COBRA

An intriguing political thriller series

Sky Original (©)

This Sky Original series includes three seasons aired between 2021 and 2023 (until early 2024) and available on demand on Sky.

The story is set in a contemporary context. In the first season, due to a large coronal mass ejection, a solar storm hits Europe, bringing air transport and energy distribution to their knees. The British Prime Minister must deal with the consequences of this event through an anti-crisis unit called COBRA.

The series doesn’t talk about the catastrophic aspect of the story (and that’s the best thing!), but focuses on the way in which politics (above all), the press and public opinion deal with the crisis. It talks about difficult decisions, about characters who try to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit, and about others who risk their lives to complete their work.

Central to the plot are the characters of the (conservative) prime minister, played by a Robert Carlyle in great shape, his chief of staff, played by the excellent Victoria Hamilton, and the head of the secretariat for civil emergencies, played by phenomenal Richard Dormer (whom I had already appreciated a lot in “Fortitude”, where he was the police chief).

While the prolonged blackout brings a whole series of problems and protests to one of the regions of the United Kingdom (the one that the Prime Minister had to sacrifice, despite his intentions, since there was a lack of spare parts to restart all the power plants, and therefore he had to make a choice), the protagonists find themselves facing serious personal and family vicissitudes.

The tension rises, episode after episode, until it reaches its climax in the last one (there are six in total), in which the story is resolved with some appreciable dramatic twists.

I admit that at some points I literally cheered.

I watched the series in the original language, and this allowed me to appreciate several nuances, such as the social differences and territorial origins of the various characters.

In general, I think the story is very well written, also and above all in terms of dialogue.

Season 2 — Sky Original (©)

This first season could almost be defined as a self-contained miniseries, given that it only includes six episodes and the story ends in some way. However, two more seasons were subsequently produced: “Cobra — Cyberwar” and “Cobra — Rebellion”.

In the second season, as you can guess from the title, the crisis affecting the United Kingdom is due to an attack on the British computer system. In the third, instead, the crisis is linked to an environmental disaster.

I liked the first season so much, I wanted more. At the same time, I feared that the choice to extend the story into a second and then even a third season would have caused an inevitable fall into repetitiveness and useless lengthening. Also because it meant that there would be at least one more big crisis, which honestly seemed a bit excessive to me in the same narrative universe and with the same characters.

Indeed, this risk has not been entirely avoided, and we need to make a little effort to accept that all happens to poor Prime Minister Sutherland! But, once this problem is put aside, I have to say that the second and third seasons are also very enjoyable, and I find myself more or less confirming the opinion I expressed for the first.

I won’t say anything else to avoid unnecessary spoilers.

Season 3 — Sky Original (©)

Maybe, if you want to watch this series, you can take advantage of the fact that all three seasons are available so you can watch it all from start to finish. This way you will not lose the connections between the seasons or forget them.

In short, you won’t risk doing as I did. Since I wasn’t sure I had seen the second season, I watched it all again because I couldn’t remember almost anything anyway!