'COBRA' Recap: Season 3 Episode 2

COBRA airs Thursdays at 9:00 pm and is available to stream. Recap the previous and following episodes.
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Robert and Rachel’s marriage, already on rocky ground, is not benefiting from the collapse of rocky ground in Godley Common – on top of their daughter Ellie, who was helping a group called Planet Resistance protest a new rail line by camping in a tunnel in its proposed path. Rachel insists on going to search for Ellie in the rubble but Robert tells her she can’t do anything to help. He orders her protection officer to prevent her from leaving London.

But Rachel is just expressing her worry in a different way than Robert. Anna tells him he should rest, but he insists on continuing to work. He’s worried that the sinkhole that opened up is a result of the government’s construction work on the new train line. He will travel to Godley Common and make a statement; he and Anna workshop it in the car while Rachel glowers.

Robert doesn’t want to even mention Ellie in his statement, counter to advice from both Anna and Rachel. He doesn’t want to ask for sympathy by doing so. The death count is still rising to more than a hundred people as relief workers continue to search through the damage. Rachel joins them to help with the rescues.

Among the injured is Henry Wick, the leader of Planet Resistance. Francine Bridge spots him being carried to an ambulance on a stretcher and is allowed to join him on the way to the hospital. He blames the government for the sinkhole: he has seen the risk assessments they conducted before approving construction of the new rail line.

Another Planet Resistance activist, Polly, arrives at Henry’s hospital bed. Henry explains that their fellow activist Nate was also in the tunnel with Ellie, but Henry can show Francine and Polly where they are on a map, as well as information about the radio they have so that rescuers can try to reach them. Francine relays that information to the rescue teams.

When Robert makes his speech, he decides to mention Ellie, and tell the public that he shares their pain. He is interrupted by an update on the sinkhole. It seems that there was deliberate tampering with one of the machines digging the new ultra train line. An incendiary device at the construction site may have caused the sinkhole.

Robert agrees to suspend any further rescue work until they have determined if there is another bomb somewhere in the tunnels.

Ellie is still alive. She and Nate have both survived, although the entrance to their tunnel is blocked and their radio antenna is broken. They have climbed through a narrow tunnel to find the train line construction site, despite Nate’s rising anxiety and worries that he can’t breathe.

Ellie suggests that they use wires found at the construction site to rig a new antenna. Nate manages to do so and the radio begins transmitting.

Princess Zadira is also trapped, although not underground. British intelligence suggests that she was sedated and brought to her home country against her will. Archie asks Eleanor to destroy the footage the intelligence services have as evidence of this – he doesn’t want any complications in the British government’s attempt to gain investment from Zadira’s father and brother. But Zadira manages to record and release a video to the world stating that she’s a hostage and asking the U.K. to help her.

Robert is preoccupied by the sinkhole, however. He sends Anna back to London while he stays in Godley Common. Anna therefore has to defend Robert against his Defense Secretary Victoria Dalton, whom he promoted while Anna was away recovering from a car bomb. Anna finds a surprising ally in Archie in defending Robert as Victoria speculates that Ellie’s involvement in all of this might derail Robert’s leadership. Anna wonders why Archie is helping Robert. Home Secretary Joseph Obasi is more on Victoria’s side, blaming Planet Resistance for the incendiary device that may have caused the sinkhole, despite any evidence.

Nate and Ellie are beginning to feel dizzy as carbon dioxide builds up in the cavern where they are sheltering. Nate tells Ellie that Planet Resistance is a monument to Henry’s ego, and that everyone else is just a tool for him to use.

Luckily, they manage to establish contact with the surface with their radio.

Robert gets to speak with Ellie, and Eleanor requests that he ask her if there are any more bombs. Ellie is shocked by the mention of a bomb – she had no idea – but Nate tells her there was only one. That admission allows the rescue workers to restart their search.

While they set about rescuing Nate and Ellie, Nate tells Ellie that he didn’t know there was a bomb but suspected that Henry might do something crazy – he was planning an escalation of some sort, and wouldn’t listen when Nate urged moderation.

As Ellie is being rescued, Rachel gets a lawyer for her. She has realized that Ellie’s whole life has been collateral damage of Robert’s career; Ellie didn’t ask to be the prime minister’s daughter. Rachel blames herself for allowing it.

When Ellie surfaces, she must be arrested for her involvement in the protest. Robert refuses an offer by the police commissioner to let Ellie stay overnight at home first. He can’t let there seem to be any preferential treatment for Ellie just because she is his daughter. Upset by this, Rachel refuses to go home with Robert. She can’t continue this marriage any more.

Nate doesn’t want to go to jail. He cuts his hand and bloodies his face purposefully to make it seem as if he was more injured in the collapse than he actually was. While riding in the ambulance, he pulls out his IV and jumps out the back doors before fleeing the road.