Feel the Night
Directed by Josh Heald
The episode opens with a new revelation — Ali Mills Schwarber is back in the Valley for the holidays. When her mother asks if she is going to visit any of the old gang, Ali assures her that she has some plans.
Johnny and Carmen wake up in Johnny's bed together after a night of sex. Although neither of them feels that the previous night was a mistake, Johnny is concerned about complicating things with Miguel; Carmen is sympathetic to his concern. She then leaves to get dressed for work, but makes plans with Johnny to talk more later that night. As he sits down to breakfast, Johnny reads a Facebook message from Ali and learns she is back in town. Ali has invited him out to lunch, but having just rekindled his relationship with Carmen, Johnny is indecisive.
Miguel, meanwhile, has gone back to Miyagi-Do for a bit of private sparring with Sam. As they're changing into their workout clothes, Miguel notices a picture of Mr. Miyagi, prompting Sam to explain who Miyagi is, and Miyagi-Do's defense-oriented philosophy, which Miguel notes lacks in offense-oriented practices. Miguel notices the Okinawan hand drum from Part II, leading Sam to demonstrate the fight technique inspired by the instrument. In turn, Miguel decides to show some moves of his own. He then sweeps Sam off her feet and kisses her on the mat, just as Daniel walks into the dojo, leaving both kids embarrassed.
At Cobra Kai, Robby wakes up to the sound of Kreese practicing on a training dummy. Robby thanks Kreese for his hospitality. Kreese offers to give him a few karate lessons, but they are interrupted by the arrival of Kreese's students. Hawk is none too pleased to see Robby in the dojo, noting that by Kreese's own logic he's the enemy for putting Miguel in the hospital. Recounting his war experiences, Kreese states that it is sometimes hard to tell friend from foe, and points out that "the enemy of your enemy is your friend". Meanwhile, Tory finds Robby in the backroom preparing to leave, stating that he doesn't belong there. She accuses him of running away from his problems and suggests that Robby channel his hatred to make himself stronger. She then invites Robby to hang out with the Cobra Kai gang after class.
Having accepted Ali's invitation to lunch, Johnny finally meets her face-to-face for the first time in over 30 years. Though he attempts to order a vegan dish to impress her, he is relieved when she orders a cheeseburger and promptly follows suit, putting them both more at ease.
Sam apologizes to Daniel for inviting Miguel over to Miyagi-Do without telling him. Though Daniel understands that Sam is growing up, he is still overprotective of his daughter and is concerned that she's adding unnecessary drama to her love life by jumping so quickly between boyfriends in the past year (Kyler, then Miguel, Robby, and now back to Miguel). Sam confesses that Robby witnessed them together the previous night, but assures her father that he can trust her and encourages him to get to know Miguel.
After practice, the Cobras meet up in the woods to plan their activity, and Robby joins them. Despite lingering tension between him and Hawk, Tory intimidates the latter into letting Robby tag along. When they pass through a broken fence into what appears to be a restricted area, Robby hesitates, but Tory is able to coax him into continuing. Hawk then leads the group into the Ventura Zoo.
After reminiscing about old times, Ali mentions the pictures of Johnny's students on Facebook. Johnny initially claims that life has been pretty good to him after high school, but then recants and tells Ali the truth about his many struggles. In turn, Ali opens up about her recent separation from her husband. Johnny apologizes for the way he acted in high school, which Ali accepts before inviting him out to do something fun.
Upon speaking to Miguel for the first time, Daniel finds common ground with him over their shared working-class upbringing, and reveals to Miguel that Johnny led a much more privileged life in his youth. He also discredits Johnny's claim that Daniel won the All Valley tournament with an illegal kick to the face, pointing out that Miguel used the Crane Kick in last year's tournament without consequences. Curious, he asks Miguel what else Johnny told him, and ultimately manages to clear the air about the origins of their rivalry. Miguel now respects Daniel, while at the same time still respecting Johnny. Afterwards, Daniel gives Sam his blessing to continue dating Miguel, but half-jokingly warns the two lovebirds to keep their "sparring" to a minimum, much to Sam's delight. As soon as Daniel leaves, she muses to Miguel that things would be so much easier if her dad and Johnny bothered to sit down and actually talk to one another. She breaks into a wide grin as she gets an idea as to how to make this happen.
At the zoo, the Cobra Kai plan to steal a large Chinese Cobra from captivity as a gift for Kreese, only to find that Kyler has forgotten to bring the snake pole needed to capture the snake. They inadvertently call attention to themselves and are forced to flee the premises empty-handed. As Hawk berates Kyler for ruining the mission, Robby suddenly appears with the snake in a bag, leading the other Cobra Kai to celebrate with him as Hawk looks on in resentment.
