‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 4 Recap & Review: The Battle of Miyagi-Do

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 4 “Underdogs.”

Since the Cobra Kai Season 6 premiere, the Miyagi-Do students and senseis have worked through their past trauma and taken leaps forward to ensure the dojo operates at the highest possible level. With their strength and numbers, they could be an unstoppable force. But after last episode’s revelation that only six students from each dojo can compete in the Sekai Taikai, the taped-up cracks in Miyagi-Do start to peel off in Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 4.

While some characters deserve their spot more than others, watching every Miyagi-Do student’s determination and passion makes this episode intense and engaging. Who will fill out the top six slots for the Sekai Taikai? How do the senseis determine who is more worthy? Find out in our Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 4 “Underdogs” recap.

The Sekai Taikai Selection Process Starts in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 4

The episode opens with the Miyagi-Do students training on different techniques as Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) say that they have an equal shot of competing in the Sekai Taikai. The scene transitions to West Valley High School as Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), Sam LaRusso (Mary Mouser), Tory Nichols (Peyton List), and Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) are confident they’ll be chosen as they’re the strongest fighters.

Demetri Alexopoulos (Gianni Decenzo) tells Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz (Jacob Bertrand) that he believes Hawk and Kenny Payne (Dallas Dupree Young) will fill out the last two spots. Demetri says he’ll focus more on getting into MIT, while Hawk thinks he has an even lower chance of being accepted there.

Anthony LaRusso (Griffin Santopietro) tells Devon Lee (Oona O’Brien) that with her speed and agility, she’s a contender to fill out the top six. Devon says that Anthony being able to land a shot on Robby during sparring practice shows his potential. Kenny chimes in saying that it’ll be between him and Anthony.

Cut to LaRusso Auto Group where Daniel tells Johnny he’s considering Sam, Robby, Miguel, Hawk, Demetri, and Anthony. Johnny disagrees with the last two choices and thinks Tory and Devon are stronger fighters. Seeing that they’re biased, Daniel suggests bringing in a karate expert who has no bias towards the students.

Mike Barnes Returns in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 4 “Underdogs”

Cobra Kai Episode 4 continues with Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) being introduced to the Miyagi-Do students as the one who will decide which six students will attend the Sekai Taikai. While he’s never been part of it, he warns them that he will push the students to the limits, hearing horror stories about the competition, and wanting to make sure those chosen are prepared.

After a montage of the students taking part in exhausting challenges, Barnes selects Hawk, Robby, Miguel, Sam, Tory, Mitch (Aedin Mincks), Kenny, Nathaniel (Nathaniel Oh), Chris (Khalil Everage), Demetri, Devon, and Anthony as the top 12 students he deems capable. The next round of eliminations will continue the next day.

Despite making the cut, Devon tells Johnny that she doesn’t feel valued since Mike took the time to highlight Sam, Tory, and Kenny’s strengths. Later at night while the top 12 students are training, Mitch tells Anthony that he’s been taking laxatives because of how stressed he is for the Sekai Taikai. Yasmine (Annalisa Cochrane) arrives looking for her boyfriend, Demetri. She tells him they can move their date so he can focus on training, but he’d rather be with her. She finds this repulsive, which ends up motivating him to keep training.

Mike Is Haunted by Terry Silver in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 4

The next morning, Hawk tells Miguel that he never applied to MIT after they went to the fraternity party because he wants to explore his options. He doesn’t want to let Demetri know just yet because that’s all Demetri talks about. Mike has the top 12 Miyagi-Do students wear flags on their gis as they compete in a game of Capture the Flag. As the competition begins, Johnny keeps poking at Mike to keep an eye on Devon. Mike gets annoyed by this and the two start arguing as they miss Devon using her skills to retrieve flags.

As time runs out, Kenny lands a hit on Anthony that knocks him down and leaves him bleeding. Daniel rushes to his side as Mike harshly tells Anthony he’s eliminated. Daniel tells Mike he’s regressing into his villainous self from The Karate Kid Part III; Mike wishes he was that version of him again because that side of him wouldn’t have let Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) burn his company to the ground.

As Daniel tends to Anthony, Mike says Tory, Robby, Sam, and Miguel are his choices to participate in the Sekai Taikai, while he’ll contemplate who out of Kenny, Devon, Demetri, and Hawk will fill in the last two spots. Devon is frustrated at Johnny for distracting Mike during the game and says she’ll be shocked if she’s chosen.

The Miyagi-Do Students Competing in the Sekai Taikai Are Announced

Later at night, Johnny tries to apologize for doubting Mike’s methods, but Mike knows he’s only doing it to see if Devon is making the top six. Mike starts a fight with Johnny, but Johnny gets the upper hand on him. He confesses that since he was drawn back into the karate world in Cobra Kai Season 5, he’s been looking for a sense of power again. As a former member of Cobra Kai, Johnny relates to Mike.

The next day, Mike says the final challenge will have the last four competitors try to retrieve two hidden flags in a forest. Johnny gives Devon the confidence she needs, while Hawk confesses to Demetri that he never applied to MIT. Angry at this decision, during the race, he and Hawk end up going for the same flag, but Demetri takes advantage of Hawk’s kindness and steals the flag from him. As Devon chases after Kenny towards the flag, Kenny runs to a porta-potty in front of the Miyagi-Do students but lets out a loud fart before entering.

Mike apologizes to Daniel for the way he’s been acting and says he still has some inner demons, but some of it was released after fighting with Johnny, which Daniel is surprised to hear about. Mike officially announces that Miguel, Sam, Tory, Robby, Devon, and Demetri will be the six Miyagi-Do students competing at the Sekai Taikai.

After the announcement, Kenny tells Devon that he knows Anthony put Mitch’s laxatives in his drink to ruin his chances. He chooses not to tell Daniel because he knows Daniel won’t believe him, but it’s revealed that Devon stole Mitch’s laxatives as she dumps them away.

‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 4 Ends on a Somber Note

In the final moment of the episode, Daniel confronts Johnny for the collateral damage he’s caused by getting too involved with the selection process. Daniel thinks that Hawk should’ve made the cut instead of Devon, and questions if they have the strongest team because they have no idea what they’ll be up against in the Sekai Taikai.

As shown in the previous episode, John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) have ruthless fighters under them. While the Miyagi-Do team is strong, they may not have it in them to defeat such tough opponents. Similar to other sports projects like Creed III, the training montages in this episode are the best aspect. Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 4 kicks it up a notch with its stellar action and compelling character moments.

Cobra Kai is now streaming on Netflix. Follow the Agents of Fandom socials for all the latest entertainment news and reviews.