Cobra Kai - S02E02 - Back in Black

Let's Talk - Cobra Kai
Episode 13: Cobra Kai - S02E02 - Back in Black

Jason Connell and Sal Rodriguez break down Season 02 - Episode 02 (Back in Black) of the Cobra Kai series and much more.

Synopsis: Miyagi-Do is reopened, with Robbie and Samantha as Daniels' first students. Daniel and Amanda meet their quota at LaRusso Auto. Johnny lays down the law to stop his students goofing off.

Original Episode: S02E02

Recorded: 10-03-19
Studio: Just Curious Media
https://www.JustCuriousMedia.com/

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Transcript

Episode 13: Cobra Kai - S02E02 - Back in Black

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

[0:00:05.1] SR: And I’m Sal Rodriguez.

[0:00:06.4] JC: All right, here we are. Season 2, episode 2, Back in Black.

[0:00:12.2] SR: That's the name of the episode?

[0:00:13.2] JC: That is the name of the episode.

[0:00:14.2] SR: Oh, okay. Now that song makes sense in the beginning.

[0:00:16.3] JC: It’s an 8.5 on IMDB. This episode starts out with a bang.

[0:00:23.0] SR: Oh yeah.

[0:00:23.8] JC: A classic AC/DC song Back in Black is playing, with an 80s montage mashup as we're cutting between Johnny's challenger, getting a brand new, what is it? Black paint job, or –

[0:00:39.0] SR: Yeah. It's a black paint job. Yeah. Then it has the detail, a yellow trim. What's funny is when it first opens up you see that guy with the respirator, which I'm sure was a little homage to Breaking Bad.

[0:00:48.7] JC: Oh, yes.

[0:00:49.2] SR: It must have been. He has the full-on gear on for painting the car and then you see the accents in the license plate. I'm really excited. I’m like, I cannot wait to see this car. Then him and Miguel, it shows their morning routine, they're both doing the sit-ups.

[0:01:02.8] JC: Oh, yeah. Then as Johnny gets a Coors, Miguel gets OJ.

[0:01:07.3] SR: Yeah, nice. Johnny drinks a Coors at breakfast.

[0:01:10.6] JC: Yeah. It's breakfast of champions, I believe.

[0:01:13.0] SR: I thought, I was under the impression thus far that Johnny has maybe worked through some of the drinking, but apparently not.

[0:01:19.2] JC: No, it comes and goes. How about when they roll up to the stop sign with the mother-daughter?

[0:01:26.5] SR: Well, if you remember a few seconds earlier, they actually blew through a stop sign. I noticed that. They blew through a stop sign and then later on, they stopped at a stop sign, look over and see the two hot babes, one older, one younger. Miguel tries to –

[0:01:38.2] JC: I think it was a mother-daughter.

[0:01:39.4] SR: Was it? Okay. Okay. Hey, maybe it was a female a sensei and her female student. Then Miguel is like, “Hey.” I love that Johnny says, “Don't look. Play it cool.” Then they just hit the gas.

[0:01:53.2] JC: They're gone.

[0:01:54.1] SR: Yeah. Miguel is like, “Uh, this is a little too cool. I wanted to talk to it.”

[0:01:57.5] JC: Yeah, so cool that we don't even talk to them. All right, so now we're at Robby’s apartment and it appears someone's breaking in.

[0:02:04.9] SR: Yeah. Well, I find that odd that he was sleeping on the couch? Maybe he just fell asleep watching TV. I'm wondering if like, does he normally sleep on the couch. He's asleep on the couch, awakened by what sounds like burglars. Then he gets into a crouch, he's ready to fight, ready to defend his home as anybody would. You see some shadowy figures. Right away, I thought his old juvenile delinquent buddies.

[0:02:24.6] JC: Oh, those guys.

[0:02:25.0] SR: That's what I thought. I was like, “Oh, they came to rip him off,” is what I thought.

[0:02:28.3] JC: Robby throws a really great kick.

[0:02:30.5] SR: Oh, yeah. It was a fantastic kick. In fact, I'm surprised it didn't do more damage. The guy gets up, the lights go on, his mom's there, it's his mother and her date.

[0:02:39.7] JC: Yeah, Rick.

[0:02:40.6] SR: Is that his name?

[0:02:41.3] JC: Rick. Who I recognized from The Walking Dead.

[0:02:44.1] SR: Really?

[0:02:44.7] JC: Yeah, on some episodes. Rick is taking Robby's mom to not just Cabo.

[0:02:52.5] SR: Cabo adjacent.

[0:02:54.9] JC: Classic.

[0:02:56.1] SR: In other words, the low-budget Cabo.

[0:02:57.6] JC: Yeah, whatever Cabo is, we're going to be looking at it from afar. Robby's mother says that Rick's going to pay for rent this month or something. A couple bills –

[0:03:05.5] SR: Yeah. Rick’s going to cover the rent.

[0:03:06.8] JC: I got you buddy. Very weird.

[0:03:09.3] SR: Well, I would have loved that I would have given this guy ultimate respect if he would have said, “How much is your rent?” And he would have just handed Robby cash. I would be like, “Okay, this dude is serious.” As soon as they leave and Robby says to him, “You heard her. Next time, you won't get up.” He gives him a threat. This guy is – he just shrugs it off. I'm thinking, “This guy's an asshole.” I'm thinking he's not going to actually pay the rent.

[0:03:29.4] JC: I totally agree with you. I think he's just trying to hook up with Robby's mother. Some little hot babe to take to Cabo adjacent.

[0:03:39.4] SR: Which I find interesting, because I don't believe in taking sand at the beach, but he's taking sand at the beach.

[0:03:42.7] JC: Yeah, that's true. I also on that note of Robby, I don't know if we've ever seen him in a bedroom in this apartment. That very what could be that he sleeps on the sofa.

[0:03:53.1] SR: Okay, so maybe it's a one-bedroom and the mother has the bedroom and he sleeps on the sofa.

[0:03:56.5] JC: Yeah. I just don't know. I mean, it could be, right?

[0:03:59.0] SR: Yeah. We did see the mother in a previous episode go into the bedroom with a lover, remember? The guy from the bar.