Johnny and Ali enjoy a night out together at Golf 'n' Stuff, in a montage set to "Feel the Night" by Baxter Robinson. The two briefly sit and discuss their respective teenage children, and are about to kiss when Ali receives an alert on her phone reminding her about a Christmas party that night. Wanting to enjoy Johnny's company a bit longer, she invites him to attend the party with her.
Kreese commends his students for stealing the snake, but gives most of his praise to Robby, leaving Hawk even more disillusioned. Kreese stresses the importance of making alliances, stating that Miguel and Sam have created one of their own before dismissing his students for the night. After exchanging pointed glances with Robby, Tory marches out of the dojo with purpose.
At the LaRusso house, Sam and the rest of the Miyagi-Do gang wait for a keg to be delivered for their own Christmas party. When the doorbell finally rings, however, the gang is dismayed to discover the Eagle Fang students at their door. Sam and Miguel explain that the party was their ruse to get everyone together and discuss combining their dojos, to set aside their differences to overcome the bigger threat of Cobra Kai. However, tempers immediately flare on both sides, leading Sam and Miguel to fear that their plan will fail.
Johnny returns to the Encino Oaks Country Club for the first time since high school to meet with Ali, only to find her being warmly greeted by Daniel.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: At one point, Kyler claims that if he doesn't pass trigonometry, his dad will "shit in [his] mouth". It's left to the viewer's imagination whether Kyler means this literally or if he's just (grossly) exaggerating how strict his father is about his grades, but given the fact that it wouldn't make Kyler the first bully in the Karate Kid universe to deal with an abusive father, it does make you wonder.
- Almost Kiss: After their time at Golf 'n Stuff, the separated Ali and Johnny come very close to kissing before her phone's alarm goes off.
- Amicable Exes: Johnny and Ali catch up with each other over lunch, and even reminisce about their feud when they were younger.
- Asian Airhead: We already knew Kyler isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and trigonometry isn't exactly basic math, but even an average high school student should be able at least pass the course without worrying as Kyler does. He also doesn't seem to realize the Toilet Humour in how he is describing his stress...
- Big Damn Reunion: Johnny embraces Ali when the two see each other for the first time in over three decades. Daniel does the same to her when they meet at a Christmas party.
- Blatant Lies: Tory tells Robby that Cobra Kai's trip to the zoo won't involve anything that would violate his probation. It turns out that their plan is to steal a snake, which is exactly the sort of petty crime that would do just that.
- Broken Pedestal: Hawk is not happy that Kreese has decided to recruit Robby, given Robby injured Miguel. Along with Mitch's expulsion from Cobra Kai and Kyler's recruitment, this is another nail in the coffin of Hawk's faith in Kreese. It gets even worse after the zoo mission, when Hawk has to watch his fellow Cobra Kais and Kreese lavish praise on Robby for his last-minute save in capturing the snake.
- The Bus Came Back: After 36 years, Ali Mills makes her return to the franchise.
- The Cake Is a Lie: Instead of telling them about the sit-down with Eagle Fang, Sam convinces her fellow Miyagi-Do students that they are at her house for a party while her parents are at the Country Club Christmas diner, and keeps promising them that that a keg is on the way. Miguel tells Bert and Mitch the same thing, albeit leaving out the detail of whose house it's at.
- Call-Back:
- Ali and Johnny go on a date at Golf 'n Stuff, doing almost the exact same things Ali and Daniel did on their date (or Sam and Miguel in season 1, for that matter).
- Miguel and Daniel sit in the old car the same way Daniel and Miyagi did back in the first movie. The old sensei is also recounting his history to a young student.
- Kreese begins to teach Robby the "Cobra Strike", one of the first moves Johnny taught Miguel in "Strike First".
- Comically Missing the Point: Double subverted. Chris struggles to come up with an analogy for the relationship between Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do. Nathaniel suggests "like oil and vinegar". Chris says no, he doesn't think they're like salad dressing.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Sam and Miguel "spar"...and Daniel ends up walking in on them making out in the dojo. This trope was a major factor into why they broke up in season one, but now Daniel and Miguel actually get a chance to sit down and talk. Due to the recent events and getting to share his side of Johnny and Daniel's rivalry, Daniel comes to like Miguel pretty well.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: A non-verbal one, as Hawk visibly does not like how Kreese singles out Robby for praise while pretty much ignoring the other three participants in the snake theft.
- Enemy Mine:
- Sam and Miguel encourage Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang Karate to set aside their differences so that they can defeat Cobra Kai and the threat they pose.
- When Robby is spotted in the Cobra Kai dojo, Tory briefly gives him an approving expression. Hawk and the other Cobra Kai? Not so much... but Kreese explains to Hawk that he believes the enemy of your enemy is sometimes your friend.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Now that he's afraid of Hawk in light of what happened to Brucks, all Kyler can do is make excuses when Hawk reams him out for failing to bring the snake pole.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even Demetri, who thought it was a good idea to bring Trivial Pursuit to Moon's party, finds Sam's fake Christmas party (which basically consists of six Miyagi-Do students sitting around her living room doing absolutely nothing while she stalls for time) excruciatingly boring.
