Cobra Kai Midseason-Premiere Recap: The Lost Boys

Welcome back! The streaming schedule for this supersized final season of Cobra Kai has been unusual, but now that we’ve arrived at the last batch of episodes, the structure makes a certain degree of sense. I don’t want Netflix to make a habit of releasing its seasons in these months-apart chunks, but both chunk 1 and chunk 2 ended on pretty solid cliffhangers.

The biggest question going into season 6C, if that’s what we’re calling it, was if (and how) the Sekai Taikai world tournament would carry on despite the loss of one of its top competitors. Kwon’s death definitely casts a pall over this midseason premiere; in the first scene, set in Korea, we see his classmates assemble to light the funeral pyre. Yet the tournament is back on by the time the credits roll like nothing ever happened. Well, it probably won’t be in Barcelona, but otherwise, it remains to be seen how this one-month break will affect the results of the tournament going forward.

“Into the Fire” isn’t so much about the kids, because we can safely assume they’re all still up for finishing the competition, and we know the stakes going in for someone like Miguel (whose Stanford dreams are dead without the win). Many of the students are missing entirely, including Tory, and Robby only really gets one scene. His guidance counselor tells him it’ll be difficult for him to graduate high school and make it to a good university, and she’s also doubtful about his chances of making it in the world of professional karate. She mentions looking into trade school and imagining a life without karate, which increases the pressure to prove himself when the tournament does start up again.

I suppose if Cobra Kai were interested in psychological realism, it could’ve taken some time to explore how it might affect a bunch of kids to watch another competitor like themselves (albeit a scary bully) literally get impaled and die on the mat — while they’re all on TV, mind you. But if anybody gets understandably triggered by the sight of a Cobra Kai gi, we haven’t seen it yet.

The idea of returning to finish the fight is more complex for the adults, especially Daniel, who has spent the last month burying his head in work and preparing for the upcoming anniversary party for the dealership. He’s not even offering bonsai plants to customers anymore, a sign that he’s still haunted by his tarnished memories of Mr. Miyagi — and by the history-repeating-itself fatality in Barcelona. When he discusses Gunther’s call with Johnny, he’s resolutely not onboard, too obsessed with clinging to control.

But he’ll have to get over that fast, because tournament or no tournament, change is a-comin’. He’s been clinging to the idea of Sam staying near home to go to UCLA, but she’s been thinking about getting out of her comfort zone. Barcelona was big for her, and as much as she loves Miguel, she can’t stifle her adventurous spirit to stay glued to his side. I wonder if she’s a little conflicted about their long-term relationship prospects in general; maybe she wasn’t truly crushing on Axel from that walk they took on the beach, but he showed her that there are other options out there.

Learning from Amanda about Sam’s plans is the wake-up call Daniel needs, and when Terry Silver arrives with Johnny to talk it out, he’s primed to change his mind. Apparently, Silver is very sick, and this tournament is all he has left. No more foul play, no more attempted murder — he just wants to duke it out one last time, fair and square. I actually kind of believe him, because I’m not sure what else the show could do with Silver in these final episodes. I’m glad he still gets to retain his personality, though, like when he shows up for a test drive with Johnny and almost kills them both racing erratically around the Valley.

Johnny is an easy sell, still unwilling to let go of his dream even if he’s happy with his life with Carmen. And the terms Silver offers are pretty good: Daniel and Johnny will get to decide the venue and refs, and Silver himself will cover the costs.

As is usually the case, the Kreese- and Kim Da-Eun–centered subplot features the least humor, making it the weakest part of the episode. Kim Sun-Yung is reacting to Cobra Kai’s failure the way you might expect: screaming about vengeance and ordering his granddaughter to punish her students with a “special lesson” that entails forcing Yoon to beat the shit out of all his classmates. Kreese and Kim Da-Eun are both legitimately disturbed, which really says something.

Kreese is on the verge of quitting karate altogether, unenthused by the idea of returning to finish the tournament. It’s really starting to sink in for him how much time he wasted by devoting his life to the “no mercy” concept, and he’s even admitting that he isn’t a good person — that it’s too late for him to change as a man. He fucked up with Johnny, he fucked up with Kwon, and now it would probably be best for everyone if he fucked off entirely. He sends Yoon away and gives back the eunjangdo, which makes Sun-Yung furious.

For Kim Da-Eun to take her rightful place as master of the dojang, though, she’ll need to prove herself with a brutal task: killing Kreese. (Kim Sun-Yung comes up with this test literally seconds after Kreese quits his job and relinquishes the knife.) She’s not down for that, though. Instead, she looms over her own grandfather’s bed, contemplating stabbing him instead. He wakes up, and the two fight, with her eventually performing the same savage plunging-fingers-into-your-opponent’s-gut move he taught her. “Perfect” is his final word, a little bit of affirmation for the new sensei.

And with that, the master of Tang Soo Do shuffles off this mortal coil! It’s definitely the right move for the show, I think; as legendary as the character may be in the Miyagi-verse lore, he’s pretty static overall. I’d rather focus on the end of Kreese’s, Silver’s, and Kim Da-Eun’s arcs in these final episodes. All three are in an interesting spot at this point, morally speaking, reflecting on the violence they’ve caused and deciding whether or not they’re willing to be better. We’re not far from the end now, but there’s always time for a heel to turn face.

Mr. Miyagi’s Little Trees

• There’s no sign of Chozen yet, but hopefully, we’ll get to see more scenes with him and Kim Da-Eun.

• I’m surprised Gunther relents so quickly with Silver, though there’s an obvious appeal to reclaiming the tournament while honoring Kwon.

• Kind of fun to see Julia Macchio’s Vanessa LaRusso again, this time calling Amanda out for benefiting from her husband’s renewed focus on the dealership.

• Kreese says he’ll return to the tournament to take care of some unfinished business, and based on his rejection of change, that probably means he’ll try to finish the job and kill Silver.