Cobra Kai - S01E10 - Mercy

Let's Talk - Cobra Kai
Episode 11: Cobra Kai - S01E10 - Mercy

Jason Connell and Sal Rodriguez break down Season 01 - Episode 10 (Mercy) of the Cobra Kai series and much more.

Synopsis: It is the day of the 2018 All Valley Karate Tournament and Cobra Kai is determined to win. Robbie signs up unaffiliated. A familiar face from the past returns.

Original Episode: S01E10

Recorded: 07-22-19
Studio: Just Curious Media
https://www.JustCuriousMedia.com/

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Transcript

Episode 11: Cobra Kai - S01E10 - Mercy

[00:00:00] JC: Welcome to Just Curious Media. This is Let’s Talk - Cobra Kai. I’m Jason Connell, documentary film maker, churn podcaster. 

[00:00:08] SR: I’m Sal Rodriguez, toy collector and comedian. 

[00:00:11] JC: Well, here we are, Sal. Episode 10, the end of Season 1 of Cobra Kai. 

[00:00:18] SR: I got to tell you, I don’t think I’ve been on such an emotional ride from a show since Six Feet Under. I loved Breaking Bad. I was not taken on an emotional ride. I love The Sopranos. I was not taken on an emotional ride. This show has taken me on an emotional ride, man.

[00:00:31] JC: I was on an emotional ride with Breaking Bad, but I hear you on Six Feet Under. By the way, fun fact. My one and only acting credit, I was in an episode of Six Feet Under. Season finale four, I was an art show hipster at Claire’s art show. FYI. 

[00:00:50] SR: I actually saw it later on DVD after I had met you, and I don’t remember seeing you.

[00:00:56] JC: No, I’m in there. 

[00:00:57] SR: Can you see yourself?

[00:00:58] JC: I put the clip on YouTube. Yes.

[00:00:59] SR: It’s on YouTube?

[00:01:01] JC: My little clip is.

[00:01:01] SR: Okay. I got to see it.

[00:01:02] JC: That experience and a few others led to me making my first documentary, which was called Strictly Background, and I followed 10 movie extras for a year trying to make it in Hollywood. But having been an extra on that show, although I got a name, art show hipster, I didn’t get a line. But that experience just really was moving, because it was my favorite show at the time. Then here I just moved to L.A. a couple months prior and I got a call from a casting agent that asked me if I wanted to be an extra in a scene. I said, “Are you serious? I’ll pay you to allow me to be on my favorite show.”

[00:01:36] SR: I think that’s so cool though, because I’ve done a lot of extra work in the past, years back. I was never on my favorite show, and yet you were able to be an extra on your favorite show, which is totally cool. 

[00:01:46] JC: Nailed it. I know what you mean, and I agree with you that Cobra Kai packs that type of punch if you will.

[00:01:52] SR: Yeah, it does.

[00:01:54] JC: So here we are, episode 10. Mercy is the title.

[00:01:59] SR: Good title.

[00:02:00] JC: It’s a 9.1 rating on IMDb. So we open up at the All Valley Sports Arena.

[00:02:07] SR: I couldn’t believe that I was watching this. 

[00:02:09] JC: Unreal.

[00:02:10] SR: It’s so surreal. I know I probably used that word before in reference to this show, but just seeing what’s happening, seeing the Karate Kid. You’re seeing the Karate Kid in 2019. It’s amazing.

[00:02:22] JC: Actually, 2018. This season came out last year. 

[00:02:25] SR: Okay. Well, I’m seeing it in 2019 even though the episode started in 2018.

[00:02:28] JC: That’s the guy that watched Six Feet Under last year.

[00:02:31] SR: Okay. I got to admit. I’m guilty about seeing shows later. I don’t think I’ve seen hardly any show since the 90s. 

[00:02:38] JC: That premiered and you watched it in its first run. So Sal, I didn’t know they were going to do this, but this is the 50th anniversary of the All Valley Karate Championship. 1968 to 2018. 50 years. 

[00:02:54] SR: So what I want to know is who are the original champions. We know that Johnny Lawrence was two years champ, right?

[00:02:59] JC: Yes.

[00:03:00] SR: Before him –

[00:03:01] JC: We have 47 other champions out there. 

[00:03:06] SR: Well, potentially, some people may have won multiple years.

[00:03:09] JC: True. I wonder if Chris ever won it.

[00:03:11] SR: Wow! Whoa! My mind is being blown right now.

[00:03:14] JC: Yeah, right?

[00:03:14] SR: Imagine Chris wining like the 1972? No. Because he was in Vietnam, right?

[00:03:19] JC: Yeah. So ’77. No. He’d have been too old. 

[00:03:23] SR: Yeah. He would have been like ‘68 or ‘69. Some of the first ones maybe. 

[00:03:26] JC: What if other Cobra Kai’s won it? It wasn’t just Johnny Lawrence. What is Cobra Kai had won all kinds of tournaments before?

[00:03:33] SR: Oh my gosh! 

[00:03:34] JC: There’s so much to explore. So now we’re doing a montage. We’re sweeping. We see cotton candy. There’re trophies. There’re black belts, etc. There’s also what type of mats?

[00:03:46] SR: Blue and gold to be exact. They did look pretty nice, I must admit. In fact, I kind of liked them a lot. To validate the committee member who is really 

[00:03:56] JC: Daryl.

[00:03:57] SR: Yeah. Daryl was all about the blue and gold. 

[00:03:59] JC: He was on to something.

[00:04:00] SR: I got to admit, they do look gold.

[00:04:01] JC: Although I like the old ones too. But you got to shake it up every now and again. It’s been 50 years.

[00:04:06] SR: Really though, if you think about the color red for a mat, blood would kind of be camouflaged. 

[00:04:12] JC: Cobra Kai didn’t mind that. 

[00:04:12] SR: Yeah, that’s true.

[00:04:14] JC: Sal, any guesses on ticket prices? 

[00:04:18] SR: You know what? I’ve been to enough events. Hell, I’ve MC’d and hosted plenty of events to know that this was a good event. They had great lighting. The stage looked great. I don’t think that they would have had done an event as well if they had actually done this event in real-life, because it looks so great on the screen now.

[00:04:39] JC: I agree. But what do you think it cost the public to enter?

[00:04:42] SR: I’m going to guess a general admission seat to the All Valley Karate Tournament $65.

[00:04:49] JC: Wow! Really? 

[00:04:52] SR: Well, okay. I’ve been to some local MMA events, and good seats are around $75 to $80. I’m knocking off $10, $20 because it’s under 18.

[00:05:00] JC: I did see there was a Ticket Master ticket in the shop, but it didn’t have the amount. I mean, they’re going through Ticket Master. So you might be on to something. I would assume general admission maybe standing room only, you can get in for 10 to 25 bucks. This is a question we have on the creators. 

Okay. So outside of the arena, Miguel still upset, and Bert shares a story. 

[00:05:24] SR: Yeah. He tells the rest of the Cobra Kais who were standing outside of the event center about how he saw Johnny the night before. What’s so funny is that Bert is buying like a Bootylicious or something? 

[00:05:37] JC: Bert says he’s buying a carton of milk. It’s that slang for big and Bootylicious?

[00:05:42] SR: It’s that what it was called?

[00:05:44] JC: Yes. Porno magazine, in case you didn’t pick up that.

[00:05:48] SR: A character after my own heart. So he’s buying this Bootylicious magazine, goes outside of the Receda Flats, right? 

[00:05:54] JC: Yes.

