Bad Eggs
Directed by Joel Novoa
Even as Daniel and the others are helpless to stop it, Cobra Kai's influence proliferates through the Valley with a massive marketing campaign. At one such event at a shopping mall, Anthony rejects being given a Cobra Kai t-shirt but falls victim to Kenny and several other students who forcibly dunk his head into a diarrhea-filled toilet.
In a makeshift war room at the dealership, Daniel places a flag on the map for every new dojo Silver has opened in the Valley. Johnny suggests trying to soil his reputation and asks Daniel if there is anyone from Silver's past who would speak out against him, but Daniel informs him that it didn't end well the last time they tried. Desperate for anything they can use against Silver, Amanda proposes that they speak with Kreese, reasoning that it may take a monster to defeat a monster. Before they can come to a consensus, however, a customer interrupts them wanting to buy a car.
As the students warm up for class at Miyagi-Do, Anthony confides in Sam his uneasiness about facing Kenny, noting that he has been training in karate a lot longer. Sam expresses her sorrow over what happened at the mall, but emphasizes that Cobra Kai is everyone's problem, and that he is not alone in facing them. Meanwhile, Eli and Demetri encourage Miguel to hook up with Sam again, but Miguel is content to honor her wishes to remain friends for the time being. When Eli expresses disdain that Robby is back in Miyagi-Do, Miguel reassures him they are all on the same side now.
With Daniel and Johnny busy in the war room, Chozen takes over training for the day and orders the students to line up. Having devised a new exercise based on an endangered species of bird, he instructs the students to each take an egg from the table and protect it - from him - at all costs. With only an hourglass's worth of sand to prepare, the students promptly scatter throughout the dojo.
As the fighters train vigorously at the flagship dojo, Devon wonders who they are preparing to fight, but Tory gives no answer. Frustrated, Devon demands to know why she doesn't want her there; Tory tells her that Cobra Kai is dangerous and that she shouldn't be in it, but Devon suspects she merely feels threatened about possibly losing her status as the top female student. Elsewhere, Kyler advises Kenny to slow down, considering himself to be the top male student in the dojo.
Observing their students via video feed, Silver remarks about having an entire valley of full dojos, but Kim Da-Eun stresses quality over quantity and states they will need leaders for the next phase of their plan. Silver views Tory as a leader, but Kim responds that she has room for improvement. She then proposes a new challenge to see who the true leaders are amongst the students.
Johnny and Daniel grudgingly meet with Kreese at the prison; Kreese treats Daniel with contempt and only wants to speak with Johnny, but Johnny is not eager to return to favor. Daniel reasons that they have a common enemy and appeals to Kreese for help in learning Silver's plan. Though Kreese claims to know exactly what Silver is planning, he refuses to tell them.
As the hourglass dwindles and the students ready themselves for the hunt, Eli notices Robby chatting with Sam and offers to kick his ass, but Miguel tells him that he and Robby are friends now. Nevertheless, he seems a bit forlorn as he watches them interact. Soon after, Demetri finds his egg to be the first victim of Chozen, signaling that the hunt has begun.
Back at Cobra Kai, Silver begins a lesson about leaders and followers, dividing the students into male and female sides. Pitted against Sensei Odell, Silver chooses both Kenny and Kyler to face him. Kyler attempts to take charge as the leader and directs Kenny to attack, but their efforts repeatedly fail, leading Silver to end the exercise in disgust. On the female side, Kim Da-Eun chooses both Devon and Tory to face her. However, the two willful girls struggle to work as a team and are soundly defeated.
At the prison, Kreese reveals that it was he who sent the newspaper clipping to Daniel's house, but Daniel states it led him into a trap when Silver ambushed him. Kreese admits that wasn't his plan, but cannot resist riling Daniel by claiming it was "a nice consolation prize." Realizing their efforts are getting nowhere, Johnny suggests they simply leave Kreese where he belongs, but Kreese declares his innocence, citing Silver's connections with the District Attorney and his inability to afford a real lawyer. Daniel then offers to help facilitate his release, in exchange for his knowledge about Silver. Kreese agrees to the deal, and Daniel promptly steps away to call his attorney.
