Recap and Review of Cobra Kai Season 2

On June 22nd, 1984 the Karate Kid was released in theaters and became a cultural phenomenon. The movie starred Pat Morita, Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove. The movie became legendary as well as the entire Karate Kid Franchise. Karate Kid Two and Three revolved around the Miyagi, Daniel Larusso and the Cobra Kai. Thirty Five years later the second season of Cobra Kai had been released on April 24th, 2019. Last year, the Karate Kid story came back to life as Daniel and Johnny rekindled their feud in the first season. There were a lot of twists and turns throughout the entire series, but none bigger then the final episode of season. Martin Kove reprises his role as Sensei John Kreese. A lot of the teasers and previews leading up to this season showed the dynamic of Johnny and Kreese’s relationship, as well as the character development of the two dojo’s and it’s students. The following CONTAINS SPOILERS if you don’t want to know what happens STOP reading here.

Episode 1- Mercy(Part 2)
Season Two picks up right where season one left off. The beginning of this season was intense as Johnny Lawrence and Sensei Kreese fought in the new Cobra Kai Dojo. Meanwhile, Daniel and Robby were building the new Miyagi-Do Karate school. A lot of this episode was about Kreese and Lawrence rekindling their relationship as teacher and student. My favorite scene in this episode is when they did a flashback to Karate Kid Two and LaRusso reflected on the rules of karate.They used a lot of elements of Karate Kid Two and I personally liked that, because Karate Kid Two was my favorite out of the original three. Lawrence was very conflicted throughout the episode because he wanted to train his students the right, but Kreese got inside his head and wanted to be a part of his life again.

Episode 2- Back in Black 
The battle lines started to get form in this episode, but the camps are operating much differently. Lawrence has a large amount of students and is starting to teach with more poise and confidence. LaRusso is starting out his Dojo and he feels the pressure to fill Miyagi’s shoes. His wife plays a big a big role in how he handles the pressure and always reminds him that he needs be himself. Robby is dealing with his own issues, as his mother one again abandoned him for lifestyle. He is also trying to find balance within himself and his karate. By the end of the episode, Kreese’s influence started to show and Daniel’s new way of balance was starting to pay off for Robby and Sam. At the end of the episode, Daniel struggles with how to handle Robby’s home life and ultimate find an answer.

Episode 3- Fire and Ice
This episode started off so funny with Johnny learning how to use a computer for the very first time. It reminded me of the generation before mine and how they struggle with technology sometime. It was quite humorous but it quickly turned serious when Johnny came upon an advertisement for the Miyagi-Do Karate school. Kreese continued to get into Johnny’s head by saying that a war should be started. While Daniel struggles with opening a Karate school, it appears Johnny continues to struggle when it comes to his relationship with Robby. Both Hawk and Miguel confront Johnny about his relationship with Robby, but he wants nothing to do with the conversation. That tone changed later on as Johnny told Miguel how he’s failed Robby since day one. This episode ended with both Dojo’s trying to present their camps to the public, but it was Cobra Kai who ended up showing off in the end.

Episode 4- The Moment of Truth
Sam and Robby struggled with how Miyagi-Do should get attention while Johnny fights with his landlord about raising the rent once again. Johnny issues a challenge to anyone in the dojo take to take on Miguel and a new young lady emerges by the name of Tory to give Miguel a lesson. Daniel, his wife, Robby and Sam went to the beach club to try and get new recruits. This unfortunately did not go as plan, because parents are already raving about Cobra Kai. As Daniel began sulking on the beach he ran into a Miyagi like figure who gave him some really good advice, which paid off when Daniel had to fend off three guys who were trying to attack Robby. As the episode closes, we began to learn what John Kreese has been really up to all these years. His life did not go as planned but has found new hope in the reassurance of Cobra Kai. By the end of it, Kreese seemingly passed the torch to Johnny and let him teach his way. One of the characters that’s been a staple of this show is Demetri. He has been friends with Cobra Kai students but has recently been rejected by all of them. He ends up joining Miyagi-Do and wants to learn karate the right way.

Episode 5- All In
This epsiode began with Eli flashing back to when he was being bullied, but it soon showed him getting a huge tattoo. Daniel begins Demetri’s training and I began to flashback when they started to playing some of the old music from the original soundtracks. Hearing that music brings back so many memories for me and I am glad the producers made good use of it. A lot of this episode focused on the friendship that Robby and Demetri once had. Demetri is a lot like Hawk was with his self-confidence, self respect and wanting to learn how to defend himself. This culminated in Hawk trying to lead a 5-on-1 attack on Demetri, but Robby and Sam saved the day. Kreese starts to influence Hawk into his ways of thinking. Johnny continues to struggle with the relationship between Robby and Daniel. It effects him deeply and in his mind he paints Daniel out to be a bad person. Miguel begins to fall for Tory while Sam begins to fall for Robby, but before they could explores those feelings Hawk and company destroyed Miyagi-Do. This episode left me very angry because of Miyagi’s medal of honor being stolen. As a grandson of a war hero, it really effected me in a personal way. I was curious to see how the story was going to shape up from here.