[00:05:55] SR: Okay, and he sees drunken sensei urinating on his new Dodge Challenger. Well, new to him.

[00:06:04] JC: On the LaRusso Auto plate.

[00:06:06] SR: Okay. So he is drunkenly urinating on the LaRusso emblem, and Bert sees it and he says, “Are you okay, sensei?” Then what does Johnny Lawrence says? “We’re all going to die, kid.”  

[00:06:17] JC: Very Chris moment. He had just come from the LaRusso house. He just experienced the whole thing with Daniel training Robby, and this is Johnny’s go-to. 

[00:06:29] SR: Kind of self-destructive.

[00:06:30] JC: Very self-destructive. But you know what though? You know what they say that if you’re a bad person, you take your pain out on other people. If you’re a good person, you take your pain out on yourself. That’s what he was doing. 

[00:06:42] SR: Johnny is a good person.

[00:06:43] JC: Yeah, he is. That’s his car, yet he’s urinating on it. That’s some self-destructive stuff.

[00:06:48] SR: He just needs an Amanda in his life, or an Ali. 

[00:06:52] JC: Yeah, he could have used a good woman to set him straight.  Yeah, because what are we seeing? We’re seeing Amanda has these moments where she has to set Daniel straight.

[00:06:59] SR: Oh, yeah. She reels him back in all the time. 

[00:07:01] JC: Yeah. Johnny could have used his own Amanda.

[00:07:04] SR: Hmm, interesting. So now Bert, Ayisha and Hawk are worried that sensei is not going to show up. They assumed Johnny is drunk and he won’t show up, but then true to his word, here he is. This is when you know you’re an alcoholic, because he’s not hung over. He looks perfectly fine. 

[00:07:19] JC: He had 8 hours of sleep. He’s fully hydrated. He looks great.

[00:07:23] SR: Yeah. He doesn’t look like he was pissing drunkenly in a parking lot the evening prior.

[00:07:27] JC: He’s not only there, Sal. He gives an inspiring Cobra Kai speech. I believe a no mercy speech. 

[00:07:34] SR: Yeah. I think it’s piggybacking off of his incident the night before.

[00:07:38] JC: Yes.

[00:07:39] SR: It’s not just a metaphor for the fight itself, but just a metaphor for life about life is going to hand you lemons, you got to kick ass. You got to keep moving forward. After Johnny gives the motivational no mercy speech, Miguel reaches in his bag to pull out a gi, and Johnny says, “No.  You’re not wearing those.” That’s when you think, “Oh, it’s going to happen. They’re going to wear the Cobra Kai outfit.” 

[00:08:06] JC: Set it up perfectly.

[00:08:07] SR: I knew that was going to happen, and I couldn’t wait to see it.

[00:08:11] JC: So the Cobra Kais are all inspired. I’m seeing Cobra Kais I’ve never seen before. There was a lot of Cobra Kais in this particular speech.

[00:08:17] SR: Yeah, Cobra Kai extras.

[00:08:18] JC: Yes. I would love to be a Cobra Kai. I’m probably too old now, although I look young. You and I couldn’t be 40 to look younger. We couldn’t be extras in Cobra Kai.

[00:08:30] SR: I believe I could play late 30s.

[00:08:31] JC: I’ll take late 30s. That’s like 37, 38, 39? I’m nailing that.

[00:08:35] SR: You’re still in the young dad category.

[00:08:37] JC: Oh man! Forget about it. All right. We’re at the LaRusso’s residence, and Daniel and Sam, they’re kind of bummed out. They’re sitting on the sofa. They’re not talking, and Amanda has to come in and stir the troops. She tells Daniel that they’re a sponsor for this tournament, and one of them has to be there.

[00:08:55] SR: Yeah, because Daniel was going to sit out this event. It’s not only the annual tournament, of which he’s on the committee. It’s the 50th Anniversary.

[00:09:02] JC: And he’s a two-time champion.

[00:09:04] SR: Yeah, and he’s sitting there on his couch depressed. His daughter Sam is sitting there on the couch depressed. 

[00:09:08] JC: Her ex-boyfriend is competing. So they both look at each other and they decide to go. 

[00:09:14] SR: Thanks to Amanda. Amanda is really the voice of reason through so much – Like all the emotions that goes on with Daniel, and Johnny, and Miguel, and Sam, and Amanda is this beacon of light who helps you see things clearly.

[00:09:30] JC: So true. Johnny needs one. So now the All-Valley Karate Championship Committee is overseeing the crowd. There’s mention of the blue mats by Daryl.

[00:09:41] SR: Daniel gets a hero’s welcome when he walks in.

[00:09:42] JC: They call him champ.

[00:09:44] SR: Yeah, they applaud him, shake his hand. He’s the hometown hero.

[00:09:48] JC: So, Sal, when Daniel enters the arena, what does he see?

[00:09:51] SR: Oh my gosh! It’s so surreal. Daniel LaRusso looking at the black and white poster image of himself.

[00:09:58] JC: Like a banner.

[00:09:59] SR: Yeah, it’s like this vertical banner hanging up there of himself doing the crane.

[00:10:04] JC: Did they have Sports Illustrated type photographers that day back in the ’84?

[00:10:09] SR: It was a good shot. Yeah, nobody had their cellphones.

[00:10:12] JC: I guess Daniel did hold it for a long time. So there is a chance that that really was documented in some amazing photos, because proof is right here. It’s in a billboard. So very impressive site, and Daniel is taken back by it. 

[00:10:25] SR: He’s taken himself and he’s taken it all in at that moment. A very powerful moment. I mean, just seeing him stare at himself and you’re watching it as a viewer like, “Am I really seeing this? Am I seeing Daniel LaRusso, the Karate Kid now older looking back at himself?” It was an amazing moment. 

[00:10:43] JC: You want one of those banners, don’t you?

[00:10:44] SR: I do. 

[00:10:46] JC: So now Miguel’s mother and grandmother arrive, and his grandmother is stoned? 

[00:10:52] SR: The grandmother is totally cool. The grandma is smoking weed before the event. The grandma was supportive of Miguel taking karate in the first place before Miguel’s mother was even supportive of it. She’s there at the tournament rooting on her grandson along with her daughter.  

[00:11:07] JC: And those $65 seats. So now we here the chant, “Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai!” Because Daryl, the advocate of the blue mats and gold fist is the announcer this year, and he’s introducing all these dojos who are already on the mats, but Cobra Kai is not up front and center, and we hear this chant and they come from behind the bowels of the stadium, and what are they wearing? 

[00:11:35] SR: This is where we see present day Cobra Kai wearing the classic Cobra Kai black gis with the cutoff sleeves outfit. 

[00:11:45] JC: Except for Aisha. Maybe it’s a female version. But yeah, the guys were cutoff sleeves. Johnny has been wearing on the whole season.

[00:11:52] SR: Wait, Aisha wasn’t wearing? 

[00:11:53] JC: She had long-sleeve.

[00:11:54] SR: Oh, okay. Interesting. Okay.

[00:11:57] JC: So they come entering, and they just look for lack of a better word. They look badass. 

[00:12:01] SR: Yeah, it was a fantastic moment.

[00:12:04] JC: Future episodes, we’re going to have to dawn Cobra Kai gis and do this podcast.

[00:12:08] SR: Do they sell Cobra Kai gis?

[00:12:10] JC: We’ll have to make one.

[00:12:11] SR: I’m going to totally wear one. 

[00:12:13] JC: So the next person introduced is an unaffiliated fighter from North Hills, Robby. Sal, are we led to believe Robby is ready to compete in a tournament? 

