Enter the "other man." Without spoiling every beat for new readers, the man Cora begins an affair with is not just a handsome stranger. He represents the chaotic element of the Wild Cards world—a Jokertown lowlife or a rogue Ace (depending on the specific iteration of the story you are engaging with).
The genius of this episode is how it subverts that trashy expectation. When we first meet Cora, she fits the trope perfectly. She is the trophy wife of a high-ranking official in the chaotic world of the Wild Cards universe—a world where an alien virus has rewritten humanity, creating Aces (superpowered individuals) and Jokers (those cursed with deformities). cora the unfaithful housewife episode