40: "Into the Fire" (S6E11)

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[00:00:30] Hmm? Ah! Huh. Podcast to go! Everyone, we want to thank you all for being here with us tonight. We are so lucky to be surrounded by friends and family and the family that we have chosen, the LaRusso Auto family. You know, a family means that we love and support each other no matter what and that we could be proud of every step forward we've taken together.

[00:00:59] And even after 18 incredible years there's still so much ahead of us. You know, in the early days of this business things were pretty uncertain. We knew we were taking a risk. We had no idea if we'd be well received. But we built something of our own. We trusted each other. We trusted that it would all work out okay. Because we had each other. So thank you to everyone in our family, old and new.

[00:01:28] Here's to the next step forward. Cheers! Thank you. Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast. I'm Jason. And I'm Richard. And I'm Rima. And this is Cobra Kai Cast.

[00:01:54] This week we're covering Cobra Kai Season 6 Episode 11, Into the Fire. Into the Boring Fire. Yeah. It wasn't that bad. Okay, okay. It's the final five episodes. Here we go into this, the end game of the series that we've covered for a long time. I think we started in 2020. So that's five years. Oh gosh. Wow. Already? And now they're all out there.

[00:02:23] And I'm really hoping I don't get spoiled. I think I already saw something kind of spoilery about the final episode, but I won't tell you guys. Really? It's gotta be hard when you're doing research on it. I'm trying, I really not. I don't even... Just Google knows I like Cobra Kai, so it'll just throw something up when I'm not even looking for Cobra Kai at all. Well, but it's not even that. Just from following, you know, entertainment news. If you know, you're just on news and it knows that you like entertainment stuff.

[00:02:52] And it's like in the headlines now. Like you don't even have to open an article to actually see a spoiler. It just says it in the headline. So that's happened to me a couple of times. And I'm like, what the heck, man? At least put it like embedded in the article. Why in the headline? Such a bummer. It pisses me off. I almost screwed up last night when we were watching that. I was watching episode 11 and then I'm like, oh, cool. Doing my notes and stuff. And all of a sudden it started playing the next episode.

[00:03:19] It only gives you like three seconds before that flick automatically goes. I was like, oh crap. You gotta be fast on the remote draw. Turn off the TV because I couldn't find the other remote. I heard Anthony dies right in the first minute to next week. No, I'm just kidding. All right. Let's get into this one. Cobra Kai season six, episode 11 into the fire. Rima, do you want to read the plot summary? I would love to.

[00:03:45] Um, so plot summary for this week, um, says following the incident at the Sakai Takai, a funeral is held for Kwon in South Korea. When they return to training, Sun Young forces Yun to brutally beat up his teammates. Back home, Robbie has trouble getting into college and Daniel is in trouble over what happened in Barcelona. Silver intercepts Gunther to help, to get him to resume the Sakai Takai. Gunther agrees to resume if all the senseis agree.

[00:04:13] Johnny agrees to return to the Sakai Takai, but Daniel does not. Chris tells Sun Yun that Cobra Kai will not return to the Sakai Takai. Silver talks to Johnny so that he can convince Daniel to return to the tournament. Johnny holds a meeting with Daniel and Silver. Silver reveals that he wants a victory before he dies of his terminal illness and Daniel finally agrees to participate again. Da'un, eager to be the master of the dojo, kills her grandfather. Yeah, it sounds like a soap opera.

[00:04:42] Very much so. It really is. Um, yeah, I thought it was not that great, honestly. I'm surprised. I don't know. It just felt like, let's, it was workmanlike. Let's see how they get back into the tournament. Yeah. You know, I didn't have that many laughs. I mean, it was good. It was good. What am I saying?

[00:05:07] I mean, I'm not saying it was horrible or anything, but just for Cobra Kai, the baseline, I thought it wasn't one of the better episodes. What did you guys think? Don't agree? Uh, uh, there was some parts of it I thought were a little bit contrived and cheesy and kind of like, I don't know. It felt like it was, it's just a necessary episode, you know? Yeah. That's what I mean. Yeah. Great. Not horrible, but it's just, we got to get back on track here and address some things that need to be addressed. And, uh, there you go. It was like a meeting. Yeah.

[00:05:38] A meeting that could have been an email. Like being in the writer's room. Yeah. They could have just sent us an email that said they decided to go have the tournament again to go back to it. Okay. Go on to the next episode. What did you like to remember? Um, I mean, I did, but I, I, I totally, I can't argue like too much with your viewpoint. And I think Rich is right. It was just kind of like a level set.

[00:06:02] Like we have to come back and at least, you know, I mean, especially with where the episode ended, um, for the, this, the, I guess, uh, the, the middle part two, I guess if you want to call it that. And, um, so it's like, you know, how do we come back from that now? It's kind of like a calm, you know, how's everyone handling what happened? I mean, I feel like if this were real world, they really didn't touch on it enough. Like the kids, especially like. Yeah.

[00:06:32] They're just like, can we go back? I mean, he was still, you know, the one that I'm the worst part of the world. And I, I think that was realistic where he was like, kind of struggling with the whole thing. And I know that there was Miyagi trauma in there too. Like, he's dealing with everything he was learning about Miyagi. Plus he was the one that, you know, was there in front of Kwan and, um, I guess flipping him like a pancake. Like they said that's terrible.

[00:07:02] I shouldn't laugh. Those two were like the best part of the episode. Yeah, it was good to see like back at the dealership and kind of back to some of the other characters from there. But you know, I understood the necessity for it. So, you know, I didn't dislike it, but it was kind of like, okay, it makes sense that this is what we have to do after the events of the tournament. So I was okay with it. I think it was more of an acceptance.

[00:07:24] But I mean, what really helped me is I think I really like Cherry Silver. And I can't believe I'm saying that after, you know, like credit get three. But I mean, I just really enjoy his character. And I just thought Thomas Ian Griffith was really great. And just Terry Silver was great in general. So I think that is probably what helped this episode for me. I like when he gets really upset and he just goes, you can't see it because it's a podcast, but he just seems really intense. Yeah. Well, okay, let's get into our points, Rich.

[00:07:55] So, yeah, well, we can go with that first. When Silver, Terry Silver makes his appearance, you know, he's driving all crazy with Johnny going like, I got something to say. You know how to amp up the tension. Yeah, yeah, that was kind of a good lead into what we later find out about him too. And Silver meets up with Daniel and Johnny at Daniel's house to convince him to continue the tournament.

[00:08:22] And it was kind of surreal to see them having like a relatively normal conversation and not kicking each other in the face, you know? Yeah. So that was like that. That was like a meeting. Hey, so what do you guys say? We should keep this thing going so we can continue beating the crap out of each other. Right. Agreed? Yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, sure. But I think I might believe him this time or believe his reason this time. Yeah.

[00:08:48] It was interesting because Daniel said, or he said his bullshit reason at first. I mean, for the same reason you guys all are, you know, we want to feel complete about this or whatever. And Daniel goes bullshit and Johnny goes seconded. Yeah. And then he said, all right, let me tell you the truth. I'm sick. I'm going to die. And Daniel goes bullshit again. And Johnny didn't say seconded that time because he believed it. Yeah. Well, yeah, that little flashback of the hospital too. Right. Which was in episode, season five, episode nine.

[00:09:17] Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Me too. And I went and watched it. Johnny was in the hospital, I think just Johnny and Carmen checking on the baby or something. And they were in the elevator. And when the doors opened, Terry Silver came in and he like congratulated Johnny for their dojo getting into the Sakai Tai Kai, but in kind of a snarky way.