[00:12:23] SR: I got to admit, I was surprised to see Robby. I was just surprised that he was there. Because yeah, Daniel didn’t put him in. 

[00:12:30] JC: Miguel and him have at least been sparring and fighting and challenging other people. Robby had, well, very similar to Daniel and Karate Kid. He just got to learn some stuff from Mr. Miyagi. Next thing we know, Daniel is a black belt. Listen, I’m not poking holes at the bible, the Karate Kid, but this was very reminiscent of that.

[00:12:50] SR: You can argue, should any of them be there?

[00:12:53] JC: Should any of them be black belts already?

[00:12:54] SR: Yeah. I mean, I don’t know what the protocol is. I don’t know how long it takes. I know that I have referenced some mix martial arts fighters I know, like one guy named B.J Penn, who they call the Prodigy. Picked up Brazilian jujitsu very quickly. You have some people who can move along on the belts maybe quicker than others. 

But I was surprised to see Robby come out, and I thought, “Okay, this is a little more interesting now, because really we have more of a vested interested before when we only had Miguel. Now Robby is in the tournament, and we’re starting to like Robby now. We’re starting to give him a chance. He’s taken a turn for the better. He’s revealing himself to be a more sensitive person, not just a punk kid. So who do I root for now? 

[00:13:36] JC: You’re torn.

[00:13:37] SR: I am torn.

[00:13:38] JC: So in Miguel’s first match, his first move –

[00:13:43] SR: I was so shocked.

[00:13:44] JC: Is the crane. 

[00:13:45] SR: Yeah, I was shocked that they did that right away. 

[00:13:48] JC: Johnny goes over to him and strucks him. Gives Daniel a look. Not only does Miguel do the crane, but his execution of it was flawless. He floored that guy.

[00:14:01] SR: Well, so this goes back to what we talked about I believe in the Karate Kid special episode.

[00:14:04] JC: Is it what you call not legal? 

[00:14:06] SR: Is that kick legal? I guess it is. 

[00:14:09] JC: In the Karate Kid, Ali was giving Daniel the rules, because she had been to enough tournaments having dated Johnny for a few years and she said, “Headshots are legal.” So I always thought the crane kick was legal. Johnny argued. Of course, Johnny did some things to Daniel that he didn’t get DQd for.

[00:14:29] SR: Yeah. I figured that they would build up to the crane if at all.

[00:14:33] JC: No. I’m glad they just did it right out of the gate. 

[00:14:34] SR: Really? I was surprised to see them do it right –

[00:14:35] JC: Yeah. [inaudible 00:14:36] do it and get it over with and that thing, it’s going to be a thing. 

[00:14:39] SR: Okay. Well, it got it out of the way. 

[00:14:40] JC: Yeah, it did. So we’re kind of going around seeing different Cobra Kais fighting. Miguel went to his first match, and now we see Aisha fight.  

[00:14:50] SR: Am I mistaken here, or is Aisha fighting guys? 

[00:14:54] JC: No, she’s fighting guys.

[00:14:56] SR: I waited for the second fight just to make sure. I mean, I’m okay with it. I just didn’t get why it was happening.

[00:14:59] JC: It’s a great point. I know that, for instance, I play in a lot of soccer leagues. If a woman wanted to join a man’s team, she’s permitted. So his might be the same instance. Aisha has the right too, fight in this tournament, fight against men if she wants to.

[00:15:15] SR: She is the only female fighting in this tournament, and in the original Karate Kid, there were no females in the tournament whatsoever. 

[00:15:20] JC: Exactly. So I think it’s one of those things you can always fight up. For instance, back in high school, I was taking taekwondo and I was part of a group called the Wild Bunch. We would go to tournaments and you had the option to fight up maybe in a white or yellow belt then, but you can fight people your own belt class, but you can also fight up. I said, “Yeah, I want to fight the blues and I’ll fight browns,” because I was bigger than some and stronger, and they let me.

[00:15:48] SR: Do they go by weight classes? 

[00:15:50] JC: No. 

[00:15:51] SR: They don’t.

[00:15:51] JC: Ages and your belt classification. Now, this was back when I was high school.

[00:15:55] SR: Well, no, because when we’re watching Cobra Kai and seeing the tournament take place, we saw some little people fight some bigger people. If you were to go to a mixed martial arts or boxing or whatever, you’re going to see different weight classes.

[00:16:06] JC: Yeah. This is much like what I saw age and belt. Back to this whole thing, I think if they signed her up and Aisha is not afraid to fight men, they’re not going to get in her way.

[00:16:16] SR: Wow!

[00:16:16] JC: Which makes sense. 

[00:16:18] SR: Well, she does kick some ass. That’s for sure. 

[00:16:20] JC: So Aisha scores a point against a good challenger, and she’s doing well. A quick shot to Hawk, who wins his first match.

[00:16:27] SR: Yes. Then Moon is in the audience and she says, “He’s so hot!” Oh! Because doesn’t Hawk takes off his shirt, he flexes his tattoo? 

[00:16:34] JC: Yeah. Hawk wins his first match and he pulls a Brandi Chastain from the U.S. Women’s 1999 soccer team when they won the World Cup, and he pulls off his Cobra Kai top. He’s flexing. He’s showing his hawk on his back, and Moon is going crazy, and Dmitri’s is rolling his eyes.

[00:16:54] SR: Oh, Dmitri. You got to flip the script, my friend. 

[00:16:58] JC: So next we see Bert fighting –

[00:17:00] SR: When Bert gets out there, he’s so tiny. He should be fighting other tiny people. Instead he’s fighting some tall dude. It was reminiscent of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fighting Bruce Lee in the Game of Death. Remember that? A giant footprint on the chest? That’s what this was all over again.

[00:17:15] JC: I’ll never forget it. Now Miguel’s moving through the ranks, and he is now in the semis and he looks over at Sam and she’s just annoyed. Surprisingly enough, Robby has also advanced to the semi-finals. 

[00:17:30] SR: Yeah, Robby is advancing. Hawk is advancing. Miguel is advancing. 

[00:17:35] JC: Aisha is in a very tough match against Zander Stone, last year’s champion, who, Sal, I got to say, this guy’s got some moves. 

[00:17:44] SR: Just the fact that Aisha is even there going toe-to-toe with last year’s champion, I mean, Aisha is pretty badass. So I thought you’re going to say something about Zander as well. Whoa! This guy is pretty badass and he’s doing all these moves. He’s flipping around. I have to think that was not maybe necessarily karate. Some of the stuff he was doing looked like Capoeira, the Brazilian dance martial art where you’re doing all these flips. I mean, because he looked like he was going above and beyond just karate. 

[00:18:10] JC: Yeah, he looks like a gymnast.

[00:18:11] SR: Yeah, he was doing some pretty amazing – 

[00:18:13] JC: Zander reminds of Jimkata, if you will.

[00:18:15] SR: Yeah, I remember that. I remember Jimkata. I’m still on team Aisha. She did her best.

[00:18:20] JC: She loses by one point and she leaves mad, because her father’s in the hall of fame in football and she’s a gamer. She’s an athlete. 

[00:18:29] SR: So she heads back to the locker room kind of defeated though. 

[00:18:31] JC: We only see Hawk fight once, but we assume he won again, because he’s the fourth contestant in the semi-finals. So we have two Cobra Kais in the finals, Miguel and Hawk. We have Robby and we have last year’s champion.  

[00:18:46] SR: Yeah, Zander.

