Summary
Behind the simplistic exercises are some great messages on team-building, but the show continues to walk this fine line between comedy and caricature. It can be silly, harmless fun at times, yet the show teeters on the edge of being amateurish and embarrassing.
The main theme in Cobra Kai Season 5 Episode 7 is teamwork as both competing dojos train up their students ready for an unavoidable war. Miyagi-Do Karate reopens, and Chozen tests his bumbling students to their limits, forcing them into working together, while Cobra Kai brings in their ruthless new senseis to eke out a leader.
It’s taken until episode seven for these plot points to manifest, which in turn makes the earlier chapters feel needlessly padded out. But hopefully, the next few installments can utilize all this build-up to produce some exciting drama as we head towards the season five finale.
Cobra Kai Season 5 Episode 7 Recap
Episode seven opens with a montage hammering home one key point – Cobra Kai has well and truly taken over. They are dividing and conquering, buying up old karate dojos and launching their own. Merchandise is becoming a great seller and those that don’t succumb to Cobra Kai’s dominance are bullied or ostracized. This is evident when Anthony is attacked by Kenny and his gang out on the street.
But Anthony wants to fight back and has signed up with Miyagi-Do, which is finally re-launching once again. Chozen is left alone to train the students, whilst Daniel and Johnny try to gain Kreese’s trust. Chozen lays out a silly exercise, which actually has surprisingly consequential results. He gifts each student with an egg and explains how they must protect the egg from his ensuing attack. The winner is the student who can save their egg from being crushed or smashed to pieces by the unhinged sensei.
This setup allows for some more amateurish, if entertaining fun as Chozen prances around the Miyagi-Do gardens destroying the student’s eggs in many differing ways. The teens are disappointed and admit defeat. Chozen asks them to try again and Anthony makes a rousing speech. He realizes that if they work together as a team then Chozen doesn’t stand a chance. The students make a protective shield around the eggs, which they ironically place in one basket. Chozen attacks, but the students defend in their circular unit and evade Chozen’s tricks. It’s a great message buried underneath some harmless fun.
At Cobra Kai, the team players and the overall atmosphere within the dojo couldn’t be further away from Miyagi-Do’s synergy. Terry is training the students harder than ever and is desperate to find a leader in the pack. They suggest a competition to suss out their future leaders. Terry has two students take on the one sensei. One must lead the other to victory. Kyler and Kenny are first up, but Kyler struggles to lead Kenny and they fail. Next it is Devon and Tory, but they both want to lead and Kim easily defeats them. It’s a clever setup that highlights the student’s unwillingness to work together.
Terry takes Kenny aside and discuss the kid’s history with him. Terry wants Kenny to be the next leader and admits that he sees a lot of potential in the student. When Kenny returns, he plays the leader and manages to land a point against Sensei Odell. Devon and Tory try again, but they still lose. Tory just wouldn’t sacrifice Devon for the greater good, which she believes makes her a good leader too. She won’t leave a single person behind in battle.
Whilst the students train for war, Daniel and Johnny try to figure out a line of attack. They meet up with Kreese, who is now seemingly running prison from the inside. There is bad blood between Johnny and Kreese, but they bond over their common enemy. They both want to see Terry defeated, so Daniel asks Kreese for any tips and if he knows Terry’s future plans? Of course, Kreese refuses to help, wanting something out of the situation for himself. He yearns freedom and Daniel believes he can help in this department.
Cobra Kai Season 5 Episode 7 Ending
Daniel dangles his lawyer’s phone number as a carrot to gain Kreese’s vital information and Kreese takes the bait. Via a flashback to 1980 South Korea, Kreese explains Terry’s ultimate plan for global dominance. He wanted to enter his dojo into the top karate tournament, called Sekai Taikai. At the time, Kreese was concentrating on his dojo and ironically helping Johnny become a great fighter. Kreese turned down this opportunity and it would seem Terry let it slip away as well. Kreese thinks this is Terry’s ultimate endgame.
In the final moments of “Bad Eggs”, Daniel hands over the lawyer’s phone number, but it was all a con. He was never going to help Kreese out, although this trick will probably come back to haunt him. Miyagi-Do are outnumbered and outmatched, they will need a miracle to stop Cobra Kai’s global empire building.
What did you think of Cobra Kai season 5, episode 7? Comment below.
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