Then Learn Fly
Directed by Marielle Woods
With their new sparring deck completed, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang engage in a joint training montage. We also see that Johnny has decked out his '93 Dodge Caravan with a new Eagle Fang paint job to reflect his new dojo. Johnny, Miguel, and Carmen join the LaRussos for dinner, where the conversation turns to the kids' college plans. Miguel mentions he would like to go to Stanford, but given the expensive tuition, Carmen suggests that he keep an open mind towards community college. Agitated, Miguel accidentally spills a glass of wine on Daniel, but Daniel assures him it is no big deal. Having completed each other's training, Daniel and Johnny agree to swap students so that the Eagle Fangs can get a taste of Miyagi-Do karate, and vice versa.
While being served crème brûlée by his personal chef, Terry Silver finds himself triggered by the lighting of the torch and experiences haunting flashbacks to Vietnam, in which he recalls his lifelong vow to Kreese for saving his life. Visibly disturbed, he decides to go for a drive and clear his head.
Taking his big brother's advice, Kenny shows up at the Cobra Kai dojo asking for Robby Keene. Although Kreese is initially dismissive of him, Robby vouches for Kenny citing his encounters with Shawn in juvie. Kreese insists that he must learn to fight his own battles and promptly matches him up against Kyler. Terrified, the diminutive Kenny repeatedly runs out of bounds to avoid being struck. Unimpressed, Kreese states that they don't have time for losers or cowards, causing Kenny to leave the dojo.
Eagle Fang begins their Miyagi-Do training with a challenge: the first student to catch a koi fish from the pond with their bare hands will have the honor of leading the class for the entire week. The task proves to be more difficult than they thought, however, leading an overzealous Miguel to tumble into the pond. After training, Miguel learns that his mom is unable to pick him up due to car trouble. Daniel then offers to fix Carmen's car himself and gives Miguel a ride to the garage.
After climbing several flights of stairs, Johnny brings the exhausted Miyagi-Do students to a rooftop where he presents his own challenge: jumping across the wide gap to the neighboring building. The kids immediately balk at the idea, but Johnny insists that if they want to be eagles, they need to learn how to fly and tells them they are not leaving until someone jumps. Adamant, Sam informs him he will be waiting a long time.
Eventually, Johnny tries to coax her into jumping, but she tells him that Daniel would not want her to do so. Johnny criticizes her for always doing what her parents want, rather than what she wants, but Sam calls him out as a 50-year-old alcoholic who hasn't even figured out his own life. Johnny responds that if he had done everything his parents wanted, he would be in an office job simply waiting out the clock, but instead chose to do what he loves in teaching kids karate and helping them find their own way. He tells Sam that if she wants to sit in the backseat her whole life, she is welcome to do so.
Kreese dismisses class for the day, only to be confronted by Terry Silver who accuses him of messing with his head. Though he claims to have gotten over his issues, Kreese points out that he wouldn't have come to the dojo if that were true, and suggests he has merely been hiding from his past. Silver removes his shoes and steps onto the mat, telling Kreese there are hundreds of other senseis who could help him, but Kreese counters that there is no one he trusts more and proceeds to goad Silver into a fight. Silver responds with a quick flurry of attacks, but stops short of striking Kreese before walking away, muttering that he shouldn't have come. Kreese reminds him that they got through the tough times together and tells Silver there is still time to finish what they started with Cobra Kai. Wordlessly, Silver leaves.
Robby visits Kenny at his home and returns the backpack he left behind at the dojo. Kenny tells him that Shawn was given an extra month of detention for spitting in a guard's face. He blames himself for Shawn being in lockup, explaining that his older brother fell in with the wrong crowd, one of whom Kenny caught trying to steal from their mother. When the kid came at him, Shawn defended his little brother, and the subsequent beating landed him in juvie. Without Shawn, Kenny claims he has no one to rely on and was looking to Robby for help. After seeing a video of Kenny being pranked at school, Robby agrees to show him a few moves, but Kenny continues to retreat in fear. Robby advises that he instead use his speed to attack, rather than escape.
