Bicephaly
Directed by Marielle Woods
Kenny and his classmates from West Valley Middle School attend orientation at the high school. He and Lia briefly make small talk, in which she points out a strawberry stain on his new Cobra Kai t-shirt. Kenny goes to the restroom to wash it off and runs into Bert and Nate, who immediately taunt him about his shirt. Kenny rushes to attack them but Hawk intervenes, slamming him against the wall. He then smugly warns Kenny to get out of Cobra Kai while he still can, because they are about to go down.
As promised, Miguel leads the Eagle Fang students alongside Daniel. Although he tries to focus on training the Miyagi-Do fighters, Johnny cannot help being distracted by Miguel's interactions with Daniel, leading him to drop his guard and allow Demetri to kick him in the face. In retaliation, Johnny binds Demetri with duct tape and a couch cushion to act as a punching bag for the rest of the students. Hoping to reconnect with his star pupil, Johnny invites Miguel over for dinner after training, but Miguel tells him he is going with Daniel to finish his mother's car. Upon hearing him address Daniel as "sensei", Johnny looks resentful.
At the Cobra Kai dojo, Kyler announces that he has scored free tickets to a screening of Bloodsport at the drive-in movie theater, and invites everyone to see the film with him. Tory is unsure if she can attend, as she is scheduled to work that night, but abrasively dodges the question when Robby asks about her new job. Kenny arrives looking downtrodden and relays his encounter with Hawk at the high school, for which Tory is eager for payback. Kreese orders the students to fall in and states that even though their enemies are combining their styles, they are destined to fail. He then introduces Terry Silver as his new partner and co-founder of Cobra Kai. Kreese warns the group that having two senseis will mean putting in twice the work, but Silver tells them if they can persevere, he and Kreese will take them to the next level.
After spending the night together, Johnny finds himself too distracted by Miguel and Daniel to make love to Carmen. She tries to put a positive spin on the situation, saying that the student swap has enabled them to spend more time together, but Johnny still feels as though his standing as Miguel's sensei is being usurped. Carmen wonders if it is time to tell Miguel about their relationship, but Johnny is worried that it might make things worse. Nevertheless, Carmen grants him permission to tell Miguel when he is ready to do so.
At the garage, Miguel and Daniel finish repairing Carmen's car. With Miguel in the driver's seat, Daniel enters the car on the passenger side and fastens his seatbelt, instructing Miguel to drive them to a party where Amanda and Sam are awaiting them. Miguel has no driving experience, however, and his first attempt is off to a rough start. Meanwhile, Sam bemoans the fact that her mother forced her to attend a children's birthday party, but immediately perks up when Tory walks out on stage as a performer dressed in a mermaid outfit.
Robby helps Kenny work on his combos at the dojo. When the latter brags that he already knows all the moves, Robby drops the pads and quickly takes Kenny down a notch with a leg sweep. He then shares a Miyagi-Do lesson about balance, which Silver overhears. Agreeing that balance is crucial, he asks Kenny to give him a moment alone with Robby. The two engage in a sparring match that Silver easily wins. Afterwards, he informs Robby that while he has learned to channel his anger, he is still afraid, and cautions him that if he doesn't face his fear, it will hold him back forever. Robby is receptive to Silver's advice.
At home, Johnny reminisces over photos of Miguel on Facebook while trying to figure out how to tell him that he is dating Carmen. After an ill-fated web search, Johnny flashes back to the day when his mother told him she was hooking up with Sid. Still upset about losing his real father, Johnny angrily rejects the idea of a stepdad and flees to his room. His mom finds him going through a box of his father's belongings, which he had kept under his bed. Resentful of the man who abandoned them, she takes the items to be thrown away despite Johnny's protests. In the present, Johnny scowls at the bitter memory, quietly resolving to do better with Miguel.
On their way to the party, Daniel and Miguel bond over 1980's soft rock. When Miguel approaches a yellow light, he promptly speeds through it, having picked up the bad habit from Johnny. Recalling Mr. Miyagi as his own father figure, Daniel inquires about Miguel's birth father. Miguel replies that he has never met him, but heard that he was involved in something illegal which prompted Carmen to move to the States. He also recently discovered that his father now lives in Mexico. Daniel draws a comparison between Carmen and his own mother, stating that they only wanted to make a better life for their children, and that avoiding conflict is one of the most heroic things a person can do. Taking the lesson to heart, Miguel comes to a stop at the next yellow light.
