Party Time
Directed by Tawnia McKiernan
We catch up with Stingray after his absence in Season 3, enjoying breakfast at home. When he goes outside to grab the morning newspaper, he gets an earful from his next door neighbor Greg, who is irate about Stingray playing loud music all night and calls him an “unemployed man-baby on probation”; Stingray corrects him and says he is no longer on probation, and in fact is getting ready to go out that day. Greg mocks him for wanting to hang out with a bunch of kids at a dojo, and refers to him as "Stink-Ray". Offended, Stingray warns him that if you mess with a cobra, you get the fangs.
At the dojo, Silver offers his gratitude to Kreese for saving his life in Vietnam and says he will do anything to prove his loyalty. In class, Kreese begins a lesson about balance — or rather, the art of throwing their opponents off balance. Robby pairs up with Tory and tries to talk her into going to prom, as crashing Sam's big night would almost certainly throw her off balance. Tory ups the ante and invites Robby to be her date for the prom, strictly as a "tactical move". Silver overhears and approves of the idea, but wants them to go to the prom in style.
When Stingray arrogantly walks into the dojo, Kreese eyes him with disdain and tells him he was never part of the team, denouncing him as a buffoon and an embarrassment. Though Stingray initially misconstrues Kreese's rejection as a test of loyalty, Kreese emphatically orders him to get the hell out of the dojo as a bewildered Silver looks on.
As the LaRussos plan a family gathering, Daniel and Amanda discuss possibly getting some help for Anthony, who has been grounded for bullying Kenny. Miguel arrives with his own family to pick up Sam for the prom, and both families pose for pictures together with Louie's sister Vanessa taking the photos. Afterwards, Johnny and Carmen discuss their dinner plans when Shannon unexpectedly shows up; she tells Johnny that Silver gave Robby a car for prom, and offered her a job and a new place to live along with a handful of $100 bills. Suspicious of Silver's motives, Shannon asks Johnny to handle the situation.
Demetri and Eli hang out together at the prom, but Demetri is shocked to see Yasmine, who flew home early from Australia to be with him. As the couple hits the dance floor, a forlorn Eli watches Moon from a distance, but cannot bring himself to approach her. At the punch bowl, Sam favors her ankle and blames it on practicing the flying tornado kick, but Miguel reminds her of their agreement of "no karate talk" tonight. Even as she agrees, Tory and Robby arrive arm-in-arm, and the two couples immediately notice each other.
Back at home, Louie tries to convince Daniel and Amanda that his sister, who is a 2nd year graduate student in child psychology, could potentially help Anthony work out his issues. Though they scoff at the idea, Vanessa's perceived expertise wins them over, but they are taken aback to find themselves the target of her assessment instead.
Johnny breaks into the Cobra Kai dojo after hours looking for Silver and Kreese. Watching via security camera, Silver calls Johnny on the house phone and chides him for breaking and entering, while Johnny tells him to keep his cars and his cash away from Robby. Silver responds that as long as Robby is with him, he is going to take care of both him and Shannon. When Johnny threatens to kick both Silver and Kreese's asses, Silver invites him to a place Johnny knows well — the site of the original Cobra Kai dojo — before placing another call to Kreese.
At the prom, Robby and Tory take the dance floor. Aware that Sam and Miguel are watching them, they proceed to put on a show, upstaging the rival couple who are trying to slow dance together. Seemingly successful in throwing them off balance, Sam and Miguel cannot help being distracted by them.
Vanessa attempts to counsel the LaRussos. She deduces that Anthony's behavior has more to do with parental neglect, along with their failure to properly discipline him. When Amanda becomes paranoid, Vanessa accuses her of acting out and tries to prove it by asking a provocative question, then starts scribbling on her notepad as Amanda responds. When Amanda snatches the notepad from her, it's shown that Vanessa simply wrote "This is the Test", which she declares that they failed.