- From a Certain Point of View: Daniel and Miguel clear the air over Daniel and Johnny's feud all those years ago, with Daniel filling in details from his point of view that Johnny conveniently left out.
- Hands-On Approach: Sam shows Miguel the drum technique. Then he counters with some secret moves of his own, which is a pretense to lay her on the floor and kiss her.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Hawk taunts Robby for refusing to drink a beer, Robby, who's been caught with pot at school, retorts that he doesn't need to drink to pretend to be cool.
- Internal Reveal: Daniel tells Miguel about some of the details of The Karate Kid that Johnny had left out earlier, like the fact that that Daniel had only sucker punched Johnny at the beach after Johnny tripped him.
- Lady Macbeth: Robby only came to Cobra Kai with the intention of crashing for the night. Tory talks him into staying and also going along with the snake theft.
- Meaningful Background Event: Kreese visibly notices the exchange of looks between Robby and Tory when she first sees him in the dojo and is clearly already trying to figure out how he can spin this to his advantage.
- Mistaken for Thief: Daniel notices his Okinawan hand drum sticking out of Miguel's pocket. Luckily for Miguel, Daniel is soon too shocked at finding Cobra Kai's (former) top student making out with his daughter to question exactly how the drum ended up in his pocket.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Daniel finally officially meets Miguel and learns that the kid's background (coming from a poor, single parent family, being bullied by wealthier kids, and finding guidance through karate) is just like his own. He realizes that he completely misjudged Miguel and takes a liking to him, with Miguel returning the favor on both counts.
- Oh, Crap!:
- The Power of Hate: Tory explains to Robby how Kreese taught her to channel all her hatred towards Miguel (for cheating on her with Sam) and Sam (for 'taking' Miguel from her) to give her strength."I hated you for what happened to Miguel, you know. I hated Sam LaRusso. I hated everyone. I hated myself the most. Sensei Kreese taught me that if you take all that hate... and you channel it... it makes you stronger. And it feels good."
- Rags to Riches: Miguel is surprised to learn that Daniel used to live in Reseda, and conversely didn't know that Johnny used to be one of the rich kids.
- The Reveal: Ali reveals that she and her "current" husband, Greg, have divorced, although they're Amicable Exes.
- Shout-Out: Demetri refers to Sam and Miguel's plan as "Parent Trapping".
- Take That!: Demetri isn't a fan of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, considering the stop-motion puppetry creepy."Can we at least put on a Christmas special? I'd even watch that creepy one with the little... elf dentist. Yeah, I'm that bored."
- The Teetotaler: Robby is firmly established as one, when he refuses the beers that Kyler procured for the gang. He takes it a step further after Hawk mocks him as one."Nah. I just don't need to drink to pretend to be cool."
- Toilet Humour: Kyler claims that he forgot to bring a snake pole with him because he has a lot on his mind, fearing his dad will "shit in his mouth" if he doesn't pass trigonometry. Hawk is annoyed that this is Kyler's biggest concern in the midst of committing a heist."If I don't pass trig this semester, my dad's gonna shit in my mouth."
- Verbal Backspace: Johnny memorizes a vegan order to impress Ali, but falls back on going with her order (a cheeseburger) upon realizing she didn't change much and he doesn't have to eat foods he hates to impress her.
- Villain Respect: Kyler has mad respect for Robby when he does a last minute grab of the snake with his bare hands (especially since this ensures Kyler won't have to worry about a dressing down from Kreese for nearly blowing the whole thing)."Hey, you the man, dawg! [To Hawk] Hey, he's a natural Cobra, man."
- What the Hell, Hero?: Daniel's attitude when Sam uneasily admits that Robby caught her with Miguel.
- Will They or Won't They?: A darker example than usual, as more than one viewer feared that Johnny would make a move on Ali, thus jeopardizing his newly-rekindled relationship with Carmen.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Because he did hit her once (while intoxicated and trying to pick a fight with Robby), Miguel is hesitant to intentionally strike Sam while sparring.Sam: [confidently] Try to hit me.
Miguel: [grimaces] I'm not gonna try to hit you.
Sam: [teasingly] What? You scared you're gonna get beat by a girl? - You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
- How Hawk reacts to Kreese bringing Robby into the Cobra Kai fold.
- How Chris reacts to Sam inviting the Eagle Fang students into her home, particularly Mitch. Mitch has a similar reaction upon seeing Chris.
- How Daniel reacts to learning that Robby caught Sam and Miguel in a compromising position.