[00:18:46] JC: Pretty good mix. Zander Stone. Zander gives a speech.

[00:18:52] SR: Yes!

[00:18:52] JC: Which is hilarious. 

[00:18:53] SR: Well, you want to get the audience on your side is what he was trying to do.

[00:18:56] JC: I think he put some of the audience to sleep. But his mother, brought a tear to his mother’s eyes. Super fan mother, by the way. 

[00:19:05] SR: Also another term would be stage mom, is what they call that.

[00:19:09] JC: Very much. 

[00:19:10] SR: You have these parents that are very involved in their kid’s life. Not that I would know anything about that, but you have these super parents, is what she was. She has her face painted and everything like she’s there to see a football team.

[00:19:23] JC: So now we see Sam and Aisha, they finally get a chance to talk and make up. 

[00:19:27] SR: Sam goes to the locker room to attempt to console Aisha and apologize to her.

[00:19:33] JC: And they make some jokes. They joke about the famous wedgie, and what does Sam say to Aisha?

[00:19:40] SR: I think it was a vagina wedgie, right? 

[00:19:42] JC: She said, “[inaudible 00:19:43] a new vagina.” 

[00:19:45] SR: Yeah. Ouch! That’s what I’m going to call the reverse wedgie. Probably painful too. 

[00:19:52] JC: So next up, Miguel and Zander have an epic battle. I mean, Zander to me is a legit fighter in any form, and Miguel looks incredible. 

[00:20:05] SR:  The whole time I’m watching, I’m really trying to find the stunt double. I couldn’t see it.  

[00:20:11] JC: Yeah, I didn’t see one either.

[00:20:12] SR: I think that these guys were – I think Miguel was doing his own thing. I don’t think there was a martial arts stunt double.

[00:20:19] JC: Miguel doesn’t just win. He wins three to one.

[00:20:22] SR: Miguel’s doing really fantastic, but there is a but. I was concerned that Miguel was going to start letting his emotions overtake him. If you remember when Johnny Lawrence went to toe-to-toe with Daniel LaRusso in the original tournament in 1984, I think that Johnny was too emotional. If you remember, he’s kind of shaking a little bit. His fist were kind of shaking. I think he was too emotional. I was worried that’s what was happening to Miguel. I thought he was getting too emotionally worked up along the way. 

[00:20:55] JC: I think Daniel in the Karate Kid had to face so many Cobra Kais. Unlike Robby in this situation, we’re not even talking about Robby. We’re talking about Miguel. I saw it a little bit differently, but it’s a fair point. It’s the first time Miguel’s ever been in such an environment. So it’s a first tournament for most these people other than Zander and some of the other contestants. 

[00:21:18] SR: Yeah.

[00:21:18] JC: Yes, it’s a little far-fetched to believe that the finals are three of our young people from the show. But hey, that’s Hollywood. So Miguel wins, and now Robby is going to face Hawk. Daniel still will not join Robby. Robby is not only unaffiliated. He’s got no coach. No parents there to see him, but onlookers. Johnny’s keeping a curious eye on Robby, as is Daniel, but he’s all alone. I got to give Robby a lot of credit.

[00:21:51] SR: Yeah, I was just going to say that. You got to hand it to Robby. None of us thought he would even be there. The fact that he’s there, sign himself up. 

[00:21:57] JC: He’s in to semi-finals. 

[00:21:58] SR: Yeah. I mean, that’s pretty badass. 

[00:22:01] JC: He’s a tough kid. 

[00:22:02] SR: Yeah. This is where I’m starting to get on to team Robby here.

[00:22:07] JC: Oh, yeah.

[00:22:08] SR: I was like, “Wow!” I’m impressed so far, very impressed.

[00:22:11] JC: So now he’s facing Hawk, and I got to admit, Sal, I love how hawk entered the ring.

[00:22:19] SR: Yeah, he hops up and then stomps on to the mat.

[00:22:21] JC: He looks tough. He looks menacing. 

[00:22:23] SR: He does. Like I said, he reminds me of one of my favorite UFC fighters, Dan Hardy. Dan Hardy used to fight with a mohawk. Bigger than Chuck Liddell. Chuck Liddell had a Mohawk too, but Dan Hardy had a tall mohawk, just like Hawk. Yeah, he looks great.  

[00:22:35] JC: Well, if Hawk doesn’t have a career in martial arts, he could have one in the WWE at some point in time. 

[00:22:41] SR: Probably so. Yeah. 

[00:22:42] JC: He’s a good persona, and that goes a long way in that world. 

[00:22:46] SR: Yeah.

[00:22:47] JC: Speaking of Chuck Liddell, I met him one time.

[00:22:49] SR: Really? 

[00:22:50] JC: I tweaked my back in soccer and gone to a very legitimate massage therapist. As I come out, Chuck Liddell is there in the lobby with his wife and he’s really sore. I guess he had just started fighting again. This is last year.

[00:23:07] SR: Last year? I think that’s when he was preparing for his fight against Tito Ortiz.

[00:23:10] JC: So we’re both in the lobby together and he just looks so menacing that he still got the mohawk. You just do not want to grapple with a guy like that. 

[00:23:20] SR: Yeah. I don’t know if he left UFC. He retired from UFC. Apparently still was on the payroll of UFC in some sort of administrative fashion I guess. Then later on leaves UFC entirely I believe and goes to fight for Bellator. He recently fought within the last year against Tito Ortiz in Bellator, and I think he got knocked out by Tito Ortiz. Both these guys are old UFC champs. So it was bittersweet to see.

[00:23:49] JC: It’s a tough game.

[00:23:49] SR: Yeah, it is. Yeah, these guys are paying the prize physically. Yeah. I could imagine the stuff that they have to carry with them for the rest of their lives, the damaged joints and so forth. Yeah, I really enjoyed seeing the Hawk’s progress not only as  character, but here, he’s really kicking ass at this tournament.  

[00:24:06] JC: He takes a 1-0 lead, and Johnny is sensei to Hawk, but he’s also father to Robby and he’s torn and he’s watching this fight. So you don’t even hear Johnny yell instructions much like he do Daniel. He chimes in from the sidelines, finally telling Robby to find that balance or teaching him to find that balance. So what does Robby do?

[00:24:31] SR: He flashbacks to being at the lake hearing the sound of nothing or hearing just the sound of nature, and he takes that mindset, brings it into the tournament immediately.

[00:24:43] JC: And quickly ties things up one-one.

[00:24:44] SR: Yeah, almost getting into using the force. 

[00:24:47] JC: A little Luke Skywalker going on there. Anthony is excited. That guy likes a good fight. That kid. So now Robby and Hawk have words, and Hawk is very emotional, and what does he do?

[00:25:03] SR: This made me upset, because I really was looking forward to seeing Hawk’s advancement not knowing where this tournament is going to go. I mean, couldn’t you conceivably have Miguel fight Hawk at some point? Right? You can have Cobra Kai versus Cobra Kai. It’s possible.

[00:25:17] JC: Quick aside. Back when I was fighting with the Wild Bunch, there were some finals that we would fight each other. 

[00:25:23] SR: Wow! You did? 

[00:25:23] JC: You did. One of us is getting first place, and one of us is getting second place. So you’re absolutely right. That could have happened.

[00:25:28] SR: Yeah. I’m looking forward to seeing how this is going to pan out. So then at one moment, Robby has his back turned to Hawk. Hawk’s all emotional and hotheaded. Pissed off about something Robbie said. Some sort of insult that Robbie says. Kicks him in the back, gets disqualified. I was very upset when that happened. 