As he and Silver walk through their former dojo, Kreese revels in his old memories of the place. Silver reveals that after they win the All-Valley, he plans to reopen the dojo and expand to new locations. Kreese admits he is pleased with the surprise, but Silver tells him it's not the only surprise.
After sneaking into the prom, Stingray propositions Bert to help him rejoin Cobra Kai (despite Bert no longer being a member). Given that the prom after-party was cancelled, Stingray offers to host the party at his place and asks Bert to spread the word. As they dance, Tory laments to Robby that she will never be privileged like the richer students at the prom, but if she can win the tournament, she can look at the trophy and know she was the best at something in her life. Though she dismisses the idea as stupid, Robby understands. Having come to enjoy each other's company, they realize they no longer care if Sam and Miguel are watching them.
Johnny arrives at the old dojo, only to be blindsided with a vicious kick by Silver that leaves him incapacitated. Silver explains to Kreese that to prove his loyalty, he brought Johnny here not only for Kreese to exact his revenge, but to throw Miguel off balance for the tournament. Johnny recovers and attacks Silver, briefly fending him off with Miyagi-Do techniques before Silver floors him a second time. When Silver picks up Johnny for more punishment, Kreese commands Silver to let him go, upholding his agreement to settle things at the tournament, and making it clear his orders are not to be questioned. Shocked and confused, Silver departs. A conflicted Kreese looks over the fallen Johnny before taking his own leave.
At the after-party, the festivities are interrupted by Stingray's neighbor Greg, who threatens to have all the students arrested for underage drinking if they don't leave immediately. After he calls out Stingray as a loser with no friends, Stingray beats him up and resumes the party as the students cheer.
Daniel visits Anthony in his room; he points out that being grounded is no fun, but neither is being bullied, and he hopes that Anthony understands they only want what is best for him. He admits he has been distracted with preparing for the tournament, but Anthony tells him he is looking forward to it. As Daniel turns to leave, he hears an electronic chime and confiscates a hidden tablet from Anthony, who has been playing video games in defiance of his grounding. Incensed, Daniel snaps the device in half over his knee and yells "QUIET!" to silence his son's protests. He then harshly tells Anthony to straighten up, or face an even stiffer punishment in the future.
Sam and Tory encounter each other poolside, where a brief exchange of words leads to another fight when Sam attacks her. Miguel attempts to break it up, but when Robby enters the fray, the two couples battle it out until Sam, Miguel, and Tory end up falling into the pool. While Miguel and Sam exit the pool and bicker about which of them ruined their evening, Tory playfully pulls Robby into the water.
Miguel drops in on Johnny after the party, only to find him sprawled out on the floor of his apartment in a drunken stupor. He carries his sensei to bed, where Johnny tells him he wants to be a father to him, but admits that he sucks at it. Miguel smiles and tells him he is doing just fine, and that he loves him. In his delirious state, Johnny replies "I love you too, Robby." A heartbroken Miguel leaves in tears.
Robby and Tory reflect upon their wild night in the car Silver loaned to them for the prom. Though they lament having to return the car and Tory's prom dress tomorrow, she suggests they might as well get their money's worth and start making out in the driver's seat.
The next morning at the LaRusso house, Daniel and Amanda are shocked to find Anthony voluntarily taking out the trash. He admits to his parents that he was wrong to bully Kenny and that things got way too out of hand. What's more, he offers to help out at the dealership, or even in the dojo if Daniel so chooses. While Amanda credits his "Miyagi-Do magic" for turning Anthony around, Daniel is loathe to concede it was Johnny's influence that ultimately did the trick.
Back at the dojo, a drunken Silver broods over his dispute with Kreese when Stingray walks in, hoping to rejoin Cobra Kai. Seeing an outlet for his frustrations, Silver brutally attacks him.
Tropes:
- The Ace: Silver's Curb-Stomp Battle with Johnny (something Kreese couldn't even do) should give the audience the clear impression that he's arguably the most dangerous Cobra Kai fighter in the show.
