S04.E02: First Learn Stand

[paulvdb]

Premiere date: December 31, 2021

[Morrigan2575]

How much do I love Johnny?! 😍

He's hilarious, such a smartass.

You know, as crazy as his teaching can be, I liked how he was constantly cheering on Daniel. There's definitely a difference in teaching styles that goes beyond the philosophy of attack vs defense.

 

[CipherDex]

-Tory would have got herself fired eventually if that's all it takes for her to snap, not Amanda's fault. Seeing as she's been working at a new place every dang season, I'm guessing that's been the case.

-Finally they acknowledge Miyagi saving Johnny and that's all it takes to shut him up. 

-Anthony is still... not the best kid, but obviously room for redemption considering he's in middle school and all, plus he doesn't want to go as far as the cronies he's grouped up with (peer pressure sucks). Pretty funny how he uses Miyagi-Do as a crutch to act cool while probably never haven thrown a punch in his life. Glad the actor's getting a chance to expand on the character after his glow up.

-Johnny and Miyagi-Do don't mix much, but love how he's awakening the snake in Daniel. Hopefully not too much though. :P

-Acknowledging the Larusso-Lawrence shippers LOL

-The fight choreography definitely feels better this season, I can see it doing wonders for Sam with how fluid Daniel looked in that ass kicking.

-Anoush is still hilarious and infinitely superior to Louie.

-Y'know, it never crossed my mind that Shawn was Kenny's brother, works pretty nicely plotwise for him to be the gateway for Kenny to CK, as opposed to he himself joining.

Great episode overall, think it might be the first one with no Miguel or Sam for that matter, whether it was because of COVID or just to cut down on plot points, I still enjoyed it tremendously. Already seeing massive payoff of Johnny and Daniel together, their rare dynamic together really elevated the show for me in past seasons, love to see more and more of it now.

[Neiman]

No Be There 😂. Love watching Danny and Johnny bond.

Mrs. LaRusso may have just made things much worse for her daughter.

Not exactly into young LaRusso scenes. What a little punk.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Neiman

[Racj82]

I was so confused for a minute. They kept calling that kid LaRusso. I was like, is this some sort of flashback? It looks current. It took me until midway through the basketball scene to realize or remember the LaRusso's have a son. Such a damn non entity.

[Zima]

Daniel's Son is such a little dick! Interesting twist to have him be the bully.  That poor new kid! He'll definitely be joining Kobra Kai in the future. 

Robbie 😍

Tori is annoying, and I agree that she would have gotten herself fired anyway. 

[bettername2come]

Johnny's "The man taught you 400 years of his family's ancient karate history, you couldn't help him with his English?" amused me too much. But not quite as much as "Where were you?" "No be there."

I'm glad Anthony gets a story arc. The actor seems better when he's given something to do besides whine and hold video games. Hope he gets some redemption/comeuppance. 

[twoods]

Daniel’s son is super annoying. I’m already rooting for Kenny to beat his douchey ass.

Tory continues to suck. Everything is everyone else’s fault except for her own.

[DoctorAtomic]

On 12/31/2021 at 8:02 AM, CipherDex said:

Tory would have got herself fired eventually if that's all it takes for her to snap, not Amanda's fault.

Probably. The manager acted like that was the last straw. I think Amanda was out of line going to her work, and she did look like she stepped in it when Tory got fired. She could have waited until Tory went out on a break. That's not how an adult should be acting. I liked the callback to the restraining order. I can't say Kreese was wrong calling her out in the market. 

Daniel was also condescending to Johnny a little about his karate. I mean, I know Miyagi-do is defensive, but Daniel still won tournaments by beating opponents. I'm really hoping the combined styles is super cool. 

On 12/31/2021 at 12:37 PM, Zima said:

Daniel's Son is such a little dick! Interesting twist to have him be the bully.

That looked more peer pressure to me than him leading the charge there. When they were catfishing him on the game, LaRusso looked conflicted about making the kid meet up irl, and clearly didn't want to hit him when they were in the park. Not that he wasn't bullying, but there's levels. 

