The characters in Cobra Kai keep making dumb mistakes that make things worse. Common sense does not exist in this dojo.
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Season 1
- "Esqueleto": Counselor Blatt has received a phone call from Eli's mother about her son being bullied at school. Blatt plans to make an announcement to the school about it, but Eli's mother asks Blatt to leave Eli's name out of it.
You'd Expect: Counselor Blatt would be careful not only to not mention Eli's name, but also leave out any of Eli's other obvious identifying characteristics, such as the things Eli is known to do or any physical traits he might have.
Instead: While Counselor Blatt doesn't mention Eli by name during her announcement, she specifically mentions Eli's very prominent facial scar, meaning everyone in the school immediately realizes the announcement is about Eli. Teens Are Monsters, but they're not stupid.
The Result: Eli gets bullied even worse than before. Seeing no other way out, it prompts Eli to join Cobra Kai, starting his Start of Darkness. - "Different But Same": Amanda grounds Sam and confiscates her phone when she finds out Sam was involved in a hit-and-run when Yasmine hit Johnny's car and didn't tell her about it. Miguel repeatedly tries to call Sam to tell her about Cobra Kai's party at the canyon that evening.
You'd Expect: Amanda, hearing Sam's phone ringing non-stop all day right next to her, would allow her to answer it, if only to tell the person who is obviously desperate to contact her that she's unavailable. It's pretty obvious that there is an urgent situation where someone really needs to speak to Sam.
Alternatively: Amanda to call Miguel, give him a quick, "This is Sam's mother. She's grounded. Call her tomorrow." and then hang up, especially since Amanda made that whole big case about Sam's "friends" to Daniel when they caught her throwing a pool party.
You'd Also Think: Sam to, when trying to sneak a message to Miguel, call him and say, "I'm grounded, I'm sorry," instead of trying to leave a text message (which takes longer to type out), and when Amanda comes back, she could take the phone and say to Miguel, "She'll call you tomorrow," or start lecturing Sam so Miguel can overhear that there is something going on and she's not just ignoring him for no reason.
Instead: Amanda refuses to let Sam answer the phone multiple times.
Result: Miguel, who's already feeling insecure over Sam keeping him from meeting her parents (thanks to Johnny's biased version of events from 1984), and who saw her being friendly with Robby the day before, becomes convinced that Sam was avoiding him, gets drunk, and tries to fight Robby when Robby breaks Sam out of her house so she can come to the party to explain to Miguel why she hasn't been able to contact him all day, accidentally hitting Sam in the process. Things only get worse from here as he doubles down on his stance at the tournament thanks to Johnny's poisoned advice, leading Sam to break up with him. - Miguel has a moment of this too, when Sam isn't responding to his calls/texts due to Amanda confiscating her phone.
You'd Expect: Miguel to consider what Demetri has told him, that Sam hasn't give him any reason to not trust her, go over to Sam's house, where he can see that she's all right, and learn that she's grounded. This would also allow him to learn from Sam the truth about Robby while he's in a state of mind to listen to her.
Instead: He lets Johnny's biased retelling of the events of 1984 get to his head and gets drunk.
Result: When Robby busts Sam out of her house and brings her to the party so she can talk to Miguel and explain herself, he tries to start a fight with Robby. - "Different But Same": Yasmine and her posse head to a canyon for her birthday party… only to find the Cobra Kais have beat her there, as Aisha got tipped off by Yasmine's Instagram feed. Kyler notices Miguel among the crowd, and remembering the No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that Yasmine also witnessed while in the cafeteria, he sensibly proposes relocation.
You’d think: Yasmine would find another spot to have the party, as per Kyler’s proposal.
Instead: She orders Kyler to order them out of the canyon, complains that he’s being a pussy, and decides it would be a good idea to get in Aisha’s face.
As a result: Not only is Aisha not bothered by her attitude anymore… she gives Yasmine a front-wedgie, lifting her a good few inches into the air, and neatly dumps her into the dirt. Except for Moon – whose own sensible advice she ignored – everyone else at the party laughs uproariously at Yasmine’s predicament. The whole incident goes viral on social media, guaranteeing an irreversible loss of campus stock. There is one positive from the whole ordeal, as Yasmine gets an awareness of what it was like for Sam and Aisha and other people she'd bullied, and when we see her again in season 3, she's disassociated herself from people like Kyler and her new lease on life earns her a relationship with Demetri. - At the tournament, Sam is still willing to reach out to Miguel to try and get an apology for what happened at the beach party, and talks to him before he faces Robby in the final match.
You'd Expect: Miguel to apologize for pushing Robby, and admit he was wrong. He could say that he was drinking a lot and feeling anxious because he hadn't heard from her all day. That when she showed up with Robby, he let his anger get the best of him. He can also explain what led him to think like that: he saw Robby having dinner with Sam's family, and her being friendly with him. Sam can then explain that it wasn't what Miguel thought it looked like, that Daniel invited Robby over for dinner and that was the first time she'd met Robby.
Instead: He only apologizes for hitting Sam, and doubles down, promising to hurt Robby in the finals.
Result: Sam leaves the tournament, unable to bear what Miguel has turned into. It takes Miguel shedding this toxic Cobra Kai mentality for Sam to give him another shot at a relationship in season 3.
Season 2
- "Fire and Ice": Daniel launches a video ad on YouTube to gather students for free karate lessons at his recently opened dojo, Miyagi-Do.
You'd Expect: Daniel to avoid mentioning Cobra Kai so he won't provoke them. Especially because he is opening Miyagi-Do to stop Cobra Kai's influence from spreading and teach a better way of karate. The "free lessons" part is an already obvious clue that he is trying to poach prospective students.
Instead: Much like the potshots Tom Cole made at Daniel in his "Yankee Doodle" ad in season 1, Daniel can't resist adding in thinly-veiled insults against Cobra Kai. One is "Don't be a snake in the grass."
The Result: Daniel angers everyone in Cobra Kai, with no students wanting to go to him to learn how to do his way of karate. They brand him as the enemy and Johnny organizes a show interrupting their demonstration at Valley Fest to get back at him. Which leads to Cobra Kai becoming even more popular, with Tory joining them. He also indirectly ruins Sam's fledgling efforts to reconcile with Miguel and Aisha as they are upset about the ad. - "The Moment of Truth": Demetri decides to join Cobra Kai and shows up at the dojo after hours, where he meets Kreese.
You'd Expect: Demetri would introduce himself and explain that he wants to sign up for karate lessons, while being careful not to say anything that might annoy the very large and intimidating karate master standing before him, especially seeing as his last trip to Cobra Kai ended with Johnny bodyslamming him for mouthing off.
Instead: He criticizes the snake tattoo on Kreese's arm for being anatomically incorrect and starts poking it.
Predictably: Kreese punches Demetri in the face and gives him a bloody nose. Given how Ax-Crazy Kreese can be, Demetri got off lightly. - In "Lull," Miguel goes to the LaRusso house to return Miyagi's Medal of Honor to Sam, in an effort to prove to her that he's not an asshole like the rest of his Cobra Kai friends. Instead of Sam answering the door, it's Robby, who takes the medal.
You'd Expect: Robby to tell Sam the truth: that Miguel brought it back, he had nothing to do with the dojo being trashed, and that he was sorry it happened. He has a responsibility to pass along the message to Sam and Daniel given he’s a guest at their house. There’s no way the medal will stay secret for long, with Sam having a mutual friend in Cobra Kai (Aisha) and Miguel having every motive to tell Sam.
Instead: Robby, afraid that Sam will choose Miguel over him, hides the medal, lies to Sam, and plants the medal in the Miyagi dojo, and pretends to "find" it.
Result: Sam learns the truth anyways when Aisha tells her about this at Moon's party, while she happens to be drunk (from having beaten Tory in the drinking contest). Her feelings for Miguel resurface much more strongly, to the point that she impulsively kisses him when he approaches her and she trips into his arms. And predictably, having knowledge that the old Miguel she dated in season 1 is out there means Sam spends season 3 reconnecting with him, and is firmly back in an intimate relationship with him by the time Robby gets out of jail. - In "Glory of Love", Tory tries to instigate a fight by subtly elbowing Sam.
You'd Expect: Sam to not let Tory's pettiness ruin her date and report her to the manager if she keeps it up, or does something more flagrant.
Instead: She intentionally trips her in front of dozens of witnesses and workers, making herself look like the aggressor.
Result: She and Robby are removed from the roller rink, ruining their night. - Moon in "Pulpo". Tensions between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do have been slowly boiling over the course of the summer. Moon, who has friends on both sides of the dojo rivalry, wants both sides to reconcile and bring the fighting to an end now that school is about to resume.