- Alone Among the Couples: Hawk feels left out at prom due to being the only one without a date, particularly since Demetri was originally in the same boat until Yasmine surprised him by coming back from Australia early.
- Armour-Piercing Question: Invoked. Whilst counseling the LaRussos, Vanessa asks them the following question to prove they are acting out.Vanessa: Why do you think you love your daughter more than your son?
- Batman Gambit: Silver lures Johnny to the Cobra Kai in order to confront the former after he offers a car to Robby and a new job for Shannon. The latter finding it empty, the former then lures him to the old Cobra Kai dojo, which is now for sale, where the former plans to beat the latter to a pulp.
- Becoming the Mask: Robby and Tory attend prom together to mess with Sam and Miguel's heads, and although they succeed in this goal, by the end of the night, they've had such a good time together that they've stopped caring about their rivals and realized that they like each other for real.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Daniel, fed up with Anthony's excuses, interrupts him with a "QUIET!", yelling it in a very Johnny Lawrence fashion.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Much as Greg has a point that Stingray shouldn't be serving minors alcohol, he is trespassing on someone else's property after he was told to leave.
- Brick Joke: Amanda refers to Vanessa as "Marisa Tomei Junior". You think she just means her looks, but then Vanessa enters the room and uses gesticular acting, like Tomei.
- The Bus Came Back: Stingray tries to return to Cobra Kai with his probation over, only for Kreese to kick him right back out. Likewise, Daniel's mother Lucille turns in her customary once-a-season cameo appearance at the beginning of the episode.
- Bystander Syndrome:
- Even sympathetic characters like Robby, Sam, Miguel, and Demetri do nothing to go against the mob mentality and help Stingray's neighbor when he assaults him in front of everyone.
- When Miguel and Sam throw down with Robby and Tory, none of the pool bystanders are in any hurry to break that up, either.
- Call-Back:
- The license plate of Silver's car — QUIKSLVR — references the "Quicksilver" training method that Silver put Daniel through in Karate Kid Part III.
- Speaking of Terry Silver, after Terry's beatdown of Johnny in the original Cobra Kai dojo, the former asks Kreese if he "wanna see some more," using the exact same words in Part III after Mike Barnes's surprise assault on Daniel in Silver's dojo. Unlike Part III when Kreese gleefully goes along, Kreese orders Silver to back off given his affection to Johnny playing a role in his character development.
- The Karate Kid Part III:Silver: You wanna see some more?
Kreese: I wanna see a lot more! - Cobra Kai:Silver: You wanna see some more? [Proceeds to grab Johnny's arm]
Kreese: Let him go.
- The Karate Kid Part III:
- The name of the episode is a call-back to the same movie, where Kreese and Silver said "party time," before launching an assault on Mr. Miyagi. Silver even gets to fight someone (Johnny Lawrence) at that same dojo, and win convincingly.
- A Cobra Kai founder once again beats the hell out of someone walking into their dojo. This time, it's Terry Silver giving a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Stingray.
- Casting Gag: Louie's sister Vanessa, who turns out to be a grad student studying child psychology and holds a therapy session with Daniel and Amanda where she questions their parenting skills, is played by Julia Macchio, Ralph Macchio's real-life daughter.
- Celebrity Paradox: Amanda makes a reference to Marisa Tomei, who co-starred with Ralph Macchio in My Cousin Vinny.
- Cerebus Retcon: Anthony being a mouthy Spoiled Brat when around his parents was mostly Played for Laughs in previous seasons. Here, Vanessa outright calls Daniel and Amanda out for not nipping this behavior in the bud and suggests this has a lot to do with how he's turned out.
- Continuity Nod: At Stingray's party, Sam settles on a beer, informing Miguel that she learned her lesson from drinking too much hard liquor at another party.
- Johnny uses some Miyagi-Do in his fight with Silver, showing that he really did take Daniel's lessons to heart.
