Cobra Kai Season 3 Episode 10 Recap – December 19

[00:00:30] North Vietnam, 1969 — Vietnam soldiers captured Kreese and his team. They were pitted against each other, fighting over a deep pit until one emerged victorious. It was Kreese’s fault that everyone got captured. Now they must kill each other until only one was left. No one likes to kill each other, but they must do it to survive.

[00:03:00] Daniel, Johnny, and Ali are reunited for the Valley Christmas party. Daniel doesn’t like seeing Johnny, and the feeling is mutual with Johnny. They really hate each other, but it‘s the holidays, so the time to make up is upon them. Meanwhile, Sam and Miguel are still convincing both dojos to unite against a common enemy. The members of Eagle Fang don’t want to unite, but Demetri convinces everyone that uniting against Cobra Kai is for the best.

[00:06:30] Daniel and Johnny bring Ali to speed on the back-and-forth relationship they’ve had since they crossed paths. Ali also meets Amanda, who accidentally tells her that Daniel also owns his Karate dojo. Ali doesn’t know about their rivalry, which is an entirely different story. Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are about to sign an agreement for their alliance when Cobra Kai crashes the party. They break one of Sam’s windows as they throw Bert inside the house. Miguel tells Tory they don’t have to fight, but Tory is hell-bent on ending everything that night.

[00:09:30] Ali continues the stories at the party so she can bring Amanda up to speed. Daniel and Johnny are embarrassed to hear they were such dumbasses back in high school. Ali wishes their children would learn from their mistakes, but they are making entirely different mistakes. The Karate fight continues at the LaRusso house. The whole house is getting thrashed as everyone keeps hitting and throwing stuff. After getting rid of a few opponents, Tory and Sam finally face each other. Sam runs away from Tory, but she won’t let her get away.

[00:13:30] Tory chases Sam to the pool house. She kicks Sam in her face. Sam is helpless on the floor as Tory picks up a pair of nunchucks and prepares to beat Sam up. At the party, Daniel and Amanda decide they‘re done for the night and leave. Daniel talks to Ali about the past and apologizes for how things turned out between them 30 years ago. Ali tells Daniel there‘s nothing to apologize for because things turned out for the better. Daniel and Amanda leave the party without any worry. They‘re in for a huge surprise once they get home.

[00:17:00] Sam finally stands up against Tory. She‘s done being pushed around by fear. Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are losing to the Cobra Kais. They‘re just bigger and better in Karate. Hawk gets a moment of clarity as he sees two Cobra Kais ganging up on Demetri. Demetri closes his eyes as Hawk charges for him. He thinks Hawk will join the fight and beat him up, but he helps Demetri and takes out the two bigger opponents. Hawk apologizes to Demetri and asks for help to beat up the rest of the Cobra Kais.

[00:19:30] Hawk’s decision to switch sides tilts the match in their favor. They beat the remaining Cobra Kais while Miguel wins his match with Kyler. Kyler is winning, but Miguel remembers Johnny’s advice on never giving up, so he gets the upper hand. The three of them head to the pool room to stop the fight between Sam and Tory. Tory has no choice but to leave because she can’t fight four against one. They tell Tory that the fight is over, but she says her fight with Sam will never be over.

[00:22:00] Johnny parts ways with Ali at the party. He offers Ali a ride home, but she must look for her parents at the party first. Ali tells Johnny to stop living in the past and focus on the future. For a moment, it seems like Ali and Johnny are getting back together, but Ali wants Johnny to focus on Carmen. She heard about Carmen from Amanda, so she knows Johnny won’t screw things up with Carmen. After their talk about Carmen, Johnny goes home.

[00:24:30] Johnny knocks on Carmen’s door with a smile. The smile fades as Carmen opens the door. She‘s crying; she shows Johnny why — Miguel. His nose is bleeding, and he has bruises all over his face. Johnny can’t believe Miguel got into a fight, so he asks him what happened. Meanwhile, we get a glimpse down memory lane. The Vietnam soldiers called on the captain of their unit and Silver. They‘re next in line to fight to the death. Kreese volunteered for his friend so he could face their captain. The captain told Kreese that the end was near because he must survive and return. Kreese said he also had something to live for, but the captain told him otherwise.

[00:26:00] The captain revealed that Betsy was dead. Kreese didn’t know about Betsy’s death because the captain kept it from him. He wanted Kreese to focus on the mission. Kreese couldn’t mourn the loss of Betsy. All he could do was prepare for the fight. Meanwhile, Johnny rushes to the Cobra Kai dojo to confront Kreese. He sees Robby training with him. Kreese and Robby try to convince Johnny to join Cobra Kai again, but he won’t make the same mistake again. He challenges Kreese to a fight which he eventually wins. Johnny is beating up Kreese, but Robby steps in. Johnny refuses to fight Robby. Robby continues his attacks as Johnny defends and evades. One thing leads to another, and Johnny accidentally pushes Robby into a metal locker, knocking him out.

[00:30:30] Kreese sees an opportunity to end the match as Johnny is too busy worrying about Robby. He takes a sai from his wall and attacks Johnny with it. Kreese is ready to kill Johnny just as he did with his captain in Vietnam, but luckily, Daniel saves him. Daniel never wanted to fight Kreese, but there‘s no going back. Kreese feels he has the upper hand against Daniel because he‘s all defense, but he‘s wrong. The match breaks out to the street as Kreese pushes Daniel into one of the glass panels. Kreese picks up a glass shard and attacks Daniel, but he‘s ready.

[00:33:30] Daniel unleashes the secret offense of Miyagi-Do on Kreese. He‘s helpless against Daniel as he can’t move his arms to defend. Johnny signals Daniel to finish Kreese, but Miguel and Sam arrive before he can land the finishing move. Daniel and Johnny tell Kreese to leave and end Cobra Kai. Kreese refuses to leave and challenges Daniel and Johnny to a fight at the All Valley Tournament — the loser leaves the valley for good. Daniel and Johnny accept the challenge and leave with Sam and Miguel. They will face Robby at the tournament because he has already joined Cobra Kai.

[00:36:00] Kreese remembers the friend he saved from their captain in Vietnam. He assured Kreese that he would forever be in debt, so Kreese called him to cash in the favor. The next day, Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do are at the same dojo. It‘s time to unite against Cobra Kai. The stakes are high, but Johnny and Daniel are certain they won’t lose to Cobra Kai.