S06.E10: Eunjangdo

[paulvdb]

Quote

Daniel and Johnny use historic Barcelona as a training ground for their captains. But a cheap shot in the semifinals sparks a brawl to end all brawls.

Premiere date: November 15, 2024

[sashabear21]

I love me a good montage! But I have, well a couple of questions, but I'll keep it to two. 1.) Why were the Irish team still there and suited up after they's already been eliminated? (Yes I know it was for dramatic purposes and the Irish, we love to brawl!) 2.) Why do they dress Sam, a girl from a well to do Southern California family with a smokeshow for a mom, in Garanimals crap I would have demanded my mom put in the Goodwill bin when I was 8? 

[bettername2come]

That was really good casting for a young Miyagi. I was not emotionally prepared for him to turn into Pat Morita. Good use of CGI/AI there. 

Oh, of course Cobra Kai gets back into the tournament.

"I'm not leaving until the two of you tell me what's going on." "It's fine with me. It's a topless beach." Hee hee. Miguel gives a good pep talk. It's only fair he gets to be kind of an honorary sensei for Robby and Sam's final training montage.

It's not Cobra Kai without an out of control karate brawl. "I told you we should've snuck onto that plane in someone's luggage." "Totally. I mean, we got mad brawl experience." Nice to have you back, Bert and Nate. "How does this keep happening?" Poor Amanda. "Come on, you roided-out, bitch!" Okay, Demetri, maybe don't taunt the guy on steroids. Credit to the guy who plays Kwon, he does deranged laughter well. Aw, Johnny came to Kreese's rescue. I was so prepared for Kwon to kill Axel that him karmically killing himself by accident was a major relief.

[Raja]

Well so much for the corporate sponsorships. The next generation of kids are sure to be into Muy Thai and BJJ if their parents let them anywhere near a martial art. I am liking Chozen and Kim

37 minutes ago, bettername2come said:

"Totally. I mean, we got mad brawl experience." Nice to have you back, Bert and Nate.

I was thinking that going in guys but it seems all those kids had their own versions of the school brawl.

 

[baldryanr]

Ah, the global version of the karate brawl we had at the end of season 2.  It's so ridiculous it's awesome.

So in real life is this the lead story on CNN and ESPN?  Massive karate brawl at tournament leads to death of participant, all broadcast live?  Russians are still the villains?

[Jediknight]

I was not expecting that ending.  I was thinking that somebody would get injured in that brawl.  When Kwon was going for Axel, I was thinking one of the Miyagi-Do kids would take the shot for Axel, and get stabbed in the shoulder.  I was not thinking that Kwon would wind up killing himself.

And it looks like Kreese realized he has blame for it.  Not because it was his knife, but because his teachings got a kid killed.  He fed into Kwon's rage and anger, and now he's seeing a consequence of that.

[Raja]

3 hours ago, baldryanr said:

Russians are still the villains?

Absolutely, the Roid Rage Russians kicked off the brawl, not Cobra Kai or Silver. And the other eliminated dojos jumped in before the way of the fist folks had to fight for their lives. Thus, being a direct contradiction to the claims about karate training in building good citizens

9 minutes ago, Jediknight said:

When Kwon was going for Axel, I was thinking one of the Miyagi-Do kids would take the shot for Axel, and get stabbed in the shoulder

Besides being Drago from Rocky IV and Miguel and Sam thinking something was seriously off with the champ the Miyagi-do's where not his enemy. That he stepped forward to protect Sam in the brawl was the story.

 

[Genus]

The Miyagi- do team were at best useless all tournament,  then all of a sudden during the brawl (lame, because they already used the brawl plot in season 1) they became super fighters. Where was this skill during the actual tournament? 

Glad they got rid of Kwon as he was such a pntomine villain, and why couldn't anyone see how distracted Robbie was whenever Tory was in sight? They should of replaced him as captain straight after his first loss. 