At the dealership, Daniel recruits Miguel to help fix his mother's car. Their bond grows stronger when Daniel explains that despite being a successful businessman, he never went to college and compares his path through life to Miyagi-Do's circular methodology. He assures Miguel that he can reach any goal he wants, even though it might mean taking a circular path.
After several hours without a jump, a frustrated Johnny finally calls an end to the training. As the students leave, Sam receives a text from her dad advising her not to do anything he wouldn't do. Reflecting on Johnny's words, Sam drops her backpack and sprints across the rooftop, easily clearing the jump to the next building to the cheers of Johnny and her teammates.
Back at home, Silver stares at himself in the bathroom mirror and opens his robe to reveal a large pink scar on his torso, the remnants of a tattoo he had once obtained with Kreese. In a flashback to their younger days, Kreese presents Silver with a flyer for the All-Valley Tournament, stating that he has enrolled Cobra Kai. However, Silver's excitement abates when he reveals that his father wants him to take over the company instead, meaning that he cannot attend the tournament or continue with Cobra Kai. Kreese consoles him, telling him that despite his absence, he will never leave him behind. In the present, Silver pulls out a hair tie and reclaims his trademark ponytail with a smirk.
After returning home for the night, Johnny goes to visit Carmen, but finds her in the midst of a gathering with her mother and her friends. Undaunted, Johnny proceeds to tell her how he truly feels about her and assures her that he is not afraid to commit. The two kiss and renew their romance.
Back at Cobra Kai, Kenny arrives to tell Kreese he wants another shot. Robby again vouches for him, and Kreese matches him against Kyler once more. After initially retreating, Kenny uses his anger from the students' mocking laughter to surge forward and land a quick punch on Kyler, who argues that Kenny struck him before he was ready. Kreese concurs that the attack would not count as a point and informs Kenny that was his only chance, leading the boy to assume he had failed once again. Kenny turns to leave, but Kreese calls him back and bids him to take his spot as the newest member of Cobra Kai.
At Miyagi-Do, the Eagle Fang students continue to struggle to catch a koi, until Miguel has an idea. By wading into the pond and slowly walking in a circle, the kids are able to corral the fish underneath the floating platform, enabling Miguel to catch one and earn the right to lead the class. As Johnny arrives with the Miyagi-Do students, he witnesses Daniel presenting Miguel with his own Miyagi-Do headband, much to his chagrin.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: When Kenny tells Robby Shawn had a month added to his juvie sentence for spitting in one of the guard's faces, Robby chuckles and hopes it was the computer lab guard Shawn spit on.
- Analogy Backfire: Sam objects to Johnny's roofhopping exercise by saying her father wouldn't approve of it, to which Johnny responds by asking if she would listen to Daniel if he wanted her to jump off a bridge. Sam counters by pointing out that Johnny is literally asking her to jump off a building.
- Armor-Piercing Response: At one point, Sam accuses Johnny of being an aimless, over-the-hill drunk. Johnny retorts that having a respectable office job would bore him, and instead he gets to spend his days doing what he loves — helping kids like her learn karate. Sam falls silent at this point.
- Big Brother Instinct: We learn that Shawn Payne ended up in juvie for assaulting a guy who threatened Kenny.
- Big "WHAT?!": Sam's reaction when Johnny tells the Miyagi-dos their task for the day is to go Roof Hopping.
- Call-Back:
- In The Karate Kid, when Daniel inquired about learning the Crane Kick, Mr. Miyagi told him: "First learn stand; then learn fly." This and the previous episode are titled after that.
- Johnny once again gives his students the task of jumping from one roof to another.
- Johnny and Anthony again get into a verbal pissing contest.
- Miguel falls into the koi pond, and Daniel jokes that he's still wet behind the ears, the same joke Mr. Miyagi made in the first film when Daniel tried to balance on a boat and fell into the lake.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Carmen asks if they can have the "what are we" talk later, Johnny thinks she just wants to put it off again, but it's because her mom and her mom's friends are in the adjacent room.
