Cobra Kai – Party Time

Fresh out of his probation, Raymond aka Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser) has been staying at his sister’s house during his stint. While taking advantage of the amenities of his sister’s more than humble abode, her neighbor Greg (P.J. Byrne) has made it clear to Stingray that he is a leech and has no friends. Greg has also taken to renaming Raymond ‘Stinkray’ to humor himself. Shaking off Greg’s comments, Stingray heads back into the house and heads over to Cobra Kai to show Kreese (Martin Kove) that he is ready to return. Kreese insults and degrades Stingray in front of the class, leaving Stingray confused as to the turn of events but wondering if this is all a test. As Stingray heads out, Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) looks on in curiosity.  

At Cobra Kai the newest lesson about balance presents an opportunity for the students to throw their opponents off their game. And with Junior Prom coming up, Tory (Peyton List) and Robby (Tanner Buchanan) think about using the balance lesson to their advantage when it comes to Sam (Mary Mouser) and Miguel (Xolo Maridueña). Even though Robby is still not in school, Tory considers having him go as her date. Overhearing the conversation between Tory and Robby, Silver offers to help the students achieve their goal and provides a vehicle and spending money for their mission.  

On the night of prom, things are still tense at the LaRusso household. With Anthony (Griffin Santopietro) still suspended from school, Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) try to keep the peace as Daniel’s mother Lucille (Randee Heller) cooks dinner and cousins Louie (Bret Ernst) and Vanessa (Julia Macchio) bicker on. The Diaz family finally arrives with Johnny (William Zabka) in tow and it is clear that the senseis are still at odds with one another. After the traditional corsage exchange and copious amounts of pictures, Miguel and Sam head off to the prom.  

Hoping to take advantage of a rare night off, Carmen and Johnny start to head to the Diaz apartment before Johnny’s ex baby mama Shannon (Diora Baird) appears. As Carmen heads inside, Johnny finds out that Silver has taken a shine to Robby and tried to throw his money towards Shannon to help out. Instead of feeling relief on the financial situation, Shannon expresses concern for Robby hanging out with Silver. Johnny decides that it is time to confront Silver and heads over to the Cobra Kai dojo to do so.  

Prom is going off without a hitch, even though Eli (Jacob Bertrand) and Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo) have gone stag due to not having available dates. While Eli looks longingly at Moon (Hannah Kepple) dancing across the room, Yasmine (Annalisa Cochrane) surprises Demetri by deciding to be at prom before heading back to Australia for her father’s wedding. Miguel and Sam are also having fun and hoping for one night without discussing karate. However, their mood is immediately dampened when Tory and Robby arrive to prom—dressed to impress and ready to put their plan in action. Their plan seems to be working, especially when they take to the dance floor and find that Miguel and Sam keep trying to glance over without being noticed. But the plan to throw off their opponents soon turns to Tory and Robby genuinely having a fun time together and learning that for Tory, winning the tournament means something more. Managing to sneak into prom, Stingray sees Bert (Owen Morgan) and decides to get back in good graces with his Cobra Kai teammates—after hearing about the cancelled afterparty due to the bullying at the middle school, Stingray offers his home for the festivities.  

Breaking into Cobra Kai, Johnny is met with a dark room and a ringing phone—Silver witnessing Johnny’s break-in to the dojo. As part of his big plan, Silver tells Johnny to head over to the original Cobra Kai dojo on Lankershim and Magnolia—he also tells Kreese to meet him there as well. Johnny arrives only to find himself in a showdown with Silver, Kreese left to watch the fight unfold. Silver manages to beat Johnny down bad, physically and psychologically, and Kreese stops the fight altogether. While Silver was hoping that beating up Johnny would prove his allegiance to Kreese, his army buddy still believes that the fighting should be left to the tournament and that this debacle is not the way. Silver angrily walks off while Kreese looks down at a bleeding and broken Johnny.  

During prom, Daniel and Amanda are approached by cousin Vanessa—she wants to help the situation with Anthony. But for Daniel and Amanda, they are not prepared for Vanessa’s interrogation and are left with more questions than answers as she dissects their parenting methods. Later on Daniel goes to talk to Anthony about his punishment and try reasoning—only finding that Anthony has broken their punishment by hiding his electronics. Frustrated with his son’s inability to handle consequences, Daniel pulls a Johnny and snaps at Anthony before snapping his iPad in half. The act of authority and aggression causes Anthony to start straightening up and improving his attitude. Amanda is impressed with the change and assumes that Mr. Miyagi’s teachings had something to with it, unaware that Daniel pulled the lesson from an unlikely source.  

The afterparty is in full swing and everyone seems to have a good time—until Greg shows up to kill the music and verbally beat down Stingray. Fed up with Greg’s antics, Stingray snaps and shows Greg what it means to be a Cobra Kai—showing no mercy and beating up his smarmy neighbor before turning the music back up. Sam steps away from Miguel to get a drink and promptly runs into Tory, who taunts Sam about getting help from Amanda. Sam has had enough and the promise of no karate talk gets dashed as the girls have it out pool-side. Miguel steps in, only bringing Robby into the fight when he sees Miguel trying to restrain Tory from going after Sam. The four battle it out and the end result is everyone but Robby falling into the pool. Tory pulls Robby in and they have a good laugh, but Miguel and Sam leave the afterparty abruptly—Miguel upset that he couldn’t just have one night of fun with his girlfriend.  

Once back at home Miguel goes to talk to Johnny, finding him in a bad state in the apartment. His fight with Silver did more than just physical damage as Johnny is also too drunk to get to his room. Miguel helps Johnny get to his room and in Johnny’s drunken state he tells Miguel how he has screwed up and wants to be better. Thinking that it’s about his relationship with Johnny, Miguel tells Johnny that he loves him—only to have Johnny say “I love you too Robby” and turn over on his bed, which breaks Miguel’s heart.  

Outside of the fairgrounds in the valley, Tory and Robby enjoy the benefits of Silver’s car and talk about all the fun they had. Between a borrowed car and Tory making sure that she can return her chlorinated prom dress, Robby had the most fun getting to dance with his Cobra Kai teammate. The events of the night lead to what we have all been waiting for: Robby and Tory share a passionate kiss. 

Angered by Kreese’s constant control, Silver gets drunk at the Cobra Kai dojo. Stingray enters and still on a high from his afterparty, tells Silver he has proven himself worthy in the eyes of his teammates and is ready to get to work. Laughing in his face, Silver then mockingly asks Stingray how far he would go to be in Cobra Kai before beating him mercilessly—still laughing with every blow he delivers.