14 hours ago, sashabear21 said:

I love me a good montage! But I have, well a couple of questions, but I'll keep it to two. 1.) Why were the Irish team still there and suited up after they's already been eliminated? (Yes I know it was for dramatic purposes and the Irish, we love to brawl!) 2.) Why do they dress Sam, a girl from a well to do Southern California family with a smokeshow for a mom, in Garanimals crap I would have demanded my mom put in the Goodwill bin when I was 8? 

Surely they could have found actual Irish martial artists instead of the using the lame Hollywood Irish accent that they used.

[jah1986]

10 hours ago, Jediknight said:

 

And it looks like Kreese realized he has blame for it.  Not because it was his knife, but because his teachings got a kid killed.  He fed into Kwon's rage and anger, and now he's seeing a consequence of that.

That’s wishful thinking, I’m sure Kreese will still blame Daniel for Kwon. The man never takes responsibility.

My heart was in my throat during that brawl, I knew someone was going to die, but did not think it would be Kwon.

Bring on part 3!

[Raja]

8 hours ago, Genus said:

The Miyagi- do team were at best useless all tournament,  then all of a sudden during the brawl (lame, because they already used the brawl plot in season 1) they became super fighters. Where was this skill during the actual tournament?

Kreese taught Johnny to win, tournament points.  Mr. Miyagi taught self-defense, 😉

When it gets down to it, we don't know what the other dojos have really done. Even though they were very fast to embarrass the Karate world and throw down. As Nate and Bert reminded us, we do know one girl from the Valley faced a girl trying to kill her and the rest of Miyagi-Do and Tory had real world fights with less lethal weapons

[Jediknight]

11 minutes ago, Raja said:

Kreese taught Johnny to win, tournament points.  Mr. Miyagi taught self-defense, 😉

When it gets down to it, we don't know what the other dojos have really done. Even though they were very fast to embarrass the Karate world and throw down. As Nate and Bert reminded us, we do know one girl from the Valley faced a girl trying to kill her and the rest of Miyagi-Do and Tory had real world fights with less lethal weapons

And Daniel and Chozen heavily emphasized teamwork.  Look at the season 5 finale, they work best as a team.  For most of the tourney they were split, but during the tag team fight they united.  Also they know how to fight multiple people, and keep their heads on a swivel.  They were finally focused.

[TiredMe]

I thought those were some well choreographed fight scenes. Also figured Alex was toast not Kwon.   Of course it’s hard to believe no one called the police as well as no one said to cut the feed before the end. lol 

[marinw]

Was the Irish team actually guilty of doping, or did Silver manage to alter the results because he is evil?

I’m not looking for realism, but could the karatakas please wear mouth guards to protect their pretty Hollywood mouths?

That brawl was spectacular. 

 

[Raja]

5 minutes ago, marinw said:

Was the Irish team actually guilty of doping, or did Silver manage to alter the results because he is evil?

It was the Russians, their sensei certainly acted out of roid rage. I don't know what's up with the other teams. I think Miguel and Sam were the only competitors who showed balance in their lives.

I think the entire arc from the Iron Dragons protecting their egg to the death of Kwon attacking Axel was to break out of the Miyagi's fighting the Cobra's.  And the brawl had nothing to do with Silver, even with his last assets going to the Iron Dragons as his last chance at a legacy Especially since except for Tory they weren't fighting the kids from America before going in

[marinw]

1 minute ago, Raja said:

It was the Russians, their sensei certainly acted out of roid rage

I stand corrected. I am shocked, SHOCKED, that the Russians would dope.🙄

[marinw]

I may be alone here, but I kind of liked Kwon. His hair was amazing. If the show went on longer, I could see Kwon having a redemption arc and joining Miyagi Do.

Edited November 18 by marinw

[Raja]

On 11/15/2024 at 2:31 AM, paulvdb said:

Daniel and Johnny use historic Barcelona as a training ground for their captains

I was watching the Rocky homage done before flying off to the weigh in and fight and thinking that was way too late for any last-minute conditioning and more likely to hurt than help the actual match performance.