[00:09:39] And then he said that whatever he just said in this flashback, like live every day to the fullest or whatever it was. And so now we know that the writers apparently had this in mind that whole time and planted that seed back in season five. That was a while ago. I thought that was last season. Totally went under the radar. Yeah. That is last season, Rich. Yeah. Oh, no, season six. Oh, this is season six. Sorry, I'm sorry. It's still a long time ago. Yeah. There was a lot of time between five and six.

[00:10:09] It screwed up because they broke the season into three parts. I don't know what season is. I mean, with the writer's script, it was like two years ago, right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. It was a while. What else? Anything else about him, about Silver? Well, yeah, I was just going to say, I believe his reason this time. At least we're led to believe he doesn't have much time left on Earth. So he pretty much wants to fight and win one more time. He seemed pretty confident about winning. But then I was like thinking about it a little bit later.

[00:10:36] And it was like, it also means now he's a guy with not much left to lose. So we might get to see some crazy shit later on. Hope so. Yeah. That's what I'm hoping for. Yeah. And he said, I will, you can choose the refs and the location and I'll, you know, basically I'll play it on the level, you know, uh, so he just wants, he says, I think I'll win cause I have the better team.

[00:11:07] And, um, I suspect that they will have it at the same place wherever the all Valley karate tournament is always held and it'll bring the whole series full circle, you know? Yeah. Yeah. That was my first thought too. You get to choose a venue. They're like this, the, this in the Valley, dude, the one where we always kick ass. Uh, that would be a perfect full circle moment. Rima.

[00:11:36] Well, I mean, obviously Terry Silver was one of my points too. So I'll just add, uh, to, to what you were saying, Rich. Um, I, I thought it was quite a twist that he, he was ill and until we saw the flashback, I was like, I can't remember what episode that's from, but you know, I'm, that was a good callback. Um, and I think I actually kind of believe him that he is really just wanting to do this

[00:12:01] as like his final, um, send off one more time for the teams to kind of, you know, duke it out, I guess, and actually do it on the up and up, you know, letting them choose the venue, choose the, um, refs and stuff. But I think you have a good point, Rich. I thought of that too. I was like, well, if he's, if he knows he's really ill and he's got a limited amount of time left, that kind of makes him a little dangerous still because he doesn't really have anything to lose.

[00:12:27] Um, and despite him, I guess whatever illness he's got, I don't know that we, uh, we don't know that. I mean, we just saw him at the hospital, so I don't know what kind of illness that he has, but, um, I liked it. Despite that, he still has his personality. Like he was still Terry Silver, like when he was, uh, on the test drive with Johnny and the whole fast and furious, you know, test drive around, um, the Valley there.

[00:12:53] Well, he had everything we've seen since season five, episode nine to in retrospect, you know? Yeah, totally. And I think it makes even more sense too. When we saw him come back earlier in the season where he was just, I mean, there's a lot of reasons I'm sure why he was really kind of going downhill, but it kind of make, it kind of sees that or makes that whole spiral makes that a little bit more sense, I guess, knowing

[00:13:16] that he has gotten this, you know, uh, illness diagnosed and, and he's dealing with that. So it kind of made sense as to why he was kind of spiraling when we saw him. Um, so I wish I had a better time timeline. Cause I know we got to see flashbacks of him when he, uh, recruited, um, Oh, I've already forgotten his name. Gosh, that was just a few months ago when we had the middle part of the season, but his, the sensei, the jerk that was, um, yeah.

[00:13:45] I'm like, Oh gosh, he was such a baddie. The one that kept giving Johnny trouble at the buffet line. Kept taking the extra steak and stuff. Yeah. So anyway, um, you know, I think it, it, having seen all of that, it kind of makes more sense, but I still like that he has retained his personality. He's still Terry silver, you know, Terry silver. Um, and he's that character that I, that I like to kind of love to hate in a way, but cause he's so outrageous.

[00:14:14] Um, maybe his last words will be like, yes. Maybe, but he was the best part of the episode for me. He's always the most entertaining. He was the most fun. And that's probably why I didn't, um, you know, dislike the episode so much, but I'm really interested to see where we go from here. And if he actually stays true to like just one more go around, right. Let's just like my final send off my, you know, my legacy.

[00:14:42] I mean, he, I think Johnny said, or not Johnny, Daniel said to Johnny something like, okay. Cause I believed him too. And I think they both did. And he played it as if he was being sincere, you know, and we saw his, um, assistant give him pills. And so we believe he's actually sick, but Daniel's like, even so you never know what he'll pull or something like that, you know, and that's kind of what we're hoping for and counting on. Yeah.

[00:15:11] And he's one of those guys that can be absolutely sincere and believe what he's saying in the moment, but then that moment changes. He's kind of got a personality disorder. So you can't trust him. Yeah. Yeah, totally. But for the moment, I think, yeah, he's being honest. He's not trying to trick them somehow or something. Right. Okay. My first point is letting go of the dream. So everybody, Johnny wants to go back to the tournament, Terry silver, all the kids seem

[00:15:39] to want to go, um, from Johnny would have a big impact on his life. Like he says to Carmen, I didn't expect to be a car salesman the rest of my life. No dojo of my own. It's not exactly the dream. And she's like, most people don't get to live their dreams. I mean, look at Miguel and Stanford, but maybe it's that way so that we learn to make the most of what we do have. And, um, I'm like, that is, we all sort of know the reality of that statement, especially

[00:16:08] the longer you live on this earth and, uh, she's right. But I think, you know, karate kid was never about accepting defeat and it's, uh, you know, sometimes life doesn't work out the way you hoped and you accept the truth of that. And you let go of some of those dreams, but that's not what's going to happen here. Cause we're watching a fantasy. Yeah. That is true. There's no room for real life. Come on, Carmen.

[00:16:37] Get out of here with that bullshit. Johnny's going to take over Cobra Kai again. Absolutely. And this whole sort of dynamic reminded me, it's like a bigger version cause it involves more people, but of the original karate kid, when Daniel was injured in the tournament, cause Bobby did that kick to his leg, put him out of commission. It seemed like it was going to be over. He's in the locker room with Miyagi and Miyagi's like, um, you don't need to fight anymore. You proved your point. And Dan is like, what?

[00:17:07] Then I can take a beating every time I see those guys, they'll know they got the best of me. I'll never have balance that way. And so they're encouraging him to let it go, but he doesn't want to insist on, on, on continuing. And then he wins. And then Johnny at the end says, you're all right, LaRusso. So he got that. I think he was kind of looking for respect from everybody. Right. And self-respect. And then he's been a local hero ever since, uh, people always remember he was in that tournament. It impacted his life.

[00:17:36] He uses the kicking in the car commercials and gives away bonsai trees and everything. And so now it's sort of ironic because he's the one that's the roadblock to everybody else. He's the only one arguing that they shouldn't go and, and, um, that, you know, they should let it go and everything. But, um, by the end he comes around and the dream is back alive and, and that's what we want. And it would just be dumb if Johnny said, yeah, you're right.

[00:18:06] I'll just be a car salesman and Robbie can install TVs and that'll be fine. The end. Right. So anyway, I, I just thought, uh, that's what I thought of the, the scene where they were trying to get Daniel to give up and karate kid and he didn't. And now it's sort of like that with everybody else here. Yeah. I had one of my points was of building upon that in, uh, that, uh, everyone kind of struggled

[00:18:36] with life without karate. You know, what he kicked it off is the counselor when they're, when she was talking to Robbie and you know, she said to him at one point, try to keep an open, open mind about what life might look like without karate. I started laughing. I'm like, well, that's the whole show. Yeah. It's interesting. Cause I noticed, you know, crease, which I'm sure we'll talk about. He's like, I don't have anywhere to go now. And it reminded me of him in karate kid three.