[0:04:05.0] JC: He was still in the living room.

[0:04:06.4] SR: Yeah. Okay. That’s where he sleeps.

[0:04:07.6] JC: Could be.

[0:04:08.2] SR: Okay. He sleeps on the couch.

[0:04:10.6] JC: Now we're at Miyagi-do and Robby is hitting the bag.

[0:04:13.0] SR: Which I found interesting, because if you know heavy bags, he just has a few wraps on his hands.

[0:04:17.9] JC: Yeah, barely anything.

[0:04:18.5] SR: He’s hitting a heavy bag.

[0:04:19.4] JC: That's a canvas bag and those will tear your knuckles to shreds.

[0:04:23.4] SR: I was just thinking, how is he doing this? I think the whole point was to show his rage.

[0:04:26.6] JC: He was pissed.

[0:04:27.6] SR: It was to show his anger. Because it's such a contrast, the way that he was hitting that bag with such anger, such a contrast to the serene, peaceful mode that Daniel tries to create at Miyagi-do.

[0:04:37.6] JC: It's almost as if Robby belonged at Cobra Kai dojo with that rage.

[0:04:41.5] SR: Yeah. Well, that was Johnny coming through.

[0:04:43.3] JC: Totally. Okay, so and while Robby is hitting the bag, Daniel’s hanging photos and Sam arrives.

[0:04:50.3] SR: Yeah. Well, before that though, Daniel is hanging the photos, looking at the photos, including Miyagi and he says, “Big shoes to fill.” There's a moment there where Daniel’s realizing that he's having to step up to the plate in a big way now.

[0:05:03.4] JC: He's feeling the pressure. He doesn't want to let Mr. Miyagi down. He's taken over that role and he's never done it. Much like Johnny's never been a sensei as far as we know. These are new roles for these two guys. As Sam arrives, she gets a call from Miguel who's using Aisha’s phone, because Sam won't take Miguel's call.

[0:05:23.1] SR: No. We look at the phone, we see Aisha’s face. At first I thought, “Oh, Aisha’s calling Sam. This is interesting.” What a surprise to hear Miguel's voice.

[0:05:31.6] JC: Surprised her as well. She rushes through the call. Doesn't really want to talk, but you can tell Miguel’s still struggling with this whole being boxed out thing.

[0:05:41.5] SR: Well, he says, “I want things to go back to how they were.” I mean, he wants to be back with her. She's like, “Uh, it's not that easy.” Those are her lines and then she walks in and sees Robby.

[0:05:55.5] JC: Yeah. Having dated in the past, does someone being desperate make you want to see them more or less?

[0:06:04.4] SR: More, but I'm a guy. It may be different than – If you're a guy and a woman's desperate for you is different than when you're a girl and a guy is desperate for you. Guys will prey on desperation, versus women are more repelled by desperation. I think it can work a different way, but I think –

[0:06:20.7] JC: That’s fine. I repelled my –

[0:06:22.1] SR: I think at this point after everything that Sam has been through with her dad and everything, Robby and Miguel and Johnny, everything that's transpired, I was totally on her side when she says, “It's not that easy.” In other words, maybe we've come too far. We've separated too far now. We can't go back. I'm thinking, I agree with her. In that moment, I'm not sure they can really work it out again.

[0:06:44.4] JC: Well, Sam went to that Kyler thing not that long ago, so she's probably lost faith in guys.

[0:06:49.5] SR: What's interesting is as we're seeing she's starting to draw closer to Robby, there's no romance yet, or at all, but they're drawing closer and I'm wondering if there is going to be romance. This will be the third karate guy she's dated if that does happen.

[0:07:01.8] JC: Well, Kyler wasn't necessarily a karate guy.

[0:07:03.4] SR: He knew something. He knew martial arts. He knew how to fight, right?

[0:07:06.9] JC: I guess so.

[0:07:07.9] SR: He knew how to fight –

[0:07:08.4] JC: More street fight.

[0:07:09.5] SR: We don't really know if he studied an official martial art, but he knew how to fight. He knew some martial arts, right?

[0:07:14.6] JC: Yeah, he also always had a crew.

[0:07:16.4] SR: Yeah. Well, he had his minions. Okay, so Miguel wants to get back with Sam. Sam's like, “I don't know if it's going to happen.” She runs into Robby and she makes a comment to Robby, right? About, “Oh, that was Miguel. I'll call him back later,” or something like that. He's like, “You can talk to whoever you want.” She was almost making an excuse.

[0:07:32.8] JC: Well, she did say he was on Aisha’s phone.

[0:07:35.1] SR: Yes. Yeah. She had to justify –

[0:07:37.4] JC: She’s covering up to Robby, so she feels something like, “Oh, yeah. I’m not talking to Miguel.” Yeah, you’re right. They’re buddying up. They’re getting closer, these two. Then Daniel comes out, first day of class and he even says something like, “This is the first time in a long time there's been more than one student here.” I thought about that for a second. When was there ever two students?

[0:08:00.9] SR: No, never. I don't think so, because it was Sam in the past, right? Then now, Robby.

[0:08:07.1] JC: Before that, it was him and Mr. Miyagi. I know having seen Karate Kid 2, 3, etc., or at least 2 and 3 with Daniel. There was never two students under Miyagi-do. I don't know what he was referring to. He could have just said, there's never been two students. Whatever, it made me think for just a moment. He comes up with an interesting idea and makes a circle of sand.

[0:08:32.5] SR: Yeah, because he wants to teach them the circle technique, which I don't think we visited yet.

[0:08:35.8] JC: No.

[0:08:36.4] SR: The circle technique, he draws sand on the dirt, right? A bag of sand, draws a circle and he tells them to get him side to teach them the circle technique.

[0:08:46.0] JC: Exactly. Now we're at the Cobra Kai dojo, Johnny's on the phone with the potential student.

[0:08:52.7] SR: I love this moment.

[0:08:54.0] JC: I know what you're going to say.

[0:08:55.2] SR: Because Johnny is – his brain is still in the 80s. I don't know. He's been in a time machine all these years.

[0:09:00.5] JC: Totally. He is Encino man.