15 hours ago, TiredMe said:

Of course it’s hard to believe no one called the police as well as no one said to cut the feed before the end. lol 

Like the school brawl this all went down long before any police department could mount a response. At best the first responder patrol cop(s) can open up an escape hatch and guard the evacuation of the noncombatants while waiting for the tactical alert back up. As for the video, the press would keep running, that is their way the Sekai Taikai folks were on the floor fighting off the dojos trying to punish them.

I don't know how the tournament goes forward, by all rights Spain would immediately expel all of those alien participants as undesirable, if not holding them in jail while investigating the death. But with Johnny saving Kreese we do get back to the title characters. The show is Cobra Kai, not Miyagi-Do and the fifth season finale with the crane kick left me hanging on that account

[baldryanr]

On 11/16/2024 at 8:34 PM, jah1986 said:

That’s wishful thinking, I’m sure Kreese will still blame Daniel for Kwon. The man never takes responsibility.

He'll probably say Daniel should have yelled Knife! instead of trying to rush over there himself. 

If the tournament goes forward (of course it will, they'll just blame everything on the Russians) then Axel needs to drop out if they want one of our heroes to win.   Maybe he'll blame himself for Kwon's death even though he shouldn't.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, baldryanr said:

If the tournament goes forward (of course it will, they'll just blame everything on the Russians) then Axel needs to drop out if they want one of our heroes to win.   Maybe he'll blame himself for Kwon's death even though he shouldn't.

With the speculation that Mr. Miyagi killed a man in competition I went back to  From Here to Eternity where the plot was driven by the Army trying to force Pruitt to box after he quit when he blinded a man in the ring. However, the brawl is a different situation. It would be as if Sam had kicked Tory over the rail instead of Robby kicking Miguel in the school brawl.  As the Ivan Drago fighting machine stand in there is no way for Axel to drop if Sensei Wolf says go, unless Daniel or perhaps Mr. Han in a cameo step's in like Mr Miyagi did with Kreese at the beginning Karate Kid II.

[DoctorAtomic]

I really like the direction of Robby being more adult and even keeled over the last few seasons. I actually would say Tory has been more adult as well. 

You've got to be kidding me with Cobra Kai backing into the semifinals. This show. Come on. They just weren't that good mano a mano. I'm glad Chozen realized the kids needed some actual strategy and coaching for a change. Even though it took Miguel to knock sense into them. 

I'm glad the tournament is on tv, but I guess it only airs in the Valley. I actually was hoping Zara would lose off the bat. I just don't like the character though.

It looked to me like Miyagi had the better of the rumble because of the defense first m/o. Others here made similar comments about their teamwork, and I also agree. Miyagi just being better at holding their own is completely in character. 

Are we supposed to be feeling bad? A not that great fighter picked up a knife because he wasn't that great of a fighter and couldn't handle it right so he got got himself? So what? Also getting the drop on Robby on a cheap shot because he can't beat him face to face. I think it's hilarious if TPTB think this is some huge cliffhanger. He was a bad fighter; he was badly trained. Bye. I'd like to see if the show had guts, to really use this to dig into Kreese's massive trauma. But I know what I'm watching. 

This is ridiculous now. Realistically, there's going to be police at the tournament in general. Policeman fires a gun into the air immediately and all this stops. 

I would like to see the kids actually just call off the tournament. Tory, also acting more like an adult than the adults in charge of her asking if it's all worth it, and Sam just refusing to fight and walking away. 

I mean, I'm not saying I'm not enjoying the show. I do hope when it finally ends Amanda gets the last line - 'No more fucking karate'.

[baldryanr]

19 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Are we supposed to be feeling bad? A not that great fighter picked up a knife because he wasn't that great of a fighter and couldn't handle it right so he got got himself? So what? Also getting the drop on Robby on a cheap shot because he can't beat him face to face. I think it's hilarious if TPTB think this is some huge cliffhanger. He was a bad fighter; he was badly trained. Bye. I'd like to see if the show had guts, to really use this to dig into Kreese's massive trauma. But I know what I'm watching. 