You'd Expect: Moon would reach out to Sam (Miyagi-Do) and Aisha (Cobra Kai), her best friends on either side of the rivalry, who have also been best friends with each other since childhood but have grown apart over the course of the last year, between Sam not standing up for Aisha when Yasmine was bullying her, and Aisha becoming more involved in Cobra Kai, and get the two of them to make up so that they might in turn be able to bridge the divide between the two dojos.
Alternatively: If Moon is determined to bring everyone from both dojos together at once, she takes steps to minimize the chances of the meeting breaking into violence, such as by holding it in a public place or telling both sides about it ahead of time to ensure they were actually receptive to the idea.
Or, At The Very Least: She would make sure to keep everyone sober while trying to get them to talk things out.
Instead: Moon decides to throw a Wild Teen Party at her own house and invites both dojos, without telling either of them that the other will be there and then gives everyone plenty of booze, assuming everyone will make up once they get the chance to "clear their chakhras" and have fun.
The Result: The party quickly descends into a series of pissing contests between members of both dojos, with Alcohol-Induced Stupidity rampant on both sides. Already-existing tensions between them intensify, resulting in a massive brawl breaking out on the first day of school the following Monday. It's only through sheer dumb luck via the timely intervention of the police arriving to break up the party that the fight doesn't happen right there in Moon's house instead. We see Sam accomplish Moon's intended goal more effectively in season 3 when she wants Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang to ally against Cobra Kai: first, she reconciles with her boyfriend (and Miguel happens to be Johnny's star student at Eagle Fang), who is open to the idea of an alliance. Sam then takes the step of not having any booze on hand when she gathers the Miyagi-Dos and Eagle Fangs at her house (though Miguel has to trick Mitch and Bert into coming under the promise of a keg party). And moreover, the only people around are the dojo students, so the environment is easier to control. (And conveniently, Tory's gang chooses to assault the LaRusso house at that point, getting anyone still on the fence to set aside their differences) - The Season 2 finale "No Mercy" has five big ones.
- After having seen her boyfriend cheat on her with Sam at Moon's party, Tory assaults a teacher, hijacks the intercom, and announces she's going to kick Sam's ass.
You'd Expect: A teacher or administrator would confiscate the mike, put the school on lockdown, and call the police to have Tory arrested and removed from the building in handcuffs. She just made a credible threat of violence towards another student. And since the school doesn’t know about the karate thing, it should be assumed that Tory is carrying a gun and is about to shoot up the school.
At the very least: The teachers would hold students in their classrooms, given the nature of the threat, until they learned more information.
Instead: The teachers release their students into the hallway. And no one does anything except Robby and Miguel, who run to break up the fight before it starts.
The Result: They arrive too late, and the fight has already broken out as Robby turns up. - Although Miguel and Robby don't arrive in time, Aisha, Cobra Kai's Only Sane Woman and Token Good Teammate, does. Aisha is friends with both Sam and Tory, even if her friendship with Sam is somewhat strained, and doesn't want the two to fight.
You'd Expect: Aisha would step in and try to restrain Tory long enough for Sam to get away, or calm her down before she attacks Sam.
Instead: She just stands there and does absolutely nothing. And while she does eventually try to pull them apart, it's only after the fight has already turned into an all-out brawl, and even then she gets distracted by a Miyagi-Do student pushing her and wades into the fighting herself.
The Result: Aisha's parents withdraw her from West Valley after the fight and transfer her to a private school in a completely different part of town, uprooting her entire social life, including her friendship with Sam. - Robby arrives, pulls Tory off of Sam, and slams her into a locker, restraining her. Miguel arrives moments later, and sees Robby pinning Tory against the locker and kicking away a Cobra Kai student.
You'd Expect: Miguel would conclude that Robby is trying to break up the fight and protect Sam, seeing as Tory just announced her intentions to attack Sam to the entire school, and Miguel himself was just rushing to also stop his crazy girlfriend from hurting Sam. Especially considering that Sam is Robby's girlfriend that Tory is threatening to attack, and the only bad impression of Robby that Miguel has had up to this point is that Robby "stole" Sam from him, as Robby has been pretty decent to Miguel in their few interactions (despite his own resentments). Plus there is no other way to restrain someone who is hell-bent on hurting someone else but to use force to hold them back.
At the very least: Miguel would go to Sam's side to make sure she's okay, and maybe escort her away from the fight.
Instead: Miguel bum-rushes Robby and attacks him as Robby is literally saying, “Settle down, I’m sure we can figure this out,” to Tory. It's only later in the fight, as the scene continues up the stairs, that Miguel finally becomes more concerned with stopping Tory.
Result: This frees Tory to resume attacking Sam, eventually managing to lacerate her arm when she turns her spiked bracelet into a knuckle duster and later for Miguel to cause himself doom when Robby accidentally kicks him off the second floor balcony and he falls over the railing and lands on a staircase that puts him into a coma. - The above causes a massive brawl to break out between the dojo rivals, with the teachers helpless to stop it. One tries to break it up and gets beaten, while the teacher Demetri finds decides it's not worth his pay grade to end up in the hospital.
You'd Expect: While some of the teachers call 911, someone would pull the fire alarm and activate the sprinklers — as the principal in Mean Girls did
— or use a megaphone to play a deafening noise, or something that doesn't involve a physical action. That would at least disrupt the fighting students' rhythm and buy a window of time for security or the police to come in and subdue them with tear gas, zipties and handcuffs. Once the situation is under control, the principal can have everyone brought to the gym for an assembly, call out the fighting students for their stupidity, and give them all detention. This counts as an emergency where students and teachers are in grave danger of getting hurt.
Instead: They just get out of dodge and maybe call the police as the bystanders quickly photograph what's going on while staying out of the way. The only adults to try and do anything are Stingray (who is a member of Cobra Kai, and shows it by blatantly only targeting the Miyagi-Dos and high-fiving Hawk rather than deescalate all of the fighting students) and the security guard who breaks up the two smallest students, Bert and Nathaniel.
The Result: Sam needs stitches after Tory turns her spiked bracelet into a knuckle duster and slices her right arm, and Robby kicks Miguel over a railing in a fit of rage. It is only after Miguel falls that we see any police arrive. Come season three, Miguel is recovering in the hospital, his mother has broken up with Johnny, and Robby is in jail. The only way the school can avoid potential lawsuits is to come down hard on the dojo members. - Lastly, Miguel gains the upper hand on Robby, but is unable to finish off Robby after he remembers a time where Johnny had expressed his regrets about failing to teach Miguel and the others how to show mercy to their opponents. He apologizes and lets him go.
You'd Expect: Robby would accept the apology. Considering he and all the other students are already going to be facing severe punishments for fighting in school, it's best not to make an already bad situation worse. Not to mention, Daniel taught him that he should only be fighting when he's defending himself or others.
Instead: In a blind fury over Miguel throwing his love for Sam in his face, Robby attacks Miguel, kicking him until he accidentally knocks him over a railing, leaving Miguel paralyzed.
The Result: Robby goes to jail, Sam breaks up with him (because despite their falling out, Miguel is still Sam's ex-boyfriend), and Daniel is forced to shut down Miyagi-Do. His car dealership suffers by association, with him having to remove all of the karate-based advertising.
- After having seen her boyfriend cheat on her with Sam at Moon's party, Tory assaults a teacher, hijacks the intercom, and announces she's going to kick Sam's ass.
Season 3
- For instigating the school brawl and trying to maim Sam, Tory gets expelled and put on probation. Amanda is not happy that Tory wasn't locked up.
You'd Expect: Amanda would file a restraining order against Tory. While that wouldn't be guaranteed to protect Sam if Tory goes after her, at the very least the knowledge that a restraining order against her exists might make Tory think twice about indulging her grudge against Sam, as the threat of being locked up would be even more real.
Instead: She doesn't even think of doing anything like this until her failed attempt to take out a restraining order against Kreese.
Result: Tory remains a looming threat until she leads a gang of students to assault Sam and her Miyagi-Do classmates in the LaRussos' house right before Christmas. - As noted above, Tory has been expelled from West Valley High for inciting the school fight by assaulting a teacher and hijacking the intercom, then attacking Sam and putting her in the hospital. The only reason she isn't in prison because the authorities didn't want to take away her mother's support. Kreese barely saves her from an exploitative deal with her seedy landlord who is trying to get her to prostitute herself to him. She has to see a probation officer who spells out that one more crime, even a small one like petty theft, and it's juvie for her.
You'd Expect: Tory would let go of her grudge with Sam, realize that her family is more important than petty grudges or karate wars, and focus on keeping up her good behavior. Kreese has enough Pragmatic Villainy to encourage his students to not try and do things that could get them arrested and paint himself as a Villain with Good Publicity.