 

[readster]

Yeah, Sam and Anthony sure fell into peer pressure as teens didn't they? I mean Sam went with the "cool cliche" and ending up getting into some stupid shit just because: "Well, my parents are really well off." Same goes with Anthony, of course learning at 13 instead of 17 that these are not the things you should be doing to others. Speaking of our new kid Kenny, having his brother being the other teen in juvy that was fighting with Robbie makes sense. He said to Robbie he knew how he felt, but as he put it: "My parents went along their perfect lives until they found out it wasn't perfect." 

Sadly the show does fall on the cliche of: "My parents are well off and my life sucks just because so let's do stupid shit that will get us killed some day. Of course I am over Tory, she doesn't want hang outs, but oh hey Kreese cutting off your landlords fingers is so much better. Plus, when her mom finally dies from her cancer? Then what? Oh I get it, Tory is suppose to be Johnny except the opposite, life has given her a bad hand and she has a real reason to be pissed at everyone. I get how Cobra Kai survived all these years, they took the kids who were bullied or had bad home lives and made them worse as a result. As the classic Kais said back in season 2: "He taught us that bullshit and we are lucky we lived." 

[Raja]

On 12/31/2021 at 8:28 AM, Racj82 said:

I was so confused for a minute. They kept calling that kid LaRusso. I was like, is this some sort of flashback? It looks current. It took me until midway through the basketball scene to realize or remember the LaRusso's have a son. Such a damn non entity.

I paused after the first episode to watch some football and posted that Anthony, so that's his name, was being Chuck Cunningham'd. Now it looks like the Miyagi-verse is setting up for Cobra Kai: the Next Class when Miguel and Robbie graduate from the All Valley tournament.

 

On 12/31/2021 at 11:37 AM, Zima said:

Daniel's Son is such a little dick! Interesting twist to have him be the bully.  That poor new kid! He'll definitely be joining Kobra Kai in the future. 

Robbie 😍

Tori is annoying, and I agree that she would have gotten herself fired anyway. 

I think Kenny seems like the prototype Johnny student. I expect a flip, but not as dramatic as Hawk's but in the end with flips with Robbie. By the way his dad the Major was talking I was sure that his big brother was dead, maybe just dead to mom. But the military veteran connection might have dad with Cobra Kai even though deployed he has no ideal of what's going on in the valley. 

 

On 12/31/2021 at 2:14 PM, bettername2come said:

Johnny's "The man taught you 400 years of his family's ancient karate history, you couldn't help him with his English?" amused me too much. But not quite as much as "Where were you?" "No be there."

I'm glad Anthony gets a story arc. The actor seems better when he's given something to do besides whine and hold video games. Hope he gets some redemption/comeuppance. 

That "no be there" was the line of the show. Even though Johnny has been portrayed as the man with no life or friends until his Cobra Kai reunion  when he emerged after the fight it sure seems as if he had hockey playing friends ready to risk all to fight in public. But then police rarely respond in the Miyagi-verse.

 

42 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Daniel was also condescending to Johnny a little about his karate. I mean, I know Miyagi-do is defensive, but Daniel still won tournaments by beating opponents. I'm really hoping the combined styles is super cool. 

 

I think Danial showed restraint for not telling Johnny that he knew about Cobra Kai as we have seen Terry Silver in the previous episode. He was learning more about Johnny

[readster]

20 hours ago, Raja said:

I think Danial showed restraint for not telling Johnny that he knew about Cobra Kai as we have seen Terry Silver in the previous episode. He was learning more about Johnny

Right and we know when Johnny joined Cobra Kai in the late 70s, Terry had packed up and left as the dojo was doing fine by then. At the best, maybe he saw him in passing or when Terry could check in now and again, but as we saw in KK3, Terry had been away for several years.

[marinw]

Poor Kenny. But aren't gamers and cosplayers their own thriving subcultures now? The social structure of this high school feels out of date.

Enjoyed Johnny and Danny training each other.

Edited January 3, 2022 by marinw

[nomodrama]

I can't stand Tory, so I don't feel too bad for her getting fired, but I cannot stand any of the LaRussos (except Daniel of course). Daniel's wife is just the worst and both of their kids are not far off. Johnny may not have the family that Daniel does, but Daniel's family is no prize. 

The best part of this show is the Daniel and Johnny relationship.....this episode did not disappoint.