[00:19:03] He's all down and out because the dojos, he doesn't have the dojos anymore. Cause he lost the, he beat up his students at the tournament. And here in this episode, we see a silver saying, this is all I have. I don't have a wife or kids. So the villains, I mean, it's karate is important to most of the characters in this series. But especially for these villains who have nothing else, like at least, uh, Johnny has Carmen and Miguel and Daniel has his wife in his dealership.

[00:19:32] But these, these bad guys who have just been so focused on it have nothing. Yeah. As this whole episode was, uh, you know, showing everyone struggling with their own like futures in the, in the here and now it was, it was kind of a little sad to be honest. How everyone is completely directionless without the violence of karate in their lives.

[00:19:54] I guess it's the, maybe this is just an, you know, an inevitable conclusion when you dedicate your entire being to just karate or any one thing. Yeah. Any one thing. Like increase. Yeah. You know, perhaps the last 50 years have been a bad decision. I came to this late, very late. Was that your point, rich? Pretty much. Yeah. I mean, yeah.

[00:20:21] I mean, you know, poor Robbie, he's, he's hardly going to graduate high school if at all, you know, Miguel, Sam, I guess Sam wasn't in such a bad position. Yeah. Johnny though. Boy, Johnny crease silver. I mean, Johnny's bad position is he has to work for Daniel. Yeah. But Sam and Amanda were seem to be okay. Yeah. At least at first.

[00:20:46] Because they, it is about putting your eggs in one basket and Daniel's built this business and Amanda's a big part of that too. So they have some, another, um, leg of their stool to rely on. So it doesn't fall over if they lose one. Yeah. And it's in the kids though. I mean, you know, they're kids. Yeah. Let's fight. Woo. Kids don't normally have that ability to include the past or the future in their current decision making. Right.

[00:21:15] So they're, they're all ready to go. I, I get why the rest of, uh, the kids in the, in the dojo don't really make an appearance. You know, all we really see is Miguel, Sam, Robbie, right? It's not. And they were barely in it too. Yeah. Cause it's not much of a decision for them though. You know, they're ready to go at a moment's notice. So those three speak for all of them, you know? Let's fight!

[00:22:07] We are Teresa and Nemo. Rima? Well, since we were on the subject of, of Kreese, um, thought we'd go ahead and bring him into the conversation. Uh, I, I feel like it was for me anyway, the most least interesting, um, part of the episode, but thought we would talk about him anyway, because I did. I'm, I'm conflicted a little bit. I've said before, I don't really think that Kreese can really be redeemed.

[00:22:36] It feels like he's already kind of had that redemption arc and then he's kind of come back around, um, to being that bad guy again. So I'm, I'm wondering if, if this is another redemption or if, I don't know if they really know what to do with his character at this point, but it was really. I think he was always bad. You don't think so? Even when he was teaching Cobra Kai, uh, in, in the show Cobra Kai, he was never great.

[00:23:03] No, but I feel like they were really trying to like humanize Kreese a little bit, giving us those backstories, like from the war and stuff and kind of seeing, you know, you know, kind of how he got to be that way. Because I don't think he really started out that way. I think it was through the teachings, um, and then, um, being in South Korea and learning Cobra Kai that it really, and just a lot of other things that happened in his life that kind of turned him that way with that no mercy mentality.

[00:23:33] Um, but it was interesting. I thought that it was definitely a much toned down crease this episode than I think what we've seen in, in quite some time where he's really kind of seeing that, that mentality has caused nothing but problems for him.

[00:23:48] And I think when he takes the responsibility of what happened to Kwon and he, you know, thinks, well, I've, I've screwed that up and it's led to the death of a student, you know, who he's groomed to have that same way of thinking, just like he did with, you know, Johnny. And he screwed up that whole relationship with Johnny too.

[00:24:07] And then when Yoon was forced to go and like, start beating up the rest of the students and, you know, Master Kim's like, you know, this is how we learn through punishment. And I feel like when crease is like, like when he can't watch that, it's like that shows like the brutality of what was happening. And it was interesting because I don't know that I would have seen that from crease before.

[00:24:34] So I'm kind of leaning towards, I really think he's, I don't know that, uh, um, a good guy necessarily, but I think he actually has a conscience, I guess that I don't know that I've, I've really seen it much in him before. Starting to develop one. Maybe you watch those pitch meetings with Ryan George. You ever watch that Rima? They're so funny. You should check them out.

[00:24:58] He just, he acts the part of a writer pitching a movie to a producer, but it's movies, you know, we've already seen, uh, he, every movie you can think of he does. And he just says, and what if this happened in that? And he basically points out all the flaws in the writing, but in a really funny way. And, and a lot of times he'll say, oh yeah, now, um, this guy totally changes his mind and decides to be a good guy. And he's like, why? And he goes, cause it's the end of the movie.

[00:25:28] And that's what this felt like. Like, especially because I mean, you could maybe understand, okay, a kid, he just killed himself and it was with crease's knife that he was about to go use to kill somebody else. You could see maybe that would change a man. I don't know with how bad crease has been. I would even have a hard time believing that, but okay. You could see it, but then we don't even get to see it. We just, he's just had this moment of clarity off screen during the break.

[00:25:57] And so it really felt forced to me and not organic, you know? And I had been sort of predicting, well, I think this series, it always humanizes the villains. So I would not be surprised at least if they do the same thing to crease, but the way they're doing it, it just felt very jarring, like a quick left turn that I don't buy. I thought it was totally fake. Cause what he said at the very end, right? He goes through all this saying, I don't have any friends.

[00:26:27] Well, maybe a little bit with dayoon, but he has, he's burned all his bridges. He's a horrible person. I, you know, it's too late for me to change. I need to, I need to, I need to leave this place, but I have nowhere to go. And then at the end he's like, uh, nevermind. I'll never change. Let's go back to the tournament. I want to kill silver. No, he said, um, he said, I've been a bad guy for so long. I don't think I'll be able to change. And then she says, what will you do? And he says, I still have some unfinished business. I need to give Johnny a hug.

[00:26:56] So, you didn't hear that part. I actually think that's what his unfinished business is that he's going to try to make amends with Johnny. I'm thinking, yeah, maybe the writers are just planting a seed here, you know, along, along what you're saying, Rima, but you know, so that later on, perhaps he will turn about for, you know, redemption at the very end. Maybe he'll save Johnny's life or something, you know?

[00:27:24] I mean, but this whole episode, he was feeling very uncomfortable with the training, especially when they had the guy start hurting the other kids, which doesn't make sense because he used to have his own kids hurt his own kids in his training. But he, he, he was, you know, oh my God. Oh, then he said, no, we're not going to do this tournament. And then he said, you know, he went in and said, Kim Dae-yoon, should it be your teacher? Because she's not like you. He, he was protecting her.

[00:27:55] At this point, he had decided, I don't like what this guy, Kim Sun-young is putting people through. And I don't want, I don't think Kim Dae-yoon should be a part of that because Kim Dae-yoon, the whole, when they were in Spain, she always was stepping in when people were fighting off the mat. She didn't like that. He knows that about her, right? Yeah. So he doesn't want her to be subjected now because he's totally changed. And then he said this clarity came to me so late.

[00:28:21] I made a lot of mistakes with Quan and with Johnny to tell you the truth, Kim, you don't need me anymore. I don't think anybody ever did. It's time for men like me to step aside. It's too late for me to be a good sensei, let alone to be a good person. The way the fist gave me the power to handle many difficult things. There are times in life in war where you can't show mercy, but if you devote your life to that concept, it consumes you. And then to say all that, and then, I mean, we saw him say stuff to his psychotherapist when he was in prison.