Instead: Tory goes right back to committing criminal activity she could be arrested and thrown in jail for. This includes participating in a fight with Miyagi-Do at the arcade where she calls out to Sam hoping for a rematch with her (and also goads Hawk into breaking Demetri's arm), stealing a snake from the zoo as tribute for Kreese, and leading a gang assault on the LaRusso house after Kreese tells her that Sam is back together with Miguel and the two of them helped save the All Valley Tournament. She singles out Sam again for a one-on-one and attacks her with a pair of nunchucks, while siccing one of her gang, Kyler, to beat up a still-recovering Miguel.
Predictably: In a case of Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!, Sam is motivated to fight back when Tory damages a picture of Mr. Miyagi. Oh, and this means Tory has broken her probation over Revenge Before Reason. It's only because Johnny and Daniel get forced by Kreese into a stalemate that Tory isn't arrested. - Thanks to Johnny's ineptness and oversight in handling the dojo's finances and paperwork, Kreese has managed to usurp Cobra Kai away from him, and has the students' loyalty.
You'd Expect: Kreese would remember how at the start of The Karate Kid Part II, he lost his dojo when he tried to publicly strangle Johnny for losing to Daniel at the All Valley Tournament, causing all of his students at Cobra Kai to abandon him in disgust, and work to maintain the loyalty of his students this time.
Instead: He kicks out loyal Cobra Kai members like Mitch and Bert for petty failures and recruits former enemies of the dojo like Kyler (whose bullying of Miguel and Hawk was the impetus for Johnny to open Cobra Kai) and Robby Keene (who punted Miguel over the railing in the school brawl).
The Result: Kreese alienates many of his remaining students. Those kicked out of Cobra Kai get poached by Johnny into Eagle Fang, and eventually, Miguel and Sam get Eagle Fang to ally with Miyagi-Do against Kreese, while by the time of the finale, even Hawk has had enough and pulls a Heel–Face Turn mid fight to join the Miyagi-do/Eagle Fang alliance, leaving Cobra Kai with only three skilled fighters (Kyler, Robby and Tory) while Miyagi-Fang has at least four (Sam, Miguel, Hawk, Demetri). - As another consequence of the school fight, Daniel has been forced to shut down Miyagi-Do, and the reputation of his business has taken a huge hit.
You'd Expect: Kreese would realise that he has decisively won his feud with Daniel and that Miyagi-Do no longer poses any threat to him, and forget about them in favor of training his students for the All Valley or expanding the dojo.
Instead: Kreese encourages his students to continuing bullying the Miyagi-Dos as revenge for the school brawl, antagonises Daniel's wife, and sets a live cobra loose in Daniel's dealership.
The Result: Daniel is forced to re-open Miyagi-Do so his family and students can defend themselves, and they return to being a thorn in Kreese's side. - "Nature vs. Nurture":
- During their search for Robby, Daniel and Johnny see an unfamiliar driver with the exact Dodge Caravan that Robby stole from the dealership.
You'd Expect: Daniel and Johnny either approach the man calmly or better yet, wait for him to get away from the van so that they can wait for the driver at the van. The driver knowingly has a stolen vehicle so he is definitely not going to stick around for questions about it. If at least one of them are at the van, the worst that will happen is that they will have to chase him on foot.
Or: Daniel to tell Johnny to go towards him. Daniel may be the more level-headed one in this scenario but the driver is definitely not going to want to confront the owner of the company of where he indirectly stole the vehicle from. Everyone in the Valley knows what Daniel looks like thanks to his commercials and billboards and his karate-themed advertising will definitely dissuade the driver into any physical confrontation one-on-one.
Or even: Daniel and Johnny to be a lot calmer when approaching him. Daniel explicitly states later that they don't need to get the cops involved and that they just want to look for Robby, even offering to overlook their illegal chop shop activities for information.
Instead: The two yell after the driver and run towards him the second he leaves the vehicle.
The Result: The man immediately gets frightened and drives off. This leads to a fight at the chop shop and Johnny and Daniel yet again having another falling out over interrogating the man. The end result was no leads on where Robby is, Johnny giving up the search for Robby if it meant working with Daniel, Daniel's side-mirror destroyed thanks to Johnny's reckless driving and the corn nuts Johnny were eating spilled all over the car which leaves Daniel with yet ''another'' Johnny Lawrence-related mess to clean up. The only thing achieved from this incident was Johnny taking the Dodge Caravan for himself as he abandoned the Dodge Challenger at the end of Season 2. It was only thanks to a call from Shannon, Robby's mother, that Daniel was able to find him at all. - Right after his falling out with Johnny at the chop shop, Daniel gets a call that Robby, wanted by the police for injuring Miguel, is visiting his mother at the rehab center. Daniel is aware that Robby will get a lighter sentence if he turns himself in.
You'd Expect: Daniel would have his lawyer come with him to help him talk Robby into turning himself in. If Robby agrees, there is nothing to stop the three from driving to the nearest police station.
Instead: Daniel brings the police in, and has them waiting out of sight while he talks to Robby. He takes too long to get to the point, at which point the police get impatient and move in before Daniel can finish convincing Robby to turn himself in.
The Result: Robby goes to juvie thinking Daniel betrayed him, and shuts him and the rest of the LaRussos out. He hangs up on Daniel when Daniel calls him trying to apologize. Robby's bad mental state is worsened after finding out Sam is reconnecting with Miguel (thanks to a newscast about Miyagi-Do's car wash fundraiser to pay for Miguel's hospital bills) and Johnny misses out on a juvie visit due to Miguel going into surgery, which leaves Robby wide open for Kreese to manipulate him into taking on a "strike first" mentality. Upon getting out of jail, Robby blows off Daniel's olive branch and sides with Kreese to spite both his father and Daniel. - Tory's scumbag landlord Rodney offers to forgive her overdue rent if she has sex with him. Later, Kreese shows up, asking Rodney questions about Tory and claiming to be a "neutral party looking out for her wellbeing".
You'd Expect: Rodney would hear Kreese out on whatever deal he's offering or simply ask him to leave, without mentioning his disgusting sexual extortion of a minor. Although he couldn't have known that Kreese is Tory's karate sensei and has a Papa Wolf affection for her, Kreese could easily have been a probation officer or cop sent to check on her home life, in which case admitting what he's planning would be a surefire way to get himself arrested.
Instead: Rodney openly brags about how if Tory can't pay her rent she can "do something else to get in [his] good graces".
The Result: Kreese threatens to chop Rodney's finger off with a cigar cutter and forces him to forgive Tory's debts.
- During their search for Robby, Daniel and Johnny see an unfamiliar driver with the exact Dodge Caravan that Robby stole from the dealership.
- In "Miyagi-Do":
- Hawk and his gang start causing trouble at Golf 'n Stuff, harassing Chris at work and stealing stuffed animals from the prize stand.
You'd Expect: Chris would call the police, or get his manager to do so, and have Hawk and his friends arrested and cited for trespassing. He knows all of their names and they have presumably been caught on camera, so Hawk wouldn't be able to lie his way out of this like he did to Counselor Blatt twice in the previous episode. Since these Cobra Kais are on thin ice from the school brawl, it would also be reported to the school, ensuring that they would all get suspended or expelled (meaning the Miyagi-Dos won't have to deal with Cobras harassing them at school).
At the very least: Chris would encourage the Miyagi-Dos to get their parents involved, because this incident took place outside of school.
Instead: Chris texts Sam, who summons the rest of the Miyagi-Dos to ambush the Cobra Kais at the laser tag arena. Chris even abandons his shift to join them, risking his job in the process.
The Result: While the Miyagi-Dos have the upper hand initially, Tory's arrival and calling out to Sam causes Sam to have a panic attack and withdraw from the fight, turning the fight into a Curb-Stomp Battle for Cobra Kai which ends with Hawk breaking Demetri's arm. - Then Amanda shows up at the hospital and begins to chew out Sam for starting another fight, she sees her daughter in tears and her anger immediately fades away as she consoles her daughter. She knows Cobra Kai need to pay for what happened.
You'd Expect: Amanda would call the police and have Hawk, Tory, Mitch, Rickenberger, and all of the other Cobra Kais arrested, charged with multiple counts of assault and battery, and subsequently taken to court, especially since Sam and Demetri can testify that Hawk was not acting in self-defense when he broke Demetri's arm. This would also keep Sam safe from further attacks by Tory, since Tory would be immediately sent straight to prison for violating her probation.
Instead: Amanda goes to Cobra Kai, confronts Kreese, lets slip that she's planning to shut him down, and slaps him when he begins taunting her.
