Summary of ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6 Episode 7: Dog in the Fight

Cobra Kai

Dog in the fight

Season 6

Section 7

Editor’s assessment

3 stars

***

Photo: CURTIS BONDS BAKER/NETFLIX

Oh, we’re into it now. The midseason premiere was a little low on karate, but now we have nothing but karate. Sekai Taikai really starts to take shape in this second episode of the game, and even though the finals aren’t here yet, the possibility of elimination is at any moment. Miyagi-Do is just scraping by.

“Dog in the Fight” has three different rounds, which form a convenient three-act structure to the episode. In the first act, Miyagi-Do gets off to a bad start, outclassed by the Iron Dragons and their team of international fighters, including a triple champion for a sensei. Sensei Wolf has a lot to say about arrogant, spoiled Americans who have never known sacrifice or hunger, which feels a little presumptuous. But the biggest red flag of all is the abuse that Sam witnesses while walking by during one of Wolf’s training sessions with Iron Dragon captain Axel. When Demetri later compares Axel to “a cross between the Winter Soldier and Frankenstein’s monster”, Sam is quick to defend him.

But there are a few other obvious reasons why Miyagi-Do flops, one of which Sam and Devon can immediately diagnose: Johnny and Daniel don’t gel. For them, it is nice to think that co-teaching is possible without friendship, but the results do not reveal it. The two can’t even agree on how to treat the kids after a round of losses: with aggressive scolding or gentle encouragement?

Johnny has a point when he blames Daniel for “honoring a dead guy’s legacy”, which keeps Daniel busy in the hours leading up to the next round. You know Daniel is wrong when Amanda sounds skeptical and over the phone warns him against meeting with Master Serrano, a mysterious and potentially dangerous fighter. (Just as this gentleman must be pretty damn old.) But he’s insistent, desperate to meet someone who could shed light on a dark, unspoken time in Mr. Miyagi’s life. Of course, Amanda’s concerns are apparently proven correct as Daniel is knocked unconscious outside of his destination, dooming his chances of being present in the next round of the tournament.

I’m not the biggest fan of this side mission, honestly, which feels like a contrivance just to keep Daniel away. I find this season’s subversion of the famously peaceful Mr. Miyagi quite compelling, so I was looking forward to seeing what Daniel’s meeting with Serrano had in store. Instead, he’s just locked in a cage for a few scenes near a pack of dogs, with none of his captors willing to give any answers. It’s satisfying to see him break out and unleash the dogs on them and piece together from a guy’s Cobra Kai tattoo that these men were sent by Kreese. But it’s not the most exciting use of time in general.

Without Daniel there, this final round of points goes as badly as you’d expect. As sole sensei, Johnny at least has clarity of vision, a change from the first round’s confusing dual coaching that pulled everyone in both directions. But he’s also just the wrong sensei for this type of challenge, which involves balancing on narrow platforms. His strike-first mentality knocks Devon off the platform in ten seconds, and only Miguel’s win keeps them off the bottom of the leaderboard.

Johnny’s locker room speech is quite brutal, telling the kids that they were struggling with weakness and painting a picture of a life filled with pain and regret. (He’s clearly projecting after decades fixated on his own All Valley mistake.) It’s not so much a pep talk as it is a scolding, and Sam is right to push back and call him out, though Devon sweetly tries to defend Johnny . After some consideration, he realizes that he needs to put his pettiness aside again and work with Daniel. A satisfying realization for sure, but we’ve been here before, too.

To be fair, though, there’s another reason for all these losses: Robby’s head is set not in the game and everyone knows it. Miguel has accepted Robby as the rightful captain after losing to him, but it’s hard for him to watch Robby repeatedly screw up without thinking about how much better he would do as captain. (Even Eli says so.) He even suggests that Robby hand in the headband if he can’t step up and do better.

During the elimination round, Robby … can’t muster up and do better. In fact, he’s still about to fall over after being distracted by Tory’s face in the crowd, a problem he really must be overcome. It’s kind of a funny turn from the midseason finale where he only won his fight after seeing Tory show up. Back then, just two episodes ago, Miguel was the one under pressure, consumed by what this victory could mean for him.

Fortunately, this round does not depend on the captains alone. It’s actually a pretty fun format compared to the other events so far: Competitors face off on a raised platform, two at a time from each dojo, with new teammates quickly swapping in as their friends fall. The match does not stop until all the fighters from a dojo are knocked out, after which that dojo is out of the competition.

Miyagi-Do’s opponents this time are Dublin Thunder, apparently a dojo full of Irish stereotypes (free). Again, we all know what Johnny’s pep talk will consist of this time because we’ve heard this twist before: The kids must prioritize balance and remember the basic principles of Miyagi-Do. Sure enough, everyone except Robby does much better – especially Miguel, who cockily tells Robby to “see how it’s done” before single-handedly taking down the remaining two Irish fighters.

Unfortunately, we can’t enjoy the high of that comeback. When Daniel returns, Johnny tells him that something is wrong with Carmen’s pregnancy, so he and Miguel have to fly back to the US that night. It’s a pretty unexpected twist, especially after this episode saw Miguel take the reins from Robby. Cobra Kai can be a predictable show at times, routinely following traditional sports-movie underdog arcs and sometimes repeating itself. The best it can do in a moment like this is keep enough balls in the air that anything feels possible.

• According to the lyrics, the tattooed man who attacks Daniel is Dennis De Guzman (William Christopher Ford), one of Mike Barnes’ cronies from The Karate Kid Part III. Does this suggest a Terry Silver will reappear?

• I like the way the show keeps Eli and Demetri’s conflict going—Demetri accidentally kicks Eli off the platform with their opponent this time—but I want to see them mend their friendship soon. Their sniping is getting old, especially when Demetri mentions MIT.

• Tory completely knocks out a girl’s tooth, so it’s pretty metal. But Zara is not a fan of her thunder being stolen.

• But she is less threatened by Sam! After all, Zara only livestreams with winners: “It’s a fire thing.”

• It’s nice to see Devon come clean to Johnny about how she cheated to beat Kenny, and I’m curious to see how long it will be before she owns up to it. (Kenny doesn’t really have a role in this middle stretch of episodes so far.)