- Hi, I play Johnny Lawrence, the bad-ass awesome hero
of the Netflix series Cobra Kai.
- Hero's a little misleading.
In The Karate Kid I played a real hero, Daniel LaRusso.
- Here's everything you need to know
about seasons one and two of Cobra Kai.
(upbeat music)
Cobra Kai takes place 34 years
after Johnny lost the All Valley Tournament
to Daniel because of a cheap shot.
- It was legal, but okay.
- These days he's a middle-aged, down on his luck
handyman and life sucks way more than it did in 1984.
- I play Johnny estranged son, Robby.
They've barely seen each other
since Johnny walked out on him the day he was born.
- But Daniel's life has turned out great.
He owns the Valley's top chain
of car dealerships with his beautiful life, Amanda
and his two kinda perfect children.
- I play Samantha, Daniel's daughter.
They used to do karate together
but she's got better things to do now.
- I play Miguel, Johnny's neighbor.
He's a new kid in school and has a crush on Samantha.
- I play Eli AKA Hawk
but I don't wanna spoil my awesome transformation
from total loser to a total rock star.
- I play Tory, a Cobra Kai student
you'll meet in season two.
Tory has some anger issues.
- And then there's Demetri.
The only kid with enough sense
to not wanna get punched in the face.
At least at first.
- Johnny turns these losers into, well, they're still losers
but now they're losers who can kick ass.
Johnny's down to his last dollar
when he gets fired for some BS.
- You out it on the wrong wall.
I said the wall across from the door.
- So Johnny grabs a slice to unwind...
- And sees his neighbor Miguel getting picked on
by this bully named Kyler and does what any adult
would do in this situation, kick the crap out
of a bunch of teenagers.
(shouting and punching)
- Obviously he gets arrested for assault
and it's downhill from there.
- Samantha and her cool new friends are out cruising
and crash into Johnny's Firebird.
Totaling it.
- [Ralph] The car gets towed to the LaRusso automotive.
Of course Daniel's surprised to see Johnny again
but being the bigger man, he offers
to repair his car for free.
- He only offers to pay for the repairs
so he could be a total dick about it.
- Daniel tells Johnny he's better off without Cobra Kai.
And so of course, Johnny reopens the dojo
to prove Daniel wrong.
- Johnny recruits Miguel, to be his first and only student.
Miguel's just happy to have found a friend.
- Desperate for students and revenue,
Johnny goes to the high school for recruits.
- A little sketchy, probably illegal.
- [William] Johnny introduces Miguel to the Cobra Kai creed:
Strike first, strike hard, no mercy.
- And convinces him to go to the dance to meet hot babes.
- This costume might look familiar.
- At the dance Miguel overhears Kyler talking about Sam.
When he tries to defend her honor,
his new karate skills, don't kick in.
After the fight Miguel's mom forbids him from training.
- But Johnny begs Miguel's mom, Carmen
in the manliest way possible.
That kid, is the only person in the world
who hasn't given up on me.
And I don't wanna give up on him.
I know I messed up big time.
But if you let him come back,
I won't fail him again.
I promise.
(sad guitar music)
- Miguel returns to the dojo,
but this time his sensei also teaches him
how to protect himself.
- And the best defense...
(shouts)
(dramatic drumming)
is more of it.
- Johnny follows his own advice, gets wasted
and vandalizes LaRusso Automotive billboard
in an explicit manner.
Mother!
- Daniel can't prove who did it
but whoever they are, they're pretty funny.
- [Xolo] Miguel follows Johnny's advice and goes
on the offensive against Kyler.
- Sam, newly single definitely notices.
- [Tanner] Angry at his deadbeat dad
for acting like a father figure to Miguel, Robby decides
to get revenge by seeking out Johnny's worst enemy.
- [Woman Interviewer] Welcome to the LaRusso family.
- Daniel decides the best way to deal
with Cobra Kai is to bring back his own Miyagi-Do dojo.
- Part of Daniel's plan to achieve balance
is to recruit his kids to do karate.
And Sam's not into it.
- You wanna spar with your old man?
- Karate?
- You don't have to say it like it's the flu.