Result: Kreese takes out a restraining order against Amanda, and uses the ambush to paint Cobra Kai as Villains With Good Publicity. The only good that comes of this whole mess is that breaking Demetri's arm contributes to Hawk's Heel Realization and eventual Heel–Face Turn, while Daniel is able to help Sam work through her fear of Tory. And Demetri continuing to be bullied while his arm is broken earns him sympathy from Yasmine, and the two ultimately start dating in possibly the healthiest teen relationship on the show. - Robby gets on one of the juvie center's computers and sees a bunch of emails from all three of the LaRussos trying to get in touch with him. He's in the process of trying to write to Sam when Shawn unplugs his computer. Later in the episode, he defeats Shawn and his crew, gaining some newfound respect from them.
You'd Expect: At some point between October 20thnote and when he gets out in mid-December,note Robby would reply to Sam's emails.
Instead: Apparently he just gives up, since he's never seen trying to do this again.
Result: Sam gives up trying to write to Robby, thinking he wants nothing to do with her, or with the LaRussos as a whole (assuming she knows that Robby is ghosting her parents as well). Assuming their relationship is over, she gets back together with Miguel, and calls Robby out on his lack of communication when he happens to catch them having an intimate moment.
Robby: So now I know why you stopped writing.
Sam: I stopped writing because you never answered! - Hawk and his gang start causing trouble at Golf 'n Stuff, harassing Chris at work and stealing stuffed animals from the prize stand.
- In "King Cobra":
- Kreese invites several local athletes he has scouted to Cobra Kai to try out for a place in the dojo by taking on his current students. These are Kyler, Brucks, and a basketball player with no apparent combat training named Sarah.
- First up is Kyler, who fights Mitch for his initiation. He successfully beats Mitch.
You'd Expect: Kreese to let Mitch stay at the dojo, given that (as Hawk points out) Mitch has been a loyal member of Cobra Kai from the beginning.
Instead: He expels Mitch for losing to an "untrained" fighter, failing to realize how this reflects poorly on him as a karate instructor.
Result: Miguel convinces Mitch to join Eagle Fang, while Hawk's loyalty to Kreese (already shaky in light of Kreese earlier expelling Bert for refusing to feed Clarence to the snake, and Tory heaping praise upon him for breaking Demetri's arm in the arcade fight) is further chipped away at. Furthermore during the first half of the house fight, Mitch was the only fighter along with Sam to win his fight against a Cobra Kai, Mikey. - Sarah seems to put up a decent fight against Tory, one of Kreese's best students, but is ultimately defeated.
You'd Expect: Kreese would allow Sarah a chance to return to the dojo and try out against another fighter. The fact that she just held her own against Tory without any previous karate training means she has decent potential and could make a very strong recruit after some time learning from Kreese.
Instead: Kreese deems her not to be Cobra Kai material solely because she didn't win, despite how ludicrously the odds were stacked against her.
Result: Kreese ends up denying himself a potentially valuable fighter for no good reason. Worse, it's possible Sarah will be only too happy to join (and probably stick with) any rival dojo that offers her a better deal. - Lastly, Brucks is called onto the mat to try his luck.
You'd Expect: Brucks to have done at least some basic physical training before he showed up at the dojo, especially in the wake of what happened to Tory's opponent (little hint: Kyler can claim to have done some prep, since he can fall back on his wrestling training). His beatdown from Miguel should have given him a hint that he should do some training instead of just relying on his size and strength.
Instead: He immediately swaggers onto the mat and boasts that he'll take anyone that dares to challenge him.
The Result: Lo and behold, Hawk (his former victim, whom he still derisively calls "Lip") rises to the occasion, and effectively grinds him into pancake batter. Brucks is unable to land anything on him (whereas Mitch scored the first attack on Kyler). Furthermore, he has no qualms about begging Hawk to show him mercy halfway through the beatdown. A little too late for that, Brucks.
To Rub Salt on the Wound: Brucks ends up losing his friendship with Kyler.
- First up is Kyler, who fights Mitch for his initiation. He successfully beats Mitch.
- Amanda and Daniel go to the police with plans to take out a restraining order against Kreese, only to learn that Kreese has taken out a restraining order of his own against Amanda for when she confronted him and slapped him over the arcade fight in the previous episode. The desk sergeant confirms Amanda can still fill out the forms, but he states that it wouldn't mean much since it means they have to stay a distance away from each either way.
You'd Expect: That the LaRussos would go ahead and file a restraining order of their own against Kreese anyways. Having one of their own against Kreese would ensure that they'd be able to prevent Kreese or his students from approaching them (either directly or indirectly) or abusing the PPO, and give them more standing to pursue harassment charges against Kreese for deeds he does against them later in the season.
Instead: They don't.
Result: Kreese abuses his restraining order which makes Amanda leave the council meeting, and the LaRussos have little legal recourse to bring criminal charges against Kreese for planting a snake in their dealership or his students attacking their Miyagi-Do students in the LaRusso house. - Also from this episode, Amanda decides to borrow a page from Daniel's season 1 playbook, and try using their business connections to shut down Kreese.
You'd Expect: Amanda and Daniel to use the events of the arcade fight as a means of convincing city officials to yank Cobra Kai's business license, saying "his dojo is nothing more than a thinly veiled gang of criminals". Maybe file a lawsuit against Kreese for what Tory did to Sam in the school fight, since Tory is one of Kreese's students. Or report Tory to her probation officer for violating her probation.
Instead: Amanda settles for enlisting Armand Zarkarian to evict Kreese, with no consideration for how Kreese has the money to just take his dojo elsewhere since unlike when Daniel used these tactics against Johnny in season 1 (back when Johnny only had Miguel and Aisha), Kreese has several classes worth of paying students. Or the fact that Kreese is much more predisposed to using violence than Johnny is.
Predictably: Kreese beats up Armand and his nephews, gets Armand to admit to being sent by the LaRussos, and retaliates by setting a snake loose in the LaRussos' dealership.John Kreese: Hello, Danny Boy. Nice try. But you can't end a war with diplomacy. So I suggest you prepare your students for battle. Because now, it's open season. On them... and you.
- Kreese invites several local athletes he has scouted to Cobra Kai to try out for a place in the dojo by taking on his current students. These are Kyler, Brucks, and a basketball player with no apparent combat training named Sarah.
- In "The Good, The Bad, and the Badass," the All-Valley Tournament is cancelled because the city of Los Angeles doesn't want to "foster a culture of violence" after the West Valley rumble. There's a town hall meeting for petitioners to contest the council's decision. Daniel, Johnny, and Kreese all attend, as the three senseis whose dojo students were involved in the school brawl, planning to make their individual cases as to why the tournament should resume.
You'd Expect: Since all three men want the tournament to be reinstated, they would call a temporary truce or at least not go out of their way to badmouth each other while presenting their case.
Instead: The three senseis openly bicker and blame each other for the violence between their students.
Result: The senseis' bickering convinces the council members that the tournament has no place in the community. It's only when Miguel shows up at that moment and gives an impromptu speech (with Sam's help) that focuses on how karate improved his life (and most importantly, doesn't point fingers at anyone) that the council members are persuaded to let the tournament resume. - The All-Valley tournament is saved thanks to a last-minute intervention by Miguel and Sam. Not only are they dating, but they are Johnny's and Daniel's respective star pupils. Kreese suspects that they are likely going to ally their factions together to take him on. He knows the importance of alliances and how "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", as he stresses to Hawk in the next episode when Hawk questions his decision to recruit Robby.
You'd Expect: Kreese would sit back and do nothing. He knows Johnny and Daniel dislike each other, even if their star pupils are dating. Both dojos would be easier to defeat if they weren't allied.
You'd Also Expect: Kreese would be extra careful to ensure Johnny nor Daniel find out that he's recruited Robby, seeing as Robby is Johnny's son and Daniel's protégé.
Instead: Kreese pushes Tory to lead the Cobras in a gang assault on the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students as they're beginning to work together, while keeping Robby behind at the dojo so Johnny and Daniel will find him there when they inevitably confront Kreese afterwards.
Result: Tory's gang assault on the LaRusso house ends up being a big loss for Cobra Kai, as 1) Hawk defects mid-fight and ends up being the deciding factor in a Miyagi-Do / Eagle Fang victory. 2) Through Sam having conquered her fear of Tory, she is now a much more dangerous opponent. 3) Miguel manages to beat Kyler despite not being 100% back to normal, meaning he's just as dangerous as Sam. And 4) the students of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are motivated to put their differences aside and fully unite...which also happens to Daniel and Johnny as they simultaneously learn that Kreese is corrupting Robby when they both show up at Cobra Kai to confront Kreese about the attack on their students. - In the aftermath of the home invasion in "December 19", Johnny goes to the Diazes' apartment to profess his love to Carmen...only to find her tending to the wounds Miguel received in his beating from Kyler. Offscreen, Daniel finds out about the home invasion as well.