As Chozen continues his routing of the students and their eggs, Robby and Eli get into an argument about each other's salty past, but Demetri interjects and points out that they are both "ex-assholes" who should be focused on combating the greater threat of Cobra Kai, rather than each other. Meanwhile, Sam and Miguel bump into each other in the interior dojo, deducing they are the only two students left. Miguel starts to make small talk, noting that his breakup with Sam was a blessing in disguise, as it finally allowed him to make peace with Robby. They are suddenly ambushed by Chozen who knocks Miguel to the floor, breaking the egg he was carrying in his pocket. Sam is prepared to fight Chozen to defend her own egg, only to discover that Chozen had secretly lifted it from her backpack. He crushes it in front of her, then walks away in disappointment.
Still failing to cooperate as a team, Kenny vents his frustration on Kyler and starts to walk out of the dojo, but Silver orders him into his office instead. There, Silver inquires as to Kenny's background; Kenny explains that after his father was deployed, his brother Shawn became the leader of the house until he landed in juvie. Silver then notes that Kenny chose to follow Robby and now Kyler, which Kenny believes was the point of the exercise. Silver tells him that he spent his entire life as a follower, but it wasn't until he listened to his own instincts that he reached his potential. Having seen the best fighters in the Valley, he believes that Kenny has the potential to be even better - if he is ready to be a leader. Confused, Kenny argues that Silver appointed Kyler as the leader, but Silver clarifies he only assumed as much. Upon asking Silver what he should do, Silver emphatically orders him not to ask that question anymore.
Back at the prison, Johnny and Kreese sit in awkward silence waiting for Daniel to return. Kreese offers him some jello in an attempt to break the ice, but Johnny gruffly declines. He then asks Johnny if he really wants to destroy Cobra Kai, claiming that Silver's teachings are corrupt, but Johnny insists that Kreese is just as bad. Kreese tells Johnny that everything he did was for him, and there is still a chance to take back Cobra Kai and carry on their legacy, but Johnny is intent upon erasing Kreese's influence in the Valley. At the height of tension between the two men, Daniel returns with his lawyer's number on a piece of paper, but forces Kreese to uphold his end of the bargain before releasing it.
At Miyagi-Do, Chozen lectures the students for failing the exercise, warning that Cobra Kai will take them down individually. After Sam distributes a new set of eggs, Anthony calls his teammates together before they can disburse. Using Dungeon Lord as an analogy, he surmises that the only way they can win is to work together. To that end, the students collect their eggs into one basket and form a defensive perimeter around them. When Chozen attacks them with a bo staff, they utilize teamwork to successfully hold him off until he finally concedes. After the students celebrate, Chozen declares that their cohesiveness will ultimately give them the edge over Cobra Kai, and vows to teach them how to master their defenses.
After finishing off yet another pair of students, Kim Da-Eun beckons for more challengers; Devon convinces Tory to try again and the two step forward. While they are still overmatched by Kim, Tory prevents her from striking a fallen Devon instead of attacking Kim from behind, but is also defeated by the sensei as a result. Kim criticizes Tory for not sacrificing her "pawn" to gain the victory, but Tory confides in Devon that she wouldn't be a very good leader if she had done so, fostering goodwill between the two.
Back on the boys' side, Kenny and Kyler face off against Sensei Odell once more, but Kenny refuses to follow Kyler's directions and a fight breaks out between them. When Odell calls an end to the scuffle, Kenny throws Kyler at the sensei's feet and uses him as a springboard to land a flying kick on Odell, winning the challenge to Silver's approval.