[00:28:49] That was all bullshit just so he could escape. So you might think he's doing the same thing again, but he's not going to see her anymore. I just, I think this time it's real. Yeah. Yeah. So they're going to the tournament separately, right? I mean, Kim Dae-yoon said, we're not ever going to see each other again. We're going to see each other again, right. But then he's like, I'm going to the tournament, which is where she's going to be too, presumably. So it seems like they will see each other. Well, I was so confused because they were kind of going back and forth.

[00:29:15] He said that he dismissed Yoon, like let him go and then said that they were had told the tournament people that Cobra Kai was not going to participate. So then I was super confused because then he turns around later and he's like, you know, I'm going back to the tournament. I have unfinished business. And I wasn't quite clear on what Kim Dae-yoon was going to do. So I was just like, okay. Whether she's going to be in the tournament or not. Yeah.

[00:29:45] So I was like, I don't know. I'm kind of confused about what was happening there. And then how Kreese even had, I guess, like the authority to, you know, even dismiss and say that they weren't going to be at the tournament and then dismiss that student because he didn't want him to kind of go down that same path as like what Kwon and Donnie and stuff. He's trying to save people. Yeah. So I was really kind of the authority, but he just did it anyway. Yeah. I think.

[00:30:13] I wonder who's going to replace Kwon. Is it going to be some surprise or just a. Background character. Yeah. Because it was going to be that second guy. I forgot his name, but that's the one that Kreese sent away. Speaking of poor Kwon, geez, man, not much of a send off for that dude, huh? They go back to South Korea and burn him at the. Burn him in the pile there. You didn't have any family, I guess. Yeah. That was. Yeah.

[00:30:41] It was like a game of Thrones or something. And the Lord of the ring. Yeah. And it just made me think how. I think what happened with this series is the writers realized, well, we need to put karate in every episode. But man, that means these characters are going to be fighting a hell of a lot. And so they really leaned into that because karate kid, especially the first movie is very grounded. It feels like everyday people.

[00:31:10] But when you got these kids fighting all the freaking time, then it's. It starts to be kind of conspicuous. There's a lot of violence here. So they just made it into this saga feel, you know, like I say, karate opera. And so especially the scenes with Kreese, I mean, we've already kind of talked about all this stuff, but this you would never see in the movie karate kid a coffin on a pyre with flames coming off it. You know, they just make it more bigger and really lean into the ridiculousness of it all. I think.

[00:31:40] Which I love. I think. Totally. Totally. It's definitely one of the things that makes the show so great. Yeah. And fun. And speaking of, I mean, maybe. Yeah, it would be interesting, Rich. I, I, I'm arguing that Kreese is having a huge change of heart, but I wouldn't be shocked if he flip flops again. Yeah. But I was thinking about all the characters who have been, who were bad that have been redeemed or that become sympathetic.

[00:32:09] And it's almost all of them. Robbie was like a thief when he first came on. Yeah. Hawk was good. But then a bully. Kyler was a total dick. Mitch, Chris, Tori. Kenny was a psycho for a while. Johnny. I mean, he's the main one, right? He was the bad guy in Karate Kid Chozen. Kim Dae-yoon, I think, is still kind of in the middle, but she's definitely had her sympathetic moments. Yeah. It looks like they're headed that way with Kreese.

[00:32:37] And I think even Terry Silver, the one I thought maybe they wouldn't go that way with. Maybe they're going that way with him, too. You never know. But at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if everybody's friends at the end. Take like one big group hug. Yeah. What a great time. The only one is Kim. The guy who started it all, Kim Sun-young, he's dead. Yeah. He died a bad person. Yeah. Poor guy. Sort of.

[00:33:08] Guess you reap what you sow, huh? I mean, the only nice thing he ever did was say, perfect to Kim Dae-yoon at the end when she killed him. And that was like the only time you ever heard him compliment anyone. Right. Just kind of funny. All right. Where are we, Rich? Oh, you know, it was good to see some cameos in there. Well, some bring backs, you know, Anoush and Louis. These two guys.

[00:33:35] It was fun to see them again with their stupid arguments. And then Vanessa. Yep. Vanessa is who? She is Rob Macchio's cousin. She's, yes. Yeah, in real life, she's his daughter, huh? Yeah. Yeah. But who is she in the show? I think she's like a. Daniel's cousin. Oh, cousin. Okay. Yeah. But daughter in real life. She came back and that was good to see her again. It felt like this was a final farewell for those Valley folk, kind of, you know?

[00:34:04] Because you saw they had that dealership party, anniversary party, and everybody was there. Lots of familiar faces at the dealership party. I was wondering, why are we watching this? Yeah. And I was wondering, this might be a send off for all these sporting characters. You might not see the dealership anymore. Yeah. And we're going to see, you know, which means what? We're going to end the show at the tournament? Or maybe just more focused on the main characters, I guess? Probably more focused on main characters. And if the tournament's on, then that's probably where the focus will be. And it kind of makes sense.

[00:34:33] We see that with other shows sometimes, right? When they know it's like the last handful of episodes, it kind of, you know, give this little send off to some of the other side characters. Yep. Well, damn, that makes me like it more, Rich. Thanks. Yeah. It happens in all these final seasons. At some point, everybody's standing around next to each other in a big semicircle. Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. Same thing happened here. You're totally right. We're not going to see them anymore, I bet. Yeah. I think so. Rima?

[00:35:03] Well, and this was more of a note, but since, Rich, you were just talking about the dealership and the little send off, if it helps you make it any, or if it helps you like the episode any more. God, words are hard today. Sorry. The little speech that Daniel had there at the dealership when he said, we knew we were taking a risk. We had no idea if we'll be well-received, but we built something of our own.

[00:35:31] Didn't that feel a little bit like the writers talking to the audience a little bit? Now that you say that, yeah. It does make me like it more, too. You're right. It's what it kind of felt like, because Cobra Kai was a really big risk, wasn't it? I mean, you know. I thought it was going to suck. Yeah. Me, too. It took me a whole, it took me like the whole first season before you convinced me to like, you got to watch it. It's so awesome. Awesome. And I'm just like, but I don't even like Karate Kid. You know, I'm not going to like it. Right. But that's what it kind of felt like.

[00:36:01] I think that that's, you know, maybe we'll find out for sure if that's what they meant after the show's over so we don't get spoiled looking for some news. But it'd be really cool if that's what they meant to it. That's what it felt like to me anyway. So I think that was what helped me, too, with the episode. It was like, oh, it feels like the writers are talking to us. Talking to us. Yeah. But anyway, that wasn't my point. But as a note, and since we were talking about the dealership. Yeah. Yeah. And everybody there congregated together.

[00:36:27] I remember when Jason told me, he's like, hey, this show based on the Karate Kid movies out. It's on YouTube. You got to watch it. I'm like, yeah, YouTube. Right. Remember when YouTube had a team? Yeah. YouTube Red. Yeah. We did a couple months. And then I watched the episode, an episode, first episode. I was like, oh, shit, this is really good. I ended up binging like the whole season. I mean, when I heard it was coming out and it was going to be a YouTube Red thing, I was like, what's YouTube Red? And then I was like, man, that's totally going to suck.

[00:36:56] But I'm absolutely going to watch it because I love Karate Kid. At least watch a couple episodes. Yep. I wholly admitted that I was wrong and just totally fell in love with it. So I probably said it before, but if I haven't, thank you for being sure that I watched it. And I try to, I tell on other podcasts, I'm like, you know, my favorite show that I podcast on is Cobra Kai.