You'd Expect: Both senseis to at this point call the police and have Kyler and Tory arrested, as well as the other Cobras who participated in the home invasion. Even if there's nothing to connect Kreese to the home invasion, he'd be at a disadvantage because he'd lose a fair number of his elite students, have to spend more time finding new recruitments to replace them, and his reputation would be tarnished by association.
Instead: Johnny and Daniel both go to Cobra Kai to confront Kreese and attack him and also are close to killing him. Only Robby pulling Johnny off of Kreese while mercilessly assaulting him and the timely appearance of Sam and Miguel gets Daniel to come to his senses just as he's about to strike a finishing blow to Kreese.
Result: Johnny and Daniel are in no position to bring criminal charges against the students who participated in the home invasion, since doing so would mean Kreese would just call the police on them for breaking into his dojo and attacking him (with Robby to corroborate his side if that were the case), and they are forced to agree to Kreese's proposal to settle things at the All-Valley Tournament. Kreese also calls in Terry Silver to assist in training his students.
Season 4
- Hawk tries to warn Kenny to get out of Cobra Kai while he still can, knowing the consequences of Cobra Kai's inherently corrupt philosophy.
You'd Expect: For him to take the time to actually learn why Kenny joined Cobra Kai, especially since it was for the exact same reason he himself joined Cobra Kai back in Season 1, and explain to him why Cobra Kai isn't good for him and possibly advise him to join Eagle Fang/Miyagi Do.
Instead: Hawk pushes Kenny up against a bathroom stall and tells him to quit Cobra Kai in an aggressive tone (going as far as to say, "they're about to go down, and it's not going to be pretty").
Also: Prior to Hawk encountering Kenny, Bert and Nathaniel (being part of the Eagle Fang/Miyagi-Do alliance) go as far as to hassle him when the latter has absolutely no idea about the war going on between the aforementioned three dojos.
Result: Kenny interprets Hawk's (as well as Bert's and Nathaniel's) actions as bullying and is only further convinced that Cobra Kai are the good guys, leading him to stay with them and fully embrace their ideology. He also tells Robby, Tory, and Kyler about the encounter, indirectly leading them to get revenge by jumping Hawk in the tattoo shop. - During her shift, Tory sees that Amanda has visited the restaurant she works at to demand her to leave Sam alone, or she will call the police on her.
You'd Expect: Tory to keep her cool, and accept Amanda's threat, before asking her to leave. As much as she hates Sam, she can't risk losing her job and getting arrested when her family depends on her.
Instead: Tory escalates the argument by all but admitting to Amanda's face that she has every intention of attacking Sam again, despite knowing that Amanda still has the ability to have her arrested for breaking into her house. To top it off, Tory snaps at a pushy customer asking for his soup.
The Result: Tory gets fired on the spot. Yet she blames Amanda for it.
To Make it Worse: Tory thoroughly burns the bridge by saying less then flattering things about the restaurant to the customers, such as having a B rating but hiding the sign, and telling the pushy customer that she saw a chef dip his balls in his soup. Its a miracle that she found another job. - Amanda takes Sam to a friend’s daughter’s birthday party, where Tory is working as an entertainer, and Sam goes from not wanting to be there to clearly wanting to enjoy Tory’s situation.
You'd Expect: Given their history, the degrading nature of Tory’s job, and Sam not really wanting to be there in the first place, that Amanda would immediately leave the party with Sam to avoid any kind of issue. At the very least, if Amanda feels that she has to stay to support her friend, she could send Sam home in an Uber and make an excuse ("she really wanted to come, but had too much homework") or something.
Instead: She doesn’t do anything to mitigate the situation, and makes no effort to stop Sam from humiliating Tory after she makes it clear she’s going to.
The Result: Sam bullies Tory at her already degrading job, causing her to retaliate and further continue their rivalry. This time, though, Tory doesn’t end up losing another job, but instead quits herself. - Right after Daniel and Johnny end their partnership, the All Valley Tournament committee announces radical changes to the tournament, including separate gender divisions, a skills competition, and an overall points championship, that leave both of their dojos at a disadvantage with their current membership.
You'd Expect: Daniel and Johnny to swallow their pride and reunite at least for the tournament since there is so much at stake and they really can't leave things to chance. Even if they have no respect whatsoever left for each other's philosophies, they could always just train separately before entering as a single dojo to maximise their point total.
Instead: They press forward as separate dojos, convinced that they'll be able to overcome the odds and defeat Cobra Kai.
Result: Cobra Kai wins the All Valley tournament by a single point, with Miyagi-do finishing second and Eagle Fang finishing third due to the skill gaps in their individual memberships instead of having a united dojo which would've given them an easy victory. As a result, Cobra Kai is free to expand their influence in the Valley, while Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang have to shut down and Daniel and Johnny have to stop teaching due to the terms of the bet made with Kreese. - Knowing that Johnny and Daniel are teaming up, Kreese decides to contact Terry Silver to help his students compete for the All-Valley. Silver declines at first (due to moving on from Cobra Kai for a peacefully successful life), but decides to join after Kreese manages to push his PTSD buttons.
You'd Expect: For Kreese to treat Silver as an equal partner. They are both trained karate senseis, with Silver not only having more money to franchise Cobra Kai, but also greater combat skill (especially given his bout with Johnny Lawrence). Even after everything he tried to leave behind since Cobra Kai's loss in the 1985 tournament, Silver is still willing to owe Kreese a debt after the latter saved him in Vietnam.
Instead: Kreese's way of dealing with his conflicting views of Silver teaching his students is to continue treating him like a subordinate (even though the war is long over, and Silver, being a successful businessman, has greater power in the valley) and further playing the guilt card of Kreese saving Silver during their time in Vietnam.
Result: Silver's sanity begins to slip further, becoming more psychotic as the season progresses. By the time Kreese realizes that Silver has embraced Cobra Kai's philosophy and loyalty way too far, the latter becomes offended, treating Kreese as a weakness, and successfully betrays him by having Kreese take the blame for his No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of Stingray. So while Cobra Kai does win the tournament, it's because of Kreese treating Silver like a subordinate that Kreese ends up in prison, and Silver has Cobra Kai all to himself! - In preparation for the tournament, Terry Silver goes behind everyone's back and bribes the referee to give Cobra Kai the leniency advantage in the tournament. It pays off after Tory defeats Sam in the finals, and Terry rewards the ref with a large sum of money in his bank account.
You'd Expect: For Silver to close the door and shut the blinds. That way (if the walls were to be soundproof), no one would know what is going on in the room, meaning that Silver and the ref can get away with their plan easily.
Or: For Silver and the referee to relocate to another location that's way more private, let's say Silver's mansion. You could safely assume it's heavily guarded by technology and employees loyal to the ponytailed bastard, meaning that Silver can do his business with the ref and not get caught.
Or Even: For Silver to use technology (i.e., phone, email) to communicate with the ref. Another way of doing business without people watching.
For That Matter: They shouldn't have needed to communicate at all—if Silver didn't pay the ref within an agreed-upon amount of time, the ref could easily blackmail him.
Instead: Silver leaves the door open, making his words easily heard by someone looking out the window (i.e., Tory). Speaking of looking out the window, the blinds are open — so anyone passing by can notice something suspicious between Silver and the ref.
The Result: Tory just so happens to notice Silver and the ref through the blinds while on her way to grab her stuff from the locker room, which already gives off a suspicious gesture. And because the door is open, Tory hears just enough of what Silver planned with the ref prior to the tournament — putting the Queen Cobra in a realization that her victory was all for naught. For Silver himself, he pretty much destroys whatever trust Tory has for him and put him in a position where he could now potentially lose his top student and be exposed for his actions.
To Make Matters Worse: As continued on by Season 5, Tory become disillusioned by Cobra Kai, which eventually results in her aligning with the Miyagi-Fangs during the Season 5 Final Battle. As for Silver, this eventually becomes his downfall when he himself confesses it to Tory all on camera.
Season 5
- Chozen decides to use his low profile, knowledge of Tang Soo Do, and his Japanese background to go undercover in Cobra Kai as a recruited Sensei. Silver takes notice of Chozen, his skill, and their common interest in Japanese culture and invites him into his home for dinner.
You'd Expect: For Chozen to fully do research on his alibi as a sensei from Kyoto and adopt the prefecture's mannerisms in order to stay hidden in the long run. And to not try and pry into Silver's objective too early before formally establishing trust between the two men.