Well, yes, we're supposed to be feeling bad because being an asshole as a youngster doesn't mean you're irredeemable in this franchise.  Tory was ready to maim Sam at the end of season 2 brawl.  Chozen ziplined way on stage and was ready to murder Daniel.  Both of them are now (mostly) heroic characters.

[DoctorAtomic]

They shouldn't have made him so one-dimensional then. Even the Iron Dragon guy was shown to be beaten up by his sensei. This guy was a rage machine constantly at 11 and apparently not very good. There was plenty of time to establish some more dimensions there. Even Kim gets a little more character building. It's tragic to be sure, but I have a feeling the death is only moving plot forward to redeem Kreese. I don't think he really needs to be. 

It's also kind of having your cake in bed. It's not really a 'major' death. 

[Raja]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

It's also kind of having your cake in bed. It's not really a 'major' death.

Given the franchise I was going any death, including the Vietnam war scenes, is a major death. Especially at this point of the story when it is just a sporting contest not a jealous Tory attempting to kill her romantic rival back in season 2.

[DoctorAtomic]

I take the point. I think mine is still apt though in terms of not giving opportunities to add another dimension to the character, given they were able to with fairly minor characters in Kim and the Iron Dragon caption, who I can't even remember his name. His death would probably had more impact, but it's also not the show where you're going to have a straight up murder either. 

Kreese told Tory that 'it is war and you have to vanquish your enemies.' She wasn't trying to kill anyone.

All that, I don't find anything ooc. My original take - bad fighter knows he's bad and can't deal and gets himself killed in the process is a fair assessment. 

[CarpeFelis]

On 11/17/2024 at 4:22 PM, marinw said:

I may be alone here, but I kind of liked Kwon. His hair was amazing. If the show went on longer, I could see Kwon having a redemption arc and joining Miyagi Do.

You’re not alone. Loved his hair!

I also like Kim. Would love to see her give Kreese the boot and team up with Chozen.

[marinw]

51 minutes ago, CarpeFelis said:

Loved his hair!

Kwon was a live-action anime character.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, CarpeFelis said:

You’re not alone. Loved his hair!

I also like Kim. Would love to see her give Kreese the boot and team up with Chozen.

There's time remaining for it to happen in the last 5 episodes 

[DoctorAtomic]

It's probably going to end up Everyone v Silver.

[BlueSkies]

At first... I thought the whole brawl thing was dumb.  And showing the kid's live death on air???  Also, at no point did anyone actually try to break this up? 

 

But maybe at least Daniel could be more forgiving of Mr. Miyagi's past.  

[Raja]

16 minutes ago, BlueSkies said:

 

But maybe at least Daniel could be more forgiving of Mr. Miyagi's past.  

And in doing so perhaps we will become more forgiving of Captain Kreese. We met him 10 years after combat, Mr Miyagi 40 years after and he killed someone in a sporting event a couple years after the war.

Edited November 23 by Raja

[tennisgurl]

That certainly escalated quickly. Its not a season of Cobra Kai without a big brawl at the end, and this was the biggest one yet. I love how pretty much everyone was apparently just looking for an excuse to throw hands for real, everyone immediately started looking for anyone they have beef with so they can fight them or anyone they want to bond with so they can fight side by side. This show loves its brawls and as ridiculous as they are, I love them too, they're very well choreographed, they give everyone time to shine, and and just so unapologetically 80s. 

Kwon was a total asshole who pretty much caused his own death by trying to stab another kid, but he was still just a teenager that really didn't deserve to die. When are people going to get that their silly karate rivalries have actual consequences? 

It was fun to see some of the kids who had to stay home, they could have really used their mad brawling skills. Poor Amanda. "Why does this keep happening?!"

[marinw]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think it would be psychologically healthy for both CK and Miyage to lose the tournament. (if it even keeps going after what happened to Kwon). The "Win at all costs" BS is more about the Sensies projecting their own ambitions on the much younger Karatekas. 

