Match Point
Directed by Joel Novoa
Speaking to Daniel directly, Silver attempts to apologize for his past behavior, but Daniel is having none of it and demands that he leave at once. Resigned, Silver tells him they will hold Cobra Kai to a moratorium on fighting before the tournament, provided that Daniel and Johnny do the same. Kreese reminds them of their deal and tries to create dissention by claiming Johnny is playing second fiddle to Daniel, but Johnny tells him in no uncertain terms to get off the property. As they leave, an irritated Silver suggests they get to work to take down Daniel at the tournament.
Upon returning to the dojo, Silver gathers the students and tells them there will be no more fighting until the tournament. Desiring payback for their humiliation on the baseball field, Tory protests, but Silver responds that there is a time and place to get even, advising them to store up their anger and unleash it on their opponents at the tournament. Though he does not contradict his fellow sensei's words, Kreese looks uneasy.
At a bar, Daniel finishes telling Johnny about his history with Terry Silver and tries to emphasize how dangerous Silver is. To that end, he proposes taking over the training for both dojos, but Johnny refuses and suggests they simply go kick Silver's ass instead. Daniel stresses that they cannot strike first and sees Miyagi-Do as the only way to beat Silver, claiming to only want what is best for Miguel and Eagle Fang. Fed up, Johnny accuses Daniel of thinking he is better than him because he beat Johnny at the All Valley and challenges Daniel to one more tournament-style fight — not only to prove who is better, but to decide which one of them will take over their students' training. Daniel accepts, and Johnny names the time and place: sundown at the sparring deck.
At school, Demetri learns that his girlfriend Yasmine cannot attend the tournament or prom due to her father's wedding in Australia, while Hawk discovers that his ex-girlfriend Moon is single again. Miguel then shows them Johnny's drunken Twitter rant where he has announced his rematch with Daniel. Amanda also shares this with Daniel himself, who is sleeping off a hangover at the dealership; he tells her he has no intention of fighting and will sort it all out with Johnny. Meanwhile, Johnny trains in a Rocky IV-style montage set to "Burning Heart" by Survivor. He jogs, breaks cinder blocks, and punches and kicks waves in the ocean.
Daniel is about to call Johnny to smooth things over when Sam comes home early from school, asking what he did to set Johnny off. Daniel claims he is impossible to work with, but Sam reasons that he just has a different style. However, Daniel believes it is the wrong style for the situation and wants to double down on Miyagi-Do. Sam disagrees, wanting to learn both styles to be better prepared if she has to face Tory again in the tournament. Daniel admonishes her for provoking Tory at the birthday party, but the defiant Sam argues that she can make her own decisions.
At Cobra Kai, Silver stresses the importance of defeating their enemies when it matters and instructs the students to stay focused on their training until the tournament. Taking exception to Silver's methodology, Kreese privately tells him they need to talk. Still yearning to get even, Robby comes up with a plan to circumvent Silver's orders.
Back home, Johnny recruits Miguel to help him train, but Miguel is reluctant, as he does not want to stop learning Miyagi-Do if Johnny wins. He sees no point in the fight and states that no matter who wins, nobody wins. Unable to get through to his sensei, however, Miguel simply wishes him good luck and walks away. At Miyagi-Do, Daniel gets his own training montage as he explains his motivations to Mr. Miyagi; he believes that Johnny's style of fighting is dangerous, and the only way to move forward is to defeat him. He asks his old sensei to forgive him if he is wrong.
At an upscale restaurant, Kreese meets with Silver to make sure they are on the same page. He claims their students are confused by Silver's teachings, as Cobra Kai always strikes first. Silver explains that he already did — by recruiting Johnny's son. Silver considers that to be a direct attack and warns Kreese that his aggressive posture could take Cobra Kai down again. Kreese insists he has everything under control, but Silver disagrees. Furthermore, he admits that he was living a lie before he rejoined Cobra Kai, and now wants nothing more than to finish what they started together. He urges Kreese to forget about the past and focus on their students. Kreese concedes, predicting they will be victorious.
At the tattoo parlor, Hawk falls victim to an ambush by Robby and the other Cobra Kai students. He attempts to fight them off, but is overpowered and restrained. Hawk calls them out for ignoring the no-fighting rule, but Robby reponds that they are not there to fight and approaches him with a straight razor.
Johnny arrives at the sparring deck for the fight, but is dismayed to find all the students in attendance due to his Twitter rant. When a last-minute truce fails, he and Daniel agree to settle their grudge once and for all. With Sam and Miguel calling points (and Mitch providing color commentary), Daniel eventually takes a 2-1 lead over Johnny. Looking to finish the fight, Daniel uses Chozen's pressure point technique to disable Johnny's left arm, but Johnny counters with a scissor-leg takedown to even the score at 2-2. He calls out Daniel for using a dirty trick, but Daniel responds that he's not the one who fights dirty. As both men battle to score the final point, they strike each other simultaneously, leaving no clear winner.