[00:37:25] And I try to get people to watch it. And I don't think I've been super successful. So everybody who's listening to me, thanks for coming on board. You're part of a rare team here. Yeah. It must be a niche, huh? Yeah. It shocks me. I can't believe that. I mean, I don't know. I just, I do feel like it, maybe when it got on Netflix or something, it got more exposure and maybe got more fans because they were able to keep going with it. But no, it's a huge success. Yeah.

[00:37:54] But I guess in the beginning, before it moved over, I guess, you know, and got, got the exposure. But anyway, I'm happy to be a part of the club. So anyway, while we were going down a little nostalgia road there. My next point, it's, it's mostly pretty short. We talked a little about Master Kim and, you know, I think he was just straight up villain. I don't think that dude was, was nice at all.

[00:38:24] But, and we really got a good glimpse of that in this episode when, how he treated Kim, Kim Da-un, and then having Yoon beat up the students, just being absolutely brutal to each other. But I was kind of shocked. I was not expecting for the show to push Sensei Kim to straight murder in this episode. That kind of shocked me. I mean, we, things allude to like, oh, I'm going to get that person. I'm going to get that person.

[00:38:53] And they're going to get revenge against that person. But, and you know, what happened to Kwon was shocking enough. I didn't know in this episode, we'd have someone else, you know, kind of doing the same thing. And not only would she be driven to murder, but like her own grandfather, that to me was shocking. But it was like after this lifetime abuse, like she finally turned on him. It kind of made sense, you know, that she did it.

[00:39:19] And honestly, I think he kind of, that's what he's been expecting her to do for so many years. Like he didn't look surprised to see her there. He almost looked like proud. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, cause I wasn't clear if he, cause he told her you're going to have to do something. And we, I think in that moment presumed, cause he handed her the knife that he meant kill Kreese. Right. Yeah. And then they totally made it look like that because as she was sneaking into the room, they showed intercut with Kreese sleeping.

[00:39:49] And then it was a surprise that it was the grandfather. And I, but I wonder, okay, what did he tell him? And because, or what did he tell her? Because he said, this is the choice you're making. And I wasn't sure if that meant he was like, you have a choice to make when he told her what to do. But I think he told her you're going to need to kill Kreese. And she decided to kill him instead on her own and do things her own way. Right. That's, that's the feeling I got.

[00:40:16] In fact, I think he just made that shit up on the spot because Kreese came in and said, I let, I let, uh, it wasn't Quan. Who was it? Who was the, who was the kid there? Yoon. Yoon. Yeah. He goes, I let Yoon go. And then he tosses the knife back or he hands the knife back to master Kim. And then I think that pissed off master Kim. And he was just like, all right, you got one more last thing to do. That's what it seemed like to me.

[00:40:45] I'm like, Hey, he just made that up. He's pissed at Kreese. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it certainly, um, kind of made you think that too. Cause when she went into his hut, they kept focusing on Kreese's drink. And I thought, is she going to like poison his drink? Because she kept focusing on, on his like little cup and this drink. I thought she was going to turn around and stab him right there. She did not. So I don't know. It was, it was just surprising. I was like, Oh, okay.

[00:41:13] Well that's where the show's kind of still having that little bit of that dark tone. Um, you know, by, by her. Her actions or whatever. I still like her though. But, um, Oh yeah, me too. She's, she's awesome. And they have that move now too. Yeah. That's my next point. Kim Dae-yoon taking over the Dojang. And, um, so when the master Kim finds out they can go back into the tournament, he says, yeah, we're going, we will avenge our student. They take one of ours. We take one of theirs.

[00:41:42] So he wants to kill one of them. That's his goal. And he says, this is going to require a special lesson. And he pull, whips out this scroll and it shows this series of moves with the hand. Uh, I think like a chop somewhere and then squeezing under the ribs and then another chop to the throat. So I think the whole point of this lesson is they're learning this technique to kill because he wants Yoon to kill one of the other students.

[00:42:08] And he has, uh, Kim Dae-yoon hit, start hitting that wood mannequin. I think to demonstrate how to prepare for this. And it totally reminded me of what Terry Silver made Daniel do in Karate Kid 3 when he was training him to keep punching this wood, right? Yeah. Knuckles bled.

[00:42:25] And that was, I think in the moment the writers had in mind just to torture Daniel, but now we can see, well, maybe he, he got the idea because he was subjected to this at some point by, um, you know, because he's part of this whole way of the fist thing. Um, from Kim Sung Young anyway. So then grabbing under these leather straps and everything. And, um, it's all part of this special move.

[00:42:49] Um, and then you see Yoon go in and he has them trained with the real guys, which it's like, okay, if you're training this move that I think is intended to kill someone, then won't you only know he got it right. If he kills one of the other students, that's the way the fist and Kim Sung Young, the guy's writhing on the floor in pain and Kim Sung Young goes still not perfect. We will continue tomorrow. Uh, cause he's still alive.

[00:43:14] But, um, then, um, Chris quits and Kim Da Yoon wants to lead. And he, that's when, um, Kim Sung Young tells him, you're going to have to prove yourself. Um, yeah, I won't go through all that again, cause we just talked about it. But, um, as he, so she kills the, the grandfather and he says, perfect as he's dying. And then, uh, Kim Da Yoon says to Kreese, as you said, I will lead this Do Jang, but I will do it my way.

[00:43:42] And, um, I think if her way is to play fair and not have shenanigans outside, it's sort of ironic that she got to that by killing someone, you know? Yeah. Yeah. But, uh, I don't know what to think about that. I guess, I mean, does she just presume she's going to get away with murder? Um, I don't know. But, um, anyway, I, that is what I think her way is. I think it's more about playing fair.

[00:44:08] And then the other question I have is, I wondered if she would even call it Cobra Kai. I kind of think not because, um, it's not Cobra Kai in Korea. Kim Sung Young's teachings, I think are called the way of the fist and Cobra Kai is what Kreese and Terry Silver branded their version of it in the, in the U S. Um, but I think, um, maybe she'll have a new name for it or something.

[00:44:32] And Johnny said to, um, Carmen, I didn't expect to be a car salesman the rest of my life. No dojo of my own. So he's still wanting to have a dojo. And I'm still thinking, I said, I probably said this way too many times that he'll end up with Cobra Kai and its image will be rehabilitated. I hope. That's what I've been predicting for a little while. So I agree with that. So she can't not name them Cobra Kai. That's the name of the show.

[00:45:00] Well, I'm so, uh, that would be how Cobra Kai would shift into Johnny's thing again, because she'd have something else. And so just be, uh, I'm in the back burner until the tournament's over. She'd have way of the fist and I don't know. We'll see. Maybe that won't even happen, but that's what I'm hoping more than anything. Hmm. Yeah. We can infer a lot from this episode. See, it was a good meeting.

[00:45:31] Got a lot accomplished. Good job, folks. Yeah. All right. What else? Who's next? Rich? Uh, I'm done. I don't have any more. No more Rima? No, we can't. Yeah. Whatever. It wasn't too much humor in this one. Okay. I got one deciding to resume the tournament. I thought it was a little, I didn't get a strong feeling of, cause Daniel's the main roadblock.

[00:46:00] So why did he not want to, I think you kind of alluded to it at the beginning of Rima. He kind of had two reasons. A kid died and also just his turmoil over Miyagi. And, and he's sort of questioning everything about his karate, even any good. I can't believe anything. I think I thought because everything I knew about Miyagi was wrong and now a kid's dead. So he just does, he get rid of the bonsais, doesn't want to have anything to do with it anymore.