Instead: During his dinner with Silver, he uses his Okinawan customs, especially in the way he toasts after he drinks. And he keeps asking questions about Silver's endgame.
Result: Silver finds out Chozen's identity very early thanks to his taste in wine and Japanese culture, which means that he couldn't gather enough information on Silver for a long period of time. Also, without him as a Sensei (or the other prospective Senseis in the Valley now beaten to a pulp thanks to Chozen's fists), Silver is forced to recruit stronger and more merciless Senseis from around the globe, which means more abusive training that molds the students into remorseless thugs. - Daniel discovers from Mike Barnes that Silver made a contract with him to harass Daniel in 1985, and Barnes gives him the name of the lawyer who helped Silver draw up the contract. Daniel attempts to contact the lawyer to expose the contract to the public and ruin Silver's reputation.
You'd Expect: Daniel would play dumb when talking to the lawyer and not mention Silver's name, in case the lawyer is still working for him. Also, even if the lawyer wanted to help Daniel, Daniel should know the lawyer can't simply give him a copy of the contract without breaking attorney-client privilege, so either way Daniel is going to have to find a covert way of getting his hands on it. Even more, it's very likely if he gave him the contract his career would be ruined too for writing it in the first place, so he has nothing to gain by giving it to Daniel.
Or: Ask Barnes to get a copy of the contract. This would not break attorney-client privilege as Barnes was the one who signed it and he should at least have the right to access it again for legal purposes considering that he was the one who signed it back in 1985. Even if he is uneasy with obtaining the contract from the lawyer, knowledge of what other shady information is involved in it can be also used to possibly protect Barnes from Silver considering that he was a minor at the time of signing. This might not work with Silver in the long-term but with the contract being given to Daniel, an alibi could easily be made with Daniel or more believably, Chozen stealing the contract given that he already beat down Barnes's furniture workers under the pretense of them working under Silver.
Instead: Daniel leaves the lawyer a voicemail straight-up asking him about his past dealings with Silver.
The Result: The lawyer sells out Daniel to Silver, who escalates his mission to destroy Daniel's life and burns down Barnes's furniture store for helping him. - Terry finds out Daniel knows about the contract and correctly suspects Mike Barnes told him.
You'd Expect: He would just destroy the contract and cost Daniel his leverage. Since his lawyer would risk being disbarred for making such a contract, the lawyer would have no problem cleansing his hands of any evidence of that.
Or: Inform his lawyer that Daniel will try to contact him about the contract. The lawyer is still on Silver's payroll and wouldn't risk their job over handing Daniel the contract.
Instead: He burns down Mike's furniture store in retaliation, even though Mike wanted nothing to do with Silver and he had only told Daniel about the contract as a favor to him and not revenge against Silver.
The Result: Not only does Mike now seek revenge for Silver ruining everything he worked for. Mike ends up being the very reason Chozen and Johnny attack his estate and takes out the remaining two senseis, saving Johnny and Chozen from being finished off and allowing the Miyagi-Fang students to obtain the evidence that lead to Silver's downfall. Arson almost always creates more evidence than it destroys there's a very good chance Silver will be looking at an arson charge and given his age will spend the rest of his life behind bars. - When tensions between Cobra Kai and the Miyagi-Fangs flair up, Tory and Hawk agree to a water slide race to determine who gets to stay at the water park. Kenny is later seen handing out tubes to both competitors.
You'd Expect: Hawk would notice his tube is leaking out air when he grabs it.
Or: He would grab his own tube as he knows Cobra Kai likes to play dirty.
Instead: He doesn't do either of the above.
The Result: Hawk loses the race before it even begins.
To Make Matters Worse: This leads to an altercation with Kenny that gets all the Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Fangs booted from the park altogether, ruining many peoples day. - At the fundraiser, Terry comes up to Daniel and tells him that he's just been badmouthing Amanda to the organizer.
You'd Expect: Daniel, with his own prior experience of Terry and Chozen's explanation of Tang Soo Do, to remember that Terry works via mind games and deception, see the trick for what it is and just dismiss it.
Or: For Daniel to simply speak to the organizer ("My wife was so worried about this...the fundraiser means a lot to her, she's put a lot of work into it..." etc.) This would not only support Amanda, but if Terry had said those things, it would plant a seed of doubt in the organizer's mind, and if he didn't, there's no harm done. At the very least, he knows how important this is to Amanda; he could be an adult about it and keep his mouth shut.
Instead: He plays right into Silver's hands by attacking him physically and verbally in front of everyone.
The Result: Not only does his family's reputation take a hit in the community while Silver looks better than ever, Amanda is furious with him and announces she's taking the kids and moving out. - Anthony LaRusso happens to notice a Cobra Kai tabling event at a mall next to a dojo that has recently opened.
You'd Expect: He would try to stay as far away from the area as possible. Clearly, he knows all too well the entire LaRusso family has a bad history with Cobra Kai, with Anthony himself being a victim of Kenny's bullying. Anthony should know that being in the dojo's sights could only spell trouble. If he has to go through that particular neighborhood for some reason, he could at least cross the street.
Or Even: Have at least a Miyagi-Fang, especially his sister, accompany him. Let's be real, most of the Cobra Kais are mooks at this point, with their best fighters being Kenny, Kyler, Devon, and Tory (the latter two don't even want to be involved with their bullying). Someone like Sam, Miguel, Robby, Eli, or Demetri can easily take anyone on and beat them to a pulp.
Or at least: Once he's offered the T-shirt, to take it politely and then toss it away when he's not surrounded by jerks who would take any excuse to pounce on him.
Instead: He continues to walk closer to the area and is offered a T-shirt. He tosses it aside as an act of defiance.
The Result: Lo and behold, Kenny, Kyler, and their Cobra Kai gang are right there when that happens. Of course, Kenny, being rage-filled towards Anthony and accompanied with trained high school students, takes it out on Anthony with a massive swirly in an unflushed toilet. - A humorous one: Chozen challenges all of the students to protect their eggs. Unfortunately, some of the Miyagi-Fangs don't have the best common sense when it comes to their task.
- When all the students have dispersed, Demetri takes his sweet time adding a detailed protective cover over his egg.
You'd Expect: For Demetri to hide the egg in a much safer place (either covered in wood or stone), or at least come up with a strategy to better protect it. Let's be real, it's a small box made out of plastic, which isn't the most durable material on the planet even though Demetri added extra features for "better protection." Chozen showed off an assortment of weapons before the lesson, so Demetri should expect that one of them would be used.
Instead: He goes through all the trouble showing it off to Miguel and Eli, much to the latter's annoyance. Oh, and the "protective cover" is out in the open.
As A Result: Chozen easily pierces through the box with his kunai, breaking Demetri's egg. Demetri is the first one eliminated from the lesson. - Mitch and Chris are also tasked to protect their egg from Chozen.
You'd Expect: For the two boys to at least work together or put the eggs in a far more secure location. They can at least shed a bit of anxiety since Chozen isn't going all out on them during the lesson.
Instead: Chris climbs a tree, which puts the egg at risk should he fall or jump down at a certain force. Oh, and Mitch decides to sit on the egg as part of "nature's rule", which also puts the egg at risk should he break it by accident.
As A Result: Chozen is able to notice Chris from the tree and break the branch for him to fall down. Chris's big body falling on Mitch is enough force to break both of their eggs, eliminating them from the lesson. - Bert and Nate are also tasked to protect their egg from Chozen.
You'd Expect: For the two boys to find a more secure location in the dojo. The platform on the water isn't very stable, the effort to swim or get to land is very risky when protecting the egg, and it's out in the open — making it easy for Chozen to notice them.
Or: For the two boys to be at least more focused if Chozen comes nearby.
Instead: The boys play with the eggs. They don't even notice how obvious it is that Chozen is sneaking up on them!
As A Result: Chozen is able to surprise them by tipping the platform, causing Bert and Nate to fall into the water breaking their eggs in the process. - Chozen later confronts Eli in the Miyagi-Do front entrance after taking out Robby's egg.
You'd Expect: For Eli to come up with a clever stratagem to protect his egg, perhaps by slipping it into his pocket, hiding it in a bush, teaming up with his friends, or something.
Instead: He decides to go toe-to-toe with Chozen, a man with over forty years of experience on him. Additionally, Chozen is carrying multiple weapons (some of which Eli saw earlier), while he has to fight one-handed and protect his egg at the same time.
As A Result: The resulting altercation is so swift it can barely even be described as a Curb-Stomp Battle. - Miguel happens to notice Sam inside the Miyagi-Do dojo's building.
