Written by Matthew Widdis
In one short season, Cobra Kai has taken on Shakespearean/Game of Thrones levels of intricacies. Johnny’s top student, former dork Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) is All-Valley karate champ having defeated Daniel LaRusso’s student, Robby Keene. Robby is Johnny’s son, something his students are unaware of. Following the Cobra Kai doctrine of “No Mercy” got Miguel his 1st Place trophy but lost him the affection of Daniel’s daughter, Samantha, when she sees this in tournament.
It’s also troubling to Miguel’s mom, who seems pretty pleased with an oblivious Johnny otherwise. Samantha’s friendship with Aisha (Nichole Brown) is on the mend, despite Aisha having joined Cobra Kai after feeling abandoned by Samantha for greener pastures (or, at least, a better lunch table.)
We begin Season 2 similar to how we began Karate Kid Part II, with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and John Kreese after a tournament. The difference is, this time, Johnny and his students have won. And, this time, Johnny is able to fight him.
It’s Kreese who centers this season’s premiere with its theme: mentors and pupils. The parallels between Daniel and Johnny, between Kreese and Mr Miyagi, are what makes their contrasts so striking. Johnny grew up without a father figure or, consequently, a direction or sense of self. It was Kreese who offered him a path to self-reliance and self-confidence which Johnny has passed on to Miguel.
Daniel was in a similar predicament in the original movie until Miyagi introduced him to his philosophy, culture, and training. Johnny lost and Kreese left and Johnny has floundered since. Daniel won and Miyagi stayed and Daniel has prospered. Johnny took the Cobra Kai lessons back into his life and reinvented himself… and his students. Daniel expresses doubt on how to center himself without the late Miyagi’s guidance and doesn’t redefine his training of Robby or Samantha since then.
One of the things that made Cobra Kai so accessible has been its candid look at how today’s society looks upon things like violence, competition, assertiveness, and self-discipline versus the slippery slope to (and, often, false equivalency with) bullying, sociopathy, and toxic masculinity.
As Daniel works to transform Mr. Miyagi’s former home into the Miyagi-Do karate academy, we see classic automobiles, the Congressional Medal of Honor, and the Miyagi family drum which, like Daniel, has to be kept moving in order to stay in rhythm. Meanwhile, Johnny meets Kreese at a 1950’s-themed diner where nothing seems authentic, not even the breakfast of processed meat and processed coffee that Kreese orders from the waitress along with chauvinistic comments.
It creates a wariness in Johnny. He is conflicted over becoming more like Kreese. He admonishes his students for reveling in their victories over injured opponents. He also hesitates in a fight and that costs him. Johnny is missing the balance that Daniel strives to keep constant.
By the end of the episode and with the previews for the rest of the season, we see Samantha and Robby training together and it seems Miguel sees it, too. Kreese is brought into the fold, worrying some students and emboldening others. The schools, with new students and their instructors, train and even fight all over the valley. Two houses, more alike in dignity than they know…
