‘Cobra Kai’ Recap: Season 5, Episode 6 “Ouroboros”

Julia
9 Min Read
Netflix

In the sixth episode of the season, Silver recruits a handful of new senseis. This time, they’re more formidable than the last bunch. Meanwhile, Chozen and Johnny have their own mini team-up, and we learn more about Kreese’s time in prison.

Warning: Spoilers exist in this dojo.

Sense and Sensei-bility

Silver welcomes a group of new senseis and sends all but one off: Kim Da-Eun. He wants her to pick out the best of his students and mentions a couple of perks. She’s not in it for the money, and Silver explains he’s offering her a legacy, wanting to spread her grandfather’s style (and her grandfather is Kim Sun-Yung) and that his students are up for it. They, along with Tory and the other senseis, begin by heading to Topanga Karate (where Devon now trains). Topanga’s sensei enthusiastically explains that Silver is managing the dojo but actually he’s taking over. He says Senseis Kim and Hyan-woo will teach for the day. Anyone who wants to stay can take a gi, and anyone who wants to quit can take a thermos. Everyone but Devon takes a gi, but she’s not quitting yet. Silver and the others begin to leave, but Sensei Kim wants Tory to stay.

Sensei Kim instructs the class to work on different strikes and to pair up. Devon begins working alone until Tory comes to correct her technique. They snark at each other, and Devon says she didn’t take a gi because she doesn’t know if Cobra Kai deserves her. The two eventually discover they have something in common. More settled, they work together a little better.

Two Man Army

Johnny, Amanda, and Chozen are trying to figure out the next move when Sam tips them off that Daniel entered the room. Johnny wants to make Silver pay, and Chozen wants to make a plan, but Daniel is done fighting. Despite his good intentions, he feels as though he’s made everyone’s life worse. When he leaves, they need to do something but don’t know what. Sam shows them a live feed of Silver officially claiming Topanga. Johnny is in fight mode and wants to go there, but Amanda doesn’t think it’s a good idea. She prompts Chozen to do something, and that something is to go with Johnny.

The two arrive at New Cobra Kai. They start talking about Daniel and the good ol’ days, and how they tormented him. With each reminder, they try to one-up each other. Then they flip it and talk about all the cool things Daniel has done, again trying to one-up each other with each brag about him. (And it was kinda wholesome.) They reach the dojo entrance and Johnny wants to rush in when he sees Devon, but Chozen stops him for now.

Trapped in the Past

Earlier in the episode, Tory is visiting Kreese who asks about their sting operation, which Tory says went sideways. Kreese tries to keep her faith and says he has a plan to get out. When he does and Silver inevitably slips, they’ll be ready. After she leaves, he gets food and looks for a spot to sit. Another inmate, Gabriel, bothers him and takes his Jello, but Kreese doesn’t take the bait. Then he goes to his therapy session with Dr. Folsom where he claims everything is just fine, really it is. But soon he receives a letter that denied his petition for early release. When he sees Dr. Folsom again, he thinks it was wrong, but she saw right through him. If he wants to get out, he needs to really think about what he’s done.

Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix

Turns out he kind of does. During the next session, Dr. Folsom begins to break through as she mentions someone from Kreese’s past. But he’s not seeing her; he sees Betsy. He talks about her death and how he was overseas when it happened. Betsy tries to dig deeper but Kreese begins to feel judged (because the war was Vietnam). Betsy shifts into Kreese’s C.O. as he shares that he just wanted to help kids take their anger and turn it into power. His C.O. points out the wording and Kreese gets agitated. The C.O. turns into Silver, who wonders why Kreese is angry and if he has regrets as Silver goes to Tory. Kreese doesn’t know what he would feel regret for, until Tory becomes the younger version of William Zabka as Johnny. Young Johnny mentions all the people Kreese has hurt, but that wasn’t Kreese’s intention. He wanted his students to be tougher and better than him, and young Johnny is now present-day Johnny. Dr. Folsom returns as she tells Kreese that he can be better, that it’s within him. And finally, Kreese sees the younger version of himself, who says he just has to find the good.

Lunchtime comes around again, and Gabriel heckles Kreese. But Kreese reacts and begins to beat up Gabriel and his crew. The catch is that it’s young Kreese doing the fighting. As the fight comes to an end, present-day Kreese is back, and Gabriel has a new respect for him.

New Recruit

Sensei Kim does a test with Tory and Devon to figure out who the leader is between them. However, she can tell Tory is holding back. So, Tory doesn’t, and Devon gets upset and runs out. After class, Chozen and Johnny head inside where they’re greeted by Sensei Hyan-woo. They begin to fight, and Chozen recognizes Kim Sun-Yung’s style. Sensei Kim eventually stops them, and they are surrounded by the rest of the senseis. After a bit of antagonizing (including Sensei Kim thinking Johnny was Daniel), Johnny is ready to fight, but Chozen stops him and they leave.

Back at the flagship dojo, Devon walks in, much to Tory’s surprise. Silver says Devon asked to join and wants to keep learning from Tory, who brings up the test. Sensei Kim reveals the test was for Tory, to see if she could do what she needed.

Not a Failure

At the LaRussos’, Chozen and Johnny bring Amanda up to speed, including the new senseis. They are ready to fight but Amanda is adamant that Daniel leads the charge. When reminded he doesn’t want to, Sam tells them how she thought the same. She believes they need to keep with this fight. Amanda agrees. So, they need to remind Daniel they’re in his corner.

Amanda brings him to Miyagi-Do and Mr. Miyagi’s room, which makes Daniel (and me, not gonna lie) emotional. Amanda shares how she visited Mr. Miyagi the night before the wedding. They talked about Daniel and how he always fought for what he believed in and standing up to Silver is right. Daniel is scared he’ll fail the kids. Robby enters and says he didn’t and that he was right about Cobra Kai, and they need Daniel. Sam adds all of them are in it and leads Daniel outside where all the Miyagi-Dos, Eagle Fangs, Johnny, and Chozen are waiting for him.

Cobra Kai season 5 is streaming now on Netflix. Keep up with our season recaps and additional coverage here.

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By Julia
Julia is a writer/editor/content assistant for Nerds who joined the team in 2019.
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