The Fall
Episode 9 of Cobra Kai begins with us finally, FINALLY arriving at the All Valley Karate Championship. Dojos all across the Valley have been training hard, and now Eagle Fang, Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai are ready to duke it out. At the tourny, Johnny recognizes that Diaz is not in the right headspace. Following the drama at junior prom, Johnny tells him to focus. And focus they do. All the different athletes get in their positions and begin competing. First up is the Skills round, which is an individual showcase of each competitor and their moves. Cobra Kai takes an early lead and as we’re graced with a very strange musical interlude, a montage of different match-ups in the midst of all this. When it finally ends, Daniel reflects on how Miyagi-Do are in 2nd place but in desperate need of winning in the match-ups. Only, Miyagi-Do is taken out by a flurry of their own moves, courtesy of course from Robby. After the qualifiers it’s onto the quarter-finals. Tory makes short work of Eagle Fang’s female competitor, while Hawk and Kyler square off. There’s a really nice moment just before this with encouraging words of wisdom from Moon, and a reassuring kiss for good measure. Well, Eli makes short work of Kyler and comes out the victor. Meanwhile, Sam wins her quarter final bout but in doing so, loses a little respect from Daniel. That’s especially true given she uses more Eagle Fang tactics than defensive Miyagi-Do methods. Speaking of tactics, Robby and Kenny square off too in one of the more interesting match-ups, with Robby absolutely decimating Kenny. As the semi-finals begins, Hawk and Miguel are faced off against one another. Only, Miguel goes for his spinning tornado kick… and misses. In fact, he falls flat on his back, hitting the ground with a sickening crack. “Sensei!” He screams, as the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
The All Valley tournament finally gets underway and aside from the strange singing montage midway through this episode, most of the chapter dives into the various different match-ups happening between the kids. Kenny is humbled by Robby while both Tory and Sam beat their respective opponents. Of course, these three characters – the ones beaten so easily at the tourny – have been severely under-developed and feel like they’ve been thrown in to serve as fodder for our main characters at this karate tournament. However, the show does have a decent amount of fighting this time around and the build-up has been nicely teased right the way across the series. With a much longer final episode up next, it’s all on the line for who will be crowned the All Valley champions.