[00:25:47] JC: DQd. He didn’t just catch him in the back. It hit his shoulder, and Robby is genuinely hurt. But no need for it. Is Hawk now banned from future All Valley tournaments? 

[00:26:01] SR: For 35 years, Hawk will be banned from the All Valley tournament. 

[00:26:04] JC: I agree with you. I was very disappointed. I wanted to see this fight play out. True to the original movie, you’re going to get little things like this that happen.

[00:26:15] SR: Well, again, if you’re creating this parallel to the original motion picture, The Karate Kid, there was a Cobra Kai that got disqualified, right? This was in the tradition of the original.

[00:26:25] JC: But that particular student immediately apologized to Daniel for hurting him. Hawk hasn’t learned anything. 

[00:26:34] SR: Also, Hawk kicked Robby in the back where there wasn’t even a match in session. It was in between the sets. So it’s sort of an awkward moment. It’s like you can’t excuse that, whatsoever. 

[00:26:45] JC: Daniel goes back to meet Robby in the locker room. Meanwhile, we see Johnny who comes across a photo of Chris. Now, Sal, Chris has a lifetime ban. Will they have not removed this photo? 

[00:27:02] SR: Chris in Cobra Kai were lifetime banned from the tournament, and yet there’s a photo of Chris in the wall. 

[00:27:08] JC: I think that would have been removed. Interesting. 

[00:27:10] SR: Why was he up there? Maybe this is a foreshadow of something.

[00:27:14] JC: They didn’t recognize him. It didn’t say his name. So nobody knew, wouldn’t have remembered him from the 80s.

[00:27:21] SR: That’s funny. Yeah, you’re right. Why was it up there? But it was, and Johnny is looking at it. I had first thought that he was going eve’s drop and hear Daniel talking to Robbie.

[00:27:31] JC: I did too.

[00:27:31] SR: But that didn’t happen. But Daniel’s almost in this moment kind of making a peace with Johnny and Robbie. 

[00:27:39] JC: He’s not trying to get in the middle of anything.

[00:27:41] SR: No. In fact in this moment, right now, I was proud of Daniel. 

[00:27:45] JC: I was too.

[00:27:46] SR: I was. I was proud of what he was doing, because he was taking his role as a sensei, taking his role as a mentor, but not trying to detract from Robby’s relationship with Johnny. 

[00:27:59] JC: So we find out that Robby really is in pain. One of this is in his back. One of his shoulders was impacted by the kick. 

[00:28:07] SR: He was back there by himself. This is going back to what you mentioned before with the pervious episode when there was the moment with Johnny, Daniel, Robby in the LaRusso dojo at the end of the last episode. 

[00:28:21] JC: Yes, episode 9.

[00:28:22] SR: Then Robby’s left by both mentors and fathers. Again, he’s back there. I’m kind of actually feeling sorry for Robby at this moment.

[00:28:30] JC: Yeah, he’s all alone. He’s got no one back there on his side.

[00:28:33] SR: Where is his mom? Why isn’t his mom in the stands rooting him up? 

[00:28:36] JC: Well, she’s probably on a date or she’s probably traveling somewhere. 

[00:28:40] SR: I’m sorry, honey. I had a second date from Tinder. I couldn’t make it to your karate tournament.

[00:28:44] JC: Yeah. Come on, she’s got an agenda.

[00:28:45] SR: Okay. So Daniel is there consoling.

[00:28:48] JC: Well, we know that Robby is in pain. So Daniel, of all things, he starts to do the Miyagi hand trick. 

[00:28:55] SR: Yeah. Were you thinking he’s really going to do it?

[00:28:58] JC: When he first did it I thought, “Really?” But they played it perfectly, because he starts to do it and then he just says, “Medic!” He knows he couldn’t do it. I think it would been hoaky if he had executed it. 

[00:29:12] SR: Well, because Daniel is not Miyagi. He’s not. Mr. Miyagi didn’t create a mini-Miyagi. 

[00:29:19] JC: That’s a good point.

[00:29:19] SR: Right? Yeah, Daniel couldn’t do that. Even though Daniel has come a long way from his beginnings and so forth and he’s evolved as a person. But no, he couldn’t do what Miyagi did. 

[00:29:29] JC: I’m glad the show refrained from playing it out that way. That was a really funny moment. 

[00:29:34] SR: It was. It was funny. 

[00:29:36] JC: I laughed out loud. The way Daniel played it, it was perfect.

[00:29:39] SR: Yeah. 

[00:29:41] JC: So now we see Miguel and Sam, and they’re talking briefly, trying to make up. But Miguel continues to get in his own way and getting frustrated, and him and Sam just can’t move forward. Amanda is taking Sam and Anthony home. 

[00:29:59] SR: Yeah, they’ve had enough. Well, Sam walks back to Amanda and says, “I need to go home.” 

[00:30:04] JC: Sam says, “I’m going to Uber home,” and Amanda says, “No. No. We’ll take you. We’ll text Daniel from the car.” 

[00:30:09] SR: So they’re missing the finals. I don’t know why Anthony had to leave though, because Daniel is still there, right? 

[00:30:14] JC: I guess he’s preoccupied. 

[00:30:15] SR: Okay. I was kind of hoping that Anthony just could have stayed. I mean, he was joining the fights. 

[00:30:20] JC: I know, but they father-son moment. 

[00:30:22] SR: Yeah. But they took him too. So Amanda, Sam, Anthony, out of there. 

[00:30:27] JC: They’ll watch her on ESPN later.

[00:30:29] SR: Yeah.

[00:30:30] JC: So we find out that Robby was in real pain. He had a slight shoulder dislocation, and the medic pops it back in and says, “You’re going to have pain for the next few weeks.”

[00:30:40] SR: Yeah. She gives him an ice pack, and I don’t assume the medic is thinking he’s going to go back and fight at that moment. 

[00:30:45] JC: No. But he wants too. Very much like Daniel did in the Karate Kid. So, Sal, at this point, who are you rooting for? 

[00:30:55] SR: Yeah. See, this is that moment where I’m thinking, “Gees! If Robby and Miguel faceoff –” Because I’m starting to feel for Robby at this point, right?

[00:31:07] JC: Miguel is a great guy.

[00:31:08] SR: Yeah. I’m on team Miguel. Now I got to get on team Robby. I’m giving him a chance. I’m having a lot of sympathy for Robby also, his character. I don’t know who to root for. I guess I don’t root. I just watch and see what happens. 

[00:31:22] JC: Hopefully there’s no DQing.

[00:31:24] SR: Oh! That would have made me so angry.

[00:31:26] JC: Now, Daryl’s doing a big introduction for the finals, and Miguel and the Cobra Kai team were introduced, and Robby is about to be introduced and it’s an homage to the Karate Kid.

[00:31:38] SR: Yes.

[00:31:38] JC: We hear Daryl say, “Daniel LaRusso is going to coach?” 

[00:31:42] SR: Yes.

[00:31:43] JC: If you remember from the Karate Kid, it was, “Daniel LaRusso is going to fight? Daniel LaRusso is going to fight?” So what a great thing as writers, as creators that you got to create this moment. 

[00:31:56] SR: I love these parallels. 

[00:31:57] JC: So now we find out that Robby is not  only going to fight, but he’s affiliated. 

[00:32:03] SR: Daniel LaRusso is on the committee, and he’s going to come out and coach one of the fighters. I’m just wondering, is that a conflict of interest? 