[CrazyDog]

New Kenny broke my heart this episode. Too bad he's going straight to Cobra Kai, instead of getting training from Johnny and Daniel. 

Little LaRusso was a dick this episode but there's room for redemption. Did he ever study with Daniel? I thought only Sam did.

Lovvveeed the training with Johnny and Daniel. Both of them enjoying teaching, and also torturing the other, just a bit, ha. It was nice to see Johnny show a bit of respect to Miyagi and his memory.

No be there, lol.

I get Tori's got some stuff going on, but she needs to dial it back to about 12. Kreese wasn't really in the wrong at the market though. At least he's helping Tori in his own Kreese way.

Oh Amanda. She's just protecting Sam, but yeah, lighting a gallon of kerosene under Tori was not a good idea. Sam may want a word.

[Snapdragon]

I hate what they've done with Daniel's wife these past two seasons.  I really enjoyed her character during the first two seasons because she was the normal person reacting to the ridiculousness of her husband being caught up in a karate battle with his high school rival.  She made jokes about the situation, pointed out how nuts the entire thing was and was basically the voice of reason.  Now she's in the karate drama as much as anybody and it's brought her character down so much. 

And I do not care at all about Daniel's son and the new kid he's bullying.  This show already has enough characters, they don't need to be adding more, especially not middle schoolers.  All that arc is is doing is highlighting how crappy of parents Daniel and Amanda are since both of their kids have pretty much turned out to be garbage.  

[tennisgurl]

Watching Anthony and his friends bullying poor Kenny just made me think at how not only is being a bully morally awful, it just seems exhausting. That is a LOT of effort to put into messing with some random kid who's weirdest traits are dancing and playing video games, things that most kids enjoy. This town's bully problem is so massive that no karate tournament can fix it. The town is half bullies and half miserable ticking time bomb victims. 

I try to feel bad for Tory, she is clearly dealing with a lot of tough stuff at home and has a lot of rage that needs channeling, but she's hard to root for when she is just always itching for a fight. 

I totally forget that Daniel had another kid, I guess he's going to actually be a character now! Even if he's a bully he seems to be more peer pressured into it, so there may be hope for him let. The actor certainly looks like he could be Daniel's kid, while Sam takes after her mom. 

[DoctorAtomic]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Watching Anthony and his friends bullying poor Kenny just made me think at how not only is being a bully morally awful, it just seems exhausting.

They have too much time on their hands. There's nothing else to do. 

[readster]

18 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

They have too much time on their hands. There's nothing else to do. 

Yeah, I mean setting up a girl in your class's a "fake account" getting water ballons set up in lockers with cameras that apparently don't work. Then being in the right spot to film and then share on social media constantly. Yeah, WAY too much time. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I thought that was milk in the locker. 

 

[TigerLily20]

how would it even stay in the locker?? that confused me way too much.......

[Raja]

10 hours ago, TigerLily20 said:

how would it even stay in the locker?? that confused me way too much.......

Your standard trip trap. You place it using the locker door to keep it relatively upright waiting for the door to open and gravity to do its thing.  How the special effects people got that much milk into that small a locker is the magicians trick.

[marinw]

On 1/4/2022 at 2:49 AM, CrazyDog said:

New Kenny broke my heart this episode. Too bad he's going straight to Cobra Kai, instead of getting training from Johnny and Daniel. 

Yes. Kenny would thrive in MD. One of Danny's central philiophies (I think) is that you can defend yourself with turning into an a**hole. This has worked with his student to varying degrees. But imagine what Kresse or Silver would do to a gentle soul like Dimetri.

[Dobian]