At the children's party, Sam is unable to resist heckling Tory as she entertains the kids with a fairy tale. Seeking to get even, Tory characterizes Sam as the evil witch from her story and encourages the kids to throw a "glitter bomb" at Sam to destroy her. They eagerly comply, leaving a furious Sam covered in glitter and her mother in shock.
While cooking dinner at home, Johnny answers a knock at the door to find Robby at his doorstep. He informs Johnny about Hawk and the other students bullying Kenny at school and warns there will be payback if it doesn't stop. In turn, Johnny urges him not to do anything stupid and believes him to be brainwashed by Kreese. Robby responds that unlike Johnny, he never trusted Kreese and is just using Cobra Kai to get what he wants. He also names Johnny as the source of his fear, which he intends to purge because he believes he is better than Johnny and refuses to end up like him. With nothing left for either of them to say, Robby departs.
When Miguel finally arrives at the party, Sam brazenly kisses him in front of Tory to make her jealous, causing Tory to walk off the job. Amanda follows her out the back door and apologizes for Sam's behavior, but cannot fully blame her daughter for her actions, either. She appeals to Tory to ask for help with her situation, but Tory stubbornly refuses. Ultimately, Amanda advises her that no one can help her if she doesn't allow them to, and that she might be surprised if she asks.
Johnny sets the table for dinner and goes outside to invite Miguel over, only to find that he has already eaten dinner with Daniel and is getting ready for a night out with Sam. Johnny points out that he has been spending a lot of time with Daniel lately, and is particularly dismayed when he hears that Daniel taught Miguel how to drive. Miguel does not understand Johnny's concerns, and the latter decides it is not the right time to reveal his relationship with Carmen.
At the drive-in movie, Kyler tasks Kenny with buying concessions for his fellow Cobra Kai. His arms loaded with snacks, he sees Bert and Nate and tries to avoid them, only to collide with Hawk which knocks all the food out of his hands. Seeing Kenny in trouble, Robby comes to his defense, prompting a standoff between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang. Miguel tries to defuse the conflict, but after Robby taunts him, he tells the Cobras to meet them at the baseball diamond in thirty minutes with no weapons. They find themselves alone when they arrive, just in time for the sprinklers to turn on and drench them as their rivals drive away laughing. Robby and his teammates swear revenge.
The next day at the dojo, Kreese evaluates the situation and determines they need to strike back against Johnny and Daniel. Silver disagrees, however, cautioning his old friend about repeating the mistakes of the past that ended up sinking Cobra Kai, namely his rivalry with Miyagi. Kreese recalls wanting revenge on Miyagi for shattering Johnny's confidence back in the 80's, and obviously sees history repeating itself today. Silver insists that Cobra Kai was never about revenge, but about building strength by turning fear into a weapon. Though he does not sanction revenge, Silver concedes that their students' humiliation should not go unanswered, either.
At Miyagi-Do, Johnny is irritated to hear about the previous night's prank and admonishes the students for "poking the bear". Conversely, Daniel praises Miguel for handling the conflict without violence and taking the Miyagi-Do teachings to heart. Incensed at Daniel further extending his hold on Miguel, Johnny is about to give him a piece of his mind when John Kreese and Terry Silver brazenly walk into the dojo. As his memories of Silver come flooding back, Daniel seethes with rage.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Daniel praises Miguel for avoiding a "drive-in switchblade fight" with Cobra Kai.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not revealed how Miguel knew what time the baseball field's sprinklers go on.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- The audience is initially led to think Tory's new job is at a strip club. It's actually as a performer for children's birthday parties. Which is a huge relief, considering she’s still a minor.
