‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 2 Recap & Review: Old Foes Return

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 2 “The Prize.”

After the previous episode showed off a happy restart for the protagonists, Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 2 looks at how the villains are building themselves up. With John Kreese (Martin Kove) recently escaping from prison, he is out for blood.

From the conception of this series, Cobra Kai has always tried to redeem the villains of The Karate Kid franchise. The Netflix series continues to show how complex the characters are, with this entry being an example that people can change when they set their minds on a specific goal. With three plotlines running at the same time, make sure to read through our Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 2 “The Prize” recap to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

Kreese and Kim Da-Eun’s Past Is Revealed in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 2

The episode opens with a flashback of young Kreese (Barrett Carnahan) and Terry Silver (Nick Marini) in South Korea as they’re about to head back to the United States after fighting in the Korean War. They’re watching over a group of karate students in the forest training under an old sensei, Master Kim Sun-Yung (C.S. Lee).

Kreese waves to a young girl (Sarah Anne), who waves back, but is called over by the sensei. Kim Sun-Yung hits the girl for interrupting the lesson, and Kreese steps in to tell him that the child should be trained on how to fight. Kim Sun-Yung continually beats up Kreese before the young girl kicks the sensei, prompting him to see that she’s worthy of being taught. Flash forward to the present day and the young girl turns out to be Kim Sun-Yung’s granddaughter, Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim).

She’s happy to be reunited with Kreese after failing to see him when she was in the U.S. training Silver’s batch of Cobra Kai students. She admits that she was blinded by bringing her grandfather’s karate to the world and that she didn’t realize Silver’s ill intentions. Kreese suggests they work together to compete in the Sekai Taikai to continue with her goal. But she tells Kreese that it’s up to her grandfather, who is still alive.

Johnny and Miguel Try To Make Ends Meet for Their Family

The episode cuts to Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), Carmen Diaz (Vanessa Rubio), Rosa Diaz (Rose Bianco), and Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) in their apartment listening to Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) as he reads over his admission letter to Stanford University. After celebrating his work, a sewage pipe bursts into their unit, spraying all over the living room.

Johnny tries calling for a repairperson, but they say it’ll take some time. Carmen points out that their place is getting crowded now, and stresses over their financial problems, especially with Miguel applying to Stanford. Miguel overhears the conversation as Johnny tries to reassure her that their money woes will disappear once Miyagi-Do competes in the Sekai Taikai.

Sometime later, Miguel is with Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz (Jacob Bertrand) and Demetri Alexopoulos (Gianni Decenzo) as they look at their university options. A recruiter (Chase Steven Anderson) from a nearby college entices the guys by saying that a smaller school closer to home is a much cheaper option, which interests Miguel.

Johnny shows up at Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) home asking for an air mattress while the Diaz family stays at his unit during the repairs. Johnny contemplates renting a bigger place, to which Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto) interrupts and says is a bad idea. After watching shows like Selling Sunset and Property Brothers, he considers himself a real estate expert, so Daniel suggests Chozen help Johnny find a new place. Amanda LaRusso (Courtney Henggeler) chimes in saying that Chozen should find his own place as well, hinting that he’s overstaying his welcome at their residence.

Kreese Faces His Demons in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 2

Switching back to Master Kim Sun-Yung, he says that Kim Da-Eun’s incompetence is why he refuses to die. Kreese tries to convince him to let Cobra Kai compete in the Sekai Taikai by saying how one of his students was able to defeat five of Kim Sun-Yung’s students. After hearing this, he decides to give Kreese a chance and sends him deep into the forest to find a knife Kim Sun-Yung lost back in his youth.

After finding the cave where the knife is, Kreese sees a white cobra guarding it. The snake bites him as he tries to grab it and Kreese hallucinates a young Terry Silver taunting him and a vision of Johnny telling Kreese that he should be locked up. Kreese realizes that Johnny is the one holding him back after favoring him all these years, so he fights him and breaks Johnny’s neck in this hallucination.

The Miyagi-Do Students Fight Off Fraternity Brothers in “The Prize”

After reading about the nearby college, Miguel drags Demetri and Eli on a campus tour and they bump into Kyler Park (Joe Seo) and Brucks (Bo Mitchell). Kyler is a student there, while Brucks is just visiting from M.I.T. They take the high schoolers to a fraternity party, where Kyler is being hazed as a freshman.

Zenker (Christian Carlson), the one bullying Kyler, confesses that Kyler will never be accepted into the fraternity. Kyler dumps a beer on Zenker’s head and a fight ensues between other fraternity members and Miguel, Eli, Demetri, and Hawks. The Miyagi-Do students, Kyler, and Brucks manage to win and they celebrate at an arcade near campus.

Eli and Demetri question how Brucks got into M.I.T. considering he prioritized bullying over academics in high school, but Brucks shows that he goes to Midwest Industrial Training and not the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kyler opens up to Miguel saying that he regrets not sticking to his goals because he could’ve been in a better college.; he tells Miguel that it’s worth chasing your dreams instead of settling for less, which gives him the inspiration he needs.

Johnny Practices Miyagi-Do in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 2

At an open house, Chozen pretends to be Johnny’s real estate agent but Johnny speaks freely, expressing just how much he wants the place for his family. The listing agent, Baz (Nick Jandl), calls Johnny unstable after seeing the Eagle Fang Karate van he drives around in. They walk out and Chozen tells Johnny that he isn’t following Miyagi-Do values as he still acts irrationally, and looks for a fight.

They see Baz is the listing agent at another property, and he tells Johnny since he owns many properties in The Valley, he’ll never let Johnny rent any of them. Johnny clenches his fist, but remembering Chozen’s advice, he takes a moment and lets it go. The owner of the place, Stevie (Adam Herschman) recognizes Johnny from their childhood and is willing to help him out as long as he can provide proof of steady income.

Johnny goes to the LaRusso Auto Group and asks Daniel to give him the same rate as Chozen for teaching at Miyagi-Do. Daniel agrees, but shares that none of them are getting paid because he doesn’t charge the students. Daniel plans to change that once they win the Sekai Taikai, but Johnny can’t wait that long, so Daniel suggests he find a regular day job.

The next day, Johnny walks in at the LaRusso Auto Group dressed in a suit and tie thinking that Daniel offered him a job there. In his office, Daniel talks to Amanda discussing what role to give Johnny, but they’re interrupted when they hear a car has been sold by Johnny. The customer praises Johnny’s selling method and says she’ll recommend more people to buy from him, prompting Daniel and Amanda to officially hire Johnny.

The Heads of Cobra Kai Start To Multiply in the Final Season

In the final moment of the episode, Kreese returns to Kim Da-Eun and Kim Sun-Yung with the knife and the head of the cobra that was guarding it. This is enough to convince Kim Sun-Yung that Kreese is ready to lead again and says that nothing will stand in Cobra Kai’s way.

Despite its various plotlines, Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 2 features strong character development and pushes the story forward. With Kim Sun-Yung still alive and just as ruthless as before, the power of Cobra Kai is a scary thought. While the previous episode showed how strong Miyagi-Do is, they have no idea what to expect from the Sekai Taikai. With Johnny continuing on this path to peace, will he still have the fiery edge Miyagi-Do needs?

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