[0:09:02.2] SR: Yeah. Then he's on the phone he says, “Yeah, we accept boys and girls.” Then there was that beat and I was like, “I know it's – I just knew it.” He's like, “Gender what?” That person on the phone was like, “My daughter is transgender, or my son is a gender-fluid, or whatever.” You know that person said something –

[0:09:17.6] JC: It’s way over Johnny's head.

[0:09:19.1] SR: Gender what? I love that.

[0:09:22.2] JC: While that's happening, Hawk, Aisha and Bert are making fun of new students and giving them names and carrying on as if they owned the place.

[0:09:31.9] SR: Yeah, they're teasing them. They're giving them the hazing.

[0:09:34.6] JC: Hazing, if you will.

[0:09:35.2] SR: Yeah, the hazing of the new students. Then Miguel comes in and you think he's trying to be on their side. He’s like, “Oh, they're just messing with you, but we already gave you a name. Assface and douchebag.”

[0:09:44.1] JC: Exactly. Dibs on assface. Then the door opens and who enters?

[0:09:52.1] SR: I could not believe that this happened. Obviously, we know Kreese is back, but Kreese walks in at that moment. I find interesting that he walks in with that bag. First of all, I want to know what's in the bag. I want to know is Kreese homeless? Does he have a home? Why is he carrying the bag?

[0:10:04.7] JC: I’m assuming his gi is in the bag.

[0:10:06.5] SR: Okay. That’s what it is.

[0:10:07.7] JC: If nothing else, there was a gi in there.

[0:10:09.5] SR: Okay, because I'm wondering, because he carries a bag and he's got that Rambo first blood look.

[0:10:14.3] JC: Oh, my gosh. Total first blood.

[0:10:16.1] SR: Yeah. I'm thinking like, “Is he a wanderer? Does he have a home?” When he walks in I was like, “Oh, my gosh. What's going to happen here? What's the class going to do? How is he going to be received by everybody?”

[0:10:27.0] JC: As he walks in, he sees one student with this shirt, “The future is female.”

[0:10:31.9] SR: Oh, I didn’t see that.

[0:10:32.6] JC: Kreese just can't believe it. He's  total eye roll.

[0:10:36.3] SR: Oh, I thought he was just sizing up everybody, but I didn't see the shirt.

[0:10:39.9] JC: It was one of the many things that he was disappointed in.

[0:10:42.4] SR: That's funny.

[0:10:43.4] JC: We're back at Miyagi-do and Sam and Robby begin practicing the wheel technique, which is like a synchronized kata. They're both doing the same thing at the same time.

[0:10:53.3] SR: Yeah, within a circle, because Daniel took some sand and drew a circle on the dirt and it gets them inside the circle.

[0:10:59.7] JC: I've done katas before, but having to do one with a partner looking at you and you're matching their movements would be tricky.

[0:11:06.7] SR: Since you've taken a lot of martial arts, have you actually had your sensei do these, what I would call off-the-wall techniques where they're taking you out of the dojo, onto the field? Has that happened?

[0:11:18.5] JC: Never. That'd be cool if they did. If I ever become a sensei, look out.

[0:11:24.3] SR: We're going onto the field tomorrow.

[0:11:26.1] JC: Yeah. 5:00 a.m.

[0:11:27.5] SR: They're doing the wheel technique in the circle and then Daniel gets a text from Amanda. Then runs off, tells his students, “You guys keep at it. I'll be back as soon as I can,” and he runs off to be with Amanda. I couldn't read the text. It was a little small on the screen I was watching. I couldn't see what the text said.

[0:11:42.4] JC: Oh, are you watching on a phone?

[0:11:43.4] SR: I was watching on my computer on a tiny screen. I just saw that it was Amanda and then he run off.

[0:11:49.0] JC: It said “Hey.” It said, “Work emergency. Come ASAP.”

[0:11:52.5] SR: Okay. He runs off to go help out Amanda and he leaves Robby and Sam to do their wheel exercise.

[0:11:59.5] JC: They had just started the technique and it was sloppy. They were out of sync, so you could tell they needed some time to put this thing together.

[0:12:05.4] SR: Sure. Their kicks were weak at this time.

[0:12:08.6] JC: Because it’s a timing thing. If one person kicks too soon, so you really want to be in rhythm. You're not even looking at each other. They have plenty of time to bond and practice this wheel technique.

[0:12:19.5] SR: This whole time, I'm just wondering are they going to hook up? If they don't, fine. If they do, I'm just curious how and when it will happen. I mean, there's obviously some tension, I think. Because the first time Robby met Sam, he was like, “Hey.” You could tell he had that young man.

[0:12:37.1] JC: Yeah, they had a connection.

[0:12:38.7] SR: She’s was sunbathing, right? I'm just wondering if something will happen eventually. Now we're seeing the build, or maybe not. I mean, sometimes things are build and nothing happens, but we'll see.

[0:12:50.8] JC: Did you watch Who Was the Boss?

[0:12:52.1] SR: Sure.

[0:12:52.8] JC: Is this how you felt about Judith like and Tony Danza?

[0:12:56.7] SR: When are they going to hook up? Well, I always wondered when Jack Tripper was going to hook up with Joyce DeWitt, or Suzanne Somers, then I guess it never happened.

[0:13:03.7] JC: Never.

[0:13:04.3] SR: Not even with –

[0:13:05.3] JC: Jack?

[0:13:06.6] SR: Not even with the nurse. Who was the nurse that came and replaced Chrissy?

[0:13:09.4] JC: Oh, yeah. Her cousin.

[0:13:11.0] SR: Or Cindy. None of them. Jack doesn't hook up with his roommates at all.

[0:13:14.0] JC: But he always had a woman.

[0:13:15.4] SR: Yeah. He always flirted with his roommates.

[0:13:17.2] JC: Oh, yeah. I love it.

[0:13:18.5] SR: Anyway, another show. Join us for let's talk Three's Company.

[0:13:21.3] JC: We’re back at Cobra Kai dojo and the students are extra playful. Johnny is getting upset and embarrassed, because Kreese is observing this.

[0:13:30.2] SR: Well, Johnny tells the class, “We have a visitor. Don't mind him. He’s just going to observe.” He doesn't tell the class who Kreese is. He tells Miguel to warm up the class. Miguel jumps in front of the class, begins to lead the class in their warm-up exercises, has him throw some kicks, has him throw some punches and then he has him do a side dab.