- So Miguel's fight goes viral and all the nerdy kids
head down to Cobra Kai to train and of course,
Johnny makes fun of them.
- If you don't want me to call you lip
that don't have a weird lip.
- Miguel confronts Johnny.
- Come on Diaz, they're a bunch of losers.
- Yeah, well some of those losers are my friends.
- Causing him to remember the pain of getting bullied
by his stepfather in a very tasteful flashback.
- [Johnny's Stepfather] What?
The kid's a social reject.
He doesn't have a single friend.
- Instead of apologizing, Johnny tells his students
that life is tough and they better learn to deal with it.
- So Eli comes back with a tough-as-nails looking Mohawk.
- Beginning his transformation into his final epic form.
- Hawk!
- Meanwhile, Robby's doing such a great job
at LaRusso Automotive, he's starting to feel
like he's part of the family.
He goes over to LaRusso's house,
sees Daniel practicing karate
and decides he wants to be trained.
- Back at the Cobra Kai dojo, Johnny uses
some unusual methods to train his students.
- So there's only one solution
and that is before you leave this dojo
each and every one of you is gonna take a punch
very hard, to the face.
Some would say awesome.
- Miguel goes on a very successful date
with Sam at Golf N' Stuff,
Easter egg, just like Daniel and Allie date in the 80's.
Somehow it looks exactly the same.
- Like any legit sensei in the Valley,
Johnny tries to enter his dojo
in the All Valley Karate Tournament.
But Cobra Kai is banned.
- Daniel's on the board and votes to block Cobra Kai
from entering, setting up an epic courtroom drama.
- But my Cobra Kai is different.
It's a place where kids can come and feel like they belong.
Where they won't get picked on
just 'cause they're a bunch of losers,
because they're unique.
Cobra Kai's making a difference in these kids' lives.
And honestly, they're making a difference in mine as well.
Spoiler alert two.
We get in the tournament by punching the committee
right in their feelings.
- Speaking of feelings, Johnny's all up in his
when he finds out who Miguel has his eye on.
- You're dating a LaRusso?
- He tells him a very biased version
of the events in The Karate Kid.
- So I chase him down,
try to put a end things that night, right?
Turns out the guy's got a karate master of his own.
Guy comes out of nowhere, jumps us,
assaults me and my friends.
I think my buddy Tommy got brain damage
'cause of that fight.
Show me the lie.
- Since he hasn't met her family,
Miguel heads over to the LaRusso's to surprise Sam but sees
- Robby eating dinner with us.
Laughing, having a grand old time.
Miguel assumes the worst.
And leaves with a broken heart.
- Consider this a message from Daniel LaRusso.
- Daniel's familia does some breaking of their own
after finding out that Johnny vandalized
their dealership billboards.
Car wrecked, Johnny storms over to the LaRusso's
with ass kicking on his mind.
- [Ralph] Fortunately Daniel's wife diffuses things.
Daniel fires his cousin and gives Johnny a new car.
- And then they hang out like any two normal grown dudes
in a decades old karate rivalry.
- Things are looking up
for Daniel and Johnny's relationship.
Another round.
- But then things go south quickly,
after Sam gets grounded by her mom
for being in the hit and run.
- And she misses like a hundred calls from Miguel.
- Meanwhile, all the mean girls throw a birthday party
but the Cobra Kai kids plan a bad-ass bonfire
at the same place.
- [Tanner] Robby breaks Sam out of her prison
and they head to the party.
- Miguel has too much to drink and tries to fight Robby
but ends up ruining his relationship with Sam instead.
- [William] Johnny drives Daniel home only to discover
that his son has been learning karate from Daniel.
- Hey, hey, hey, Dad back off!
- Dad?
- [Tanner] And after all that, Daniel, Mr. Balanced LaRusso
ends up firing Robby.
- We finally get to the All Valley championship.
It's Cobra Kai versus the entire Valley, including Robby.
Who is competing unaffiliated without a dojo.
- Hawk and Miguel advance to the semi's.
- Hawk is qualified for dislocating Robby's shoulder
and then kicking him in the back.
- Ugh. That's the worst thing about tournaments.
They have rules.
- Miguel and Sam have an argument.
I don't even know who you are anymore.
