I admit that I had to look up what the title meant. Bicephaly? It’s not a made up word. It actually means something. Bicephaly means “the condition of having two heads” and I have to wonder how exactly that fits? Because I feel like there are many interpretations to that.
What I wonder is that if you are a person with two heads, how do you deal with that? Because when your heads are at conflict between karate, work, friends, life, growing? What about then? How do you solve it all?
There is not a character in this show that is not conflicted. They are all struggling to find their way, even if they try to say that they have their shit together. Even if they seem put together, they aren’t.
They are all looking to find their way.
But the thing is that even when you’re looking to find your way, there are other people who are looking to find their way also, and that can conflict with yours. Kenny, the new kid, has found a place to belong in Cobra Kai, but he’s not fully aware of their sins of the past and how they can affect him. Because they are.
And when he’s taking a tour of the high school, wearing a Cobra Kai shirt, he’s going to be guilty by association. The Miyagi-Do kids are mean to him and Hawk is uber dickhead.
Look, I get that these two groups do not get along, but they don’t know Kenny, so why is he guilty? Why does he deserve to be picked on? He doesn’t. He’s had enough shit happen to him and all the kid is trying to do is find his place.
But when he returns to Cobra Kai, he tells them that he was picked on and the people at Cobra Kai know by the red spiky hair description, that the person picking on him was Hawk.
Yes, Hawk will never learn. We all know that the Cobra Kai Dojo is going to want revenge. They protect their own and you can see the look in Robbies eyes – he doesn’t like that Kenny was picked on. And he doesn’t like that Hawk did it.
But like most shows, something happens on cue to get them distracted. Kreese walks in with his usual this is war talk before introducing the class to Silver and I still wonder why I am supposed to care.
I have seen all the Karate Kid movies and I know who Silver is, but l don’t care. I didn’t like him in the original movies and I don’t feel like he’s needed her. Do I get why he’s here? Yes. But what I also think is that it’s not necessary. Bringing back everyone from an original is a crutch. Sure, it plays into the original fandom, but we’re in season 4 and so as far as I am concerned, we’re past the crutches and we need to rely less on the old and develop the characters that are there.
We have so many characters in this series that there are plenty of potential storylines. Silver is not anyone that I have ever cared about and don’t as of yet. But keep trying to make me feel for him Cobra Kai. I can respect that.
The first thing that Silver does is antagonize Robby. Anyone shocked? Nope. For him, Robby is a reminder of the past combining two things that are painful – Daniel and Johnny. I also think that Silver is like Kreese, trying to figure out how to have a glory day, even though that time is way in the past.
The speeches he gives Robby, facing fears and all that shit, drive Robby to his Dads to tell him to tell his students to stop bullying people or he’s gonna have to do what he has to do.
Robby acts like he has so much to prove, but the truth is that the only thing that he has to prove anything to is to himself. Robby allows himself to be defined by things that really have no definition in your life. Robby is so much better than he allows himself to believe that he is. But Robby is a teenager, so I know that he’s everywhere and anywhere.
You can see that it hurts Johnny how Robby acted, but he didn’t let down any walls either.
He can’t say what’s really bothering him – all of the time that Miguel and Daniel are spending together. Robby is his son, but Miguel and him are closer. I think that he wants the same closeness with Robby, but he knows that ship has sailed. He’s not been a good father, but I think that he’s always hoping to fix that.
We learn about Johnny a little more through flashbacks. We can finally start to understand that he got his shitty parenting skills from his Mom. We are all a product of our youth and sometimes we can’t change that unless we work on that. It’s interesting and in it you see how he ruined his relationship with Robbie.
Miguel is getting more of a positive influence, from Daniel, who is helping him learn and talking to him about how Mr. Miyagi was a Dad for him. Daniel and Mr. Miyagi’s relationship was unique and a big part of who Daniel came to be. It feels like they are reliving situations from when they were younger and we’re all just hoping that Daniel and Johnny learn something from it.
That night, it’s drive in movie night. Kenny is getting hazed. Park is making him get all the snacks and being a dick to him. Robby assures him that it will all be okay. It’s nice to see Kenny feel like he belongs.
Kenny heads back from the snack bar, seeing the people who taunted him in the bathroom and gets scared. Then he runs into Hawk, who causes him to drop everything and starts picking on Kenny.
Big mistake. Huge.
Robbie sees what is happening and jumps out of the car to go help Kenny. All of Cobra Kai follows. No surprise that all of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are there also. There’s some trash talk and they aren’t having it. Both of them want to beat the shit out of each other, but they should learn this never ends well.
However, when they agree to meet at the baseball diamond in 30 minutes. We can respect that. Don’t do your shit around others. We respect growth.
But at the park, Miyagi-Do doesn’t show. They are in the car as the sprinklers go on, soaking Cobra Kai. They avoid a fight – and we all know that just means that there will be retaliation. Daniel thinks they did a good job, but Johnny knows it’s gonna get worse.
And just when you think it can’t get worse – Silver and Kreese show up at Miyagi-Do.
We need to talk are never words that you want to hear from these two.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- I couldn’t believe that Tory was working the kids party that Sam happens to be at. I also can’t believe that Samantha pushes her so hard she quits. Sam doesn’t realize not everyone has the cushy life that she does.
- Terry not telling Robby about her day – I had wished that she would.
- Johnny’s idea of manly is deeply disturbed.
- Johnny and Miguels Mom need to talk to Miguel sooner than later. It will come out and be worse if Miguel doesn’t hear from them first.
- We’re interested to see what will happen with Mrs. LaRusso and Tory and how it will affect Sam.
- Sam and how she treats Tory at her job – not acceptable. I feel like Sam is so sheltered that she doesn’t take responsibility for her actions and it’s just not okay. The way that she tries to embarrass her. I feel like Sam needs to have a come to jesus moment about her privilege.
- Amanda and Daniel need to teach Sam to be a better person.
Season 4 of Cobra Kai is streaming now on Netflix.