[0:13:49.7] JC: He doesn't have to do that. They choose to do it.

[0:13:51.8] SR: Oh, I thought he did it.

[0:13:53.0] JC: No. He was embarrassed, because they were having fun. It's 11 and a half months until the next All Valley Tournament, so Johnny's mortified.

[0:14:02.8] SR: Oh, but then Aisha tells a silly joke. Johnny walks over to Aisha, “What's so funny, Miss Robinson?” She says, “Oh, it's something about what a snake does.” Then he goes, “What does a snake do?” They go, “Ssss.”

[0:14:15.0] JC: They all do the cobra thing.

[0:14:16.4] SR: Yeah. They're all being silly. They're in a silly mode.

[0:14:18.8] JC: That's it. Johnny's pissed.

[0:14:20.2] SR: Well, because Kreese is there watching.

[0:14:21.4] JC: He’s overlooking, he's very disappointed.

[0:14:23.9] SR: He might have let it slide if Kreese weren't there.

[0:14:26.0] JC: Oh, yeah. For sure.

[0:14:26.8] SR: Yeah. He might have had a laugh himself, Kreese is right there. This is a very tense moment. That moment, I did not envy Johnny. Kreese is right there looking over his shoulder. He's got a whole class that he already knows Kreese doesn't approve of. He thinks these are a bunch of wimps and then they're acting silly.

[0:14:44.9] JC: That's it. Johnny dismisses class. It's over. Class never even get started, it's over.

[0:14:50.3] SR: Well, he said “5 a.m. tomorrow.”

[0:14:51.6] JC: 5 a.m. tomorrow.

[0:14:52.5] SR: Corner of Fulton and Raymer. Now, please tell me you looked on Google Maps and looked at what's on the corner of Fulton and –

[0:14:58.0] JC: I did. You know what? They could have filmed this at Fulton Raymer the next scene, because it looks – it's desolate, it's industrial. I know they probably shot this in Atlanta, but it did look like – that was spot on.

[0:15:09.3] SR: I think it would be Van Nuys, I think.

[0:15:10.5] JC: Yeah, I believe so.

[0:15:11.5] SR: Yeah. He says, “5:00 a.m. Fulton and Raymer. Don't show up and you're off the team.”

[0:15:15.8] JC: Yeah, boom. Now we're at LaRusso Auto, where Daniel was summoned back to go help out Amanda. The sales staff is low and they must sell 10 cars ASAP.

[0:15:27.6] SR: 10 cars. Well, they got to sell 10 cars, but then Daniel says to Amanda, “We're going to sell 10 cars today,” and Amanda is like, “What? We can't sell 10 cars in one day.”

[0:15:38.7] JC: Or she says, “You can't sell 10 cars in one day.” He’s like, “I can't, but we can.”

[0:15:42.7] SR: That's right.

[0:15:43.8] JC: Then we go into this full action montage. They make a pretty damn good team together.

[0:15:50.2] SR: They're fantastic. They're really great, because they work off each other, they feed each other, they lob the balls to each other.

[0:15:56.8] JC: Like us.

[0:15:57.6] SR: Yeah. They make a great team. By the way, I notice all the cars were Mercedes. Is that the way it's always been at the cars that LaRussa Auto always been Mercedes?

[0:16:04.3] JC: I think that car that Robby started might have been a Portia.

[0:16:07.4] SR: Okay, so this is interesting. This dealership. Okay, he has multiple dealerships, we know that.

[0:16:11.2] JC: That's true.

[0:16:12.0] SR: Maybe he has a Mercedes dealership, maybe he has a Porsche dealership. Today when they're selling the 10 cars, it's a Mercedes dealership. I looked at all the cars, they were all Mercedes.

[0:16:20.2] JC: Well, that's high-dollar stuff there.

[0:16:21.9] SR: I definitely remember that Daniel referred to Amanda. He said, “Danny and Mandy,” and that's what led me to believe did these two meet at a auto sales job. Is that where they met? We don't know yet how they met.

[0:16:36.8] JC: We don’t know yet.

[0:16:37.5] SR: Where did they met? How they met? At that moment I'm thinking, “I wonder if they met selling cars together.”

[0:16:43.1] JC: I don't know. I mean, or maybe they met and they – he got into this industry, because of her. I don't know. Maybe her father owned a dealership.

[0:16:50.9] SR: Oh, my gosh. What if her father owned dealerships, died and left them to his daughter and then she then where their husband creates LaRusso Auto Group?

[0:17:00.5] JC: Writers, you're welcome.

[0:17:03.8] SR: Well, I don't know. I have this thing about how people met. I really like to know how people meet each other, whether on camera, on TV, or in real life.

[0:17:10.6] JC: Do you remember how we met?

[0:17:12.6] SR: We met because you were casting for strictly background and you wanted to speak with people who had done extra work in the past, or currently and I responded to the – I forgot where you had it. Is that Craigslist?

[0:17:23.8] JC: LA Weekly.

[0:17:25.1] SR: LA Weekly? No, LA casting?

[0:17:27.0] JC: No, we ran an ad in the LA Weekly.

[0:17:28.5] SR: Really?

[0:17:29.3] JC: We also had it on Craigslist in casting place.

[0:17:31.7] SR: Okay. I showed up. I met you, you were casting for that. You didn't use me, but you ended up using me to host and moderate your film festivals.

[0:17:38.5] JC: How about that? Wow, that was back in 2005.

[0:17:42.8] SR: I was 25.

[0:17:44.6] JC: Hold on. I don't know about that. Is that true?

[0:17:48.2] SR: No.

[0:17:49.0] JC: Not true. Okay.

[0:17:51.2] SR: Daniel and Amanda work as a fantastic sales team and sell 10 cars and then toast with champagne.

[0:17:59.4] JC: Well, in the midst of selling the 10 cars, I like how many people come in and want a crane shot with Daniel. Hilarious.

[0:18:06.7] SR: Yeah. They want to take touristy style pictures with the two-time All Valley champion. You have customers and their kids doing the crane next to Daniel. It was pretty hilarious.