Sam heads home and gets inspired to practice
the karate that her dad taught her.
She's still got it.
- Robby's all alone.
He won't be able to compete.
And then Daniel shows up.
He don't forget about him.
- Daniel commits to being Robby's sensei.
He fixes him up with some tricks he learned from his sensei.
- Johnny realizes his teachings
have made his students too bad-ass,
but he's committed to winning.
- The stage is set.
It's sensei versus sensei.
Father against son,
spiritual son against well actual son.
Who do we root for?
Who will win?
Miguel, Miguel wins, you know, the guy
with more extensive training and lack of serious injuries.
- Yeah Miguel is pretty pumped about that
but everyone else is full
of conflicting emotions, it's weird.
- Cobra Kai won, but at what cost?
- Let's go Mr. LaRusso.
- You got what you wanted Johnny.
You won.
Congratulations.
Daniel takes Robby to Mr. Miyagi's old home and reveals
that he plans to turn it into a dojo.
The only way to defeat Cobra Kai's hyper aggression
is through balance.
- Nighttime Johnny's full of alcohol and regrets
at his dojo.
What has he brought into the world?
When a shadowy figure from his past emerges, John Kreese.
- End of season one.
- Bam, stuck the landing.
(upbeat electric guitar music)
- Johnny's ex sensei shows up looking
to reclaim his place at Cobra Kai,
but Johnny and he have a complicated history.
So they kick each other's asses.
- Johnny gets the upper hand
but Kreese gets in his head with memories
of what happened after his loss at The All Valley.
Johnny decides to be the bigger man
and tells Kreese to beat it.
- Sam blocks Miguel on Instagram
which makes him very, very sad.
- This is a big deal in high school.
- His mom, Carmen doesn't approve
of the new quote, darker Miguel.
- He had this look on his face.
(dramatic music with fighting)
- Don't worry, Miguel's a good kid.
I won't let him go astray.
- Daniel and Robby make plans to open up Miyagi-Do.
- Meanwhile, Johnny's feeling guilty
so he lays into his students for fighting dirty.
- From here on out, those are pussy moves
and you don't wanna be pussies do ya?
- [All Recruits] No sensei.
- Strike first, strike hard, a little mercy?
- Yeah, no just doesn't have the same ring to it.
- [William] Johnny runs into Daniel and his son Robby
at the Home Depot and tries to make amends.
- It doesn't work.
- Johnny's bad at feelings,
which is probably why he feels sorry
for Kreese and lets him rejoin Cobra Kai.
- Robby ends up beating up his mom's new boy toy.
- So you have the whole place to yourself.
Don't party too hard.
- Again, his mom's kind of a mess.
- Daniel starts teaching Sam and Robby about balance,
by forcing them to literally balance together.
- It also teaches them about hypothermia.
- Johnny's students make fun of him.
So naturally he makes them train inside
of a cement truck.
- You gotta keep moving forward.
Or else you can get stuck exactly where you are.
It's like the cement in this truck.
- Again, where are these kids' parents?
- Daniel steps in to parent Robby
as his surrogate karate master and father figure,
inviting him to live with the LaRusso's.
Like a good guy, Daniel heads to Cobra Kai
to let Johnny know about his son
but finds him with Kreese.
- They were so close to being friends.
- Johnny needs to learn new skills
as a small business owner.
Somehow he's made it this far in life without a computer.
- Have you seriously never owned a computer before?
- Yeah, I'm not a nerd.
- [Ralph] He sees Daniel's awesome Miyagi-Do ad
and has his students help him make one for Cobra Kai.
- Meanwhile, the chores required of a Miyagi-Do student
become the perfect recruitment tool for Cobra Kai.
- I'm not trying to sell you anything,
I'm trying to teach you karate.
- Come on, let's go check out that place with the snake.
- [Tanner] Miguel and Hawk learn that Robby is Johnny's son
and confront him.
- So Johnny takes him Miguel out
for burgers and opens up about fatherhood.
- I failed my kid,
on his very first day in this world.
And I've been failing him every day since.
And I want you to know no matter what happens,
I promise,
I'll always be on your side
and I'll always have your best interest at heart.