- Compound Title: With the previous episode, it forms "First Learn Stand Then Learn Fly".
- Continuity Nod:
- Demitri tells his fellow Miyagi Dos that he heard Johnny almost drowned a kid to teach him to kick (probably from Miguel), and that he sicced a rabid dog on Hawk.
- Daniel tells Miguel about how he once spent his entire college fund on a round-trip to Okinawa, where he won a lot of money in an ice-breaking contest, and came home and blew all of it on a bonsai tree shop.
- Easily Forgiven: Miguel accidentally spills a glass of wine on Daniel, and gets more upset about it than Daniel does.
- Epiphany Comeback: The Eagle Fangs are just about ready to give up on catching koi with their bare hands, but then it dawns on Miguel that they can trick the fish to hide under the platform by walking in a circle.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: When Silver's ponytail reappears, it's ass kicking time.
- Flashback: When Silver's chef prepares crème brûlée and lights the torch in front of him, the clicks and the sound of the torch remind him (unpleasantly) of the Vietnam war.
- Formerly Fat: Anthony's weight loss is lampshaded by Johnny when he sees him for the first time since Season 1.Johnny: Did you switch to Whopper Jrs.?
- Green-Eyed Monster: Johnny is less than thrilled to see Miguel bonding with Daniel.
- Groin Attack: Averted. While Chris and Daniel are sparring, Daniel aims a hammerfist strike at Chris's groin... but mercifully stops just short of making impact.
- I Got Bigger: Anthony, explaining to Johnny why he doesn't recognize him: "It's called a growth spurt, dipshit."
- In a Single Bound: Only one student, Sam, attempts the roof jump.
- It's All My Fault: Kenny blames himself for Shawn being in juvie. He caught one of Shawn's friends stealing from their house and when the thief tried to assault him in retaliation, Shawn brutalized the guy badly enough to earn a juvie sentence.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Like the audience, Johnny doesn't recognize Anthony; the latter informs Johnny that it's called a growth spurt.
- Mark of Shame: Silver had his Cobra Kai tattoo removed at some point, leaving an angry mark on his torso.
- Pet the Dog: Robby takes pity on Kenny and gives him some personal training.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Johnny and Sam both call each other out, with Johnny getting the last word.
- Kreese also executes one of these on Silver, when it becomes clear that the power of Villainous Friendship is working too slowly.
- Roof Hopping: Johnny's most dangerous exercise.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Silver, more than previously thought.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Demetri questions what'll happen to him and the Miyagi-Dos if they fall from the roof and don't land on the mattresses below. Johnny advises them to try not to miss.
- Soul-Crushing Desk Job: Discussed. When Sam accuses Johnny of being an aimless drunk, Johnny tells her that if he were working a respectable office job like his parents wanted him to he'd be miserable.
- Tempting Fate: Before the Eagle Fangs begin their training under Miyagi-Do, Mitch remarks that compared to Johnny's training, Daniel's exercises will be like a vacation. He soon learns that he is very wrong.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Naturally, this is how the Miyagi-do students feel about having to train with Johnny and deal with his Training from Hell.
- Trauma Button: The sight of a torch being used to caramelize a serving of crème brûlée triggers Silver's flashbacks of his Vietnam War days.
- Verbal Backspace: Johnny tells his Miyagi-Do students to "grow a pair". Then he remembers that Samantha is there, and adds "of legs".
- Villainous Friendship:
- Robby expresses a genuine interest in how Shawn Payne is doing, asking Kenny about him and chuckling at the news that Shawn spit in a guard's face.
- In the final flashback before Silver regains his ponytail, it's revealed that even after Kreese's Start of Darkness in Vietnam, he cared for Silver like a brother, vowing to never leave him behind whether in war or peace. Silver, for his part, laments how his father is pressuring him to forget Vietnam and take over his company, which threatens to keep him from following Kreese's lead.