- Contrived Coincidence: The events at West Valley Middle School in the previous episode forced the planned prom after-party to be cancelled because one of the bullies is the host's younger brother and was grounded.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Johnny is ultimately no match for Terry Silver. Nonetheless, he not only gets a few good strikes in, but also pulls off a few expertly-done Miyagi-Do blocks and counters.
- Disco Dan: Upon entering the Cobra Kai dojo, Stingray playfully makes a reference to a Budweiser commercial from well before the current crop of Cobra Kai students were born. None of them seem to recognize it.
- Drowning My Sorrows:
- After his latest disagreement with Kreese, Silver is shown getting very drunk.
- At some point between being beaten up by Silver and collapsing on his apartment's floor, Johnny also managed to get very drunk.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Kreese is unpleasantly surprised at how far and deep Silver is willing to go on their revenge plan against Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang, and actually has to stop him from beating Johnny to a pulp.
- Finishing Stomp: In the last onscreen moment of Silver's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of Stingray, Silver brutally stomps on his head as a Coup de Grâce.
- Get Out!:
- Kreese doesn't welcome Stingray's return into the Cobra Kai dojo and quickly tells him off.
- Greg attempts to kick all of Stingray's guests out of the house for causing a disturbance, going as far as to give Stingray a Reason You Suck Speech and attempting to call the police. Of course, Stingray is having none of it.
- Silver also attempts to tell off Stingray when the latter returns and appeals to be reinstated as a Cobra Kai student, before Silver beats him to a pulp.
- Height Insult: When Sam orders Tory to stay away from the LaRussos, Tory states that she doesn't take orders from "tiny little bitches".
- Hidden Depths:
- Louie's sister Vanessa seems superficial on the surface, but she proves to be a very competent psychotherapist and correctly points out Daniel and Amanda's mistakes when it came to raising Anthony.
- Dieter, one of the few Cobra Kais who trained together with Stingray, looks shocked when Stingray gets kicked out by Kreese, since he himself happily welcomed him back into the team.
- Hourglass Plot:
- All the way back in the '80s, Silver gleefully had Mike assault Daniel in the old Cobra Kai dojo only for him to have his ass kicked badly by Mr. Miyagi. About three decades later, a Mr. Miyagi Expy gets his ass kicked, by Silver himself, at the very same dojo.
- Even more jarring is Kreese's approval of Silver's actions in both scenes. In The Karate Kid Part III, Kreese gleefully goes with Silver having Mike continuing to assault and torture Daniel. However in Cobra Kai, Kreese orders Silver to back off when Silver himself is assaulting and torturing Johnny.
- The fight at Stingray's party has several similarities to the school brawl in the Season 2 finale, but with most of the characters' roles reversed. This time, Sam starts the fight by attacking Tory, Miguel tries to break them up only to be attacked by Robby when he misinterprets Miguel's actions, and Robby tells Miguel that Johnny doesn't love him the same way Miguel told Robby that Sam didn't love him.
- All the way back in the '80s, Silver gleefully had Mike assault Daniel in the old Cobra Kai dojo only for him to have his ass kicked badly by Mr. Miyagi. About three decades later, a Mr. Miyagi Expy gets his ass kicked, by Silver himself, at the very same dojo.
- Insistent Terminology: Those are aerobies, Greg. They're not frisbees. Different disc.
- Irony:
- Stingray would be likely welcomed with open arms at Eagle Fang, as it was Johnny who originally let him into Cobra Kai because the dojo needed his money. Today, Johnny's Eagle Fang remains the dojo most in need of money, as Miyagi-Do has Daniel as a benefactor, and Cobra Kai has since gained Silver as a financier. Not to mention that most of the fighters Stingray knew in season 2's Cobra Kai have since jumped ship to Eagle Fang.
- After Anthony's behavior starts shaping up, Amanda compliments Daniel, stating she has no idea what kind of "Miyagi magic" he did to get through to Anthony. In reality, it was Daniel borrowing a move from Johnny's playbook.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: Greg calls Raymond an unemployed man-baby on probation — Raymond tells him he's actually off probation now.