[00:46:29] But, um, so then why does he come back to it? Because Terry, honestly, I think if I was Daniel and Terry Silver came over my house and said he wanted to do it, that would just make me want to do it even less. Even if he was terminal. Cause Terry has been a total fucking nightmare. So fuck that guy, go off and die somewhere. He's like one of the main reasons he doesn't want to do it anymore.

[00:46:56] But, uh, but then he said the kids really want to do it to Johnny. So I think that's the main reason. And Amanda's showing a lot of, uh, love for him as always. And yeah, well, she's like, you gotta go do this cause you're a mess. Yeah. Right. I don't want it to be. I mean, she was enjoying him being at work and all that stuff, but he was kind of being a pill too. I think it was Samantha. Samantha not wanting to go to college, right? No, she wanted to go to college somewhere far away. Or yeah, somewhere far away.

[00:47:26] She wanted, she didn't want to go to UCLA where he wanted her to go. What does that have to do with the tournament? I don't know. I thought that was like the excuse. Cause that's, cause that's what Amanda told him. And she's like, well, you know, this isn't the, maybe the best time to bring it up, but Sam doesn't want to go to UCLA. And he's like, Oh, I'm going back to the tournament then. Yeah. I thought it was a bit muddled. I don't totally get it. It wasn't super clear for sure, but I think he's Daniel likes control.

[00:47:55] And that was a lot of this, of him in this episode is him just trying to like maintain this tight control and realizing that he can't control everything. And that includes, you know, Sam and where he thinks he wants her to go, but that's not what she wants. And I think that he maybe just had a revelation that like maybe his, his, him being the roadblock, like you were saying, Jason was not the best thing for everybody.

[00:48:25] Like, you know, Miguel doesn't, you know, have a chance at the college that he wants to go to. Robbie isn't getting the best opportunity, you know. It was Sam wants to see more of the world. And I think, I think going to Barcelona and, and, you know, I don't think she had a crush on Axel or anything when they had their little walk on the beach and stuff. But I think it, I think it enabled her to be like, Oh, there's a lot more out in this world than just the Valley and like Miguel. And she wants to see more of that.

[00:48:54] And I think that he, he just said, well, everybody else wants this and I'm the problem. So I'll get over myself and stop ruining everyone's lives. Yeah. But I do think he also had a little bit of fear too, of, you know, his kids. I mean, he, I know he, he cares about Robbie and Miguel and obviously Sam being his own kid. I think there was also maybe some fear of what if something happened to one of those, one of their kids, you know, knowing that Quan died. He's like, gosh, a kid died.

[00:49:24] So he's got that to do, you know, I know that was a lot on him. So, I mean, it made sense that he was like, you know, not himself. It does. This episode because of, of all of that. Yeah. And like the whole finale of part two that we saw where they made a point to show these kids out of control fighting each other. And one kid died seen on live international broadcast and everybody with their mouths hung open.

[00:49:54] And then you have this episode where it's like, yeah, but we all still want to go back and do it. And then Daniel's like, okay. Okay. So it sort of takes away from the power of the episode, but like I said, they got to have karate every episode. So, yeah. Especially, you know, they have so much time. So they glossed over a lot of stuff. Well, what are you going to do? I mean, it's, it's sort of this conundrum because we don't want to see more of them deliberating over whether to do the tournament. We just want them to get to it. So. Yeah.

[00:50:23] We don't want to see them all whiny and weak. Yeah. We want to see them go kick some ass. Yeah. Yeah. We only have five episodes left. Well, four now after this one. So we don't want to spend too much time like debating, you know, back and forth. We just want to get there. Yeah. We can get through these. Yeah. Like Jason said earlier, it's a complete fantasy. Yeah. That's why it sort of surprised me that it seemed like they were going to bring in some actual like, oh, what is the morality of this? And then they did. And then they're like, okay, but nevermind that. Let's get back to the fighting.

[00:50:54] I mean, if this were, you know, more real, you'd think that the kids would have a little bit of more, more troubling. Like I said, I think I mentioned earlier, like they would be a little bit more shocked, you know, being young and having been exposed to having a fellow competitor die in the middle of the mat. For sure. Yeah. I would have. But they were just kind of like, yeah, let's, let's get back. And there'd be more than just one sensei. They didn't want to go back. Yeah. Right. Not just Daniel. Totally. All right. You said funny.

[00:51:22] Did you have some thought things you thought were funny? No, I was saying I couldn't come up with anything that was funny except one thing. Maybe when Johnny was trying to put together the crib, I thought that was kind of funny. She said, use the Alan Ridge. And he goes, no, I can use my hand. And then he touched it and it was all rickety. What the hell's wrong with this thing? There's a bunch of extra pieces here. He's a freaking Alan Ridge. I like, I like that she calls Johnny on his bullshit. Cause she's like, maybe you need to be in there.

[00:51:51] That was good. I like Carmen. She really, she, she calls it as she sees it and she doesn't like, she checks Johnny. And so I like that. I think they make a really cute pair. Yeah. That was good. Johnny did have a funny line. When he walked into the dealership and Daniel asked him how it went with Robbie. And he's like, Oh, you gotta, I can't remember his exact words, but he said, um, he's got a ship shit sandwich on soggy bread. Funny.

[00:52:20] That made me laugh. Um, Johnny's always got those funny lines. I kind of liked when, um, Daniel said to Louie and Anoush, what are you doing standing around the anniversary parties in two days? Okay. And guess what? You're my right hand man. And Louie goes, I'm more of a Southpaw. And then, and then Louie kept saying, Daniel's not himself, you know, any, any clearly wasn't. But, um, what I thought was funny is Daniel and Amanda are there having a nice moment talking

[00:52:47] about how Sam's going to get into UCLA and we're all going to be safe and happy. And she goes, that does sound good. Safe and happy and kisses him. And then you see Louie going, I'm telling you, there's something deeply wrong with that man right now. He was right. But it was just funny to frame it when he's just like having a nice moment with his wife and that's why Louie thinks. Yeah. Just doesn't happen. Definitely wrong. Did you notice when they were in the guidance counselor's office talking about Robbie's

[00:53:16] future and, uh, she handed him some brochures. Did you notice the MIT, uh, brochure? That's where Kyler goes to school. Brooks. Or the other guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That trade school. So that was a little callback. And so I think just the picture of the guy on the ladder was meant to evoke where we found Johnny. Yeah. Yeah. And then cut to Johnny, not being able to put together a crib. Can't even do that.

[00:53:48] We hung that TV on the wrong wall that one time. Any other notes? No. We covered all mine. Um, just Sam wanting to go further away. I didn't make that connection, but I think you're absolutely right. She got the bug by going to Barcelona and wants to see more of the world. And she'd said she hadn't traveled, but it made me think of myself because I wanted to go away too.

[00:54:13] I went to, well, I went to UC Santa Barbara for college, which is, you know, just like a six hour drive. But then I went to Emerson in Boston because I wanted to see what the East coast was like. And I get that impulse to want to just go off and be somewhere else for a while. Yep. Um, when Terry Silver gave Johnny his card, it said Terrence Silver. I thought that was kind of funny. And, uh, that was awesome. It was like platinum. Yeah. I wondered if it was made out of silver.

[00:54:46] Ah, that'd been awesome. Well, it was a blank card though, right? No, it had his phone number on the back, but Johnny kind of had his thumb over it, probably so they didn't have to have a number that people would call. Yeah. It looked like it was down in the corner. There's nothing on the card. What kind of mystery is this guy? One of those fake 555 numbers. Mm-hmm. And last, just Carmen looks real pregnant. She's like going to pop any day. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:55:13] That's going to definitely be, uh, one of the last two episodes, huh? Yeah. You got it. Got to see Johnny with this little baby girl. Yeah. I wonder what he'll name her. What will he name her? It's got to be something. How about Allie? No, that wouldn't be good. Oh, that's not good. That's not good. Cobra Katniss. Cobra Katniss. If you had written that to the writers, they might've actually had him do it. Yeah.