[00:32:13] JC: Good point, but assuming they were cool with it, he is champ in their eyes. He can do no wrong, although he couldn’t get Cobra Kai to stay out of the tournament. So Robby is affiliated with Miyagi-Do Karate and he’s going to be coached by Daniel LaRusso in this match. Great moment.

[00:32:35] SR: Who was the woman who ran out and says Daniel LaRusso is going to coach? Remember, who was that originally? 

[00:32:40] JC: She’s one of the committees. 

[00:32:40] SR: Okay. She’s one of the committee members. Who was it in Karate Kid that ran out? It was a woman. 

[00:32:44] JC: It was Ali.

[00:32:44] SR: It was Ali. Okay. Ali ran out, told –

[00:32:46] JC: She went out to tell them that –

[00:32:47] SR: Okay. Got it. Yeah. So it’s a wonderful homage. See, this is why I always say, if you love Cobra Kai, please watch Karate Kid because you’re going to be able to see these little Easter eggs –

[00:32:56] JC: Flashback homage.

[00:32:57] SR: Yeah. It’s these little moments where you go, “Aha!”

[00:32:59] JC: So you should definitely go back if you haven’t already and listen to our special edition podcast on the Karate Kid. 

Okay. So, Sal, at this point, no Cobra Kai knows that Robby is Johnny’s son. Correct?

[00:33:16] SR: I don’t think any Cobra Kai know that. No. 

[00:33:19] JC: The only person that knows is Johnny and Daniel.

[00:33:21] SR: Johnny and Daniel are the only people in the room who know who Robby is in relation to Johnny. Yes.

[00:33:28] JC: Okay. So right out of the gate, Robby scores a quick point. 1-0. Miguel rallies. Ties it up 1-1. This is a pretty good battle. They have very different styles. You can tell that Robby has been trained more in a Steven Seagal type of manner, where it’s defensive. Let him come to you and counter. 

[00:33:48] SR: Yeah, it is counter. In mixed martial arts, one of my favorite fighters is Anderson Silva. If you watch Anderson Silva fight, defensive fighter, counterpuncher. You let the fighter come to you, which is kind of how I am. I’m kind of more by instinct a counterpuncher defensive fighter. 

[00:34:06] JC: That’s what Daniel was in the Karate Kid.

[00:34:08] SR: I mean, the crane, he could stand and hold the crane. Then Johnny approaches him, right? Because that is a defensive maneuver. 

[00:34:14] JC: I always wondered if you just didn’t approach the crane.

[00:34:17] SR: They’d be standing for like an hour.

[00:34:19] JC: Eventually that calf would just give in, and then you go in if you wait out the crane. I like to go behind the crane. So I also think it’s a product of the environment and are not in a classroom like I talked about earlier. They’re not sparring. I think it was just the way he was trained. That might have been Miyagi’s way anyway, but Daniel had the same situation with Robby. When they trained, it was just one-on-one. Not too much sparring. But the Cobra Kai way is attack, attack, attack. I’m not saying one way or other is better. It’s good to be well-versed in both. But Robby is doing a very good job of this. Miguel is a really good attacker. I think it’s another great fight. Well-choreographed if you will.  

[00:35:02] SR: Again, I’m looking to spot the stunt doubles. I couldn’t. I mean, maybe if I would have paused it, but I didn’t pause it. But I watched it just trying to see the stunt double. I didn’t see it. I’m thinking maybe they did their own fighting sequence.  

[00:35:11] JC: I like it. 

[00:35:12] SR: Yeah, it was a really great job. Again, right here is where I started to worry about Miguel, because I started to see the emotions.

[00:35:19] JC: Cobra Kai. It’s the dark side.

[00:35:21] SR: That’s what it is.

[00:35:23] JC: If you start to embrace it, it will just somehow seep out, and he hits the sore shoulder. 

[00:35:29] SR: Oh, yeah! He goes in for the kill.

[00:35:30] JC: Then he sweeps the leg, another homage, and he scores a great point. All legal. 

[00:35:37] SR: Yeah.

[00:35:37] JC: 2-1 lead.

[00:35:40] SR: Again, as a fight fan all my life, but especially since the UFC in ’93. Watching fights for decades now. When your opponent has a weakness, you exploit it. 

[00:35:52] JC: Of course.

[00:35:52] SR: If I know your shoulder is bad, I’m going for it. If I know your knee is bad, I’m going for it. That’s what you do.

[00:35:58] JC: I agree. I think Miguel’s fighting a good fair fight. Sure, he knows the shoulder is bad, but he’s in a fight for a championship. 

[00:36:06] SR: It’s not about fighting dirty. It’s about just exploiting the weakness that is present. 

[00:36:11] JC: Miguel is also not taking cheap shots. Meaning, DQing, kicking someone in the back when they’re not looking. In a real boxing match, once you cut a boxes, you want to open up that wound. That’s what you’re doing, is technical at strategy. So I think the second point was fine. All legal moves. 

[00:36:30] SR: Yeah.

[00:36:31] JC: So now Robby is in pain, and Johnny is concerned. He almost kind of yells out to Robby. He doesn’t know what to do.

[00:36:38] SR: Again, that’s his son out there. 

[00:36:40] JC: His own students are looking at him. So that’s a tough spot.

[00:36:43] SR: Yeah, that is a very tough spot. Your son is out there against your protégé. That’s a tough position to be in. 

[00:36:50] JC: When Robby gets back up, he’s only got one hand now, one usable hand for this next sequence. 

[00:36:57] SR: Sure. He has his left arm in the – Almost like it’s in a sling, but it’s not. It’s against his body at a 90-degree bend.

[00:37:04] JC: So Miguel forces Robby to the ground in an exchange. While on the ground, Robby digs in deep and what does he do? 

[00:37:13] SR: This was foreshadowed in the beginning of the last episode, episode 9 season 1. The single arm handstand, but unlike at the skate park, leading into a kick. 

[00:37:25] JC: It’s Miyagi’s secret kick. Only Mr. Miyagi has done this as far as we know.

[00:37:30] SR: We never even saw it in the Karate Kid.

[00:37:31] JC: Never. Daniel has never executed it.

[00:37:34] SR: Yeah. Obviously, Robby has some special characteristics that he’s able to do this almost most magical move that even Daniel LaRusso wasn’t able to do. This is the sequence. I actually do always believe, is that when you mentor somebody, they become better than you. Then they mentor somebody, they become better than them.

[00:37:52] JC: Robby has Johnny Lawrence’s blood in him. Maybe the only other person that can do this move is Samantha LaRusso.

[00:38:00] SR: Okay. That I’ll go for. Yeah, that would be interesting. We may see that at some point. 

[00:38:04] JC: So this is a really amazing scene. He does the one arm stand and he does a double leg kick. Scores a point. It is now 2-2.

[00:38:14] SR: As a matter of fact I have to say, as far as moves in the whole Karate Kid Cobra Kai folklore, I would almost say that surpasses the crane kick.

[00:38:26] JC: Yeah. 

[00:38:26] SR: I mean, not only with impressiveness, but difficulty. I mean, yeah, I think that blows away the crane kick officially.

[00:38:33] JC: So Miguel is down. Robby walks over with the one hand. It’s now 2-2, and he extends his right hand, his health hand, his not injured hand to help Miguel up so they can continue the battle. What does Miguel do?

[00:38:50] SR: Miguel yanks on his arm. 

[00:38:52] JC: The injured arm. The other arm.

[00:38:53] SR: Yes. He did that intentionally. Now, is that fighting dirty? Yes, that is. Because they’re not officially engaged in the fight at that moment.

