Cobra Kai 1×04: “Cobra Kai Never Dies” Recap

Rodney poses as an employee at Tech Town. Once the man hands over his laptop and password, Robbie leaves out the back. Once they list the stolen laptop, Robbie tells his cohorts that three guys are willing to pay $400. One of his friends says to have them all venmo the cash and give it to whoever shows up first. Robbie doesn’t seem cool with this. As he skateboards after his friends, he sees a Cobra Kai flier with his dad’s picture.

Johnny has flashbacks of taking Miguel back home after the dance. Miguel’s mom said she never wants Johnny to come around her son. He sees someone graffiting and he exchanges his remaining cans of beer for their can of spray paint.

Amanda calls Daniel on his way to work to brace him for the billboard, but he sees it while she’s talking. Someone (hmm, I wonder who) spray painted a penis on the LaRusso Auto billboard. He calls the police, wanting the cops to find who did this. His wife thinks police efforts would be better suited elsewhere. She tries to convince him that no one is even going to notice it. When Louie walks in talking about the billboard, Daniel decides that they are going to paint over it.

Miguel’s mom takes care of him after his beating. She wants him to tell her who did this to him so she can call the school to complain. Miguel just wants to get back to karate. His grandma doesn’t understand why Miguel’s mom wants him to stop karate when he’s found something he likes doing, but his mom thinks Johnny is a bad influence.

Robbie’s principal calls Johnny, saying Robbie needs to return to school. According to the note Robbie turned in to the school, he and his father were going on a two-week canoe trip in Colorado, but he’s now been out of school for a month. All of this is news to Johnny. If Robbie doesn’t return to school next week, he may be held back.

Miguel waits outside Johnny’s apartment to tell him that he’s not allowed to continue training, but Johnny says there is no dojo anymore.

Everyone at school oinks at Aisha. Sam assures her that everyone will soon forget about the video, but Aisha, still livid, says she won’t be forgetting. Kyler comes up to hug Sam. He says he got the movie tickets. It’s Sam’s choice — tragic teenage sick-lit romance. Kyler pretends to love the genre as his friend makes blowjob gestures in the background.

Daniel gets a delivery for one hundred sausages. The receipt indicates who sent it, and Daniel asks his wife if she thinks it was Cole, but it seems like Cole was just running with the joke.

Johnny visits his son, angry about Robbie’s lie. Robbie is equally angry with Johnny. Johnny tells Robbie “school can be a drag, but you’ve got your whole future ahead of you.” Robbie mocks his father’s dojo and mentions how well Daniel LaRusso is doing. He firmly reiterates that he will not be returning to school and tells Johnny to leave.

Demetri is glad to hear that Miguel is done with karate, because that kind of confidence can only cause him trouble. Eli said that he thought it was cool. Kyler comes up and makes fun of Eli’s lip. When Miguel tells Kyler to stop, Kyler asks if he didn’t beat Miguel up enough the other night. After school, Miguel’s mom picks him up, offering to take him to the movies. He says he just wants to go home.

The LaRusso’s meet with a marketing agency, using this opportunity to refresh their billboard ads. One of the women say that it makes it easier to work with companies, such as LaRusso, who have strong brands already. She refers to the karate they use in ads as a ‘gimmick,’ and Daniel becomes defensive. He says it’s something personal. They show Daniel his competitor’s upcoming ad, which is ‘all American,’ throwing shade at LaRusso.

Johnny finds Robbie’s mother at a bar after she didn’t answer her phone. She says that she can’t make Robbie do anything. Johnny suggests that Robbie come live with him, but she doesn’t think that’s a good idea. She brings up the fact that Johnny did not help raise Robbie, and she was the one who was there for everything.

Daniel goes to Cole’s to confront him about the ad. Cole says that his Revolutionary Soldier thing was just a gimmick like Daniel’s. Daniel says that he really was a two-time champ in karate. Cole lightly mocks this, and Daniel asks him to back off. He has enough going on without stressing about attacks from his business competitor. After a rude comment, Daniel kicks Cole’s boba tea out of his hand.

At the movie theater, Sam is acting weird toward Kyler. She tells him that she saw what he did to the kids in the library (Miguel, Demetri, and Eli). He says that they’re all friends and he was just messing with them, but Sam still isn’t happy. After a beat, Kyler tries to make his move on Sam. Using her karate reflexes, she moves his hands away and pushed him back in his seat.

Johnny eats alone at a diner and looks over to see a father and son sharing a sundae. He goes to Miguel’s apartment and apologizes to Miguel’s mom for failing him. He says that Miguel is the only person who has never given up on him.

The next morning, Sam comes downstairs less icy toward her father. He suggests that she invite Kyler back over, but Sam says Kyler won’t be coming around again.

Just when Johnny is cleaning out his office, Miguel walks in to say that his mother agreed to him training again.

Daniel, in a great mood, jams in his car on the way to work. Once he’s at work, however, his cousin informs him that they found a bunch of Cobra Kai fliers when they were painting over the billboard. It appears that Johnny was the graffiti artist.