A dejected Hawk arrives afterwards and removes his hood, showing everyone the result of Cobra Kai's sneak attack: his purple mohawk has been shaved off. Johnny demands immediate payback, but Daniel believes it will only make things worse. Sam supports Johnny's view, leading Daniel to point out Johnny's hypocrisy about his own influence on Miguel. Johnny replies that he won't have to worry about it anymore and breaks up their partnership, taking his Eagle Fang students with him.
Tropes:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Johnny adapts more quickly to the pressure-point technique, Miyagi-Do's Secret Art, than Daniel and Kreese do and brushes it off as a dirty trick after overcoming his paralysis and winning his second point.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- In their initial confrontation, Silver apologizes to Daniel for what happened in the 80's. Daniel, understandably, doesn't believe him for a second and orders him to leave. But is it possible that Silver's apology was sincere? At the start of the season, Silver acknowledges (in a "What the hell was I thinking?" way) that what he did to Daniel in 1985 was insane, encourages the Cobra Kai students not to get into pointless fights, and has more than one scene where he tries to persuade Kreese to focus on simply rebuilding Cobra Kai instead of attacking Miyagi-Do, suggesting that yes, Silver truly would prefer to bury the hatchet with Daniel. Then again, Silver also ends up bushwhacking Johnny, cheating in the tournament, and framing Kreese to get him out of the way, suggesting that no, Silver is just as slimy and ruthless as ever (that being said, it could also be that he is sincere at this point and only later falls prey to his demons).
- Did Johnny actually shake off the pressure point technique? Or, in keeping with his Martial Pacifist nature, did Daniel control his strike, hitting just hard enough to hurt without completely disabling Johnny's arm?
- Blatant Lies: Amanda demands to know if there are more Cobra Kai villains from Daniel's past that she needs to know about. Daniel says no, which just makes her laugh sardonically. This moment humorously flips to Accidental Truth in season 5, when Mike Barnes (the last remaining OG Karate Kid villain) indeed reappears... but reveals that he has no intention of ever again attacking Daniel.
- Both Sides Have a Point:
- Both Daniel and Johnny make some fair points, but each is too stubborn to admit the other is right about anything. Daniel is correct that seeking a fight with Kreese and Silver would be reckless, considering how close Kreese alone came to killing both of them, and that allowing the kids to get into a brawl could easily lead to another disaster like the school riot (where Miguel ended up in the hospital). Johnny is right that it's hypocritical for Daniel to accuse Johnny of escalating things considering he was so proud of the sprinkler prank that directly led to the attack on Hawk (as Johnny accurately predicted), that Cobra Kai clearly has no intention of honoring the moratorium on fighting before the tournament, and that they will continue to attack the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang alliance with impunity if nobody stands up to them.
- On the Cobra Kai side, Kreese and Silver bicker about the appropriate response to the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang antics. Silver is right in wanting the Cobra Kai students to back off and keep their eyes on winning the tournament, because that's the only fight that matters and it's the adult thing to do. But Kreese, darkly, has a point in wanting to keep attacking, because their side's destructive antics have actually been very effective in splintering the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang alliance — a division that ultimately wins Cobra Kai the tournament, as neither team comes up with the points to beat Cobra Kai on their own.
- Call-Back:
- Terry once again uses "The 3 D's" lecture to teach his class. Except unlike Part III (where he's only manipulating Daniel into torture), he's sincerely preparing his students for the All-Valley.
- Daniel earns his first point by using a modified Crane Kick against Johnny.
- After Daniel goes up 2-1 against Johnny, he begins the next round by performing his kata before using the pressure-point technique against Johnny.
- Then Johnny counters the above with a scissor takedown, reminiscent of how Bobby won his All-Valley quarterfinal match.
- Cerebus Retcon: Reversed, in that a dark thing from past continuity is being made less dark. In Karate Kid Part III, Silver's ranting painted the picture that he dumped toxic waste full-time, and he mentioned being lucky to make one deal a year without being indicted. Yet in Cobra Kai, far from Silver being in court nonstop (which would have become a matter of public record), the only "dirt" Demetri can find on him is a single toxic waste scandal in Borneo. note
- Comically Missing the Point:
- After Daniel tells Johnny about the events of The Karate Kid Part III, Johnny just focuses on the fact Daniel only had to fight in the final round of the 1985 All Valley tournament, rather than the danger that Silver presents.
