shoves her gun at Cassie's back, telling her not to tell her again that she's just a flight attendant and demanding again to know where the money is. Cassie tells her that she doesn't know, that she's a crazy person who killed Alex and Sabrina. Miranda replies that she didn't kill anyone, not Sabrina, not the FBI agent that was tailing Cassie and certainly not Alex. "You did!" she shouts at Cassie. Cassie replies that she didn't, and mentions the name "Elena King." Miranda asks where Cassie got that name from and Cassie tells her how about how she and Max found it on the Lionfish servers. At this, Miranda realizes that Cassie really is just a flight attendant.

The two head to a bar and Miranda reveals to Cassie the truth about how she knows Alex. She had drinks with him a few weeks before and complained about her boss, Victor. She said too much about a smuggling operation and it left Alex shocked and very angry. He learned the truth about his parents and Unisphere Asset Management, something he was completely in the dark about until then. He then tried to be a hero by hiding a bunch of his clients' money and flying to Bangkok.

Cassie decides that the two of them will to go her friend and lawyer Annie Mouradian in order to get help. They do so and Cassie manages to patch things up with Annie. Annie tells her that it'll be difficult, as she's resigned from her law firm, and orders them to wait at a hotel. Miranda, however, dislikes the plan, saying that Victor's assassin, Feliks, will just find them and kill them both. She tells Cassie that they both need to flee the country to Canada, but first they have to meet a contact of hers. She takes Cassie to a church, where they end at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting hosted by Miranda's contact, Sarah. While there, Cassie has a breakdown and ends up fleeing into a classroom. When Miranda comes and finds her, she tells her that she is done running, that there has to be something else they can do. Miranda tells her that she respects everything she's managed so far, but that eventually Feliks will find and kill her. She tells her that she doesn't want to see her dead, that living should be enough for her.

At this, Cassie tells Miranda that she's not buying it, that deep down, she still thinks Cassie will lead her to the money. However, even blackout drunk, she would have noticed if Alex had piles of cash just sitting around the hotel room. Miranda tells her that it wouldn't have been cash, but a double-encrypted account, or something like Bitcoin. At this, Cassie recalls Alex's copy of *Crime and Punishment* and how it had notes in the margins. She also recalls that she took it from the deceased Alex and tells Miranda they'll go get it together.

Together, they head to Annie's place and find the book, which turns out to indeed be just what they need, as it has the account numbers inside. However, before they can get very far with it, somebody starts trying to beat in the door. They are forced to flee via a fire escape and then hop across rooftops. Along the way, Miranda loses the book. They manage to hide, but Miranda tells Cassie that Feliks won't simply give up, that he's killed women and children and once gutted a bunch of cats, hanging them from a tree. This rings a bell in Cassie's head and she sneaks a peek at the neighboring rooftop where she sees Feliks, a.k.a. Buckley Ware, a guy that she's been dating and having sex with. They escape the rooftop and Cassie asks Miranda if they can use the fact that they know how Feliks operates against him. They put together a plan in which Cassie will take her scheduled work flight to Rome and lure Feliks there, where Miranda will use her knowledge against him to kill him.

### "Arrivals and Departures"

Miranda places a call to Cecilia on a burner phone, saying that she revealed to Victor that she's alive, so now she has to kill her. Cecilia pleads with her not to, telling her that she'll give her Victor. She tells her that he's still in New York, but will be leaving that night, so she still has a chance. She ditches the taxi that she's in with Cassie to go take care of business. Cassie shouts that it wasn't the plan, but it's already too late.

While Cassie boards her flight to Rome and worries over Miranda not being there, Miranda finds Victor getting into a car. She takes out his guard. Upon realizing that his guard isn't entering the car, he gets out to check out what's going on. He turns around and Miranda punches him in the nose. "All this for a flight attendant?" he asks, but she tells him that she actually quite likes Cassie. She asks him why he had Alex killed *before* he got the money and he explains what happened: that his assassin *thought* he had gotten the information out of Alex, but didn't realize that Cassie had taken the book with the account numbers. The two fight and he gets off a shot at her, but only grazes her. She shoots him and takes the book before driving away.

Miranda makes another flight to Rome, chatting with a passenger and telling him that she has to stop another woman from being killed. She tells him that she's not sure how she feels about it, as it may be the first time she's ever done anything purely selfless before. She ends up encountering Feliks and the two square off, a battle that ends with Feliks delivering a blow to her head. She is next seen in the bathtub of Cassie's hotel room, with Feliks standing on top of the tub above her. The two have a battle, which ends unexpectedly when Cassie's co-worker and friend Shane Evans arrives and shoots Feliks. After the dust settles, Cassie and Shane sit down for a talk. She asks him if Miranda is okay, but he tells her that there was nobody else in the room. Back in the United States, Cassie has lunch with Annie and discovers the *Crime and Punishment* book in her jacket pocket. She discovers that the page with the account numbers is missing but there is a note inside. It reads "Took the page and the money, but you should have the book. See you soon - xM." "Miranda," breathes Cassie and Annie asks if she's there right now. Cassie exits the cafe, looking around, but Miranda is nowhere to be seen.

