Photo: Netflix
When the previous episode revealed that only six Miyagi-Do students would be allowed to compete at the Sekai Taikai, a small part of me felt underwhelmed. It’s narratively smart to force allies to fight one another for a top spot, but if six of them get in, that really eliminates only the extraneous minor characters anyway. I like Mitch, Nate, and Chris, for example, but nobody is dying to see them fight for glory. What are the stakes here if we know Miguel, Sam, Robby, and Tory are all guaranteed spots?
“Underdogs” is ultimately smart to acknowledge that from the very beginning. This is not an episode of TV about the first-stringers; all four of our main kid characters play supporting roles, if that. This is an episode about the underdogs, as indicated by the title. It’s about the second-stringers who truly have to fight for this rare opportunity. That also means it’s this season’s first real attempt to center a story on characters like Eli, Demetri, Devon, and Anthony.
To be fair, Eli isn’t actually an underdog. He beat Robby and became the boys’ division champion at the All Valley at the end of season four. Even Demetri points out there’s really just one place up for grabs, and it’s likely to go to Kenny. But in an effort to remain as impartial as possible, Daniel and Johnny agree to stage a battle royal judged by a guest sensei: Mike Barnes.
Cobra Kai now has a lot of experience in bringing back old villains from the original Karate Kid movies and rehabilitating them without softening their personalities to an unrecognizable degree. The ideal Karate Kid villain returnee gets both humanized and showcased as the cartoony karate villain who appealed to fans (or didn’t) in the first place. When Thomas Ian Griffith returned as Terry Silver in season four, for example, his character took on new psychological dimensions, but he also got to let loose and chew the scenery by leaning into the same psychotic vibe of his cheesily memorable 1989 performance.
So while it was nice to see Mike Barnes play a very nice guy last season, it’s also gratifying to see his dickish side come out during round one of the battle royal. He circles the yard throughout the day, taking notes and judging students based on challenges related to speed (trying to catch a chicken), strength (breaking wooden boards), endurance (holding a heavy rock in front of them for as long as possible), and teamwork (working with friends to kick their other friends’ asses). That first round narrows the possible Sekai Taikai candidates down to a dozen, which encompasses all the kids previously named in this recap.
I like Devon quite a bit, so I really felt for her as she struggled to earn Mike’s approval, flashing back to Kim Da-Eun’s crushing disappointment. That only continues during round two the next day, which revolves around snatching as many flags as possible off the other competitors while protecting their own. Johnny’s well-intentioned efforts to draw Mike’s attention to Devon instead distract him from witnessing some of her most impressive plays. Mike is unexpectedly lenient on the dirtier moves, like Kenny drawing blood when he hits Anthony in the face. Daniel even accuses him of slipping back to “Bad Boy Barnes.”
As expected, our core four (Miguel, Sam, Robby, and Tory) end up with the guaranteed spots, while Mike takes the night to choose two from another group of four (Eli, Demetri, Kenny, and Devon). (This tier system is an obvious but pretty effective way to narrow the competition to the most relevant supporting characters.) Johnny is really pulling for Devon, one of his star Eagle Fang pupils, and he goes so far as to visit Mike’s shop to advocate for her. But their tense conversation quickly escalates into a fight, set off by Johnny calling Mike a “goon for hire” and Mike calling Johnny a “cream puff” while insulting Devon’s abilities. Johnny wins because The Karate Kid is better than The Karate Kid Part III.
But we know both of these Karate Kid villains are big softies deep down, and Mike quickly opens up about the recent Bad Boy Barnes backslide he experienced since Daniel and Terry Silver reentered his life. If it wasn’t clear already, that attitude is a defense mechanism, a way of provoking a fight to reclaim his power at a time of vulnerability.
The next day, Mike announces that the final four candidates will battle it out with one last flag challenge (two flags are hidden in the woods, and whoever brings one back wins), which suggests Johnny’s visit did change his mind about ranking Devon last. And a last-minute confession further raises the stakes: Eli comes clean to Demetri about how he never applied to MIT as both of them had planned for years. It’s nothing personal — he just wants to explore his options — but Demetri doesn’t take the news well, to put it mildly. He lashes out and turns the conversation into a fight by condescending to Eli and calling him a moron. That confrontation continues into the challenge itself when they go for the same flag.
You’d be a fool to bet on Demetri in any typical Eli vs. Demetri matchup, and their fight in the woods does initially end with Eli besting him. (It would be an Eli win if this were the All Valley.) But this is not your usual fight because Demetri is a longtime nerd now fueled by the encouragement and validation of a hot, popular girlfriend. More important, he’s sad that his friend dared to consider a future other than the one they’d fantasized about spending in the same location. That sadness manifests as fury at Eli’s betrayal, and that fury makes Demetri really, really want to beat him. So after Eli offers him a hand to stand up, Demetri strikes him, flipping him over a rock and claiming the flag for himself. It’s not 100 percent fair, but he just bested a proven winner.
Meanwhile, Kenny shits himself as he pounds on the door of a porta-potty, which is like something out of a fable or Greek tragedy. That leaves Devon to claim the other flag, a joyful moment until you realize the truth: She spiked Kenny’s water with Mitch’s laxatives, then let him believe Anthony had done it. It turns out practicing karate with Miyagi-Do isn’t an automatic guarantee of consistently virtuous behavior. Devon clearly remembers the ways ruthlessness and aggression served her on Eagle Fang and Cobra Kai, not to mention the debate team. I don’t think she’s necessarily jumping ship for Cobra Kai anytime soon, but she’s one to watch. It’s much easier to slip into darkness than it is to crawl back into the light.
• Anthony hasn’t had a ton to do this season, which doesn’t bother me too much. There’s a kernel of story here when he gets upset that his dad wasn’t real with him, but it doesn’t come up again in the episode. When Daniel checks in, Anthony can’t stop grinning about Kenny shitting himself.
• There’s drama building between Daniel and Johnny, with the former calling out the latter for visiting Mike and swaying him to consider Devon, defeating the purpose of an impartial judge.