[00:55:43] Maybe he'll pick some eighties heroin name or something. I'd say it's because if he has any say at all, like if Carmen doesn't veto, yeah, it's going to definitely be something from the eighties. I mean, it's Johnny. Adrian. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:56:12] All right. We're back. It's time for some news.

[00:56:36] Um, on, on, uh, February 13th, which was the day these last five episodes were posted to Netflix. Mary Mouser, who plays Samantha and Tanner Buchanan, who plays Robbie put up this joint Instagram post saying, we're so happy to finally share that we're engaged. This is such a special moment in our lives. The closing of one chapter and celebrating the continuation of another. We're so grateful for the love and support and that we're partial to having our private moments. We're excited to share this check into our world.

[00:57:07] I didn't know. So I didn't know they were a thing at all. So well, congratulations to the, to the couple. Yeah. I did not know she's 28 years old. 28. Yeah. Oh, and what about him? He's only 14. It's so weird. I honestly don't know. I just happened to, um, come across that after you had shared it and I was like, wow, it's

[00:57:32] kind of like back in the karate kid days when Raph Macho was like 30 playing Daniel in the first movie. So she just got that kind of face fitting that Daniel's daughter is the same. Yeah. Um, I, I get, I, I started to, well, no, I read the article on entertain weekly and it said there's been fan speculation for years that they were together. Apparently they had openly dated in during season two, but then broke up, but then they were seen together in public a few times since then. But we usually stay away from the news cause we don't want to get spoiled.

[00:58:02] So we don't find out. I see very little news. Yeah. Yeah. Because yeah, you get spoiled. I'm kind of looking forward to being able to look at all the news about this show, read all the inside information about it and stuff, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Cause I, there's a couple of shows on Netflix, like behind the scenes kind of shows about this, uh, about this series. And so I'm like, Oh yeah. Waiting to see that. Yeah. Watch that. Yep. All right. So this is my favorite piece of news.

[00:58:30] I saw on the official Cobra Kai YouTube page. There's this eight hour video called Johnny Lawrence ASMR. And, uh, I'm going to play the first two minutes or so. So lay back, close your eyes and let the soothing sounds of Johnny Lawrence sweep your stress away. This is the only white noise you'll ever need.

[00:58:58] There's only sleep in this dojo. Dream of karate.

[00:59:33] Imagine the bad guys. Now sweep their legs. Don't be a pussy.

[01:00:19] Quiet. And go to sleep. So it goes like four and a half, five minutes. And then it just repeats for eight hours. If you want to fall asleep to that, I'll put a link in the show notes. Yeah.

[01:00:49] There's one point where he goes. That's Johnny. All right. Let's get in some listener feedback. Fiona Jennifer Neal writes. Hi, Jason, Rima and Richard. I don't really have much to say about this episode. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it either. Maybe I got myself too excited in the buildup, but when the end credits rolled, I just felt underwhelmed. I mean, I get it, but it was a bit meh.

[01:01:18] It was understandably somber considering what happened in the last part. And it was necessary to get from point A to point B, but it felt like a hump episode rather than an opener. I suppose in some ways it was both. I'm glad master asshole is gone. And I hope his bad teachings die with him. But I don't like that Kim killed him. I wish he'd just keeled over and she had gloated over his dying body about how his teachings would be forgotten instead of making her a murderer.

[01:01:46] I didn't like that choice for her character, but I admit he absolutely had to go. Kreese seems sufficiently humbled, but this guy has flipped so many times. Who knows if it will last? I'm hoping for the redemption story, but I half expected to see him on a swivel chair stroking a fluffy pussycat next week. No, he's more Dr. Evil than Dr. No at this point. Which brings me to Silver and a fluffy cat wouldn't have been out of place in his scenes either.

[01:02:13] I hope Gunther kicks the king of dramatic entrances in the face before this season is over. Anyway, I'm off to watch the next one. I'm sure the pace will pick up from here. Yeah, I hope so. Yeah. It seems like it's the ending's gotten some good buzz. So yeah, I felt pretty much the same way as you. Fiona. It was necessary. Absolutely. Necessary. All right. We got a few calls here. Steve Brown. All right, Cobra Kai cast. This is Steve and here we go.

[01:02:43] Season six of Cobra Kai episode 11 into the fire. Oh, and they're burning the kid's body that was killed at the tournament. Who is this guy that's with Robbie's mom? I'm assuming that's I can't remember. Who are these two other? Wait, no. The two other people that are there with Johnny and that's crazy. Why is Johnny's picture in the brochure for the trade school? Of course, Terry Silver wants to get the tournament going again. And his PR guys can spin it however they want.

[01:03:12] Oh, you got to get all the senseis on board though. Oh, Master Kim talking about taking one of theirs out. Oh, and this is more bad training from the Cobra Kai Korean dojo. And of course, we have to have a wedge drawn, driven in between Danny and Johnny. Because where would this show be without the tension? Oh, now Gunther's calling Terry Silver and he's going to find some way to force Daniel to go back to the tournament, right? Just like Karate Kid 3.

[01:03:41] Yeah, Daniel's fine for sure, Mrs. LaRusso. Sure, he's fine. And of course, Terry Silver is Johnny's test drive. Oh, is she going to poison Kreese? I'm actually feeling kind of sorry for Kreese at this moment as he's giving this monologue about how sorry he is. I love they don't believe Terry Silver for a minute that he's being truthful here. He wants the tournament on, but there's some other reason why. Wow, that's a different tactic. Put all the ball is in Daniel's court. He makes the decision for everyone, whether the tournament comes back or not. Okay, so who's she going to try to kill? Kreese or Master Kim?

[01:04:11] Oh, but Grandfather's fighting back. Oh, so that's it for Master Kim. All right, so the tournament's back on. Next week, episode two. I forgot the whole plot of Karate Kid 3 was Silver's goons trying to get Daniel to sign a permission slip to go in the tournament. Or, you know, to sign up for the tournament. It always boils down to him, huh? Thanks, Steve. All right, here's Alex Kruger. Hey, y'all.

[01:04:39] Alex Kruger leaving feedback for Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 11, Into the Fire. Okay, final five. Here we go. I liked how this episode seemingly had three distinct voices. You had the drama in the valley, where the stakes are surprisingly simple and understandable. Getting into college. Pulling off a work event. Not dealing with PTSD. The second voice was the Kreese story, with its motifs and the story that it was telling.

[01:05:03] Lastly, you had Terry Silver, still leaning into his hot, tubbiest 80s villain archetype, all the way down to the comically impractical Silver business card. So let's look at what's happening. I was surprised Daniel immediately told Johnny about the Psyche-Hite-Hite phone call, but I just can't help but be frustrated by him sometimes. Sure, he can work the room with the admissions guy from UCLA, but he's neglecting how necessary the tournament would be for both Miguel and Robbie.

[01:05:30] Daniel in this series has had a tendency at times to act like he was born on third base, when in reality, the guy hit a triple. He worked his ass off from the ground up. Sometimes you forget what the struggle looks like. What it's like to have to help your mom jumpstart the wagon after a date. I was really moved by Carmen's speech to Johnny about adjusting his mindset on what success looks like, and when to quit chasing a dream and start living the reality you are in, which isn't so bad anyways.