- While Miguel, Sam, and Demetri are worried about the match between Johnny and Daniel, Hawk thinks a match between their two senseis is going to be awesome to watch.
- Continuity Nod:
- Demitri mentions the toxic waste Silver dumped in Borneo in The Karate Kid Part III.
- Johnny remembers the scenes where Daniel humiliated him in The Karate Kid and in previous seasons of Cobra Kai while he works out to Survivor's "Burning Heart".
- Daniel similarly recalls the times Johnny humiliated him in the first movie and earlier in the show, several of them set immediately before (or after) the memories Johnny relived.
- Yasmine tells Demetri to consider her "an admirer from afar", which is the exact same thing he told her when he was trying to awkwardly make conversation in "Different but Same".
- Climax Boss: Daniel and Johnny do this to each other in a tournament-style fight at Miyagi-Do for this episode's climactic midseason battle.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Hawk is able to hold off a few Cobra Kais before he is ultimately pinned down, enough for Robby to give him his Traumatic Haircut.
- Distinction Without a Difference: Sam isn't skipping class, she's just making her own schedule.
- Double Knock Out: Johnny and Daniel's bout ends with simultaneous KO strikes.
- Evasive Fight-Thread Episode: The question about whether Daniel or Johnny is truly the better fighter is left unanswered, as their fight ends in a draw when they simultaneously strike each other while tied 2-2.note
- Foreign Cuss Word: Louie calls Johnny a "stronz", this being (mispronounced) Italian for "piece of shit".
- Foreshadowing:
- When Amanda asks Daniel if any more Cobra Kais from his past are gonna show up and destroy their lives, Daniel says no… but then, likely thinking of old Mike Barnes, changes it to “I can’t say that for sure”.
- Bert remarks on how Terry Silver looks like Highlander before Nate corrects him as "The Highlander, there can be only one." This analogy eventually follows through when Silver betrays Kreese in the season finale and takes over the dojo for himself.
- Get Out!: Daniel is unreceptive of Kreese and Silver turning up to his dojo uninvited and tells the pair off after a brief exchange.
- Hidden Depths: Mitch is revealed to have some talent as a color commentator, as he provides some good commentary while Chris streams Daniel and Johnny's match.
- Hypocrite: Kreese tells Johnny that he and Daniel are not equal partners in the combined dojo, and that Daniel sees Johnny as a second fiddle. He's not wrong, but as it turns out, Kreese sees Terry Silver the exact same way, resulting in a Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal in the season finale.
- Hypocritical Humor: Kreese mocking Daniel for holding a grudge is rich coming from a guy who's still scheming to avenge a tournament defeat from 35 years ago.
- I Warned You: As Johnny accurately predicted, all the sprinkler stunt did was piss off Cobra Kai even more and it leads to Hawk being jumped and suffering a Traumatic Haircut. He points this out to Daniel during their argument.
- Irony: Johnny spends a lot of time prepping for the Crane Kick just to get hit by it again; however, he beats the pressure-point technique on his first try without knowing what it was.
- Kick the Dog: During their match, Daniel uses the Miyagi-do pressure-point techniques, which are really only supposed to be used in a real fight and not one for points, on Johnny in an effort to secure the win.
- Lampshade Hanging: Johnny points out how ridiculous it is that Daniel only had to fight one opponent in the 1985 All Valley tournament. This is, in fact, a common criticism of the third movie's story.
- Loophole Abuse: The Cobra Kais decide that while they might not be allowed to fight the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fangs, they can sneak up on Hawk while he's getting his tattoo redone, pin him down without hitting him, and shave off his mohawk. However, everyone else knows that this clearly still violates the spirit of the agreement and the only reason Cobra Kai doesn't suffer any blowback is because of the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang alliance splitting.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Everyone is spooked by Daniel's reaction to Silver.
- Papa Wolf:
- When Johnny sees Hawk's Traumatic Haircut, he rushes to him and demands to know who did it. When Hawk confirms it was the Cobras, Johnny immediately declares Kreese and Silver need to pay.
- Both Daniel and Johnny perceive each other as having a negative influence on Sam and Miguel (respectively), and their mutual resentment over this is the final straw for them to break up their alliance.
- Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: The confrontation between Daniel / Johnny (hero side) and Kreese / Silver (villain side) plays out like this. All the threats and vulgarity come from Daniel and Johnny.
- Precision F-Strike: Johnny tells the bartender to "shut the fuck up". Unlike the previous seasons, this won’t be the only F-Bomb dropped in this season.
- The Reveal: It's revealed that the terms for the bet if Daniel and Johnny lose are that both of them have to shut down their dojos and stop teaching karate for good.
