King Cobra
We begin episode 6 of Cobra Kai Season 3 in Vietnam 1968 as Kreese receives a photo of Betsy in the mail. However, he’s interrupted by his cold-blooded Captain who happens to be practicing his karate skills nearby. He’s fronting a team heading into Northern Vietnam and wants Kreese to join his squad. Unfortunately Kreese’s weakness and hesitation sees the group captured by Vietnamese soldiers who hold them up at gunpoint. His hesitation got one of their own killed too, which explains why he’s so fixated on winning and not losing. As we cut back to the present, we see Kreese following his mantra and trying to instill that same mentality into the kids. However, some of the new recruits happen to be Hawk’s old bullies. This, of course, goes against Johnny’s whole idea over why he started Cobra Kai in the first place. To make matters worse, these untrained thugs are taking the place of the “weak” guys on the team. Hawk is determined to prove himself though, beating and bloodying Brucks so badly he’s left a motionless pulp on the ground. Daniel returns from his trip to Japan reinvigorated and with a bag of gifts for everyone. However, Amanda isn’t in the celebratory mood. As she mentions John Kreese, Daniel’s smile immediately fades. Amanda wants to go to the police and eventually they agree to do just that. When they get there, they learn John Kreese has actually put a restraining order against her. Given he was a Vietnam war vet, her slap certainly doesn’t look good. With all other options exhausted, Amanda chooses the “nuclear” option instead. This comes from the landlord in charge of the dojo. Given Kreese pays on time, Amanda tries to convince him by “double-dipping” and paying to evict Kreese from the dojo. Johnny continues to teach Miguel, training him to use his legs before turning his attention to messages from Ali. Given Johnny is computer illiterate and unsure on social media etiquette (ah, he liked every single one of Ali’s pictures!) Miguel tries to teach him to play it cool. That includes taking pictures outside. As they head out together and stage some photos, Johnny’s trip to the bathroom brings Tory out of hiding. However, their conversation is short and full of angst as she eventually leaves. Back home, Miguel gives a rousing speech about Johnny’s skills as a sensei, which he channels into a heartfelt message to Ali. Only, he has second thoughts and simply writes “not much, u?” instead. Back at the dojo, Kreese fights fire with fire and starts to become violent. His stunt involves planting a snake in the dealership as a warning. Things are about to turn nasty.
The Episode Review
With more flashbacks for Kreese, Cobra Kai does a good job fleshing him out and giving more history around this war vet that’s clearing suffering from PTSD. In fact, this perfectly explains his actions and if there’s one big positive this year in Cobra Kai, it’s John Kreese’s back-story. Johnny is still the focal point of this show though but here he’s been sidelined for the kids who, quite frankly, just don’t have the same charisma and charm. That’s to say nothing of Robby either who’s just been completely forgotten about these past few episodes after his run in with the bullies. I’m sure that will change going forward as we look set to gear up for a bigger fight to come.