You'd Expect: For the both of them to focus on the lesson and team up in finding a clever way to protect the egg. They're both two of the most skilled fighters within the Miyagi-Fangs, so at least they might provide some sort of a challenge for Chozen compared to the other students.
Instead: Miguel takes his sweet time reminiscing to Sam on their relationship, easily distracting them from the lesson.
As A Result: To no surprise, Chozen is able to sneak up to them and take Miguel's egg out. This effectively ends the lesson in failure as Chozen already had Sam's egg to begin with.
- When all the students have dispersed, Demetri takes his sweet time adding a detailed protective cover over his egg.
- Tory confronts Silver on his bribing of the referee, while Silver wants to find a way to keep her as a star pupil of Cobra Kai. He also knows that he keeps surveillance cameras inside his new flagship dojos with audio recordings.
You'd Expect: For Terry to deny the accusations.
Or: For Terry to ask to speak somewhere private, away from the surveillance.
Or Even: Immediately wipe the audio recordings so that his tracks would be covered and no one can prove that he cheated.
Or Even Better: Blackmail Tory into keeping quiet by offering some financial, medical or living benefits for her destitute family (like he did for Stingray) or threaten to have her locked up in prison if she refused, which would deprive her family of being taken care of.
Instead: Terry implicates himself by not only admitting that he cheated as a way to spin it around for Tory, but he neglects to do any of the above.
As A Result: Everyone in the finale finds out he cheated, uploads a recording of it on Cobra Kai's YouTube Channel, and he is exposed in his own dojo and his own pupils as a fraud and a cheat, ruining his reputation. Even if he is not arrested (which he is), his students consider him a disgrace and quit en masse. - Kim Da-Eun finds out about Tory and the Miyagi-Fangs breaking into the flagship Cobra Kai dojo; Silver sends her there to take care of them while he deals with Johnny, Chozen, and Mike.
You'd Expect: For Kim Da-Eun to read the room and realize what's going on before helping her students Zerg Rush the Miyagi-Fangs. As a sensei, she has far greater skill than any of the students and has the massive advantage of a large number of Cobra Kais versus the outnumbered Miyagi-Fangs, so getting to a newbie like Anthony LaRusso and confiscating the iPad should be a piece of cake.
Instead: Kim Da-Eun wastes her time torturing the already injured Tory, mainly For the Evulz.
The Result: This buys the Miyagi-Fangs enough time to successfully protect Anthony so he can upload the video and cast it on the TV for all the Cobra Kai students to see Terry's confession. The rest is history.
To Make Matters Worse: Kim's desired champion, Devon, sees through the former's sadism and defects from Cobra Kai to take Sam's place in fighting her. - Mitch has been called by many nicknames—first "Assface," then "Penis-Breath." This goes on throughout his entire tenure as a character in Cobra Kai to the point where he eventually gets tired of it.
You'd Expect: For Mitch to speak up about it. Clearly, the nickname "Penis-Breath" was of endearment, and the Miyagi-Fangs (particularly Bert, Nate, and Chris) still see him as a good friend and ally.
Or: For Mitch to report this to his senseis. Who knows if Johnny might be more understanding this time around (given Character Development), but Daniel is also someone that Mitch can talk to about his issues with the nickname. Same can be said with Chozen. Both of them would definitely stamp down on bullying.
Instead: Mitch betrays the Miyagi-Fangs by acting as a mole for Cobra Kai, which he reveals his allegiance in the Season 5 finale. He also cites the dojo's facility, snacks, swag, smoothies, and chicks as a reason to betray his close friends.
The Result: First, Kyler takes a page out of the Miyagi-Fangs' book and call him "Penis-Breath", much to Mitch's annoyance. Then, the Miyagi-Fangs successfully expose Silver as a fraud, to which Mitch himself is horrified, alongside the other Cobra Kais. Not too long after, his old sensei beats up his new sensei, which makes everything he did leading up to that moment All for Nothing. Although he's Easily Forgiven by his old friends in Season 6, he does earn an even worse Embarrassing Nickname, "Benedict Penis Breath".
Also: Mitch's excuse for betraying the Miyagi-Fangs also comes off as quite idiotic and extremely petty when he mentions that their dojo “doesn’t have a roof, or like any chicks.” He forgets the fact that Eagle Fang’s warehouse dojo does have a roof and that the Miyagi-Fangs occasionally use it (as seen in the Sekai Taikai training montage), if Miyagi-Do’s roofed structure doesn’t count. As far as chicks go (besides Sam), Tory and Devon defect from Cobra Kai to ally with the Miyagi-Fangs alongside the fact that through Hawk’s relationship with Moon, the Miyagi-Fangs have plenty of female connections (as seen in Miguel’s and Robby’s party) — so clearly, the amount of chicks for Mitch to be pleased by on the Miyagi-Fangs side is quite abundant. Of course, Mitch is too short-sighted to appreciate that.
Season 6
- Shane Page owns a boxing gym on unsteady financial circumstances. He spots Daniel and Amanda who he believe are the IRS and are after him.
You'd Expect: He blends among the crowd and quietly slip out the back door. He has not been spotted yet and is a close distance from the door. If he quietly leaves, he would be spotted leaving at worst with a decent head-start and escapes at best.
Instead: He immediately bolts and makes it all but clear that he is the very owner that is the target of the search.
The Result: Shane crashes into a blackboard that makes a loud sound which raises tension and suspicions of Daniel and Chozen who chase after him. Chozen tackles Shane and easily overpowers him, foiling his escape attempt and joint-locking him so he cannot use his boxing against his captor.
Thankfully: They were not the IRS but Shane is still injured nonetheless. - Demetri and Hawk want to go to Barcelona together and know that there are two spots for the Sekai Taikai team.
You'd Expect: Demetri and Hawk would set aside their animosity just for today and plan their routes for the flag. Hawk has beaten Kenny and could trail him while Demetri can steal Devon's flag as she is weaker and Devon herself acknowledges Demetri as having the size and experience advantage.
Instead: Neither of them communicate and end up arguing more on Hawk's choice of not signing up to MIT.
The Result: Hawk and Demetri find themselves at the same flag and fight for it, Demetri sucker punching Hawk and taking the flag while Devon gets the other one. - Tory and Sam have their match to determine who is the female captain for Miyagi-Do. Tory's mother recently died and Tory is in no emotional state to fight rationally. Daniel steps in to stop the match as it was getting too dangerous to continue.
You'd Expect: The two senseis to make it clear that Tory still gets a shot at becoming female captain. Until Tory gets better, they could get Tory some counselling and as per Johnny's suggestion for her to fight, let her go hard on the punching bag or spar against one of the senseis to get the grief out of her system. Daniel and Johnny both know what it is like to lose a parent and can relate to Tory's situation.
Or: Due to In-Universe time constraints where the final roster has to be made today, finish the match on sudden death. Tory was going to get the point when it was 2-1 in Sam's favor before Daniel stopped her. The two senseis could create an intermission from a few minutes to an hour so that Sam can get context on what happened and Tory can have some space to talk about her issues to Amanda, Johnny or Daniel to reassure her that her and her brother will be alright in the future.
Instead: Daniel vaguely explains that they will find an alternate means to appoint the captain. Amanda tells her that no one is taking sides but Johnny doubting that in front of Tory validates her fears. Meanwhile Johnny argues that Tory should be allowed fight then and there, despite the fact that she's spent the match clearly emotionally unstable, taking wild swings at Sam and could have broken her nose if Daniel hadn't intervened.
The Result: Tory believes that no matter what she does, Sam will get female captain due to being Daniel's daughter and the ambiguity in his words implies that there won't be a fair competition to decide, and leaves the dojo, costing Miyagi-Do one of their best fighters.
You'd Then Expect: Someone, preferably Robby or Devon, would go after Tory and explain the situation or try to calm her down.
Instead: Everyone just lets her go while Daniel and Johnny bicker with each other instead of helping their student.
The Result: Johnny and Daniel are once again at odds with each other—this time Johnny declaring that he is done with Daniel in the tournament's aftermath right after the latter punches the former for calling out on Mr. Miyagi's dark past.
To Make Matters Worse: Tory joins Cobra Kai at the end of the episode, thinking Kreese is the only mentor she can trust. - In the "Protect the Captain" event, Tory knows the Miyagi-Do's attack plan and guns for them immediately and runs ahead from the group.
You'd Expect: The Miyagi-Dos to gang up on Tory to eliminate Cobra Kai on the basis that their captain is eliminated. Miguel, Robby, Sam and Hawk (offscreen in Coyote Creek) have all defeated her before and know her fighting style the best out of the Cobra Kais. Robby might have trouble doing so given his relationship but Miguel, Sam and Hawk ganging up on her should have no difficulties with defeating her. The Miyagi-Dos should keep an eye on their captains and gang-up on any fighter going for them too.