### "Blue Sincerely Reunion"

Cassie is in Reykjavik at the bar Blue Sincerely, having sought her friend Megan Briscoe, hoping to rescue her from North Korean agents. It transpires that Megan already had a plan which involved killing the agent Hak Oh-Seong by spiking his drink with poison mushrooms that she provided to her friend Cherri. The plan goes go wrong when the two of them are hiding in a back room and Cassie's phone rings, causing Hak to track them back there. Just as he's about to shoot and kill them, he falls forward, having been stabbed in the back. Behind him is Miranda Croft, who quips "Sorry if he was one your friends," then asks Cassie if she missed her.

It turns out that Cassie called Miranda, expecting her to send a business associate, but never actually expected Miranda to come in person. She makes a quick introduction to Megan and the group flees for their lives, as there are other North Korean agents now pursuing. They board a bus along with Cherri and make their escape. On the bus, Miranda applies a tourniquet, having been shot in the leg. The group arrives at a place called the Sky Lagoon, only to find themselves almost immediately engaged with more North Korean agents. It turns out that Miranda's associate, Cecilia, has betrayed them, as she is pregnant and the bounty on Megan pays more than Miranda is paying her. Upon hearing this, Miranda promises to sort out the pay situation and tells her to switch to Plan B. The group then fights their way out and manages to steal a boat, which they then exit and board a helicopter.

The group eventually exits the helicopter in order to take a plane back to the United States. When they get out, Miranda meets with Cecilia, who notes that Miranda didn't say that she had been shot. Miranda asks her just what she thought was going to happen when she betrayed her, asking if she got what she asked for. Cecilia hands over a box and then Miranda tells her to locate and train her replacement so that she can kill her. Cecilia asks her where she's ever going to find a replacement that can both organize her international crime syndicate and make sure that she has a matcha latte, handing her one. "Oh, fucking hell!" comments Miranda, but she takes the latte, thus implicitly agreeing that Cecilia can remian on the payroll.

Aboard the plane, Miranda presents Megan Briscoe with a fake ID, giving her the name of "Hildegard Nedeerlandse Bouffant." Although Megan is disgusted by the name, Cassie urges her to trust Miranda's instincts. Later, Cassie goes to Miranda, telling her that she really came through. Before she can say much more, however, Miranda cuts her off, telling her that she finds her fascinating, but there is to be no more Miranda Ex Machina. She says that she forgot how good Cassie is at getting into trouble and that she'd like to enjoy the fruits of her labors and not get shot in the leg again, shouting at Cassie that it was the same leg as before. She tells her to go home and solve her own drama, then hands her the box that Cecilia gave to her, saying that she needs it more. Inside is a personal safety alarm, mace, and olive oil pressed by Miranda herself.

## Relationships

### Alex Sokolov

She is a business associate of Alex's and possibly more. Sabrina Oznowich believed that the two of them were seeing each other but broke it off shortly before his death. She describes her as being like a stalker. Janet Sokolov, however, states that Alex and Miranda never dated, but seems very disturbed to hear her name. Ultimately, it turns out that the two first met over drinks and it was her information that led him to realize that his parents were involved in shady money-laundering activities. Her therefore moved to hide his clients' money and Miranda has been searching for the accounts ever since.

### Cassandra Bowden

Although Miranda's exact intentions towards Cassandra "Cassie" Bowden are unclear, they are definitely not good. She pursues Cassie with a switchblade knife and also breaks into her apartment, searching for information. Ultimately, the two come face to face and Miranda reveals that she believes that it was Cassie who killed Alex. She quickly discovers that this is not the case and two ally with each other, though it seems that Miranda may still have her own secret intentions.

### Victor

Victor is Miranda Croft's boss. He is not happy with her for her recent failures and has ordered her back to London. She claims to be an obedient servant, but is going behind his back and has not gone back to London.

### Cecilia

Cecilia is another employee of Victor's who works in a secretarial role for Victor. She has been taking care of Miranda's cat for years, so much so that she considers it to be her cat at this point. She knows that Miranda has been lying to Victor about leaving for London and eventually caves in and tells him the truth. Miranda considers this a betrayal, but Cecilia manages to keep on her good side by giving up Victor to her in turn.

## Personality

Miranda Croft has anger-management issues and there are some would describe her as a stalker. She tries to keep calm by listening to recordings with positive affirmations, but it does not seem to help much. Although she seems completely unhinged and ruthless at first, she turns out to be much more effective and calculating than one might initially suspect.

## Appearances

Season One
* "In Case of Emergency"
* "Rabbits"
* "Funeralia"
* "Conspiracy Theories"
* "Other People's Houses"
* "After Dark"
* "Hitchcock Double"
* "Arrivals and Departures"

Season Two
* "Blue Sincerely Reunion"

## Trivia

* Whereas it was Miranda Croft who killed Alex Sokolov in the original *The Flight Attendant* novel, in the television series it was Buckley Ware, or Feliks, who committed the murder instead. Show creator Steve Yockey described this change as being necessitated because unlike the book, the series wasn't to have dual narrators, as Miranda Croft, or "Elena" is a narrator in the book. It was therefore decided to preserve Miranda as a villain that viewers could fall in love with, which wouldn't have worked if she had murdered Alex. He also describes the character of Miranda as one who is pretty comfortable in her own skin.

## Gallery

Miranda Croft (Michelle Gomez) — The Flight Attendant
## References

1. ↑ Max Original - The Flight Attendant. HBO Max. Retrieved on November 16, 2020.
2. ↑ Ng, Philiana (December 17, 2020). 'The Flight Attendant' Creator Answers All the Biggest Finale Questions (Exclusive). Entertainment Weekly via Kare 11. Retrieved on December 19, 2020.