PBS

'COBRA' Gets The Lights Back On in The Season Finale

Janet Mullany

08 Nov 2020 — 5 min read

The trouble with this final episode of COBRA is that we know a second season is in the works, so we expect a finale that both wraps up issues and raises new questions. But this is COBRA, so... not so much. As usual, the tension and stakes in this particular installment are high enough to hold your attention despite the many unanswered questions and omissions. (For example: Why is rioting no longer an issue? What has happened to People’s Justice? What is really going on in Prime Minister Robert Sutherland’s head?) Over the course of its first season, COBRA has evolved from disaster drama (which. typically, British TV doesn’t do so well) to the genre of political intrigue (for which it is renowned).

Home Secretary Archie Glover-Morgan is all but rubbing his hands with glee. There are calls from all sides for the Prime Minister to resign, and there’s an impending vote of no confidence in Parliament. If the motion passes, it means Robert will lose his position as prime minister and as leader of the Conservative Party. Union leader Harry Rowntree is calling for a general strike, and approval ratings for the government are down. Archie holds a press conference in which he announces, without his nose growing one bit, that his conscience will not allow him to serve any longer as Home Secretary in an administration that has blundered so badly. Nobly, he refuses to say whether he will abstain from the vote of no confidence or, if he does intend to vote, which way.

In the very first episode of the series, Robert fired his then Press Secretary Dominic Knight (Sam Crane), who Archie has since cultivated as an ally. Archie intends to tell the press that Peter Mott, the current Press Secretary, knew Robert was aware his wife was coaching their daughter Ellie to lie to the police. Archie asks Robert to reinstate Dominic in exchange for his vote against the no-confidence motion. In private, he tells Dominic that his ultimate goal is to get Anna fired, weakening Robert’s support in the upcoming vote.