[0:18:17.4] JC: I was surprised that no one took a photo of him doing it to them, you know what I mean?

[0:18:22.3] SR: Like, they are Johnny Lawrence.

[0:18:22.7] JC: Like they are Johnny Lawrence. Now they were all doing straight ons and I thought, or whatever. I would expected the other.

[0:18:28.4] SR: Yeah, that was a pretty funny moment.

[0:18:29.7] JC: You're right. They're celebrating, they're having champagne, they hit their quota.

[0:18:33.6] SR: Everything is great and then at this time, Daniel shares with Amanda about his concerns teaching karate and comparing himself to Miyagi. The more I see Amanda, the more I love her. Just full of such level-headed wisdom and she says, “You don't have to be Mr. Miyagi. You just have to be Mr. LaRusso.” Very simple.

[0:18:53.1] JC: Doesn’t she tell him to come up with his own tricks?

[0:18:56.2] SR: I think something like that.

[0:18:57.1] JC: Exactly. He –

[0:18:57.8] SR: “Hey, don't try to mimic Miyagi.”

[0:18:59.1] JC: No, he can’t, right? Johnny's already taken to this thinking on his own. He's gotten real ingenious with his thinking, doing things Kreese never would have had them do. The baseball machine and what's to come.

[0:19:11.5] SR: I would imagine that Johnny is thinking what wouldn't Kreese do, I'm going to do. Whereas LaRusso's thinking, “What would Miyagi do? I should do something like that.” He’s trying to pattern himself after Miyagi, whereas Johnny's definitely not trying to pattern himself after Kreese.

[0:19:27.9] JC: Well, he's back in Miyagi's house, his dojo, so he feels responsible to uphold that legend.

[0:19:35.0] SR: Well, it makes sense. His karate method is Miyagi-do. He's not teaching LaRusso-do. That would be different.

[0:19:44.5] JC: Daniel overseas as the scene ends, in the warehouse, he sees a tire and a wheel taken off a car and spinning to a resting motion. You see him, a spark goes off. He gets another idea. We as the audience don't know what it is, but we're soon to find out. Amanda's advice is coming through. We're now off-site with the Cobra Kai training crew. It's 5:00 a.m. and what is the team doing?

[0:20:15.1] SR: At Fulton and Raymer, I love these streets, because I grew up in The Valley. I know these streets. Fulton and Raymer, they're at a construction site mixing cement. You look at them mixing the cement and you're like, “Okay, well it's not so bad. They're mixing cement.” Then a huge cement truck arrives.

[0:20:32.5] JC: A Panorama City cement truck.

[0:20:34.6] SR: Is that what it said on it?

[0:20:35.5] JC: Oh, yeah.

[0:20:36.1] SR: I used to live in Panorama City.

[0:20:37.5] JC: See?

[0:20:38.2] SR: I lived in Panorama City for a time in my early 20s.

[0:20:40.8] JC: Johnny's pal, Cutter, pulls up, gives him the keys. When he sees the kids, he's a little reluctant of the situation, but he's like, “You want your bar tab paid off?”

[0:20:50.4] SR: Yeah. Johnny's going to pay his bar tab in exchange for letting him borrow the truck.

[0:20:53.7] JC: How much is Cutter’s bar tab?

[0:20:55.6] SR: I thought that too. I was thinking, “It’s got to be at least 250. At least.”

[0:20:59.0] JC: What’s his drink?

[0:21:00.2] SR: I’ve never run up a bar tab. I've never have.

[0:21:02.8] JC: Anyway, so Cutter leaves and you know that something's going down. This is a huge cement truck. Do you have any idea what was going to come?

[0:21:11.6] SR: I had no idea. No. I just figured that this cement truck would come and dump more cement and make them work 10 times harder. I had no idea what Johnny had planned here.

[0:21:21.3] JC: We'll hold off, because the next scene, we’re back at Robby's apartment and he's looking for food in a very empty refrigerator. While he's looking, what happens?

[0:21:32.8] SR: Well, he's looking for food in this empty refrigerator. It's already pathetic enough. The electricity goes out.

[0:21:39.3] JC: Thanks, Rick.

[0:21:40.8] SR: Yeah, the first thought is okay, how about that? Even if Rick paid the rent, he didn't pay the electricity.

[0:21:46.0] JC: Or thanks mom and Rick.

[0:21:47.9] SR: Yeah. I think the viewer is to understand that the electricity was cut off, obviously due to lack of payment. For anybody who's ever had their electricity cut off, they don't warn you. They don't come and knock on your door saying, “We’re cutting your electricity off.” They will do it anytime. They will do it any day. They will do it at a time when you cannot immediately turn it on again. They'll do it at night. They’ll do it on a weekend. Very heartless DWP.

[0:22:10.9] JC: It I was almost like a Dr. Seuss you were doing. They’ll do it at night. They’ll do it at – that was pretty good. Yeah, you know what? My heart just goes out to Robby. This is a horrible situation.

[0:22:21.9] SR: Yeah. He's still a minor, right? He’s a minor?

[0:22:23.5] JC: He’s already neglected. Now he has no power, really no food and it's just gotten much worse for him.

[0:22:31.7] SR: I do feel bad for him, because at least when my mother would run off with a lover, she would leave me with a refrigerator of Swanson's TV dinners.

[0:22:38.8] JC: Well, there's that.

[0:22:39.5] SR: My mother might have been wayward, but she at least took care of me. She left me with something.

[0:22:44.4] JC: Now we're back at Miyagi-do and Sam is working on the wheel technique when Robby, not happy, arrives. As Robby joined Sam, they find Daniel who is working on Mr. Miyagi's monument to balance fixture in the backyard, which is a really cool thing.

[0:23:03.3] SR: Yeah, it's like a floating wooden raft in the middle of this pond.

[0:23:08.2] JC: It’s not a raft. I would call it – I guess it's a raft.

[0:23:11.1] SR: I don't know what else you'd call it besides a raft. What else would you –

[0:23:13.0] JC: Made of wood.

[0:23:13.9] SR: Yeah, it’s a wooden circular shaped raft that's floating, that normally holds two bonsai trees that have to counterbalance each other. He takes the bonsai trees off and I did think to myself, “Okay, he's going to have them replace the bonsai trees.”

