Cobra Kai 1×05: “Counterbalance” Recap

Miguel starts his day with push-ups, followed by a training montage at the dojo, complete with sweeping Johnny’s leg.

A group of women walk into the dojo with yoga mats. The instructor covers the Cobra Kai motto with a banner that says “Love is here to namaste,” in an attempt to change the energy. Johnny tells Miguel that he had to sublet the dojo until he gets more students.

At the country club, Daniel meets with a man named Armand, whose membership to the club has been revoked after he peed in the shower. Daniel says that he’ll try to get Armand reinstated at the club if Armand lets him know about real estate openings. He asks specifically about Reseda, which is the strip mall Cobra Kai is located. Daniel asks if he’s ever thought of selling that property.

Robbie tries to make dinner plans with his mom, but she’s going out for the night. She wants to meet a good man before Robbie is old enough to leave her to live his own life. She tells Robbie that his father spoke to her the other day, wanting Robbie to move in with him. She’s sure it’s just Johnny trying to get out of paying child support.

Aisha walks into Cobra Kai, looking to be a student. Johnny says there are no girls in Cobra Kai. Miguel pulls his sensei aside, reminding Johnny that he needs more paying students. He says that her family is loaded. Johnny gives Aisha a chance, but says she can’t act like a girl. He asks Aisha about the kids bullying her at school. She says it’s mostly online and anonymous. Johnny thinks that’s so cowardly and bullies should tease someone to their face.

When Armand doesn’t want to sell to Daniel, Daniel says that the mall down the street charges twice the rent. Armand takes offense to this and thinks Daniel is implying that he is stupid. When Daniel hangs up, he seems smug.

Sam finds her old friends Yasmin and Moon getting high in Moon’s car in a parking lot. She asks them why they aren’t talking to her anymore, and they say that Kyler told them what Sam said about them. Supposedly, Sam said that she’s better than them, and Kyler also threw in that the two of them hooked up in the movie theater. Sam insists that none of the things Kyler said was true, but her friends still want her to apologize. Sam storms off.

Aisha and Miguel face off at the dojo. Miguel doesn’t want to hurt her, as he’s been training for weeks, and she’s a newbie. Johnny insists, however, and Miguel knocks her down. Aisha comes back full force, knocking Miguel down this time. Johnny says she’s a natural cobra.

Johnny hears arguing next door and goes to check it out. Armand is at the mini mart, telling the tenant that rent is going to be doubling. This is what Daniel was planning all along.

Robbie finds the Cobra Kai website, and his mom stumbles into their apartment with a stranger. She tells the man to be quiet because her son is sleeping.

Johnny takes a box of stuff to a pawn shop, in hopes of making rent. However, nothing is really worth anything. Johnny is buying a six pack of beer at the mini mart, and Daniel walks in looking for red spray paint. He tells Johnny that he was thinking about opening a dealership on this side of town, but that rent is crazy high. He pays for Johnny’s beer, saying it looks like he’s had a rough day.

Daniel goes home in a good mood and says that he got payback. He tells his wife about how he manipulated Armand to raise the rent to drive Cobra Kai out of business. His wife isn’t happy to hear that. She asks if he even considered the other strip mall tenants. Daniel has been acting like a jerk since Cobra Kai opened, and she just wants her husband back.

During lunchtime at school, Yasmin puts her purse down on Sam’s vacant seat, making it clear she isn’t welcome at their table anymore. When Sam tries to sit with Aisha, Aisha sends her away with a snide remark about Kyler. Sam marches up to Kyler to confront him. Unsurprisingly, Kyler doesn’t apologize. Instead he further announces his non-truth, saying that Sam apparently takes after her dad, bringing up the sign with the graffiti penis. Sam’s furious and about to crack, but Miguel comes up and tells Kyler to stop. A fight breaks out, and Miguel manages to take down Kyler and his friends while classmates record the fight on their phones.

Johnny is proud when he hears about the fight. He brings out his karate gi from the 80s and gives it to Miguel. Robbie, who had come to see his father, sees Johnny hug Miguel, and is not happy.

Daniel visits Mr. Miyagi’s grave. (No, the birth-death dates are not the same as the actor’s. It was the first thing I looked up while watching the episode.) He talks about how Mr. Miyagi seemed to have all of the answers, and Daniel thought he’d have all of the answers when he grew up too. However, now Daniel is grown and he’s still clueless. He recognizes that he’s been too angry lately, and wants to cool it down. He remembers Mr. Miyagi telling him to have balance in life, and it seems to help him.

Johnny pulls up to work, and there are dozens of kids waiting outside of Cobra Kai, wanting to join after seeing Miguel beat up Kyler.

Daniel cleans out a storage room and begins turning it into a simplistic room to practice karate and honor Mr. Miyagi.

Robbie turns in an application at LaRusso Auto. Amanda is impressed by his high school transcripts and asks if he can start Monday.