- Cobra Kai crashes a Miyagi-Do karate demo
and shows them up.
- Cobra Kai does have the wow factor going for it.
It has fire instead of, you know, chores.
Demetri finally joins Cobra Kai, but he's so annoying
that Kreese kinda sorta commits aggravated assault
against a minor.
- Then the show really begins when Tory joins Cobra Kai
and on day one, she volunteers to fight Miguel
even though she's new.
- She does all right.
My name's Miguel.
- Tory.
(dramatic music with body slam)
With a Y.
More that all right.
- So Demetri tells Hawk about his fight
with Kreese and he calls him a coward, which yeah yes.
But still.
- Miguel warns Johnny about Kreese
but it falls on deaf ears.
- Guy's got his issues,
but everyone deserves a second chance.
- Robby thinks a viral video of him winning a fight
will recruit students for Miyagi-Do,
but he ends up getting in over his head
when he gets hit in the head.
- [Ralph] Thankfully Daniel appears just
in time like Miyagi did for him.
The student has become the master.
- Hawk sees that Demetri left Cobra Kai a bad Yelp review
and confronts him at the mall.
- But just before he's about to beat him up,
Sam and Robby join in.
- Demetri has had enough of Cobra Kai's gang mentality
and joins Miyagi-Do.
He made the right dojo choice.
I wanna learn karate.
Even though there's more, fence painting.
That's like 1200 square feet.
- Actually times two, you forgot about the other side.
- Robby and Sam almost kiss,
but decide it's probably disrespectful to Daniel.
- Kreese convinces Hawk to vandalize Miyagi-Do.
- [Ralph] The dojo is destroyed.
Mr. Miyagi's medal of honor is stolen
and his classic car is wrecked.
Daniel goes to Cobra Kai
to confront Johnny and upside?
Snags a bunch of his students.
- Johnny makes all of Cobra Kai do burpees
until someone confesses, but even though Kreese
knows Hawk did it, he doesn't say anything.
- Are there no responsible adults in The Valley?
- One of the goons that tried to jump Demetri at the mall
shows up at Miyagi-Do and that doesn't sit right with him.
But Daniel reminds him that there are no bad students,
only bad teachers.
And so they all make up
and become one big happy karate family.
- Think I'm just gonna let you dis me?
- I didn't dis you.
It was constructive criticism.
Yeah, this only last all of five minutes.
- [William] Johnny travels to San Bernardino
to meet up with his old Cobra Kai pals.
- You brought back a Cobra Kai?
- Yeah, it's not all that's back.
But we put all our feelings aside for an epic bar fight.
Sad spoiler, after celebrating their bar brawl win,
their old pal Tommy dies in his sleep,
causing Johnny to take stock of his life.
Rob Garrison, the man who played Tommy
was a great friend in real life as well.
Rest in peace buddy.
It was an honor working with you.
- During all this tragedy,
Kreese is busy remaking Cobra Kai in his image.
Life hasn't exactly been kind to Tory
and she falls prey to Kreese's twisted philosophy.
Some people have it good.
But the rest of us, we have to fight
for every inch of what's ours.
- Miguel apologizes to Kreese and Kreese accepts him
as his pupil, which is not good.
- Kreese shows up at Miyagi-Do
and starts foreshadowing a dojo war.
- I'm just here to say thank you.
- Thank me for what?
- Well, taking our weakest soldiers from our ranks.
That was kind.
- Soldiers.
They're kids.
- We were all kids once.
- Okay, that's pretty creepy.
- Kreese stakes Cobra Kai out to the woods
for good old fashioned game of karate headband tag.
- Miguel sees Hawk with Mr. Miyagi's medal of honor
and realizes who vandalized the dojo.
- And the truth comes out during the brawl at the woods.
Want the medal so bad,
come and take it.
- [Xolo] And just when Miguel thinks he's come out on top
- You know the thing about stingrays is,
they lie and wait for the perfect opportunity,
to strike!
- He really lives up to his nickname.
- Johnny's pretty shocked at how ruthless his students
have become under Kreese and has second thoughts.
- Miguel heads over to the LaRusso's
to return the medal to Robby?
