Cobra Kai Season 2 Episode 1 Recap – Mercy, Part II

[00:00:30] Johnny thought Kreese was already dead. Kreese says he was just away. He immediately goes to visit Johnny upon hearing that Cobra Kai is back. John tells Johnny that he just wants to talk, but Johnny isn’t going to let the opportunity pass him — a chance to get back at Kreese for making his life miserable. They fight but Kreese has the upper hand. After all, he taught Johnny everything he knew about Karate. During the fight, Johnny knocks Kreese’s cigar from his mouth. The cigar flies into a nearby trash can which eventually catches fire. The two continue fighting while the trash can continues to burn. Johnny eventually gets Kreese into a sleeper hold; he seems determined to kill him.

[00:03:00] Johnny sees his reflection in the mirror and realizes he’s becoming like Kreese, so he lets Kreese go, but Kreese never fights fair. He catches Johnny off guard and sweeps him off his legs. Kreese now has the upper hand, but he doesn’t have anything left in the tank. Kreese is an old man, so he can only do so much. Meanwhile, Robby and Daniel start repairing the Miyagi-Do dojo. Daniel reveals a collection of classic cars that Mr. Miyagi left him. He hadn’t had much free time, so the cars were just sitting there collecting dust. He tells Robby that it‘s time to give the cars and the dojo the care it deserves.

[00:05:00] After a few days of work, Robby and Daniel restore the Miyagi-Do dojo to its former glory. They also buffed Mr. Miyagi’s car collection. Daniel goes home with a sense of fulfillment. He‘s happy that he’s now opening his dojo, but Amanda tells him to proceed cautiously. Daniel isn’t worried because he beat Cobra Kai 30 years ago, so he’s confident he can beat them again. Sam continues sulking in her room after her breakup with Miguel. She’s still heartbroken about what happened, but Daniel isn’t concerned. He’s satisfied that his daughter didn’t make the big mistake of ending up with Miguel.

[00:07:30] Miguel’s mother brought Johnny dinner to celebrate their win. She‘s concerned that Miguel is turning into a bad guy, but Johnny assures her that Miguel is a good kid and he won’t allow him to go astray. While they are eating, Johnny receives a call — Kreese. He tells Johnny to meet up at Smitty’s diner. Meanwhile, Sam blocks Miguel on Instagram. She didn’t want to do it, but she knew it‘s for the better. The Cobra Kais are having a victory party, but Miguel isn’t feeling victorious. He tries searching for Sam’s profile, but no accounts are found.

[00:11:00] Miguel knows Sam blocked her, but Aisha assures him that Sam will talk to him again. Hawk tells Miguel that he’s the champion, so he can find someone else if Sam doesn’t like him anymore. The next day, Johnny meets with Kreese at the diner. He tells Johnny that after Cobra Kai was banned, he reenlisted in the army. But when he returns, he sees the world is no longer the same. Kids have become spoiled wimpy brats. He proposes it‘s the perfect opportunity to show the world how Cobra Kai operates. Kreese wants to be part of Cobra Kai again, but Johnny refuses to let him back. He explains there’s only one sensei in Cobra Kai, and it’s him. Johnny tells Kreese to stay away from his students and leaves the diner.

[00:15:00] Back at Miyagi-Do, Daniel introduces the first rule of the dojo to Robby: Karate is for defense only. The second rule is to always remember the first rule. Robby tells Daniel that maybe they can bend the first rule a bit for Cobra Kai. He tells Daniel that Johnny won‘t like that they’re launching their dojo to go against him. Meanwhile, Cobra Kai is getting some new students after their championship win. The new students enter the dojo after receiving some trash talk from Hawk. They all notice that the dojo is trashed, but Johnny comes out of his office and tells everyone that they aren’t accepting new students for the day.

[00:18:00] Johnny tells the new students to come back the next day. After sending them away, he tells everyone to fall in. Johnny calls Miguel and Hawk to the front. He asks them if they fought dirty at the tournament. Miguel and Hawk admit that they didn’t fight their opponents fairly. Johnny tells everyone that dirty fighting and cheating are no longer part of the Cobra Kai way. He wants everyone to beat their opponents when they’re at the top of their game, not when they’re injured. He tells everyone they will start their training again as he bumps everyone back to white belts.

[00:20:00] Miguel talks to Johnny to ask him about the punishment. He reminds Johnny about Cobra Kai’s rule of No Mercy. Johnny says he wasn’t taught the difference between honor and mercy, so he doesn’t want anyone to go down the same path he did. He wants to teach them the proper way before things go south. Miguel understands Johnny’s reason and goes back to finish his drills. After training, Aisha sees Sam outside the dojo. She wants to hang out with her, but Aisha is coming to Hawk’s house to continue training. She invites Sam over but doesn’t want to talk to Miguel yet.

[00:22:00] Johnny goes to a local hardware store to replace the broken mirror in his dojo. He sees Daniel and Robby at the store. Johnny does his best to stay hidden, but the clerk calls out to him, so he shows himself to Daniel and Robby. Daniel gets the stuff they‘re buying and allows Robby and Johnny to talk. Things don’t turn out as how Johnny wants them to. He really doesn’t know how to talk to Robby yet. Johnny ends up insulting Daniel in front of Robby. Robby won’t allow Johnny to insult Daniel since he’s been a better father figure than Johnny. Johnny regrets insulting Daniel while Robby walks away.

[00:25:30] After they visit the hardware store, Daniel finds Sam training inside their pool room. Daniel sits with Sam to talk about Miguel and give her some advice. He tells Sam not to worry because Miguel won’t be the last heartbreak she will experience. He invites her to join Miyagi-Do, but Sam refuses to fight Cobra Kai. She tells Daniel that the students in Cobra Kai are her friends, so she’s not going up against them.

[00:28:00] Johnny replaces the mirror in his dojo. He remembers how Kreese mistreated him in his youth. Teaching him to be tough while also being tough on him wasn’t a good road. Meanwhile, Daniel explains to Robby that they’re opening the dojo not to beat Cobra Kai but to show everyone a different way of Karate. He explains that Johnny and his students are just like them, wanting to be better through Karate. Daniel explains that Johnny didn’t receive the proper training. While Robby and Daniel are talking, Sam arrives and asks her father if she can still join. Joining Miyagi-Do will be a game-changer because Sam will eventually face Miguel.

[00:31:30] Kreese returns to Cobra Kai to apologize to Johnny. He admits he was too tough on him but explains that he just couldn’t stand seeing him lose. Kreese went to Johnny after hearing that Cobra Kai was back. He thought it would be a chance to redeem himself from past mistakes. Kreese leaves Johnny his second-place trophy from 30 years ago. He tells Johnny that the trophy may say second place, but he is the better fighter in his opinion.

[00:33:00] Kreese isn’t sincere with what he said. He slowly walks out of the dojo to allow Johnny some time to catch up to him. He knows Johnny will accept him if he shows a good side and his gamble pays off. Johnny comes out of the dojo and tells John to wait for him. John couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he knew his plan would work.