- Johnny searches on his laptop "How to tell your student...", and autocomplete searches make it seem like he wants to tell Miguel he's hanging it up. Only to finish the search with "you're banging his mom". He quickly closes the tab when this search results only in porn.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Tory states that Hawk would get what he deserved. Though she’d meant payback for betraying Cobra Kai, come episode 10, he does get what he deserves: The Male division All Valley trophy, and Moon.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Sam turns Tory's derisive nickname for her, "Princess", against Tory herself as a way of mocking her for her new job as a mermaid performer at kids' parties.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Kreese and Silver's conversation after the sprinkler incident has Kreese advocating for Cobra Kai to seek revenge on the Miyagi-Fang alliance while Silver thinks they should focus on the tournament instead. Silver's argument is more constructive, stating that if their students lose focus on the tournament, history will repeat with Cobra Kai losing. However, Kreese is not wrong with their students being targets, as Kenny was bullied by Bert, Nate and (unintentionally) Hawk just for wearing a Cobra Kai shirt, while Tory was harassed by Sam at work, and neither Cobra Kai student did anything to instigate or provoke the Miyagi-Fang aggressors.
- The Bus Came Back: Sheila, the receptionist for LaRusso Auto, is briefly seen for the first time since season 1, episode 9.
- The Bully:
- Believe it or not, Bert and Nate come off as this to Kenny, given the latter's youth and allegiance to Cobra Kai. Counts as Irony when both former boys are part of the Miyagi-Fang alliance, yet they're the ones that started the aggression.
- Sam also comes off as this at Tory's new job. As Tory tries to tell a fairy tale to the kids, Sam makes fun of her past actions, and finally just outright insults her. This prompts Tory to manipulate the kids into thinking Sam is an "evil witch" and has them throw glitter at her.
- Call-Back:
- Silver repeats his famous line of "A man can't stand, he can't fight", this time in a more benign context.
- Miguel tricking Cobra Kai into being drenched by sprinklers recalls Daniel soaking Johnny in the first film. Johnny’s reaction implies that he makes this connection and is troubled by it, while Daniel praises Miguel for finding an alternative to fighting.
- Cassandra Truth: Hawk confronts Kenny and warns him of the dangers Cobra Kai poses, advising him to leave while it's not too late. Kenny doesn't listen, and ends the season deep into He Who Fights Monsters.
- Cerebus Retcon: The reason Johnny drinks Coors Banquet? It was the beer his birth father drank and an empty Coors can was one of Johnny's mementos of him.
- Contrived Coincidence:
- Kenny just happens to be wearing a Cobra Kai shirt when he's on the middle school trip to West Valley, has to go to the bathroom to clean off some food, and enters it at the same time Hawk, Nate, and Bert are in there.
- Also, Amanda and Sam just happen to be at a child's birthday party in the right place and time to humiliate Tory. Amanda's reasoning to be there is because it's Sheila's kid's birthday party and they have to support her.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Silver has no trouble throwing Robby around in their sparring session.
- Curse Cut Short: Bert and Nate enter the bathroom discussing the term "JILF" (a play on the term "MILF", with "junior" instead of "mother"). Kenny distracts them just in time to keep Nate from describing to Bert what the "F" stands for.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Kyler seems to think that (another) home invasion is an appropriate response to the sprinkler prank.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Tory continues to resent Amanda's sympathy, especially given that Sam is still actively harassing her.
- Foreshadowing:
- It's revealed that Miguel has tried to learn more about his biological father. At the end of the season, Miguel leaves the country to search for him.
- Notice the reactions from Cobra Kai's top four students (Robby, Tory, Kyler, Kenny) when Terry Silver makes his grand re-introduction as Cobra Kai co-sensei. Kyler and Kenny are smiling admirably when Kreese introduces another sensei to help them prepare for the All-Valley, whereas Robby and Tory look at each other with curiosity and uncertainty perhaps regarding Silver himself. By the end of the Season 4 and throughout Season 5, Kenny and Kyler gleefully go along with Silver as part of his campaign in taking over the valley with a franchise of dojos, whereas Robby and Tory eventually become disillusioned from Cobra Kai due to Terry's corrupting influence.
- Hawk is also a big topic of discussion. Robby warns Johnny to tell Hawk to leave Kenny alone, or he’d do it himself. Tory also states she wants payback for him betraying Cobra Kai. Doesn’t take a genius to realize what’s to come the very next episode.