- Who pockets it and plants it at the dojo
so Sam doesn't get back with Miguel.
- Johnny finally comes to his senses
and expels Kreese from Cobra Kai.
Cobra Kai will always be bad-ass,
but there's a difference between no mercy and no honor.
And refines his mission statement.
This creed on the wall, will make you strong.
It'll make you formidable.
Will also make you an asshole.
- Sam asked Robby to go out on a date
with her at a roller rink.
- And Tory asked Miguel on a date to, wait for it,
the same rink, and the theme that night is 80's night.
(Sam squeals and thuds to the ground)
- [Robby] Are you okay?
- Oops, sorry princess.
- It's tense and there's also some karate on wheels.
- All right you're done.
You're out.
- Miguel helps Johnny set up his first smartphone
and gets set up on a dating appetizer.
- I've told him this so many times, it's just an app.
A dating app sensei.
- Which doesn't work, but you know what does?
Beating up his student's mom's boyfriend.
And then asking said student's mom out on a date.
- I guess she's old fashioned?
- Robby's mom shows back up in his life
to try and reconcile.
And tells him she's going to rehab,
which she really, really needs.
- And then there's a big house party
with lots of booze and kids from both karate dojo's.
Not a recipe for disaster at all.
- Sam kisses Miguel after she finds out
he returned the medal of honor, which would be great
if Tory didn't see it happen and wasn't already dating him.
- Hawk dumps his drink on Demetri.
- But he's not gonna let that happen.
Not at all.
He's still good old Eli.
My binary brother.
Oh, he was my binary brother.
You know what he is now?
A real zero.
(crowd laughing)
- Yeah, Hawk does not like that.
- Meanwhile, Johnny and Carmen run into Daniel
and his wife, Amanda at a Mexican restaurant.
- It's mostly civil.
- [William] We bury the hatchet, shake hands.
- [Ralph] A pleasant night all the way around.
- Until Johnny gets home.
- Hey dad.
- [William] Johnny lets Sam and Robby crash at his place.
- [Ralph] Daniel and Amanda wake up the next morning
wondering where Sam is.
They figure it out by snooping through her computer.
- What is she doing in Reseda?
- [Ralph] Daniel heads to Johnny's to find Sam.
- Daniel and Johnny are always so close
to being best friends.
- But so far away.
- Drama.
Sam is in hot water and Daniel forbids her
from seeing Robby ever again.
- Don't even start.
I gave you a second chance.
This whole thing was a mistake.
You know, you want to end up like him, that's up to you.
All right come on Sam.
- Back at the high school,
Tory starts an epic fight with Sam.
(dramatic electro sound cut in)
- New show idea, karate high school.
Make it happen Netflix.
I'll play the principal.
- Robby tries to intervene, but it only escalates things.
- [Peyton] Tory versus Robby, Robby versus Miguel.
- It's everyone versus everyone.
- [Gianni] Teachers, security guards,
it's literally karate high school.
- [Jacob] Kids punching grownups
- Grownups punching kids.
It's a whole thing.
- Come on guys, can't we all just get along?
(boys shouting and girl screaming)
- Miguel shows Robby mercy and Robby returns the favor
by kicking him off a balcony.
(shouting and fighting with dramatic music)
- Miguel!
- [Xolo] Things get real dark.
- Johnny's student is on death's door.
- I never want to see you again.
- Worst breakup ever.
- And to top it off, all of Johnny's students leave him
for Kreese and blame him for Miguel's injury.
- You can't do this.
(dramatic music)
- Course I can.
I founded Cobra Kai.
It belongs to me.
- Amanda demands Daniel close down Miyagi-Do.
Rightfully so.
I'm sorry.
- Johnny hits rock bottom, throws his super smartphone
in the sand, abandons his sweet ride
and misses a friend request
from his old flame Allie.
- [Ralph] End of season two.
- We did it man.
For real this time, we hope you loved it too.
And this helped you get pumped up
for season three of Cobra Kai,
this January only on Netflix,
check your local listings,
if they still have those.
- So what'd we learn today?
- Strike first, strike hard, no mercy.
- Some mercy.
- But mostly strike first and strike hard.
A little mercy, a little bit.
(cymbals crashing together)