[0:23:26.1] JC: That was a great idea to build this contraption back there. It really fits inside Miyagi's world.

[0:23:32.4] SR: You are also seeing that the grittiness of Cobra Kai style of training, versus the serene, almost spiritual style of Miyagi-do. Then when they do the montage back and forth in a second, you see the contrast.

[0:23:47.6] JC: Yeah. I mean, even in the Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi took Daniel to the what, the lake and he was on the boat training and in the water and then he took Robby to the great outdoor. They stuck with that.

[0:24:00.8] SR: I will tell you that as a lover of the outdoors and nature, I would much prefer Miyagi-do style of training.

[0:24:06.5] JC: I do like a good dojo. I guess, Daniel has that at his house. He has more of a conventional dojo.

[0:24:15.9] SR: Well officially, he has two dojos, right? He has one at his house and one at Miyagi's house. They're both Miyagi-do.

[0:24:20.9] JC: That's right.

[0:24:22.0] SR: There's two dojos officially. Oh, I didn't even realize that till now.

[0:24:26.2] JC: He introduces Sam and Daniel to this contraption and they're a little bit like, “Whoa, we're going to get on this thing?” He talks to him to get weighed in the water. It's like 4-feet water, probably nasty, not changed very often.

[0:24:39.6] SR: Well Sam’s like, “When did you clean this thing last?”

[0:24:41.8] JC: Never.

[0:24:42.9] SR: I don't even like getting in a swimming pool, let alone some icky pond.

[0:24:46.2] JC: Yeah, it's pretty icky. There's probably some creatures about, but you're not in even very long and you're getting up on this contraption. Even getting on this thing is tricky, because it starts to move and wants to go down, so you've really got to get two people on opposite sides and work together to get on it. It's a brilliant training contraption.

[0:25:02.9] SR: I did notice that Robby had to be pushed forward just a little bit, because he obviously weighs more than Sam.

[0:25:07.4] JC: That's right.

[0:25:08.3] SR: She was closer to the edge and he was pushed forward just a little bit to allow for proper counter balancing.

[0:25:12.9] JC: That's right.

[0:25:13.6] SR: Which makes sense.

[0:25:14.6] JC: As they get going though, Sal, I couldn't help but think of log rolling and the concept of log rolling. Not that I ever log rolled, but it's – and then immediately when they get up there and do the first move, what happens?

[0:25:27.2] SR: They both fall.

[0:25:28.2] JC: They both fall. One person falls and goes in. The other person is done.

[0:25:31.9] SR: Okay. Yeah. If one person eats it, the other one will automatically, even if they're doing great.

[0:25:35.6] JC: Exactly, because the way that the whole thing moves. Fear already wet. There's nothing to grab on to and you're back in the water. It was a stroke of genius by Daniel. Now we're back at the Cobra Kai training. Johnny's giving a big speech and then commands everybody to get into the cement truck.

[0:25:56.3] SR: I will tell you, Johnny gives some good pep talks.

[0:25:58.7] JC: No doubt.

[0:25:59.9] SR: I hang on to some of his words. I really do, because he's got some nuggets. I mean, of course Daniel does too, but Johnny definitely has some of these nuggets that I can really cling to and apply to even my own life. Johnny gives his pep talk to the crew, the kids are all standing there. He tells them to get into the cement truck. This is a giant cement truck, the kind that rotates. He tells them to get in.

[0:26:23.0] JC: It's not rotating right now. It's off.

[0:26:25.1] SR: It’s the kind that does spin around and it's a cement mixing – cement truck. He tells him to get in. They back, they’re like, “What?” That's when Kreese comes in and defends Johnny, praises Johnny. He says, “This man led you to the mountaintop and you question him?” Johnny's just staying quiet and Kreese is totally having Johnny's back in this moment.

[0:26:49.0] JC: Johnny is loving it.

[0:26:50.0] SR: This is what you call third-party validation.

[0:26:52.8] JC: Exactly.

[0:26:55.1] SR: Also in this moment is when we learn who Kreese is.

[0:26:59.1] JC: You’re sensei’s sensei?

[0:27:00.1] SR: Yes. We learn in this moment, the crew learns who Kreese is to Johnny. Yeah, their sensei’s sensei.

[0:27:08.6] JC: Not only was Johnny’s speech great, but for the crew to hear from Kreese and now they have a lot of respect for him immediately. They're not going to back out of the situation now.

[0:27:18.2] SR: Kreese says, “Johnny was my best student. My toughest student.” He's totally praising. When I used to be in multi-level marketing, they call that edifying your upline. What that means is that someone comes along and says such tremendously wonderful things about your sponsor, it makes you think better of your sponsor. 

Now multi-level marketing are big on this edification and third-party validation and that's exactly what's happening here. In that instance, the Cobra Kai students are actually gaining more respect for Johnny and then Miguel says, “I'll do it.” He heads first into the cement truck.

[0:27:54.8] JC: Followed by Hawk and some of the others. Not everybody gets in. There's 20 students now and I don't think 20 could fit in there.

[0:28:00.6] SR: Think about four or five got in, including Miguel and Hawk. Did Aisha get in?

[0:28:04.8] JC: I don’t think so.

[0:28:05.5] SR: I couldn't tell when they were actually in the cement truck who the other bodies were.

[0:28:08.8] JC: They probably had chips, but Johnny while Kreese was saying these kind things, Johnny probably always wanted to hear. You could tell that it was really impacting him. Whoever speaks highly of Johnny, right?

[0:28:24.4] SR: Especially Kreese, somebody who Johnny legitimately thought was trying to kill him. Johnny said that before, “You tried to kill me.” That's what Kreese said, “I didn't try to kill you.” Here's this guy who used to be your father figure, your sensei maybe tried to kill you. They had a horrible falling-out. Now he's back in your life and praising you in front of your students. Pretty powerful.

[0:28:43.5] JC: Yes. Now we continue to cut back and forth between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-do training and both sets of students find their rhythm all to a great 80s-esque track.

[0:28:56.0] SR: Do you remember the song?