- Self-Serving Memory: During Johnny and Daniel's Training Montage, they have flashbacks of what the other did to them to justify why their way is right to the other, ranging from incidents that are quite justified to... Seeing themselves in the right when they were clearly in the wrong and only remembering the part where they were the victim:
- Johnny recalls himself as the victim of the beach fight and only remembers Daniel sucker punching him back in 1984, despite instigating the fight. He even believes himself as victim to the blueberry pie incident back in high school when Daniel understandably retaliated to something Johnny did without any provocation. In the present day, Johnny recalls Daniel attacking him at the chop shop, despite going too far in the interrogation and Daniel kicking his door down (to be fair, Johnny was going to give Daniel a call about Samantha being at his apartment and explain everything). However, Daniel bragging about how he kicked Johnny's face in Season 1 to his employees came off as quite passive-aggressive and arrogant, regardless of how much that incident warped Johnny's life. Daniel's attempt at shutting down Johnny's attempt to enter Cobra Kai for the All Valley tournament at the board meeting along with talking down Johnny about whether he can call himself a sensei after his students trashed Miyagi-Do also justifies Johnny's animosity considering that Daniel was blaming Johnny for incidents that he had nothing to do with. The former was because of Kreese, Silver and Barnes in 1985 which led to the ban in the first place (despite Johnny clearly not being there) and the latter being because of Hawk, Mitch, Edwin and Big Red acting under Kreese's influence, something Johnny punished the whole class severely for until they admitted who committed the crime. While Johnny's grudge against Daniel for "stealing and influencing Miguel" is fueled by jealousy, his disapproval of Daniel being proud of Miguel's sprinkler prank against Cobra Kai instead of fighting them does have credence as a former Cobra Kai who was victim to an almost identical prank, considering the incident was what motivated Cobra Kai to shave Hawk's mohawk off which was the breaking point for the two dojos to split.
- Daniel remembers the blueberry pie incident (which is a deleted scene from the original Karate Kid), the opening of new Cobra Kai, Johnny showing up to fight Daniel at his house over an incident Louie caused, Cobra Kai crashing the Miyagi-Do demonstration at the Valley fest, Johnny going too far when interrogating one of the goons at the chop shop and most understandably, when he kicked Daniel into the TV to stop him from retrieving his daughter who was staying at his apartment. These were genuine incidents where Johnny was in the wrong, but Daniel saw himself as the victim in the beach fight (to be fair, Johnny's attitude at the time wasn't helping but Daniel did sucker punch him and made things worse) and Halloween fight back in 1984 (which he unquestioningly provoked with the hose prank). Most recently in this episode, Daniel feels that Johnny has been influencing Sam when in reality, she just wants to learn both styles.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Now openly together, Yasmine and Demetri's relationship is rife with this, particularly from Yasmine's end (e.g. adoring Demetri's Techno Babble and emphasizing sitting with him at lunch later by smacking his rear).
- So Last Season:
- In an attempt to invoke this trope, Johnny develops countermeasures against the Crane Kick while training, but Daniel successfully averts it by hitting Johnny with a non-telegraphed Crane Kick.
- Daniel attempts to use the Pressure Point technique, which he successfully subdued Kreese with during their confrontation in the Season 3 climax, on Johnny, but he doesn't completely subdue his opponent and doesn't score the third point he needs to win the match.
- Threw My Bike on the Roof: During Johnny's training, he passes by a man riding on a scooter, which he trashes for no reason other than to vent his frustrations over Daniel. He also kicks away another guy's beach ball and smashes a mailbox.
- Training Montage: Johnny and Daniel both have one in preparation for their big match against each other.
- Traumatic Haircut: While Hawk is in the tattoo shop, the Cobra Kais sneak up and pin him to the table, and Robby shaves off his mohawk with a straight razor.
- Unreveal Angle: The teens try to use Chris' video stream to determine who won the fight, but the video angle proves inconclusive.
- Villain Has a Point: Johnny insists to Kreese that he and Daniel are equal partners in their combined dojo. Kreese points out that it's (only) Miyagi-Do's name on the front sign, implying that Daniel isn't giving Johnny the respect that a real partnership needs. The rest of the episode proves Kreese right.
- Wham Episode: Daniel and Johnny ultimately decide they cannot work together and end their dojos' partnership, despite the students' protests (and what is at stake for both dojos). In addition, Hawk has his iconic mohawk shaved off by Robby, shattering the former's confidence.
- What Does She See in Him?: Both Hawk and Demetri himself admit they have no idea why Yasmine is going out with Demetri.
Daniel: Works for me.