[01:05:56] Also, as someone who has two kids and has put together plenty of cribs, bassinets, and convertible beds, whatever the hell Johnny was constructing for little ass kicker seemed unnecessarily complicated. I adore Ralph Macchio's daughter that plays Louie's sister. She is absolutely delightful and steals every single scene she is ever in. I want more of her in every episode. Or, I don't know, maybe I've just been watching too many episodes of The Nanny and she reminds me of Fran Drescher. We may never know.

[01:06:24] Now, I have to imagine Daniel's speech at the end of the episode doubles as the writers talking to us about how the show has gone. The moment it zoomed in on his face when he says, we didn't know how we'd be received, I caught the meta. And lastly, a lot of talk surrounding this franchise lately is on, well, just that. And the fact that it's set to be a franchise. There are more potential spinoffs here than in Westeros. And since seemingly anything is on the table, I'm going to try and share a different spinoff idea every week.

[01:06:52] This week, in the style of 21 Drum Street, we follow Demetri and Hawk, who for some reason decide to join the police academy and are immediately drafted departed style to infiltrate an underground theft ring by a bunch of martial artists. Kind of like the foot Ninja Turtles Seeker of the Ooze. I'd watch that show. But that's it for me. Keep up the great work. Don't get kicked. Nice. That's good. Thanks, Alex.

[01:07:20] I loved when he mentioned the mom or what it was like to have to push start a car. Yeah. I just forced Nico and Modi to watch Karate Kid again for their probably third time in my like 43rd couple weeks ago. I like the born on third base analogy, Alex. Going to have to use that. Yeah. Usually it would be the opposite criticism of somebody.

[01:07:49] They act like they had to work their way up, but they were actually born on third base. But for him, it's the opposite. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Here's Mike Caruso. Hey there, Jason, Rima, and Richard. It's me, Mike C., the man Mulcahy himself, back to celebrate this bittersweet final run of episodes with my feedback on Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 11, Into the Fire. So while I enjoyed this episode, I am a fan of the series.

[01:08:19] I have to say, being that it was the fifth to last episode of the entire series, it was a little slower than I expected it to be, right? It was kind of this regrouping of the tournament. How do we find our footing after that tragedy that just happened? How are all the characters dealing with it? And how do we get back to the tournament? Honestly, I expected them to kind of get back at it a lot faster than this episode had them do that.

[01:08:42] And something else that this episode did, I think, really well is kind of showcase how every character has really changed across the course of the series, right? Even Johnny, who's very headstrong, he's softened a lot. A lot of it has to do with Carmen and the baby. But you see him go from being gung-ho, like the kids need to be in this freaking tournament, Danny, to kind of softening on that. And like, hey man, I'm just going to trust you.

[01:09:11] So, you know, realizing that, yeah, there kind of are other things in life. And Daniel, you know, like seeing him, you know, obviously this isn't over with, but seeing him reject the bonsai trees, sort of like his rejection of Miyagi after having learned that Miyagi killed a man and stuff. It's just super fascinating to see the way these characters, and look back, you know, the way they've changed since the beginning of the series.

[01:09:39] And I thought this episode showcased that really well. Kreese, Silver, they've all just changed a bunch. And I thought... I'm going to just pause because he's talking about how Johnny's changed and trusts Daniel here. And it just makes me think, like, the second part when they were in Spain, you know, they kept kind of going back and forth with being together on the same team.

[01:10:06] But then they'd have a blow-up fight, you know, and it seemed like they were not going to be friends. And then they would forgive each other pretty quickly. And I'm like, they really feel like a married couple to me, where they know each other's sore spots and they have a history where they've had some really bad experiences. But they can have a blow-out fight and know just where to pick. Like, oh, yeah, you're the fucking... This is always what you do, you know? That's right. And then they kind of get over it. No, I'm sorry. You know?

[01:10:35] It's so funny. Anyway, here goes. This episode kind of established that perfectly. And speaking of Terry Silver, the silver of it all in this episode I thought was awesome. Like, the added wrinkle of now Silver is dying is fascinating. Fascinating. It's a good added wrinkle to his character. And honestly, probably one of the only places you had left to go with him. He says he's lost everything. He has nothing. I don't know that I believe him about that necessarily.

[01:11:04] He's still offering to pay for everything and all that. He's got money. When we see him take the call from Gunther in the middle of the episode, he's on a yacht. So I don't know that I believe him when he says he doesn't have anything. But I do believe that he's dying. I genuinely do believe that. I don't know. He could be lying. But I think right now that that's the truth. And I think it makes him seem more dangerous. If he's dying, he's already a loose cannon, man.

[01:11:32] Like, if he's got nothing left to lose, I think that makes him scarier. What could he do? We could find out soon. And then just some rapid fire thoughts. It's always weird to see Johnny in the LaRusso auto group jacket. It was great to see Vanessa come back. I always forget that that actress is Ralph Macchio's daughter. Man, Silver was a dick for getting Gunther in that really compromising position during his vacation massage. What an asshole.

[01:11:58] And I thought the best scene of the entire episode was Daniel, Johnny and Silver all sitting down and having the mono a mono a mono discussion. Daniel and Johnny actually came across as full grown men instead of two 12 year olds in men's bodies. And I just thought it was really engaging. I was glued to the screen. 10 out of 10, no notes. And that's it. Kind of the beginning of the end of Cobra Kai. But at least we're enjoying the ride.

[01:12:26] And I'm grateful to have been a passenger on the podcast to go Volkswagen bus. I'm really going to try to savor these last five episodes. And part of that is going to be watching along with Cobra Kai cast. So I will not be watching the next episode until after I listen to your guys' podcast. And I'm hoping that the force helps in guiding me away from spoilers because I am a little worried about that. But we'll see what happens. Mm-hmm. And lastly, I just wanted to give a quick shout out to the Discord community and everybody that's kind of dived into it.

[01:12:56] It's super awesome. Everybody is really great. A lot of great people there. And I highly recommend to anyone that if you've considered joining on the Discord, then you should come on over and get in on the fun with us. That's it for me this week. I'm going to continue forward with Dutch and Julie Pierce Watch. And I cannot wait to hear what you guys have to say about it. And like I said, I'm going to try to savor these episodes as much as I can. So until next time, stay badass. That's awesome, as always. Thanks, Mike.

[01:13:24] Yeah, there's a Discord. And it's up to now been mostly just for people who pledge my Patreon. But I'm going to open it up pretty soon to whoever wants to go in there. But I have to figure out first if I need to set up a few things or something. So stay tuned for more information on that if you're interested. Cool.

[01:13:55] All right. That was our show. Thanks so much for listening, everybody, as always. Love you guys. Next episode, Cobra Kai, season six, episode 12, Rattled, directed by William Zopka. Yeah. Yay. Cool. Cool. So by the way, this episode, we're recording it on Saturday and it should be out tonight or tomorrow, Sunday. And then we're going to do the next one in just a couple of days on Wednesday. That'll be episode 12.

[01:14:23] And then we'll be doing Wednesdays from then on up until the end. If you want to write in or send us a voice message about it, you can find all our contact information at podcastica.com. And while you're there, please check out our other podcasts. Yeah. Yellow Jackets just started back up. Season three. They released two episodes. I thought they were fantastic. Fun and dark and weird. There's a lot coming out. Yeah, there's a lot. There's all this stuff coming out right now.

[01:14:52] White Lotus starts back tomorrow. Yeah. Yellow Jackets is back. It's getting good buzz too. Yellow Jackets is getting good buzz. Buzz, buzz. Yeah. So those are two good ones. Yellow Jackets and White Lotus will be there soon to check out if you're interested. We have a podcast on both of those. All right. That is our show. Thanks for listening. Perfect.

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