[0:28:56.7] JC: No. I think it's a score, but it really had a good beat to it. I was really loving the sequence, man.

[0:29:03.7] SR: Yeah. I love contrast. Just like early on in the show, season one when you see the contrast between Johnny's life and Daniel's life. Now you see the contrast in Miyagi-do training, Cobra Kai training. They both are out of the box training, but so different.

[0:29:19.2] JC: I love the work.

[0:29:20.1] SR: Yeah, and I love how they bounce back and forth. I love that contrasting bouncing back and forth. What do you call that? I mean, it's a montage, but it's –

[0:29:26.0] JC: It’s a montage. I love to see the Cobra Kai students; Miguel, Hawk and company, they work together and with hard work and dedication, they're able to manually spin the cement truck and that's what they're doing in there.

[0:29:40.6] SR: That was the idea.

[0:29:41.7] JC: If they sit in there too long, some of that cement could start to harden and then we have a mess on our hands. They're successful and Kreese and Johnny are enjoying it and everyone's applauding. Now we cut back to Sam and Robby and they're doing pretty good on the wheel now.

[0:29:57.6] SR: Everybody is succeeding. Cobra Kai students are succeeding. Miyagi-do students are succeeding. It's a successful morning for everybody. Even the truck driver, he's getting his bar tab paid for.

[0:30:09.2] JC: It's true, man.

[0:30:09.6] SR: Everybody's winning today.

[0:30:11.0] JC: Cutter is loving life. We should have cut to him at a bar.

[0:30:14.7] SR: Not only do I want to know how much Johnny’s stepdad gave him in that check, I want to know how much Cutter’s bar tab was. These are the things I want to know.

[0:30:23.2] JC: I think it's got to be $500.

[0:30:25.7] SR: I mean, because you're risking your job. It's got to be at least $500. Yeah, I'll agree with that.

[0:30:30.5] JC: Next, we see Johnny hosing the cement-covered students off and giving yet another inspiring speech.

[0:30:37.1] SR: As he's hosing them off.

[0:30:39.0] JC: Yeah. Now we're back at Miyagi-do and Robby is sharing a little bit about his personal life with Sam.

[0:30:46.6] SR: Well, I think he just alluded to it. I mean, he didn't say, “I had my electricity cut off.”

[0:30:51.3] JC: No.

[0:30:51.8] SR: She offers him a ride home.

[0:30:53.4] JC: He doesn't need the ride home.

[0:30:54.2] SR: He declines.

[0:30:55.3] JC: He just said he's dealing with some things at home and then she picks up on that. Then she goes and talks to Daniel and says, “What do you really know about Robby's home life?” What happens next?

[0:31:08.5] SR: I think we learned that Daniel doesn't know much about Robby's home life. Nothing at all really, right? He trains him in Miyagi-do. He has him working at LaRusso Auto.

[0:31:17.9] JC: He figures he’s doing okay.

[0:31:18.8] SR: That’s it. Yeah.

[0:31:20.1] JC: His resume was incredible.

[0:31:21.2] SR: Oh, his transcripts were really great.

[0:31:22.9] JC: Yeah. It’s out of control. Now we cut to Robby's dark apartment and there’s a knock on the door.

[0:31:30.1] SR: Yeah. I was not expecting that Daniel's going to show up. I actually thought it was somebody else. I don't know who, but Daniel. Daniel shows up at Robby's apartment. Robby's dark apartment.

[0:31:41.2] JC: Daniel already knows the score. He can just tell, right? It's a touching scene.

[0:31:45.9] SR: Isn't some of their relationship is Daniel seeing himself in Robby, yes?

[0:31:50.4] JC: Oh, I’m sure.

[0:31:51.6] SR: He goes to this Seven Seas-style apartment. He sees the living conditions. He's reminded of his own past.

[0:31:59.5] JC: Daniel had a great mother.

[0:32:01.4] SR: Yeah, okay. He sees a kid that reminds him of himself, who doesn't even have a good mother, an attentive mother, a loving mother, a devoted mother. She's all about having a good –

[0:32:10.3] JC: Checked out. Yeah.

[0:32:11.8] SR: She's all about getting her freak own.

[0:32:13.0] JC: You can tell Robby's ashamed just by answering the door, but Daniel just says, “It's all right.” Assured everything’s okay. I thought it was a really touching scene. Not a lot was said, but a lot was said. Next, we're at LaRusso's residence and Daniel is talking to Amanda.

[0:32:31.2] SR: Yeah. Daniel says to Amanda, “I want to let Robby stay here. We can set up an air mattress in the guest room.” Amanda says, “Okay, but we got to talk to his parents, right?” 

[0:32:43.8] JC: He's like, “Hey, his mother is MIA.” Then she says, “He has a father.”

[0:32:48.7] SR: Yeah. Ooh! When she said that, I was literally in my head like, “Oh, okay.”

[0:32:53.6] JC: She's right. Amanda says, “Of course, he can stay here tonight. If it's going to be more permanent, we need to talk to his parents and she's exactly right.” Now we're back at the Cobra Kai dojo and Kreese and Johnny are talking. Kreese reveals that he'd like to come back tomorrow. He's back, baby.

[0:33:14.2] SR: Sure. Johnny goes, “Uh, tomorrow?” Then Kreese is, “Well, if it's okay with you.” Kreese is trying to be affable, amiable. Again, I'm incredibly cautious with Kreese. I don't know what's up his sleeve. I don't know if he has benevolent hopes in – or I don't know if he has a –

[0:33:31.8] JC: I don't think he's very sincere.

[0:33:33.8] SR: Yeah, I don't know what to make of Kreese yet. I really don't.

[0:33:38.5] JC: Nor do I. Now we cut to Miguel who is entering Johnny's apartment with a spare key that he has, because they're so tight now, with some food that his mother cooked for Johnny, which was very nice, to put it in the refrigerator, because Johnny's not home.

[0:33:54.2] SR: Well, because he said, “My mother doesn't want you eating Slim Jims for breakfast.”

[0:33:57.1] JC: Exactly.

[0:33:58.1] SR: Because I guess that's the Johnny breakfast is a Coors and a Slim Jim.

[0:34:01.8] JC: Or a fried bologna sandwich.