- Jerkass Realization: Anthony feels bad about his treatment towards Kenny, and offers to help Daniel out with the dealership or spend time in the Miyagi-Do dojo to make up for his actions.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: When the prom after-party fight starts, both Tory and Sam are still wearing their dresses.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Stingray, was it really a good idea to assume you won back the favor of your Cobra Kai "friends" by beating up your neighbour and then returning to the dojo to face a mentally unstable (and drunk) Silver?
- Locked Out of the Loop: Stingray is out of the loop on everything that happened following the school brawl, particularly that most of his former teammates (specifically, Miguel, Bert, Hawk and Aisha) have left Cobra Kai.
- Loophole Abuse: Anthony attempts to reason that the tablet he was secretly hiding from Daniel "isn't an iPad" and barely has games on it; therefore, it doesn't count. This is the final straw for Daniel, who then breaks the tablet, much to his son's shock.
- Madness Mantra: Terry Silver mutters "you wanna be Cobra Kai" repeatedly as he drunkenly, viciously beats Stingray to a pulp.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Seeing an outlet for his frustration, a drunken, unstable Silver beats the shit out of Stingray when the latter appealed to be allowed back in as a Cobra Kai (and called Silver "vice sensei" while he was at it).
- Not So Above It All: Greg appears a mostly normal guy who is justifiably fed up with Stingray's Jerkass Manchild antics... until he starts using the rather juvenile insult "Stink-Ray" in their bickering. He can't even resist laughing at his own cleverness at coming up with that.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Two in one episode.
- Seeing Daniel hit his Rage Breaking Point and snap at him finally makes Anthony realize how much he screwed up and that he can't brush off his parents' discipline anymore.
- Anthony voluntarily doing chores around the house for the first time ever and hearing him offer to do work at the dojo or dealership proves to Amanda and Daniel he got their message.
- Parental Neglect: Vanessa rightly points out that Daniel and Amanda let technology be Anthony's babysitter while they focused on the dealership and they did very little to discipline his bratty behavior in his younger years.
- Pet the Dog: Greg could have simply called the cops from his house and left the teens to their mercy. Instead he chose to go over, turn off the music, and give the teens the chance to just go home without having to face any legal consequences. He also tries to warn them Stingray is both a terrible influence and just hanging out with them because he has no friends his own age. This only gets Greg beaten up while the teens cheer.
- Potty Failure: When Miguel is helping a beaten, drunken Johnny into bed, Johnny claims that some of his clothes' wetness is due to pee. From Miguel's reaction, it seems he wasn't joking.
- Prom Wrecker: Surprisingly averted, since the group is still trying to stick to the "no fighting until the tournament" rule. The actual fight happens at Stingray's prom party, and just seems to add to the fun (at least for Robby and Tory).
- Rage Breaking Point:
- Daniel and Amanda ground Anthony for his bullying behavior with “no screens”. Daniel has a heart to heart with Anthony saying he has no choice but to ground him and takes responsibility for how he turned out. However, when Daniel hears a notification beep coming from a tablet Anthony was secretly hiding, he’s hit his last nerve. Daniel gets angry that Anthony is not taking anything he says seriously and demands he hands the tablet over, which he then breaks over his knee. He then warns his son that he’d better get his act together or he’ll face an even worse punishment.
- Meanwhile, after being upstaged by Tory at prom and then blatantly insulted by her at the after-party, Sam decides she's had enough of Tory's disrespect and back-kicks her.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Both Stingray's neighbour Greg and Kreese give Stingray a blistering dressing down, calling him out for being a pathetic Manchild and a buffoon who sponges off of those who feel sorry for him and hangs out with teenagers because he has no friends his own age. It would almost make you feel sorry for him if it wasn't for the fact that both men are 100% right and Stingray arrogantly ignores everything they say.Greg: Okay, no one listen to this speed bump of a human. This is a loser, everyone. That's why he's partying with you, because he has no friends his own age.