- Groin Attack: When Johnny strings Demetri up (with padding) as a kicking back, Chris accidentally kicks him in the one area Johnny didn't give him any padding — his crotch.
- Hypocrite: Sam accuses Tory of "moving in on her boyfriend" even though Sam had dumped Miguel at this point and had rejected his multiple attempts to fix things. Tory even points out Sam wasn’t dating him anymore.
- Insane Troll Logic: Johnny apparently claimed that Mr. Miyagi attacked him and four of his friends, and Kreese bought it.
- Instant Expert: In a universe where it's possible to become a tournament-level martial artist in a few months, it's no surprise that Miguel learns how to drive a car and fix an engine in a single lazy afternoon. In fairness, it's more probable that Daniel helped him fix the engine rather than sitting back and letting him do everything himself. This is also almost certainly not Miguel's first time ever driving a car.
- Internal Reveal: Daniel learns that Terry Silver has returned to assist Kreese.
- Ironic Echo:
- When Daniel is talking about soft rock bands, Miguel ends up asking him "Who's Chicago?". Daniel replies "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that"... just like Johnny did in season 1 when Miguel asked him who Guns n' Roses are.
- When Hawk, Nate, and Bert are leaving after harassing Kenny in the bathroom, Bert mockingly says "Think he's going to cry." In the first Karate Kid, this is exactly what Dutch (of the OG Cobra Kai gang) said about Daniel after they harassed him at the tournament. As always, He Who Fights Monsters is a thing in this series.
- Irony:
- Nate and Bert start hassling Kenny directly in front of a poster that reads "STOP BULLYING".
- Also, the Miyagi-Do students bullying someone else. Miyagi would not approve.
- The fact that they're bullying possibly the one Cobra Kai student who, at this point, has no reason to hate Miyagi-Do so far.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Daniel is impressed by how Miguel dealt with Cobra Kai by leading them to a baseball field to get drenched by sprinklers (instead of rumbling with them outright), but Johnny points out that all he did was delay the fight they picked in the first place and make Cobra Kai more pissed off. The next episode proves Johnny right, as even Silver cannot stop them from enacting their revenge on Hawk.Johnny: You just poked the bear. What do you think's gonna happen? They're just gonna leave well enough alone?
- Tory correctly points out she was not wrong to move in on Miguel as he and Sam were broken up for several weeks by this point.
- Kick the Dog:
- When all three are in the bathroom, Bert and Nate bully Kenny for no reason other than the latter wearing a Cobra Kai shirt — even though he didn't even know, much less care, about the violent rivalry between both dojos, did nothing to provoke either of them, and was just minding his own business.
- When Sam and Amanda spot Tory at her new job as a children's performer, Sam not only laughs cruelly at her, but wastes no time in heckling her while she's merely trying to do her job. As a bonus kick, Tory is once again unemployed after biting Sam back.
- Later the Miyagi-Do dojo as a whole, but especially Hawk when he accidentally bumps into Kenny at the drive-in and makes him drop all of his food, but is unapologetic about it. The Miyagi-Do / Eagle Fang students then pranked the Cobra Kais by luring them onto a baseball field on the pretense of a fair rumble, only to soak them with the sprinkler system.
- Kyler himself is not immune from blame for the latter incident, as the only reason it happened was because he, after telling Kenny he didn't want any food, decided to make the latter his errand boy by making him fetch (and carry) a veritable mountain of food. Although "hazing", like Robby had said, also probably played a bit part, it was so much more than that.
- When Miguel tries to defuse the situation between the two sides by reminding them they're supposed to wait for the tournament, Robby makes a crack about how their last fight went.
- Kids Are Cruel: We already knew that Johnny's stepfather Sid was a jerkass. But now we see that even before Johnny's mother married him, little Johnny only perceived Sid as "that fat bald guy" and wasn't the least bit inclined to give him a chance.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: Johnny runs into this problem with Carmen, much to his incredible embarrassment. (And yes, he does say "I swear, this has never, ever happened to me.") It's because he is too bothered by losing Miguel to Daniel to be able to focus on anything else.
- Mood Whiplash: The tense standoff between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-do/Eagle Fang is briefly interrupted by Demetri arriving to excitedly tell his friends the concession stand has both Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb soda.