[0:34:03.9] SR: Yeah, that's right, from episode one.

[0:34:06.5] JC: What does Miguel stumble upon?

[0:34:10.0] SR: Oh, Miguel puts the food in the refrigerator, closes the refrigerator and sees a picture of young Robby in a soccer outfit, right? A young soccer –

[0:34:21.2] JC: 2010 soccer champs. We've seen the photo before, but now Miguel sees it.

[0:34:27.0] SR: Yes. Obviously, so Miguel recognizes – in Miguel's head, he must be doing his own montage. Because remember the time that he saw at the LaRusso's house, he saw Robby having dinner with the LaRusso family.

[0:34:42.4] JC: Saw him at the canyon.

[0:34:43.0] SR: At the canyon party.

[0:34:44.3] JC: Then fought him in the tournament.

[0:34:46.6] SR: Do you think he's thinking, “This is Johnny's son?” Or thinking, “Johnny knows this kid.” I don't know if he's thinking already right off the bat, “This is Johnny's son.” I don't know if he'd think that right away.

[0:34:56.3] JC: I think I would think that.

[0:34:57.5] SR: Really?

[0:34:58.0] JC: That's why Johnny was the way he was in the tournament about not crossing that line.

[0:35:05.1] SR: There was a moment when –

[0:35:05.9] JC: It blew Miguel’s mind for sure.

[0:35:07.0] SR: There was a moment where Miguel asked him, I think, “Why are you going easy on this? Why do you want to go easy on him?”

[0:35:12.0] JC: Why that guy?

[0:35:12.8] SR: Yeah. Okay, so Miguel has figured it out. He sees the picture.

[0:35:16.1] JC: But he can’t believe it. It's a quick scene, but a lot is going on there in Miguel. Johnny and Kreese grab a couple of Coors at the local convenience store. As they walk out, who do they run into?

[0:35:30.6] SR: They're walking out of the store with their beers in their hand. What, they just got into some verbal altercation with the convenience store guy. What was that all about?

[0:35:37.5] JC: Kreese did. I'm sure he had not very kind words to say to another ethnicity.

[0:35:45.1] SR: Yeah. He says something like, “This is America,” or something like that.

[0:35:48.3] JC: Kreese.

[0:35:49.6] SR: Daniel LaRusso shows up and then you have this faceoff. This is one of those mind-blowing moments for any Karate Kid fan, where you see Kreese standing next to Johnny, facing off Daniel LaRusso and it's 2019. This is one of those most where you pause the video and go, “Holy cow. Is this really happening?” Then Kreese says something like, “The gang's all here. Well, almost everyone.” We know who he means. Then Daniel says, “You're lucky he's not here.” Of course, they're talking about Mr. Miyagi.

[0:36:22.0] JC: I think he asked him how his knuckles were doing.

[0:36:23.4] SR: Yes, because Daniel asked Kreese, “How are your knuckles?” Then we have a flashback to Karate Kid 2, with Kreese attempting to punch Miyagi and instead, punching through the car window. You know what? Daniel’s like, “Well, if you're going to tease me, I'm going to tease you.”

[0:36:38.4] JC: Actually, the first thing Daniel says is, “Dead my ass.”

[0:36:42.2] SR: Oh, I missed that.

[0:36:43.4] JC: When they walked up, because he went there obviously to talk to Johnny about Robby sure and he sees someone from the dead, Kreese, and he can't believe it.

[0:36:53.1] SR: Okay, I missed that line.

[0:36:55.2] JC: Then Kreese does give condolences about Mr. Miyagi, but it was just so insincere.

[0:37:01.4] SR: What's so crazy is I was just so besides myself watching this scene that I missed some of the dialogue, because half of me is going, “Holy cow, is this really happening?” That I missed some good lines.

[0:37:13.3] JC: Then typical Daniel, he decides to leave because he's mad and he doesn't have the Robby discussion with Johnny, because the situation was just different.

[0:37:25.0] SR: Daniel says to Johnny, “I came to ask you a question and it looks like I got my answer.”

[0:37:30.6] JC: Not really.

[0:37:31.4] SR: Not really, but that's what Daniel said.

[0:37:32.9] JC: His mind's blown because it's now there's Kreese. He assumes Kreese is back, Cobra Kai is going to take over and be this horrible thing in the world. Again, I've said this before a few times, a lot of misunderstandings. If they took one more beat and had a real conversation, like they did at the bar the one scene.

[0:37:54.5] SR: Well, because then Johnny would say to Daniel, “Hey, I'm not even sure what to make up of Kreese.”

[0:37:57.9] JC: Yeah, this guy he comes over here. I don't like this guy. He's totally. Last time I saw Kreese, he tried to kill me. All of that.

[0:38:05.0] SR: Daniel hops in the car, drives off, camera pans out, right? Reseda Flats?

[0:38:11.5] JC: Yup. End. End of episode 2.

[0:38:14.7] SR: Wow. This episode blew me away more than the previous one. That moment with Kreese and Johnny, it's a surreal moment. It would have only been more surreal if Pat Morita had been standing next to Johnny. It would have been only more so surreal. Otherwise, really like I said, I missed some of the dialogue, because I was just like, “Wow, is this really happening?”

[0:38:31.7] JC: It is amazing. We have eight amazing episodes to go.

[0:38:36.2] SR: Yeah, I'm being blown away. I'm totally emotionally invested. Anybody, don't talk to me about anything else. I'm totally cut out. Totally emotionally involved.

[0:38:44.2] JC: Loved it. It was a really great episode and I cannot wait to do episode three.

[0:38:50.4] SR: Yeah, looking forward to it.

[0:38:52.0] JC: Thanks so much for listening and we'd greatly appreciate it if you could subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. If you have the time to leave us a short review, it would really help us as well.

[0:39:08.7] SR: We also encourage our listeners to follow us on social media @LetsTalkCobraKai for Facebook and Instagram and @TalkCobra Kai on Twitter. If you have any questions, that's a great place to message us.

[0:39:21.1] JC: You can also stream Let's Talk - Cobra Kai as well as all future shows from our website, which is justcuriousmedia.com. Thanks so much.

[0:39:29.6] SR: No mercy.