Stingray: Okay. I warned you, but you just had to push it and make it personal.
Greg: I did, Stink-Ray. And you know what I'm doing right now? I'm gonna start pushing these buttons and I am gonna call the cops.
——
Kreese: You were never part of this team. You're a buffoon. A joker, an embarrassment. You have no value here.
Stingray: Wow, what? But sensei, I'm, um... one of the guys, you know?
Kreese: You will never be Cobra Kai. You get that? - Rule of Pool: Sam, Miguel, Tory and Robby have a poolside fight that naturally ends with the former three being knocked into the pool and the latter being playfully pulled in by Tory shortly after.
- Sanity Slippage: After Kreese expresses his disappointment in Silver for ambushing Johnny, the cracks in Silver's fragile mental state begin to enlarge...
- Secret Test of Character:
- To prove whether Amanda is acting out during their session, Vanessa asks a provocative question, then starts scribbling on her notepad as Amanda responds. When Amanda demands to see the notepad and grabs it, it's shown that Vanessa just wrote "This is the Test", proving Amanda is indeed acting out.
- Meanwhile, Raymond thinks this is what Kreese is doing when he's told he never was and never will be Cobra Kai, but Kreese meant every word of it.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Along with more than a touch of Ms. Fanservice, Tory's down to here and up to there leopard print dress really puts the double-sided tape to work. We usually see her in workout gear or tank tops and stretchy jeans, so she went all out for the prom.
- Teens Are Monsters: How do the teens at Stingray's party respond to seeing him assault his neighbor for making a noise complaint? By cheering, clapping, and chanting Stingray's name.
- Therapy Backfire: Daniel and Amanda decide to take Louie's advice and have Vanessa assist them with Anthony. This backfires on them when she reveals that the two of them have to be assessed before she talks with him and the ensuing session forces them to confront the fact that a lot of Anthony's behavior stems directly from their spoiling and neglect of him.
- Title Drop: Stingray yells out the episode's title as soon as the party at his house finally begins.
- The Unfavorite: Discussed. Vanessa asks Daniel and Amanda why they love Sam more than Anthony. Although this is a deliberately provocative question designed to test Amanda's response, it's clear that the suggestion touched a nerve.
- Worf Had the Flu: Terry Silver defeats Johnny in a Curb-Stomp Battle to establish just how significant of a physical threat he is, but his first attack is a cheap shot kick to Johnny's head which is implied to give him a serious injury, possibly a concussion, explaining why their resulting fight is so one-sided.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: When Kreese tells Stingray to Get Out!, Stingray (arrogantly, stupidly, and wrongly) assumes that Old Master Kreese is just testing his willingness to belong.
- Wrong-Name Outburst: After Miguel helps a drunken Johnny to bed, Johnny goes into an emotional confession telling him that he wants to be a good father to him, only to end with "I love you too, Robby". Finding out that he is a Replacement Goldfish clearly breaks Miguel's heart.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
- When she sees what is really written on Vanessa's notepad, Amanda doesn't say this in as many words, but her expression is absolutely this reaction.
- Kreese has this reaction for one second when he sees Stingray enter the dojo.
- You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With: When Raymond attempts again to rejoin Cobra Kai, he apparently believed that appealing to Silver this time around, who was currently going through a drunken spiral, will help his chances. In a dark call-back to Demetri's encounter with Kreese, who let him get away with only a bloodied nose, Raymond soon enough learns that this was a terrible idea.
- Your Mom:
- Stingray tells Dieter he should have told his mom about the former, then he could have had a cool stepdad. Unlike most examples of this trope, Stingray clearly means it in a friendly/teasing way.
- Subverted at the after-party. Sam insults Tory about only dating Sam's exes. Tory replies that she'd kick Sam's ass, but she promised Sam's mom she wouldn't.