Episode 6- Take A Right
While Johnny tries to find out who destroyed Miyagi-D0, it becomes more apparent that Kreese is trying to take over. Johnny reunites with two old Cobra Kai members in Bobby and Tommy. Bobby became a Pastor and Tommy was stuck in the hospital with some major medical issues. The old Cobra Kai members reunited and remembered the old times. Johnny tells them that Cobra Kai is back along with Kreese and the looks on their faces explained it all. They began questioning Johnny about his decisions, but before they could have anymore fun they ended up in a bar fight. Johnny and Tommy reminisce about Ali and their lives and Tommy reminds him that he still has time.  Daniel starts teaching the kids the difference between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, and goes into how he once joined Cobra Kai for short time. At the end of episode, Tommy passes away while he was with the other Cobra Kai members which will definitely leave a void in Johnny’s heart at some point.

Episode 7- Lull
Daniel is very consumed with Miyagi-Do and it’s beginning to effect his relationship with his wife and business. She begins to get very frustrated with him and how he’s been unresponsive towards things. On the other side, Kreese continues to take control of Cobra Kai by manipulating Johnny and his students. Cobra Kai was going through some very rigorous training in the woods, while Daniel was using the hot and cold atmospheres to train his students about their atmospheres. Miguel finds out that it was Hawk that stole Miyagi’s Medal of Honor and fights him to get it back. Miguel does the right thing and gives it back. At this point, both Johnny and Daniel are struggling with their identities. Daniel can’t balance Miyagi-Do and work, and Johnny struggles with the maintaining his students because of Kreese. When push comes to shove, Johnny kicks Kreese out of his life and dojo.

Episode 8- Glory of Love
Johnny starts off having a dream about a possible relationship with Miguel’s mom Carmen. The apple doesn’t far from the tree though because Robby and Sam are getting closer in their relationship. Miguel and Tory are also getting in their relationship. As soon as I saw the title of this episode, I immediately thought of Karate Kid Two because of the song. Karate Kid Two was all about relationships and fighting for them. Daniel is fighting for his relationship with his wife Amanda and Johnny is fighting to find love with the right person. One relationship we never heard much about in Karate Kid was the relationship between Daniel and his parents. Daniel’s mom reminisced about her feelings towards his dad. Daniel is trying his hardest to make things right with Amanda, but nothing has worked so far. Robby and Sam run into Miguel and Tory at the Roller Rink, and it was a really awkward moment full with tension. Even though, Glory of Love didn’t play in the episode some of the music from Chicago did play which was an awesome moment. The music selection in this series has been awesome. They use a lot of the 80’s classic rock in this series which was awesome. The music can make or break a show or movie and the mixture of the original Karate Kid soundtrack, the 80’s music and some of the new music made this show some much fun.

Episode 9- Pulpo
Robby reconnects with his mom when she pays a visit to the LaRusso’s. She makes amends with him and declares that she is going to rehab. Johnny and Carmen go on a date and the LaRusso’s show up to go on a date as well. They are sat next to each in the same restaurant and it gets more odd by the moment. Carmen and Amanda seem to be having a good time, but Johnny and Daniel keep going back and forth against each other. The students of both dojos end up at a party where there starts to be a lot of tension. Tory and Sam engage in a drinking contest which was provoked by Tory. Sam in her druken state starts acting recklessly and kisses Miguel by accident. Sam and Robby run into Johnny who offers to help them.

Episode 10- No Mercy
Daniel and Amanda begin to freak out because Sam is missing. Robby and Sam are at Johnny’s place and when Daniel arrives it turns into a fight before the kids break it up. Robby and Johnny begin to heal in their relation while Daniel struggles with his relationship with Sam. At school, Sam has a confrontation with Tory which leads into an all out brawl at school. Every conflict was addressed in this brawl, but in the end Miguel paid the price. He tried to end the fight with Robby but it was Robby who landed the final blow and sent Miguel into the hospital where he was fighting for his life. Johnny leaves the hospital and when he goes to the Cobra Kai dojo, he sees that Kreese has taken over and bought the dojo from underneath him. The season ends with Johnny reflecting on Miguel and Daniel feeling guilt on letting Miyagi down. The last thing you see is an accepted friend request from Ali that Johnny sent. After all she was the reason Johnny and Daniel fought after all. It seems to be that there is more left to explore.

Cobra Kai Season Two was absolutely awesome and was even better than the first season, because the characters were more developed. The relationships, the identities, and the differences between dojos and philosophies really made this show an absolute gem to watch. There was a lot of intense moments in this series, which made it all the better. There was so many twists and turns in this series, but the one thing you can expect is their is definitely going to be a season three. I am not sure what’s going to happen in season three or when it will take place, but rest assure the story has a lot left to go. It’s going to be a cruel summer waiting for an announcement on season three, but for now keep enjoying the first two seasons of Cobra Kai and the legacy of The Karate Kid.