Summary
There’s some emotional power in “Snakes on a Plane”, but it’s mostly defined by continuing dysfunction among the tournaments fighters and senseis.
Cobra Kai never dies, as we all know, and seemingly its villains don’t either. Like, ever. The big twist of Season 6, Episode 8, “Snakes on a Plane”, is the unexpected return of Terry Silver, as if Kreese and Cobra Kai and Wolf and the Iron Dragons weren’t enough for Miyagi-do to be worrying about. Needless to say, it’s all connected — remember, there were only three of these movies, so there aren’t enough villains to go around.
As if this wasn’t enough, there’s still all the interpersonal drama that has been going on since the Sekai Taikai started, and Johnny and Miguel are still reeling from the bad news about Carmen. They spend this episode bickering on the plane back to America, and their absence means that Miyagi-do are a sensei and a fighter down.
With Daniel and Chozen left to keep the remainder of the dojo in check, Amanda is instructed to fly Kenny out as a replacement, which proves to be easier said than done, while Chozen’s first night in charge backfires immediately since he lets the kids go out on the town and has to spend all episode trying to track them down.
Who Soiled Kenny?
As we know, it was Devon who drugged Kenny with laxatives so that she could take his place in the Sekai Taikai. But, crucially, Kenny doesn’t know this, and he has spent the entire intervening time believing it was Anthony.
Now, to be fair, Anthony hasn’t helped this situation by terrorizing him with memes, so Amanda walks into a much more complicated scenario than she was anticipating. Kenny isn’t keen on being the laughingstock of the team that he thinks betrayed him, and Amanda is disgusted at the idea that her own son has perpetuated this kind of bullying, even if he wasn’t to blame for drugging Kenny in the first place (not that she necessarily believes him about that either.)
I like this little subplot as it gives Amanda something meaningful to do while she’s stuck at home, and it’s about time that Kenny realized the truth. It never sat right with me that he was left out of the tournament since he’s one of the best fighters and a compelling character, so when Devon finally called and confessed, I was relieved. Unfortunately, she didn’t call until after Anthony had chugged a whole bottle of laxatives to fill his own pants as penance. Fair’s fair.
Snakes On A Plane
The title of Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 8 refers to the long plane ride that Johnny and Miguel take home, which is complicated by the presence of a typically smug first-class passenger whom Johnny immediately dislikes. There are no actual snakes on the plane, but he’s pretty close.
Things aren’t great between Miguel and Johnny since the former thinks the latter has been favoring Robby throughout the tournament, which he has, but Johnny’s justification is fair enough — Robby has no college prospects or future plans, so the Sekai Taikai can potentially do more for his life than it can for Miguel’s. But he realizes and acknowledges that isn’t a good enough excuse to give Miguel short shrift, and his fears about Carmen and the baby don’t justify his mood either. Miguel, after all, is having the same fears himself.
Luckily, there’s always something for Johnny and Miguel to bond over — punching people in the face. Predictably, it’s the guy in first class who gets it, courtesy of Miguel, but he deserved it.
(L to R) Yuji Okumoto as Chozen, Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, Oona O’Brien as Devon, Gianni DeCenzo as Demetri, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz, Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene, Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso in Cobra Kai. Cr. Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix © 2024
A Night on the Town
As mentioned at the top, the kids all go for a night out under Chozen’s nose, which is the worst thing they could possibly do given how they’re all getting on. In a roundabout way, though, this ends up okay for Chozen since he keeps bumping into Da-eun, who’s out looking for the Cobra Kai students, and it becomes obvious very quickly that there’s a bit of sexual chemistry between them.
Miyagi-do fare less well. Robby is sulking horrendously, falling for all of Kwon’s taunting and believing he’s sleeping with Tory. He even turns to drink for the first time, which is never a good idea. Meanwhile, the rift between Demetri and Hawk widens even further when the latter calls Moon and inadvertently reveals Demetri dancing with another girl. Demetri, naturally, assumes that Hawk has ruined his relationship on purpose.
And then there’s Sam. In the previous episode, she had seen Wolf abusing the Iron Dragon’s captain, Axel, and she just so happens to see him training on the beach. They bond a little and walk back to the hotel together, and they both stand up to Kwon when he arrives and starts trouble for no reason. All the excitement, though, goes to Axel’s head, and he makes a move on Sam only to be rejected, which he doesn’t take well.
The Morning After the Night Before
The morning after reveals some bad decisions were made. For one thing, Robby spent the night with Zara, and Tory sees him leaving her room. Chozen also spent the night with Da-eun, and while they seem to regret it less, they also know they can’t really continue a relationship given the circumstances. They’re also distracted when a guy with long hair and a Cobra Kai tattoo walks past — the same guy Daniel described fighting when he was kidnapped.
Meanwhile, Miguel and Johnny reach the hospital to see Carmen and, thanks to a terrible administrative error, find the room she just vacated empty, the bed covered in blood. Fearing the worst, they both start sobbing, but Carmen is wheeled in just behind them. Both she and the baby are fine. In a nice throwback to Rocky II, she implores the boys to return to Barcelona. She even drops the “Win!” line.
But things in Barcelona aren’t looking good. At the end of Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 8, Da-eun and Chozen follow the guy back to the hotel, where they summon Daniel and Kreese to join them. It’s revealed that the guy was hired to kidnap Daniel by Wolf… who’s working for Terry Silver.
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