Edited November 26 by marinw

[DoctorAtomic]

I'd like it if it's the kids that just walk away and say that it's not worth it. They're not senseis if there's no students to teach. 

[Raja]

19 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I'd like it if it's the kids that just walk away and say that it's not worth it. They're not senseis if there's no students to teach. 

Like Nate and Bert these kids all seem to like to scrap. Kwon, the ultimate price Miguel,  Robbie and to a lesser extent Sam and Tory paying a big price for their thing which eliminated the loser, nerd tag from the Cobra Kai original team

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't know. The kids like to fight, ok, but Robby, Sam, and Tory are showing to be more adult than the senseis. Miguel even had to knock sense into Daniel and Johnny. 

I don't know if you could say Miyagi Do, Tory, and the Iron Dragon guy really wanted to rumble. Kwon threw a cheap shot at Robby (?) during his one on one match, and most of Cobra Kai was spoiling for a fight because imo they knew they were good enough to be there only because of the Russians being disqualified. 

They even showed the Iron Dragon guy to be literally beaten down. 

I doubt it will go this way, but all of them banding together and saying enough is enough would be fair development imo. 

I don't think the tournament would be canceled, but they might force it into a different competition or something. 

As ridiculous as the show is, they've done a good job of getting the kids growth. There needs to be some outcome from that. 

[Dobian]

That was one nutty karate tournament.

The only thing that would have made it perfect was if in the TV broadcast they had "ESPN 8: The Ocho" on the bottom.

[wwalker2033]

Firstly irritation... "Season 6".... 6.2 maybe, how many parts is this going to be in???

Now...... Loves...... Pure ridiculousness and cheese that they have never shied away from with...... A serious story at the spine (mostly around Johnny and his coming off age being an actual adult and father), which you could tell in five minutes without the cheese, then the odd karate brawl with a serious consequence at the end (don't try this at home kids)

 

90% of the time..... I'm well against a prequel but to (as good as) find out Mr miyagi was the way he was because he literally killed a guy in a tournament was some good story telling.

The ending.... 99% probably thought Quan would kill him, we'd all be sad and annoyed but for him to accidentally kill himself is proper karma plus everyone still feeling sad.

But seriously......... Just wrap it up!!!! Final season, oh did we not say it's 60 episodes dropped 6 at a time? Oh my bad.... Think we're all watching until 2026 way this is going

 

[Raja]

3 minutes ago, wwalker2033 said:

But seriously......... Just wrap it up!!!! Final season, oh did we not say it's 60 episodes dropped 6 at a time? Oh my bad.... Think we're all watching until 2026 way this is going

The finale third of season 6 is due for February 13, 2025.  Just in time for the big promotional push for the May 30, 2025 release of Karate Kid: Legends with Daniel LaRusso and from the Smith's 2010 almost shot by shot remake of The Karate Kid (11-year-olds instead of 16-year-olds fighting over a girl) with Jackie Chan's Mr. Han.

Everybody seems to think it will be set at least 3 years after Cobra Kai which is in around 2019 storyline time, thus giving time for Anthony to be out of the house so they won't have to deal with the extended LaRusso clan in the movie.

[DoctorAtomic]

There's not really a counterpoint or breaking the cycle to Mr. Miyagi killing someone in the tournament though. We're assuming he did; there's been scant evidence of what really happened.

Kwon killed himself because he was a bumbling fool. The story should be Robby going for the killing strike and holding back, and maybe taking the L, for the proper resolution, imo. 

I think the show needs to end with all this 'fucking karate' being ultimately defeated, and I think it's got to be the kids that do it. Daniel and Johnny aren't going to truly resolve their issues otherwise. They've proven time and time again that they just don't have what it takes to do that on their own. 

1 minute ago, Raja said:

The finale third of season 6 is due for February 13, 2025. 

When is the trend of us having to spend 10 years with a show ending? Is it a side effect of binging?  I think I'd rather have weekly shows back and lesser hiatuses. Hiatusi? Whatever.

