Kicks Get Chicks
Episode 6 of Cobra Kai Season 4 begins with a big board meeting. The executives in charge of the All Valley tournament want to make sure it’s the best it can be. Eventually they come up with a revolutionary change, and by show of hands everyone unanimously agrees to these changes. So what is the big shake-up? Well, we’ll soon find out as letters are sent to the different dojos. The tournament is now going to be divided up into skills including weapon displays, board breaking and a separate female division altogether. This means that there’s a possibility to have two separate champions. Anyone else reckon it’ll be one for Cobra Kai and one for Miyagi Do/Eagle Fang? While Miyagi-Do embrace these changes, Eagle Fang see it as a disaster. They have no females and worse, the fractured divisions mean there’s more chance of in-fighting. Johnny does make a play for one of the best female athletes at school, thanks in part to Johnny’s absolutely hilarious chat with her. Unfortunately she changes her mind and decides to join Cobra Kai instead. So naturally, Johnny shows at the debate team with Bert and Miguel, scouting for the perfect candidate. Meanwhile, Tory swallows her pride and heads over to see Amanda. She’s having a tough time of it at home, with her aunt sniffing around for her disability check. Tory knows about her conniving ways but Amanda believes she should speak to someone professionally. She’s got a lot of stress to deal with. However, when Sam heads home it all kicks off. She’s not happy about Tory being there and believes no one is looking out for her best interests. Now, Amanda’s drive in all this stems from her childhood days when she found out her math teacher was having an affair with her father. This is what served as the catalyst for Amanda having a bit of a wild streak. When Daniel finds out, he’s shocked. He had no idea it was this bad, believing it to be a simple prank. Amanda clearly sees a bit of herself in Tory though, wanting to try and instill the same sense of fighting in her and help Tory turn her life around too. Meanwhile, Hawk’s humiliation leads him to quit karate altogether. He’s cut all his hair off too. Dimitri shows up and tries to talk him out of this, convincing him that he’s his “binary brother” (a throwback to their YouTube days!) and tries to talk him into remaining as friends. This also encourages him to join Miyagi-Do again. After a chat with Aisha way up in Santa Barbara, Sam returns to town with a vengeance. She waits for Tory at the front of school and tells her she’s coming for her. There’s no mercy now and with the cards stacked against Tory, it doesn’t look good.
The Episode Review
Things are just starting to fall apart at the seams for Cobra Kai, both in the tournament and for the show’s structure. One of the biggest problems with this has always been the abundance of under-utilized characters. There are so many kids in all off these dojos that ultimately some of them do feel like archetypes and thrown in for the sake of it. The “amazing” star athlete joining Cobra Kai, Kenny and even LaRusso’s son are thrown into this season and there’s not an awful lot for them to work with. I get that this show is as much about the kids as it is about the adults but these past few episodes have felt a little too busy and feel in danger of slipping into old ways. We’re gearing up for quite the showdown to come and the ending hints that this All Valley tournament is going to be quite the dramatic affair.