In prison, Kreese explains that Silver became obsessed with Cobra Kai and paid for both he and Kreese to train under Master Kim Sun-Yung in South Korea. In a flashback to 1980 (where Kreese playfully interacts with a young Kim Da-Eun), Silver reveals that he bought the original Cobra Kai dojo for Kreese, before presenting him with an advertisement for the Sekai Taikai, an international tournament that Silver plans to make into the "Super Bowl" of karate. However, Kreese turns him down in favor of running the dojo back home, alluding to a promising new student with the same first name. In the present, Kreese reveals that Silver intends to win the Sekai Taikai with his new dojo and take Cobra Kai global. He believes that Daniel and Johnny are outnumbered and outmatched, and that Silver's victory is close at hand.
When Daniel finally gives him the paper with his lawyer's number, Kreese opens it to find the words "No Mercy Mother Fucker!" written on it. Having been outplayed, a disgruntled Kreese doubts they can stop Silver without his help, but Daniel and Johnny are more than content to leave Kreese to rot in his cell.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Kreese tells Daniel not to hire one of his "greasy cousins" as his lawyer, referencing Ralph Macchio's role in My Cousin Vinny.
- All for Nothing: Demetri attempts to protect his egg by constructing a protective covering using some supplies he had on hand. Chozen simply throws a knife at it, which pierces the covering and destroys the egg.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Kreese's "No Mercy" mantra gets thrown at him (albeit not physically) when Daniel manipulates him into giving him all the information from Silver only to proceed to give him a paper with "NO MERCY MOTHER FUCKER!" writen. It's clear Daniel and Johnny are not gonna spare him a number from a lawyer and instead both willingly leave him to rot in jail for all they care.
- Big Brother Instinct: Kreese and Kim Da-Eun's interaction in the 1980 flashback definitely shows shades of this. When Kreese accidentally knocks a vase and Kim Da-Eun almost gets caught when she stops the vase from falling (it is implied Kim Da-Eun is not meant to be watching as she is hiding behind said vases), Kreese intentionally breaks the vase so that Kim Da-Eun doesn't get caught.
- Bullying a Dragon: Eli, just because you're the recent All-Valley champ doesn't mean you'll even stand close to a chance at taking on a sensei who has way more experience in your art-style and is light years ahead of you, skill-wise.
- Call-Back: Mitch, of all people, cites Mr. Miyagi when sitting on his egg—"Nature's rule, not mine."
- Character Development:
- Unlike in Season 1 when Miguel became a Crazy Jealous Guy upon seeing Sam and Robby together, here he accurately observes that the two are just catching up when Hawk accuses Robby of moving in on her and doesn't get angry about it.
- Anthony LaRusso. From someone who was too lazy to do karate, to being the strategist who comes up with a clever plan to pass Chozen’s test as a team. It’s safe to say, he’s come a long way from his introduction in Season 1.
- Composite Character: Discussed, Demetri remarks that Chozen is cryptic like Daniel but aggressive like Johnny, which Chris notes is the hardest part of both styles.
- Continuity Nod: Just like how Miyagi responded to Daniel's question about his belt by saying he got it from JC Penny, Chozen explains that the eggs are from Trader Joe's.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The first round of the egg protection lesson is an exercise in humiliation for the kids, as Chozen breaks all of their eggs easily.
- Didn't Think This Through: So many examples.
- Demetri makes a protective covering for his egg...then stands around boasting about it with the egg in plain sight.
- Chris has less of this than the others, as he climbs into a tree to get away from Chozen, but fails to get far enough up. Chozen takes him out with one casual hit.
- Mitch decides to just plain sit on his egg and somehow hope that'll work.
- Bert and Nate go onto the pond deck, and instead of paying attention to their surroundings, decide to just play with the eggs.
- Robby also forgets basic spatial awareness when burying his egg.
- Eli, you know, the All-Valley champ, dares to take on a karate master who is light years ahead of him in experience. It goes as well as anyone (except him) expects.
- Anthony (instead of hiding underneath or at least inside a car, which might have made Chozen work a bit) just flat-out sticks his arm out the window and surrenders.