[Raja]

1 minute ago, DoctorAtomic said:

When is the trend of us having to spend 10 years with a show ending? Is it a side effect of binging?  I think I'd rather have weekly shows back and lesser hiatuses. Hiatusi? Whatever.

I think this was a special case, cross promo money to given from the upcoming movie and the Smith's. A copy of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D getting an unexpected 6th and 7th seasons with a big gap on ABC. The network being a Disney product and the Final Boss ordering a continuation until Avengers: Endgame on TV even if the MCU folks who worked for Disney kept saying the TV stuff ain't part of us. And the fans all saw a natural series finale at season 5.

[DoctorAtomic]

I appreciate the answer, but I literally have no idea what any of that means. 

[Raja]

11 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I appreciate the answer, but I literally have no idea what any of that means. 

That Netflix and Cobra Kai's other producers got paid to hold off on releasing the Cobra Kai finale by the producers of Karate Kid Legends, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. They own the rights since they bought The Karate Kid to remake the movie starring their son Jaden Smith in 2010.

Edited November 29 by Raja

[DoctorAtomic]

I understand those words.

However, I think my initial point is apt in that most streaming shows take a long time between seasons. 

[ChocButterfly]

Well, I have an unpopular opinion: I hated the brawl. I thought it was stupid. In such an international tournament there must have been security everywhere close by. Specially after so many terrorists acts and shootings have happened. And the brawl seemed to go on forever without anyone showing up to stop it. Like another poster mentioned (forgot who, sorry) one shot fired as a warning would have shut these idiocy in a second.

Also, why was everyone so eager to fight everyone? Like, I get it, most of them resented the other dojos for losing or whatever, but it doesn't make sense that all the fighters would start randomely attacking others. Isn't karate suposed to teach you self control? All of these kids seemed to be on steroids, not only the Russian ones. And where were their senseis? Not one of them had a hold of their students?

And I really don't care that Kwon died. He kind of deserved it. Ok, he was just a teen, but he was willing to kill someone just because he lost. Boohoo. And the character had no redeeming qualities, he was a charicature. I hope he's really dead, and stays dead. He was a nuisance. Even Kreese has shown some depth. Not Silver, though. That one is a psycho.

I agree that some of the kids are more mature and have shown more growth than their senseis. And the most sensible character in the whole series is Daniel's wife.

By the way, isn't Kreese suposed to be a fugitive? How can he be out in the opening and traveling internationally all the time? How can he be one of the teams' senseis of the most important karate competition in the world? I think I may have missed an episode where they explained this.

Edited December 3 by ChocButterfly

[Raja]

34 minutes ago, ChocButterfly said:

By the way, isn't Kreese suposed to be a fugitive? How can he be out in the opening and traveling internationally all the time? How can he be one of the teams' senseis of the most important karate competition in the world? I think I may have missed an episode where they explained this.

It was either episode 6 or 7 where Kresse explained to Johnny that since the conviction was due to perjury of Stngray and he was a Vietnam veteran suffering from PTSD he was pardoned for the crimes of his escape.

Many have said that before her "heel" turn to Cobra Kai the explanation should have come in the first third of episodes when he recruited Tory.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't think he got pardoned; I think he just said they dropped the charges. It read to me like the prosecutors would have taken a huge PR hit going after Kreese, which ok, but breaking out of prison is against the law. A low key plea deal seems more like something that would happen. 

[marinw]

2 hours ago, ChocButterfly said:

Well, I have an unpopular opinion: I hated the brawl. I thought it was stupid. In such an international tournament there must have been security everywhere close by.

Everybody should be disqualified.

[andidante]

1 hour ago, marinw said:

Everybody should be disqualified.

They absolutely should but knowing this show there will be no consequences! 

[Raja]

2 hours ago, marinw said:

Everybody should be disqualified.

To paraphrase Kreese when he came back in the Miyagi-verse everything is traditionally settled at the tournament. How they get there from Kwon's death should be,, weird.

[DoctorAtomic]

They could go all Rocky V and take it to the streets!