Cobra Kai Season 3 Episode 1 Recap – Aftermath

[00:00:30] Miguel is back! It‘s the All Valley Karate Championship, and he’s defending his title against some unknown dojo. Miguel is doing great. It seems he’s completely recovered from the injuries he sustained from his fight with Robby. Miguel blocks a couple of attacks from his opponent and starts spinning for an attack. He‘s up in the air when he suddenly falls to the ground and hits the staircase. Everything is just a dream. Miguel is still in a coma, while people from West Valley have decided to move on with their lives.

[00:01:30] It’s been two weeks since classes have opened, and the Karate riot has been top news ever since. Moon leads many students to a peaceful gathering in hopes of uniting everyone in the school to avoid violence. The West Valley High administrators are meeting to address the Karate issues once and for all. Meanwhile, Johnny continues on his drinking spree. He can’t move on after what happened with Miguel and Robby. The cops are still looking for Robby because he’s responsible for what happened to Miguel. Robby’s face is all over the news. Johnny is listening to the news when someone changes the channel. It‘s game night. The other people at the bar want to watch the baseball game instead of listening to Miguel being in a coma.

[00:03:00] Johnny argues with the men to change the channel, but they refuse to cooperate. They finished the game and left the bar. Johnny won’t let the men leave after what they said about Miguel, so he follows them to the parking lot. Johnny is too drunk to fight, but he never thought about it. He breaks the man’s driver-side window and pulls him out of his car. Johnny knows he can take two men because he‘s a Karate master, but the men are sober; he isn’t. Johnny misses his attack and ends up on the ground. The men take advantage and call the cops. Johnny gets arrested for attacking the men and ends up in jail.

[00:05:00] Things aren’t going well for the LaRussos either. Sam gets suspended for two weeks even if she isn’t the one who started the riot. The car dealership has been ghosted after everyone learns that Robby is responsible for Miguel’s coma. Everyone just boycotts Daniel’s business because Robby is part of Miyagi-Do. Amanda is so angry at everything. She apologizes to Daniel for blaming him. Amanda and Daniel attend the meeting at West Valley High, but things don’t go as planned. They want justice for Sam, but all the parents blame everything on them. They tell Daniel that Miyagi-Do students are responsible for the attack on Miguel and his friends at Cobra Kai. The couple can’t do anything as everyone unites against them.

[00:07:30] Johnny is still in jail. A local officer recognizes him. They talk about Robby and how he’s being branded as a killer. Johnny tells the officer that Robby is nothing like him, but no one believes him. Everyone is convinced Miguel won‘t recover. Johnny doesn’t have any update on Miguel’s condition. He asks the officer what happened to Miguel. The officer explains that the coma usually wins after two weeks of being in it.

[00:09:00] Sam is finally returning to school. She brings the scars of the battle with her. She sustained three lacerations to her left arm. The wounds have healed, but the scars will remain forever. It‘s a bitter memory she wants to conceal because it‘s the day she lost both Robby and Miguel. Everything is in chaos at school. It‘s still Cobra Kai versus Miyagi-Do, but this time Miyagi-Do is on top. Hawk lost his reputation as a badass Karate kid because of how he lost to Demetri. Yasmine is back from Paris, but no one has forgotten what Aisha did to her last summer. Aisha’s parents moved her to a private school and moved out of West Valley to avoid the aftermath of the Karate riot.

[00:11:30] Sam returns to school, but she can’t move on from the trauma. To make matters worse, everyone is talking about her. All eyes are on her because they also blame her for what happened to Miguel. Demetri greets Sam, but she isn’t ready to return to school. Seeing the staircase makes her remember what happened to Miguel; she still can’t move past that. Meanwhile, Daniel continues his search for Robby. His call for help turns out empty, but his cousin Louie finds a clue in their inventory. Louie noticed they‘re missing a car, and it’s been gone for a couple of weeks. It‘s a shitty car, so Daniel knows Robby took it because no one will notice. Amanda wants to call the cops, but Daniel refuses.

[00:13:30] Daniel explains that the cops will arrest Robby, which will end his life. They must get to him first so they can help him. Amanda goes with Daniel’s plan. He leaves to follow Robby’s trail. Meanwhile, Johnny gets out of prison and visits Miguel at the hospital. Miguel continues to dream about Karate, and Carmen continues to speak to him. They‘re encouraging him to return from the coma. Miguel’s dreams are filled with failure as he keeps getting defeated in Karate, but he keeps getting up despite it. It seems Miguel will recover despite what everyone else thinks.

[00:16:30] Johnny asks the nurse if he can see Miguel. He‘s still in the ICU, and only family is allowed there, so Johnny can’t see him. He asks the nurse if she can make an exception, but she refuses to help him. Johnny looks for a different way to enter the ICU even if it means returning to jail. Meanwhile, Daniel finds the GPS locator of the van Robby stole. Robby removed the locator, but Daniel has an idea where Robby could be hiding.

[00:18:00] Johnny steals a doctor’s coat along with a stethoscope. He practices his lines in the men’s room, but he isn’t fooling anyone. Johnny has multiple bruises on his face, and he hasn’t showered in weeks. He drops the act and thinks of another way to get into the ICU. Johnny headbutts the hand dryer in the men’s room and goes to the nurse — his head is bleeding.

[00:19:30] Daniel returns to the dojo in hopes of finding Robby. Instead, he finds Sam. He asks her what she’s doing at the dojo. Sam tells Daniel she’s not yet ready to return to school. Daniel and Sam have a father-daughter moment. Daniel explains to Sam that everything will be okay. He assures her that they are the good guys and tries to be the good guys even when everything is against them. He tells Sam their beliefs are the most important, even if others don’t see them. Daniel tells Sam that she can’t run away from her problems forever.

[00:22:00] The nurses see Johnny’s wound, but his lab results reveal a bigger issue — blood in his urine. Johnny tells the nurse there‘s nothing to worry about. Then he shows her a huge bruise on his back. The nurses are alarmed by the size of the bruise, so they immediately alerted the doctors. They leave Johnny alone, so he seized the opportunity to visit Miguel. Johnny finds Miguel’s room and apologizes for his mistakes. He thought he was helping Miguel out, but it turns out he was leading him to his doom. Johnny holds Miguel’s hand, and the sound of his voice turns the tide for Miguel. He wins the Karate tournament in his dreams. Johnny’s encouragement is bringing Miguel back, but the nurse sees him and tells him to leave.

[00:24:00] Daniel visits the Cobra Kai dojo. He calls out to Johnny but discovers that Kreese is in charge. Kreese insults Mr. Miyagi’s memory by reminding Daniel how he ruined the name. Daniel assures Kreese that Cobra Kai won’t win as long as he’s around. Kreese provokes Daniel into fighting him, but he knows better. Daniel holds back his anger and just leaves the dojo to avoid the conflict.

[00:26:30] The next day, Sam returns to school and faces her problems head-on. She approaches a couple of girls gossiping about her and tells them to tell the gossip straight to her face. The girls are speechless. Meanwhile, Johnny returns to his apartment and finds Daniel waiting for him. Daniel updates Johnny on the Cobra Kai Dojo, but he doesn’t want to talk about it. He tells Johnny he found a lead on Robby and wonders if he wants to help. Daniel says they must work together to solve all their problems.

[00:28:00] Sam finally faces her fears and heads to class with a vengeance on her face. Meanwhile, Miguel continues fighting for his life as the doctors head to his room to help him.  They revive Miguel. He eventually wakes up from his coma. He won the Karate tournament in his dreams which triggered him to get back. None of it would have been possible if Johnny didn’t visit him.