- Miguel and Sam get distracted talking to each other and are easy prey for Chozen.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Kyler's and Kenny's response to Anthony disdainfully throwing a Cobra Kai shirt on the ground? Ganging up on him and giving him a swirly in an unflushed toilet.
- Dope Slap: Chris gives Mitch one after he, Bert, and Nathaniel catch the latter sampling some of Cobra Kai's free jerky.
- Embarrassing Nickname: After the unflushed toilet swirly, Anthony briefly mentions to the other Miyagi-Dos that the Cobra Kai guys have started calling him "shithead".
- Eviler than Thou: Kenny giving Anthony a swirly in an unflushed toilet easily outclasses everything Anthony had done to him in the past, especially since (almost) everything the latter did to him was out of peer pressure.
- Failed a Spot Check: Quite a few examples during the egg protection lesson, but the grand prize goes to Robby, who didn't notice that Chozen is standing right behind him until after he buries his egg.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Chozen's lesson ultimately forces Eli and Robby to work together to protect the eggs and move on from their past animosity.
- Foreshadowing: Bert, Nate, and Chris find Mitch hanging near a Cobra Kai dojo eating Jack Links Jerky provided by said dojo and berate him. This becomes very important later on in the season.
- I Know Mortal Kombat: His years of playing video games obviously did not teach Anthony how to actually fight. However, they did teach him a lot about fighting strategy, which helps him come up with a plan for the group to defend their eggs from Chozen.
- I Lied: Kreese upholds his end of the bargain telling Daniel and Johnny about Silver's plans. Afterwards, Daniel hands over the note which supposedly contains his lawyer's number to Kreese; he is instead greeted with a merry "NO MERCY, MOTHER FUCKER!" and left to rot.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Daniel and Johnny actually suspect prison may have humbled Kreese, with Daniel going as far as to say he almost feels sorry to imagine an old man like Kreese in a place like this. But then Kreese saunters with a hulking inmate asking (with fearful respect) if "Sensei" wants anything to eat. Johnny and Daniel give each other a "should have known better" glance.
- Internal Reveal: Kreese tells Daniel that he was the one who sent the article on Stingray to him, but doesn't reveal that it was via Tory.
- Ironic Echo: For all of Kreese's talk about "No Mercy" throughout the entire The Karate Kid franchise, he ends up on the receiving end of one, word-by-word, in handwriting. From the least-likely person he would expect: Daniel LaRusso.
- Irony: At one point, Chozen encourages the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang students by emphasizing that while they may be outnumbered by Cobra Kai, they have a stronger core of students and can work together more effectively. Yet when Kreese was the sole sensei of Cobra Kai (in Season 3), he too emphasized a strong core of students and military-inspired teamwork... if only Silver hadn't outed him. That being said, Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang naturally still has a stronger sense of cohesion since they are not taught to punish the loser in sparring matches.
- Kreese also gets his own "no mercy" philosophy turned right back against him by Daniel, of all people.
- Jump Scare: Chozen pulls several of these against the Miyagi-Do students during his training exercise.
- Kick the Dog: Kreese asserts that Silver beating up Daniel at Stingray's residence wasn't the goal of his plan, but nonetheless considers it a fortunate outcome, provoking Daniel.Daniel: Well, following [the newspaper clip] led me into a trap. Silver blindsided me.
Kreese: Well, that wasn't my plan. But it was a nice consolation prize. - Let's Split Up, Gang!: The first round of Chozen's training sees the Miyagi-Dos and Eagle Fangs spreading out and away from Chozen, one by one. It doesn't work, as Chozen makes quick work of them all.
- Never My Fault: It's clear that while Kreese regrets how things with Johnny have turned out, he's still convinced that he was completely right and wouldn't do much to actually change his actions if he had the chance.
- "Not So Different" Remark: After Robby and Eli start arguing about each other's past actions, Demetri stops them by telling them they're both "ex-assholes". Funny enough, he gave this same speech in the season 3 finale to Miyagi Do and the then newly formed Eagle Fang in order to get them to let the past go and focus on bigger priorities just like he is now, but Robby and Eli weren’t there then.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Anthony understandably panics when he sees that the toilet he's about to get a swirly in (courtesy of Kenny and Kyler) isn't flushed.