[00:39:02] JC: But he does yank the arm. Immediately hurting, stressing that shoulder dislocation more. So now he falls and he’s in much more agony and pain. Very reminiscent of Karate Kid. Yes, because Johnny did a move. Could have got him DQd and didn’t. This very well could have been had everyone seen it. We’re not sure what’s going to happen. Can Robby even continue? So there’s a break, and Johnny talks to Miguel.

[00:39:34] SR: Yeah. It’s almost like Johnny is trying to say to Miguel at this moment to kind of be reasonable. Take it easy. He uses the expression “don’t fight dirty”. But Miguel I don’t think even understands there is no fighting dirty. There’s only fighting to win. 

[00:39:51] JC: Because that’s all he’s been taught. 

[00:39:52] SR: That’s what he’s been taught. Now, it’s almost like  Johnny’s instruction is coming back to bite him. 

[00:39:58] JC: Johnny has now seen some of the flaws with Chris’ teachings, and now he’s looking at his own pupils and realizing, “Yeah, I got to change that.” 

[00:40:08] SR: Well, would that flaw be the no mercy mindset? Are there not times to deliver mercy, to give mercy?

[00:40:16] JC: So he tries to explain this to Miguel who’s having none of it. 

[00:40:20] SR: No way.

[00:40:20] JC: He’s heated up. He’s in battle. His emotions, his adrenaline is kicking in.

[00:40:26] SR: I just want to say this, because this is totally reminiscent. All my years of watching fights, one thing I enjoy watching is I enjoy hearing the coaching between the rounds. One thing I’ve always noticed is the fighter’s never listen to the coaching. Fighters are in their own universe during the fight. When the coaches are like, “Put up your hands. You need to let your hands go more. You need to deliver some kicks more.” They never listen. I pay attention all the time. The fighters never listen to coaching, and this is just another example of that. Miguel was not trying to hear it. 

[00:40:58] JC: From being an athlete for most of my life to this day, coaching needs to happen before battle. You do not listen at that point. You’re running on instinct. You’re taking everything you’ve learned, and now you’re in a battle.

[00:41:13] SR: Yeah. The coaching is officially over. 

[00:41:14] JC: It’s over.

[00:41:15] SR: Miguel says, “No mercy.” 

[00:41:18] JC: So he go back. It’s 2-2. The fight continues. Robby is obviously injured, and Miguel best him. He scores a point. He is the stronger fighter this day. Had it been a healthy Robby, it might even just gone longer. It’s a tossup. They’re really evenly matched. They have very different styles, but they’re both quite good fighters. But in a tournament setting, a point system, it’s anyone’s ballgame with these guys. 

[00:41:45] SR: But also, you would have to – I’d hate to do it. You’d have to credit Hawk for injuring Robb. Because, yeah, an uninjured Robby may have bested Miguel. So a member of Cobra pre-injured Robby and then Miguel then comes in for the kill. 

[00:42:04] JC: Much like the Karate Kid, but the difference being Daniel won in the end. 

[00:42:08] SR: Yes.

[00:42:09] JC: If Miguel and Robby fought a street match, street fight, I don’t know who wins that either. It’s kind of like Polo Creed versus Rocky Balboa.

[00:42:18] SR: Yeah. If you have equal strength, if you have equal skill, then it just depends on the day.

[00:42:23] JC: Exactly. So these guys fight 10 times, it might be 5-5. It might be 6-4. I don’t know. Yes, Robby is injured, but Miguel still may have bested him.

[00:42:32] SR: Yeah. Because then you would go into what they call the rubber match. Yeah, it could be anybody’s ballgame. 

[00:42:36] JC: That’s how I look at these two. In future episodes, if they meet again. To me, it’s always a clean slate. No one would ever beat the other one 10 times in a row. It’s just too evenly matched. 

[00:42:50] SR: We saw how good Robby did in spite of an unusable arm. I mean, he was fighting one-handed for a while.

[00:42:57] JC: But he also was taught the right way that suits that. Had he been taught under the Cobra Kai banner, one arm and he’s trying to be the attacker, he probably wouldn’t have fared as well.

[00:43:09] SR: No.

[00:43:10] JC: So it’s all circumstantial. All that to say, Miguel wins the big trophy.

[00:43:15] SR: And he got on the microphone, which was surprising. 

[00:43:16] JC: He swarmed by Cobra Kais. He’s given the microphone, and who does he thank? 

[00:43:21] SR: He thanks his sensei. He thanks Johnny Lawrence. If it weren’t for my sensei, I wouldn’t be here. That’s really nice. A wonderful tribute.  

[00:43:29] JC: Johnny wants to go check on Robby.

[00:43:31] SR: Yeah, and he takes the trophy with him, which I thought was interesting. I thought for a second he was going to take the trophy and hand it to Robby. 

[00:43:39] JC: I thought for a half second the same.

[00:43:41] SR: I was thinking, “Oh my God! Is he going to do that?” But no, he didn’t do that, but he did go over and there was a very special moment where he said I’m sorry to Robby. I guess it was sort of like I felt that was like, “I’m sorry for everything.” I’m almost going to cry. I’m sorry for our lives. I’m sorry for not being a good ded. 

[00:44:01] JC: Everything.

[00:44:01] SR: Yeah. It was just a really tender moment at that moment. Then, also Robby is walking out with Daniel.

[00:44:07] JC: Robby also forgave him. 

[00:44:08] SR: Yeah.

[00:44:10] JC: Daniel handled that moment nicely as well. But I noticed that Robby didn’t have a second place trophy in his hands. 

[00:44:17] SR: They have those?

[00:44:18] JC: Johnny had one that his sensei broke.

[00:44:20] SR: Oh, yes! Yes! Yeah, Robby should have gotten a second place trophy. Maybe they decided to do away with the second place trophy.

[00:44:27] JC: Well, after they spent the money in the blue mats.

[00:44:30] SR: Yeah. You know what? We spent all the money on mats and lighting.

[00:44:32] JC: For $65 ticket. So you say. Anyway, Miguel is elated and now he’s celebrating with his family. But you can tell that he’s looking else for – He’s scanning the crowd for Sam.

[00:44:45] SR: Yeah. She took off with her mother and her brother. 

[00:44:48] JC: Dmitri says that she left a while ago, which kind of bums out Miguel in this great moment that he’s having. 

[00:44:56] SR: Well, because not only was she not there at that very moment, but she didn’t get to see him win. She didn’t get to see his glorious moment. 

[00:45:05] JC: That’d be like Daniel winning without Ali nearby. It’s a bit empty.

[00:45:11] SR: No. I know. When you have a glorious moment, you want somebody to see it. 

[00:45:14] JC: So the All Valley Karate Championship under 18 tournament was a success. The 50th anniversary was a hit. We have things to build on for next year. You have Zander. I’m not sure he’s under 18 anymore, but you had bested a two-time champ.  

[00:45:32] SR: In fact, I think when what we’re learning is that once you’ve won two, that’s it. 

[00:45:36] JC: That’s it. You cannot win a third.

[00:45:37] SR: There’s no three-time. 

[00:45:39] JC: Most likely, I don’t know their ages, but Miguel would come back next year to defend his title, because I think he’s probably 16, 17. 

[00:45:47] SR: Oh! That’s a thought. Maybe by the time it comes to a third defense of your title, you’re too old.

[00:45:53] JC: Yeah. Of course, we’ve never talked about the All Valley over 18 tournament. 