This show is starting to jump the shark for me.  Johnny saved this episode with his wisecracks during Daniel's Eagle Fang training and at the hockey game.  Anthony's story I don't care about.  The bullying sub-plot with the nerd kid is a cliche-ridden rehash of Daniel getting bullied in The Karate Kid.  And the kids doing the bullying looked like they would be on the receiving end in real life, especially the twerpy ringleader.  Tory I don't give a crap about.  I'm tired of her sob story about how she has to work to put food on the table and poor me I can't get a job because no one wants to hire a girl who physically assaults people all the time.  Get over yourself.  A lot of kids come from worse backgrounds than you.  She is completely annoying and I have no sympathy for her.  Take an anger management class and get your act together, girl.  Kreese is funny and hams it up in his role as the villain, but how many more seasons can they recycle this plot where 70 year old dudes have to beat their middle-aged former proteges, and where the good kids and the bad kids battle it out endlessly?  They had the big high school showdown, then the big Larussa house showdown.  After everything that's happened, youth karate in the greater San Fernando Valley area would have been permanently banned by this point.  Lawsuits and criminal charges would be flying all over the place.  Yeah I know, it's just a show, but the first two seasons they kept things fairly plausible and realistic.  Now Cobra Kai is turning into Karate Kid 3.  Of course, that makes sense with Terry Silver joining.

Edited January 14, 2022 by Dobian

[Danny Franks]

Oh god, now Daniel's shitty younger son is getting a storyline? And he's a bully? Quelle surprise. I'm going to be skipping his scenes. Kenny seems like a good kid, but I'm sure he's being set up as yet another 'led astray by Cobra Kai but Daniel will save him' figure.

Tory might not have so many reasons to be pissed at the world if she didn't... constantly lose her temper and take it out on the world. Another "their own worst enemy character", in a valley that is apparently chock-full of them.

I've already had more than enough of Kreese's backstory. I don't need to know why he's a fucking lunatic, so every time I see a glimpse of some old army photo I wince, expecting more flashbacks.

I did appreciate Daniel and Johnny showing each other their training techniques. Particularly Johnny uncomplainingly doing all the chores that he thinks are a waste of time. Daniel was a bit more snarky, but still gave it an honest go.

I did not miss Sam or Miguel in this episode. Particularly Miguel, who is really only entertaining in scenes with Johnny.

[DeeDee79]

4 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

I've already had more than enough of Kreese's backstory. I don't need to know why he's a fucking lunatic, so every time I see a glimpse of some old army photo I wince, expecting more flashbacks.

 

Same. He's a psycho and I'm not interested in learning how he became that way. 

 

4 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

I did appreciate Daniel and Johnny showing each other their training techniques. Particularly Johnny uncomplainingly doing all the chores that he thinks are a waste of time. Daniel was a bit more snarky, but still gave it an honest go.

 

That was the best part of the episode for me and Johnny's "no be there" was awesome.

[Virtual]

On 1/5/2022 at 5:10 PM, tennisgurl said:

Watching Anthony and his friends bullying poor Kenny just made me think at how not only is being a bully morally awful, it just seems exhausting. That is a LOT of effort to put into messing with some random kid who's weirdest traits are dancing and playing video games, things that most kids enjoy. This town's bully problem is so massive that no karate tournament can fix it. The town is half bullies and half miserable ticking time bomb victims. 

I feel even worse for Kenny than I did for Eli in Season 1 before becoming Hawk. Eli had a REASON people made fun of him (the cleft lip), but it was still extremely cruel. Kenny on the other hand has nothing to make fun of, but Anthony and his friends are making his life hell just because he was dancing funny and wearing those video game shirts. If Kenny joins a dojo and beats the crap out of all of them, I’m just gonna laugh and say “Yep. That’s what you get.”

In real life, bullying has always been a huge problem so it’s probably good that the show does make people aware. I’ve seen people get bullied just as bad at high school in real life as they do on this show.

I liked how Johnny shut up and started putting effort into doing the Miyagi-Do lessons when Daniel reminded him how Mr. Miyagi and that style of karate saved his life.

Edited January 17, 2022 by Virtual

[benteen]

Daniel reminding Johnny that Mr. Miyagi saved his life reminded me that I'm annoyed that Johnny apparently never thanked Miyagi for that.  Mr. Miyagi would have said that he didn't need a thank you but I think it speaks poorly on Johnny that he did this.

Definitely felt badly for Kenny here.

Daniel's son looks like Michael Gandolfini.  Would have made a great AJ Soprano.

Edited January 17, 2022 by benteen

[CeeBeeGee]

Finally getting around to this season. Johnny is the best--Zabka is such a great comic actor and he's so damn funny. "No be there." Watching them struggle to work together is great.

Tory continues to be a completely unsympathetic psychotic. Although her truth bombs at the restaurant were pretty funny.