Jake Schoeneberger Talks Cobra Kai – July 18, 2022 Edition
The first episode of Cobra Kai had everything a fan of Karate Kid could want. Seeing things from Johnny’s point of view was a refreshing twist on the story we’ve all come to love. And as weird as it might sound, I think Jacob Schoeneberger might just start to root for Johnny in this.
With that in mind, here are some random observations Jacob Schoeneberger has on the show.
All the Jake Schoeneberger Random Opinions about Cobra Kai (Season 1, Episode 1)
This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.
The second episode begins with a funny little montage of how swimmingly Daniel’s life is going. He wakes up happy next to his beautiful wife, he serves his happy kids breakfast, goes to work in his happy, fulfilling job. It’s in stark contrast to how Johnny’s miserable morning started in the first episode.
Then he sees the sign of the new Cobra Kai dojo and it throws him for a loop. He remembers all the beatings he took at the hands of the Cobra Kai students.
Inside, Johnny is giving Miguel his first karate lesson. It is word-for-word the same lesson his sensei Kreese gave him back in the day. It’s giving Jake Schoeneberger some serious flashbacks. But an inspector shows up to give Johnny the list of things he needs to do to get up to code before he can get insurance and open his dojo for business. So, of course, he makes Miguel do a bunch of work for him. Show me “paint the fence,” Miguel!
We realize Daniel’s life isn’t perfect either. He has the usual issues with his kids. His son just wants to play on his tablet all the time and his daughter, Sam, throws a party at his house when he and his wife are out. While he does overreact and kick all the kids out of the party, he makes amends with Sam later and we can tell they have a good, trusting relationship. We even see flashbacks to him teaching her karate when she was younger.
We see Miguel at school, and he has no one to sit with at lunch. He finally finds a table with Demetri and Eli. They see Sam and her friends, but Demetri says not to bother with them because they’re the rich girls. Miguel says that just because they’re rich doesn’t mean they’re mean, and that definitely makes Jacob Schoeneberger want to tip my cap to Miguel. He seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t buy into labeling or judging people.
Unfortunately, it seems like Sam’s friend Yasmine actually is pretty mean. She makes fun of Eli and Aisha, a friend of Sam’s that she doesn’t hang out with as much because Sam has been hanging out with the “cool” kids more. But Miguel decides to take Johnny’s advice and goes over to their table to “strike first.” He stops halfway because other guys show up at the table and it’s then that we realize these other guy friends of Sam’s are the guys who beat up Miguel in the parking lot. Dang, that’s a bummer.
Later, while Miguel is training at the dojo, Johnny gets a call. It seems his son, Robby, is in trouble at his school for having drugs in his possession. When Johnny talks to him, Robby lays into him pretty hard saying, “Don’t try to play dad now. You’re a pathetic loser.” This clearly cuts Johnny deeply and this really makes Jake Schoeneberger feel bad for the guy. Must be tough on him having lost his relationship with his son.
He then puts that frustration into his training of Miguel. He tells Miguel that the way not to be a loser is to punch your enemy. We realize this is what Johnny learned. You have to punch your troubles away. But we all know that this doesn’t help you achieve anything in life, it just fosters your anger and resentment. We start to see that same anger in Johnny begin to manifest itself in Miguel.
Sam invites the guy she’s interested in, Kyler, over to dinner. Daniel tries to bond with him, but it’s a bit awkward. Daniel even asks him where he got the black eye, and he says from wrestling. But we all know it’s from the fight with Johnny. Daniel picks up on this and asks if that’s how he hurt his hand too. Daniel has seen his share of fighting so he knows the score. But then Kyler makes up a lie about how some guy jumped him and his friends at a mini mall, so Daniel asks him which mini mall it was.
Daniel then goes to Cobra Kai to talk to Johnny, telling him he heard that Johnny beat up a bunch of teenagers in the parking lot. Of course, Daniel doesn’t understand the details and he’s throwing out accusations. He tells Johnny to stay away from his daughter’s friends. But Johnny tells him her friends were beating up a kid half their size, and maybe he doesn’t know his daughter as well as he thinks he does.
Obviously, these are fighting words and the rivalry is back on in a big way. Daniel tells him, “We aren’t done.” But he walks away. The episode ends here, and it’s left Jacob Schoeneberger feeling like it’s the 80’s again and that’s a good thing.
The Jake Schoeneberger Final Thought on Cobra Kai
The show has done a really nice job over the first two episodes of setting up some intricate relationships. Nothing is black and white in this world the way it was in the first movie, where Johnny literally wore black and Daniel literally wore white. In this there are more gray areas, and it allows the viewers to see things from both sides. It’s a great premise to build the show on and Jake Schoeneberger can’t wait to keep watching more.
More Thoughts from Jacob Schoeneberger