[00:45:57] SR: Oh! That’s a whole other thing. Do they have that? 

[00:46:01] JC: Oh my gosh! Think about this. Daniel versus Johnny. 

[00:46:05] SR: The masters. 

[00:46:06] JC: In the 50, the senior tour. 

[00:46:09] SR: It would be the masters tournament.

[00:46:10] JC: So now we’ve left the tournament and we’re back at LaRusso’s, and Sam is in the Dojo looking at photos. What does she do? 

[00:46:20] SR: Well, there was a moment when Sam was talking to Aisha, and Sam was saying something like it was great to see you out there. Then Aisha says, “We could use more girls out there.” Then Sam, you could tell a little light bulb goes off in here. Now, she’s doing some – Is it kata? 

[00:46:37] JC: She does like a total gymnastic move.

[00:46:39] SR: Yes. She does a whole flip. That’s when you’re thinking, “What?” 

[00:46:42] JC: Samantha’s got move.

[00:46:44] SR: Wow! I wonder if she’ll fight Aisha one day.

[00:46:47] JC: You never know. 

[00:46:47] SR: I think from what we’ve seen so far of Sam when she does these moves periodically, is that she’s pretty badass. 

[00:46:52] JC: Yeah, and she’s got LaRusso blood.

[00:46:55] SR: Yeah. Wow! Maybe one day she’ll fight Robby. 

[00:46:58] JC: Well, they’re on the same team. 

[00:47:00] SR: Yeah, because right now Robby is Miyagi-Do.

[00:47:03] JC: So now we cut to Daniel driving Robby home, and Robby is now holding a second place trophy. So maybe they give it to you on the way out. 

[00:47:15] SR: Okay. Interesting. I didn’t even noticed that. So that’s a good thing to notice. You don’t know where they’re going, because they start going somewhere else. Then I think Robby is like, “Where are we going?”  

[00:47:23] JC: Did you know where they were going?

[00:47:24] SR: No. Not until they got there.

[00:47:26] JC: A huge surprise to me as well. They go to Miyagi’s home.

[00:47:31] SR: Yeah. I only knew that because I started seeing the cars.

[00:47:35] JC: You saw the one car. This car with the tarp slightly raised. 

[00:47:38] SR: Yes. So Daniel has been keeping Miyagi’s house just intact. Keeping the cars there. Almost keeping it as a shrine, but now he flips the lights and he says, “Welcome to Miyagi-Do Karate.” Wow! 

[00:47:52] JC: He said, “We’re going to need more students,” which is amazing, because he had this dojo in his home. Then for the last decade plus of his life, he’s built an empire with LaRusso Auto and now is the time to go and reenergize Miyagi’s home, that environment that he learned in years ago. 

[00:48:14] SR: It’s almost like, “Okay, Daniel. Now that you’ve raised a family, have a successful business. Now let’s get down to what you’re really here for.” 

[00:48:22] JC: Exactly. Now we’re back at the Cobra Kai dojo. Johnny’s getting drunk, and he’s got the trophy, which begs the question. Does that not belong to Miguel, or do they give the studio a trophy as well? 

[00:48:38] SR: Did Miguel hand the trophy to Johnny? I don’t remember seeing it.

[00:48:41] JC: There was lots of trophy handing.

[00:48:42] SR: Oh, no! You remember, Johnny was the last person to be holding that trophy that we saw. Remember when he went to apologize to his son when he’s walking out with Daniel? He had the trophy in his hand. I never saw Miguel with the trophy, except in the very beginning when they hand it to him, right? 

[00:48:54] JC: Yeah. Maybe he just took it back to the dojo for Miguel.

[00:48:57] SR: Yeah. 

[00:48:58] JC: So there’s Johnny. Having reached his goal, he’s got a pupil who won the championship.

[00:49:03] SR: But it’s bittersweet, because his pupil beat his own son.

[00:49:07] JC: He’s conflicted.

[00:49:07] SR: And injured him. Didn’t just beat him. Injured him further. So I don’t think Johnny is feeling too good right now.

[00:49:15] JC: I think Johnny is also thinking about what kind of sensei he wants to be.

[00:49:18] SR: And who he became and who’s becoming, and what he’s teaching these kids. Because I think at that moment he’s realized that he is now Chris.

[00:49:27] JC: Yeah. So maybe it’s not going to be strike first, and maybe it will be strike hard, but it probably won’t be no mercy.

[00:49:35] SR:  I could be wrong. Sometimes mercy. Mercy when needed. He’s drinking being sad.

[00:49:42] JC: Typical Johnny.

[00:49:42] SR: Sure. Yeah, it’s a typical moment for him actually. I got to say, when a visitor arrives, I did know who it was.

[00:49:49] JC: You hear the jingle of the door and who do we see?

[00:49:55] SR: At very first, you don’t know. You see a silhouette. Until he starts talking and then you go, “Oh! That’s who it is. It’s Chris.” Chris arrives at the Cobra Kai dojo smoking a cigar. 

[00:50:10] JC: Unbelievable.

[00:50:10] SR: I could not believe it when I saw this. 

[00:50:12] JC: Not too many episodes ago, Johnny said that Chris was dead.

[00:50:17] SR: Yes.

[00:50:18] JC: Here he is alive and well in the Cobra Kai dojo. What does he say? I know you could do it. You’d get Cobra Kai back on top. I don’t even know what Johnny is thinking, because Johnny’s already started to process things about how he’s going to change and evolve and how Chris was probably wrong about a lot of things. But here he is faced with his own demons. The last time we know that they saw each other, he tried to kill him.  

[00:50:47] SR: Okay. So when Johnny Lawrence said that Chris was dead, was he lying or did he think Chris was dead?

[00:50:56] JC: I think that in his heart, maybe the Chris that he knew was dead to him.

[00:51:00] SR: He wanted him to be dead.

[00:51:01] JC: Or wanted him to be dead. But what a cliffhanger ending. 

[00:51:05] SR: Yeah. I’m assuming Chris was actually hidden in the crowd somewhere, probably wearing a baseball cap or something so he wouldn’t be recognized. He saw what went down. Comes to the dojo to confront Johnny almost like saying, “Hey, I’m back in your life.” He’s like imposing his presence. I’m just wondering, what the hell is Johnny going to do with this? What is he going to do with Chris now?

[00:51:28] JC: You’re going to have to watch season 2. 

[00:51:31] SR: Okay. Well, I just want the listeners to know that I’ve seen episodes one through 10 or season 1 only. I have not seen season two. I don’t know what the hell is going to happen.

[00:51:40] JC: Here’s what happens. I’m going to tell you. So first of all, bravo to show creators, actors, everybody involved with season 1 of Cobra Kai. It was more than I ever could have hoped for. 

[00:51:55] SR: I have to second that. I did not know what I was getting into. I won’t even say I went into it with an open mind. I kind of was like, “Cobra Kai? What?” That was almost like – Whatever. But I’m telling you know, I’m totally Kai’d out. No mercy. 

[00:52:10] JC: I knew that you would be hooked. So it has been an incredible 10 episodes. Wonderful season. We hope you enjoy our podcast and our passion and love and knowledge and hopefully some humor. We hope you listen to previous episodes. Look for special edition episodes like the Karate Kid and hopefully others to come. We’re going to come back with season two. So please subscribe to us on Apple iTunes or anywhere else you get your podcast.

[00:52:38] SR: Leave some comments. Leave some reviews. Let us know what you think. Let us know what you like to hear. 

[00:52:42] JC: Thank you and keep listening.