- The first round of the egg protection exercise is a giant bundle of this trope.
- Demetri's reaction switches dramatically, followed by Miguel and Eli running off the moment Chozen's kunai pierces through Demetri's "protective cover."
- Mitch understandably panics the moment Chozen spots him.
- Hawk went from full-on confident and ready to fight to this trope the second Chozen unveils his nunchucks against him.
- Bert and Nate can't help but scream when Chozen tips over the deck that they are on.
- In the second round of the egg protection exercise, despite that the Miyagi-Fang students have a solid plan this time, several of them almost panic when they see Chozen charging at them through the mist.
- One-Steve Limit: In Kreese's flashback, he talks about this student he has a good feeling about, who has the same first name as his.
- Pet the Dog: Silver gives Kenny honest encouragement and shows faith in his abilities.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: When Daniel offers to get Kreese a lawyer to get him out of prison, Kreese demands he gets him a real one and not one of his "greasy cousins".
- Precision F-Strike: Daniel gets a second one this season, this time in the form of a note with the message "NO MERCY, MOTHER FUCKER!"
- Quantity Versus Quality: As Chozen explains to the students when they pass the test, while Cobra Kai vastly outnumbers them, this means they're spread too thin across the various franchises and cannot fight cohesively. On the other hand, their dojo may have a smaller number of students, but they have a stronger core and know how to work together. Not stated but implied is also the mentality of the respective dojos, where one has a "dog eat dog" mentality and the other a focus on supporting and protecting one another."This is what we have that Cobra Kai does not. Their movement mile wide, but only inch deep. But our movement, inch wide, but mile deep."
- Spanner in the Works: Turns out that Johnny joining Cobra Kai as a kid threw a wrench in Silver's plan to expand the dojo worldwide back in 1980, as Kreese decided to put the idea on hold so he could focus on turning Johnny into the best karateka in the Valley. At this point, Johnny has (wittingly or otherwise) had almost more influence in how things turned out in the Karate Kid universe than Mr. Miyagi himself.
- So Proud of You: When Anthony makes his suggestion for the group to unite to protect the eggs from Chozen, Chozen can be seen smiling to himself, clearly proud that Anthony has figured out the aim of his test.
- Team Spirit: The Miyagi-Do students' second round of defending their eggs from Chozen works out in their favour, thanks to Anthony's suggestion that they all work together as one, rather than splitting up one by one like they did in the previous round.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Three of them during the egg exercise.
- Robby tries to hide his egg by burying it in the garden, only to discover that Chozen is right behind him. His face simply screams this trope.
- Eli cockily challenges Chozen when he comes for his egg, being the All-Valley boys division champion. Once Chozen whips out his nunchucks, Eli lets out a dejected "oh no" just before Chozen knocks his egg out of his hand.
- After Chozen takes out Miguel, Sam challenges Chozen to go through her first, only for Chozen to reveal that he had pickpocketed it from her backpack. After Sam frantically checks her backpack, she can only let out a dejected sigh.
- Underage Casting: While training with Silver in 1980, Kreese still looks like the young man he was when he entered the Vietnam War. We're somehow supposed to believe that this was only four years away from Martin Kove's middle-aged appearance in The Karate Kid (1984). Then again, the All-Valley Tournament is Serious Business, so maybe the stress of winning it twice aged him significantly!
- Villain Has a Point: While it's still all a part of Silver's efforts to strengthen Kenny's brutal nature, he's completely right when he tells Kenny that he needs to stop being a follower and start taking charge himself instead of always listening to orders from idiots like Kyler if he really wants to grow as both a fighter and a person.
- The Worf Effect: A cerebral example: The usually intelligent Demetri, Miguel, and Hawk are portrayed as easy fodder in their strategy against Chozen to make Anthony look better by comparison.
