'COBRA: Cyberwar' Puts Robert in the Hot Seat in Episode 5

The penultimate episode of COBRA Season 2 begins with the reveal Firestorm is back online and raising fears about the water supply. "Water systems would be a prime target for a cyber attack," says Fraser Walker, director of Crisis Contingency Secretariat, with his usual talent for the obvious. Prime Minister Robert Sutherland doesn't seem particularly concerned about stamping Firestorm out again (the arrest in last week's episode seemed like they'd caught an insignificant player). However, conspiracy theories about the water are particularly prevalent in the area of Kent devastated by the Thames Estuary explosion.

Chris: “...You can put the word ‘quantum’ in front of any other bullshit, and all of a sudden it looks high stakes.”

Labour leader Chris Edwards is in Kent for the announcement of the party's candidate for the area, Francine Bridge. Flood damage is still very much in evidence, and angry residents mill around with signs protesting the water contamination and the enigmatic message "Stop quantum algorithms." The reactions to Francine are not friendly; a bystander uses a racial epithet, and it's a hostile environment. Chris, anticipating trouble ahead, asks if she and journalist Hari Misra had any intimate relationship.