Instead: They rely on "Protect the egg" which quickly falls apart.
As A Result: The Miyagi-Dos make critical blunders in the fight. Devon is the first to face Tory and goes down fast, being the worst choice to face her. When Hawk gets told to protect the captains, he immediately attacks Yoon who was not fighting anyone and gets eliminated. Robby insists on fighting Kwon and gets defeated from distractions, eliminating the entire team for the round. - Cobra Kai and the Iron Dragons face off as the last two teams in the "Protect the Captain" event. Cobra Kai is down to just Tory, Kwon and Yoon while the Iron Dragons all willingly leave the ring so that only Zara and Axel remain.
You'd Expect: Tory, Kwon and Yoon to Zerg Rush Zara while Yoon keeps an eye on Axel at the same time. Elimination in the event involves being knocked to the ground or a whole team elimination if either captain goes down, so going for the shorter and lighter Zara would be the better idea.
Or: Yoon distract Axel while Tory and Kwon go for Zara. Axel is bigger than all the Cobra Kais who are approximately the same height and Yoon not being captain is the safest option so that Kwon and Tory can gang up on knocking down the smaller Zara.
Instead: Tory goes for Zara and tells Yoon and Kwon to double-team Axel.
As A Result: Cobra Kai suffers their first loss in a humiliating fashion as Zara easily floors Tory while Axel takes down Kwon and Yoon simultaneously. - Daniel gets an anonymous letter to meet him for more information on Mr. Miyagi.
You'd Expect: To tell someone where he is going or ask some locals about the location. Amanda warns him that he is going to a foreign area where he cannot speak the language. If something happens to him, it would be for his own safety that someone knows where he is going whether it is a Sekai Taikai official, hotel staff (who may know about the area) or even Johnny for that matter.
Instead: Daniel ventures alone in unfamiliar territory, ignoring the safety concerns.
As A Result: Daniel finds himself in a shady location where the taxi driver warns him that no tourists venture in that area. The information turns out to be a trap set by Silver where Daniel gets kidnapped and locked in a dog cage, forcing him to miss the next two round of the Sekai Taikai. He only manages to escape thanks to a keyring he buys from a local.
To Make Matters Worse: The events he misses out on require balance, which is his specialty, where Johnny's advice is terrible, leading only Miguel to win against all odds. This loss alienates Johnny from the kids, including Miguel when he does not congratulate or support his win when he was the only one to win his round. Luckily, Johnny is able to get it together by accepting Sam's criticism of his coaching and he does a much better job guiding Miyagi-Do through the platform round. - Demetri and Hawk are fighting the Dublin Thunder members in the platform event where Demetri floors his opponent (but not eliminated) while Hawk is struggling on the edge with another.
You'd Expect: Demetri to finish off his current opponent first and then help Hawk. His first opponent is already on the ground and easy picking for an elimination. This leaves two Dublin Thunder members against Hawk, Demetri and Miguel. Hawk might get eliminated but Demetri could easily kick Hawk's opponent off the platform as they were both at the edge, leaving the odds be the Dublin Thunder male captain vs Miguel and Demetri.
Instead: Demetri ignores his opponent and hits both the Dublin Thunder member and Hawk.
As A Result: They both fall and Hawk gets eliminated from Demetri's recklessness.
You'd Then Expect: Demetri to focus on his fight and apologize for his mistake after the match.
Instead: Demetri begins apologizing during the match and looks over the edge, turning his back on his opponent and allowing him to recover and eliminate him, leaving Miguel to fight two opponents at the same time.
Thankfully: Miguel manages to win in a two-on-one fight against Demetri's opponent and the male captain. - Demetri and Hawk are at the Tapas Bar and one lady dancing (Maria Alvarez of Furia De Pantera) attempts to ask them out as a partner.
You'd Expect: Both Demetri and Hawk to turn her down. The Binary Bros already have girlfriends, and going out with a random person could jeopardize their relationships—especially if word gets out.
Or: Hawk to do a FaceTime call with Moon at a more private place, especially if Yasmine happens to hang out with the latter at the time. Plus, Hawk isn't someone that would stoop this low to leak Demetri's mini-fling with Maria.
Instead: Demetri accepts Maria's invitation to dance with her, followed by Hawk deciding to do a video call with Moon at the exact same spot.
As A Result: Yasmine just so happens to be hanging out with Moon at the time when Hawk unintentionally shows Demetri dancing with Maria. She immediately breaks up with Demetri for being a "shady little man-whore."
To Make Matters Worse: Demetri once again gets into an argument with Hawk, and it reaches a new low where he is too ignorant to accept the fact that all of this was on him by going out with Maria while he's still dating Yasmine. He even goes as far as to blame Hawk for ratting him out and outright saying that Hawk was jealous, even though Maria asked the latter first. When Hawk reminds him that it was his "shitty thing" that lead to his consequence, Demetri responds with a very immature double-Flipping the Bird. - Yoon is getting ganged up on during the tag-team fight where Hawk, Demetri and Kenny frequently switch out and prevent him from swapping out so that they can tire him out.
You'd Expect: Him to tag anyone. The previous match shows that even if their ally is unprepared, they can still be swapped in against their will as seen where Robby gets tagged in by Hawk even though he did not want to fight. He could easily swap with Kwon or any other member if it means getting his energy back. Inversely, another member could tag his hand instead as Kwon does this to Tory to force a swap so he can fight Sam and prevent a point being scored against them.
Or: The other Cobra Kais all stick their hands out at the same time to leave Yoon's options open and make it harder to guess who will be swapped out. This way, he can choose rather than go for one Cobra Kai and have his movements telegraphed and blocked off.
Instead: Yoon keeps going for the same guy rather than attempt to swap with a different Cobra Kai.
As A Result: The Miyagi-Dos see this and continuously prevent Yoon from tagging out by blocking his swap-out attempts and keep swapping themselves out until Yoon runs out of stamina which leaves him open to a hit by Hawk. - Possibly the dumbest series of decisions in the series. In the Sekai Taikai, the Russian team, Tiger Strike, are caught using performance enhancing drugs and disqualified from a tournament with known casualties.
You'd Expect: Sensei Ivanov to not do anything to push this issue further as he's risking a permanent ban.
Instead: His dojo invades the tournament starting a fight ensuring a permanent ban and charges being pressed.
You'd Then Expect: The feed to be immediately cut to avoid scaring viewers, security to be called right away, and the other dojos to flee the area or at least team up against Tiger Strike for their own safety. They have the numbers advantage already with the absolutely stellar Iron Dragons on their side. Plus, it's in their best interest to be on their best behavior since they're on camera with potential sponsors. A fight with a team who attacked them first they could probably justify, but wading into an all-out riot is going to be much harder to explain.
Instead: The remaining dojos start attacking each other over petty grudges. Keep in mind Zara lost two (possibly five) sponsors just for Tory merely accusing her of kissing her boyfriend, which Zara did but Tory never proved it. God knows how many she would have lost if she had been caught attacking Tory from behind for no good reason.
As A Result: The massive brawl happens, putting the Sekai Taikai into complete chaos. And how does it end? The death of Kwon Jae-Sung. Kwon accidentally gets stabbed in the heart, at which point it finally occurs to Gunther to cut the feed far too late as the audience has already witnessed the violent death of a child live on TV, meaning the Sekai Taikai is likely looking at a tornado of lawsuits if not flat out cessation. Also all the dojos involved now look terrible on international TV because of a tragedy that could've been avoided if they had just used their heads. As expected, Season 6 Part 3 confirms that the tournament was immediately cancelled and it's only thanks to Silver's money and desperation that it is able to resume.
Thankfully: Considering none of the Tiger Strike dojo members showed up in the All-Valley Sports Arena when the Sekai Taikai is resumed, it's safe to say they did get their much deserved ban from the tournament, especially after Gunther Braun promised should they step out of line. - During the giant brawl, Kreese makes a giant mistake with how he handles his eunjangdo.
You'd Expect: He would keep it firmly and safely in his inner pocket. There are fighters that can attack him in any given direction and having it close to him sheathed will prevent from it being lost or even worse, stolen and used against him.
Instead: He immediately takes it out of his inner pocket and puts it on the back of his belt where it is exposed and can easily be grabbed or lost.
As A Result: Kreese gets tackled by a random fighter who accidentally knocks the eunjangdo out of his belt. Kreese is forced to fight Silver bare handed and suffers a painful loss where he most likely would have been killed if Johnny hadn't unexpectedly shown up to save him. Kwon finds the eunjangdo, tries using it against Axel and accidentally kills himself when the eunjangdo stabs him in the heart.