- Mythology Gag: Daniel introduces Miguel to '80s soft rock, including Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love," the love theme from The Karate Kid Part II.
- No-Sell: While sparring with Silver, Robby opens with the leg sweep which has served him so well this season, but Silver defends against it easily.
- Not So Above It All: After explaining to Kenny that the other Cobras are having him act as their errand boy as hazing and he shouldn't take it personally, Robby asks him to get him a Butterfinger on top of the others' orders.
- Not What It Looks Like: At the drive-in, Hawk and Kenny accidentally bump into each other which causes Kenny to drop all of his food. When Robby sees the aftermath and Hawk being unapologetic, he thinks Hawk did it on purpose and confronts him.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Daniel's reaction when he sees Terry for the first time in 35 years. Cue the Part III flashbacks.
- Also Demetri's reaction when he kicks Johnny in the face by mistake.
- Finally, when Amanda and Sam spot Tory performing at the children's party, Amanda's expression is somewhere between this trope and This Is Gonna Suck, as she (rightly) fears an altercation.
- Papa Wolf: A retroactive example, as Kreese describes wanting to punish Mr. Miyagi for beating up his champion Johnny in the first Karate Kid.
- Pet the Dog:
- Robby cares enough about Kenny to appeal to his hated father on Kenny's behalf.
- Unlike Sam, Amanda takes no pleasure in seeing Tory reduced to working as a children's performer and tries apologizing when Sam takes things too far.
- Kreese's argument for wanting revenge against the Miyagi-Fang alliance over the sprinkler incident has him tell Silver the time Johnny got a black eye when fighting Mr. Miyagi. Unlike Kreese's manipulation techniques, he was genuinely angry at Miyagi for seemingly beating up the then-teenage Johnny, indicating that he still cares for Johnny in his own twisted way and using that incident as an example of why he won't let the Miyagi-Fang alliance harass his students.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- Hawk, having just gotten out of Cobra Kai, warns Kenny to get out before it’s too late. But he says it in such an aggressive way, with no explanation, that it comes across as a threat.
- Robby swallows his pride and goes to Johnny to ask him to keep his students away from Kenny, but Johnny is more interested trying to get Robby away from Kreese. Neither side gets what they want.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In spirit, the children who were listening to Tory's fairy tale.Children: DIE, EVIL WITCH!
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Silver, of all people. After the Cobra Kai students are doused with the sprinkler, Silver tries to persuade Kreese not to lead them on an immediate rampage, and instead focus on building strength for the fight that will matter (ie the tournament).
- Schmuck Bait: When the Cobras make it clear they're not leaving without a fight, Miguel tells them to meet the Miyagi-dos/Eagle Fangs on the baseball field in half an hour. The Cobras arrive on the field at that time... and they get drenched by the sprinklers turning on as the Miyagi-dos/Eagle Fangs watch from their cars and laugh.
- Self-Serving Memory: Kreese seems to believe that Miyagi assaulted Johnny and his friends unprovoked, apparently forgetting that Mr. Miyagi stepped in to stop the beating they were giving Daniel. Justified as in Kreese's defense, he only heard of the incident second-hand from Johnny who almost certainly told him his version of the story rather than what actually happened.
- Suck E. Cheese's: Tory's new place of employment is an ocean-themed kids entertainment center where she performs as a scantily-clad mermaid.
- Villainous Friendship: When Kyler scores tickets to see Bloodsport, he eagerly shares them with his fellow Cobra Kai students, even Kenny (who sucker punched him) and Tory (who harshly berated him for losing to Miguel). When the lights went out on the baseball field, Kyler can be seen holding his arm in front of Kenny to protect him from any potential ambush or attack. Despite not hanging out with his old wrestling gang anymore, Kyler obtained the tickets from Rory, the very tall Caucasian one in his initial gang, which confirms that he is on good enough terms with at least one of them that he can get the tickets in the first place.
- The Worf Effect: Silver wipes the floor with Robby in a sparring session to remind the audience how formidable of a threat he is. Making this even more impressive is the fact that we just saw Robby do the same thing to the entire Cobra Kai dojo in the season premiere.
