Jake Schoeneberger Talks Cobra Kai – August 5, 2022 Edition
Sides are being chosen on Cobra Kai. Robby is working for, and now training with, Daniel. Sam has befriended Miguel who is a student of Johnny’s. Family lines are being crossed and Jacob Schoeneberger definitely thinks all this will inevitably have to reach a boiling point.
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 7)
This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.
The seventh episode begins with yet another sweet montage. This time it’s Daniel showing Robby how to do the jobs around the auto showroom in ways just like Miyagi would have taught Daniel. There are ways to wax the cars, squeegee the windows, jack up cars, and even mop the floor that can act as ways to practice karate stances. It definitely has Jake Schoeneberger shaking his head at how history is once again repeating itself. Like teacher, like student.
And when Robby complains about it, we get that beautiful moment when Daniel gets to show him how all those chores were teaching him karate all along. Even the music from the original plays and it’s enough to make every fan of the movie feel like they’re in the theater watching it all those years ago.
At Cobra Kai, Johnny notices that all his students are flinching as he teaches. He says there’s only one solution to that problem, and that’s for each of them to take a punch to the face before class is over. Dang, that is some cruel tutelage, Pei Mei Johnny.
Then Miguel goes in Johnny’s office to ask advice about asking Sam out. Johnny says of course he should and it’s this confidence that is the big positive Johnny has introduced into his life. Does it fully outweigh all of the negatives? Well, something tells Jacob Schoeneberger that those negatives will rear their ugly heads at some point, but confidence is always good.
At lunch, Robby’s friends try to convince him to help them rob LaRusso Auto. Robby insists he doesn’t have security codes or anything, but they intimidate him and tell him to figure out a way to get them in to steal car parts and stereos and stuff. That’s some bad mojo right there, and it seems Robby is hitting a bit of a crossroads in his life. He has a good thing going now that he’s working and training with Daniel. While he started it to mostly make Johnny angry, now he’s gotta realize that this could lead to positive things down the line for him. He can’t risk throwing it all away.
When Miguel asks Sam on a date, she says it’s really sweet but after what happened with Kyler she’s taking a break from dating. Which is a perfectly understandable response, by all means. But Johnny’s words about never accepting defeat ring in Miguel’s head, so he proposes maybe they just hang out in the same place, but separately, and have fun, but not call it a date. Ok, that’s an acceptable arrangement, Miguel, but he still has to respect her wishes and not make the situation weird. That’s the tough part.
Robby gets tricky and pretends he’s taking a picture of a car for an insurance adjustor, but he uses the camera to watch Samantha enter the security code into the keypad. Ok, while that’s some good criminaling (look it up), it’s also some bad karma. Robby is biting the hand that’s feeding him and it’s making Jake Schoeneberger pretty mad. The LaRusso team has been really cool to you, Robby, don’t do them like this.
At the dojo, Miguel asks Aisha and Eli for some thoughts on what to do with Sam on their non-date. Eli suggests getting tattoos and shows them a pretty gnarly hawk he got tattooed on his back. (Um, it’s huge and there’s no way he could have gotten that bad boy without his parents knowing.) But Aisha says that even though they’re not friends anymore (that’s wicked sad), she knows Sam likes chocolate and astronomy.
Johnny tries to register Cobra Kai for the All Valley Tournament but is told there’s a lifetime ban on the dojo from ever entering the tournament. Sweeping the leg will do that, Johnny. But Miguel rightly reminds him that there’s no accepting defeat and tells him he has to fight this.
Really poignant moment when Daniel is showing Robby how to tend the bonsai trees he gives complimentary to each customer. He gives Robby the same advice Mr. Miyagi gave him. Just clear everything out of your head except the tree, visualize how you want that tree to look, and then make it happen. Robby picks up on the metaphor so Daniel tells him that he’s the tree; he has roots and all he has to do is visualize what he wants his future to be and then make it happen. It’s really beautiful advice, always has been, but Jacob Schoeneberger really hopes the lesson hits home for Robby before he does anything foolish.
Miguel goes to Johnny’s place to make sure he doesn’t mess up his meeting with the tournament folks by punching anyone. But then he makes the mistake of taking dating advice from Johnny. First Johnny insists he has to go for a kiss, which is just awful thinking and Miguel needs to remember Sam doesn’t even prefer this to be a date. And secondly, he abandons his fun idea of taking Sam to the observatory to do something he knows interests her, and instead takes her to the old Golf n’ Stuff Family Fun Center. Nothing wrong with mini golf and the arcade and all, but he had a killer idea with the observatory. Oh well, put that in the pocket for another time. They do really have a fun time, and Sam even invites him to go to a Lakers game sometime with her dad’s season tickets.
At the tournament committee meeting, when Johnny says he wants to appeal Cobra Kai being banned everyone present is confused until Daniel shows up. Daniel has printed out the reasons why Cobra Kai was banned, and he wants to leave it at that. But the committee allows Johnny to present his case. He makes an impassioned speech admitting that Cobra Kai had its problems way back in the 80’s, but insists his dojo is different. He says it’s a place where students can feel like they belong, and where they can grow stronger and gain confidence. Not only is what he’s said true, but he also did what Miguel asked and held back his anger and instead spoke well to defend himself.
The tables turn a bit and after Johnny speaks, Daniel acts like a bully in speaking down to Johnny. We understand why Daniel has sore feelings, but he’s attempting to bully the committee the same way he accuses Johnny of being a bully. It doesn’t work and the committee reinstates Cobra Kai to the tournament.
At LaRusso Auto, Robby stands up to his friends and says he won’t open the door for them. When they try to beat him up, he uses the skills Daniel has been teaching him to defend himself and he ultimately gets them to run away when he shows them that they’re on the security cameras. Way to go, Robby! This makes Jake Schoeneberger very happy that he really came through on this one.
Later on their non-date, Sam is playfully goofing with Miguel about his karate and when he tries to show her a karate move, she actually flips him. He tells her how impressed he is, and she actually winds up kissing him. So everything worked out for these two and they’re really hitting it off.
Back at the dojo, both Johnny and Miguel give one another their good news. Miguel had a great date and Cobra Kai is back in the tourney. Things are looking up for them both right now, but Jacob Schoeneberger is looking at the horizon and we have to assume Daniel will have something to say about all this.
The Jake Schoeneberger Final Thought on Cobra Kai
Love how this show always seems to flip the script with the way things happened in the movies. Daniel is now the bully to Johnny, and Johnny is actually helping a good guy show Sam what hanging out with someone fun and respectful is like. But this series exists in the gray so Jake Schoeneberger realizes that there are other sides to these coins, and I can’t wait to see what will get flipped in the next episode.
More Thoughts from Jacob Schoeneberger