Survivors

Season 5, Episode 9

Air date

September 9, 2022

Written by

Michael Jonathan Smith

Directed by

Steven Tsuchida

Episode Guide
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"Taikai"	"Head of the Snake"

"I wanted to win All Valley more than anything. After the match when they handed me that trophy, that was the best moment of my life, but then I saw Silver and that ref and it just killed me. I felt like a fraud. I wanted to get back at Terry Silver so bad, that's why I listened to Kreese, and then I just got caught up in more lies, and now my life is just a living hell."

―Tory Nichols

"Survivors" is the ninth and penultimate episode of the fifth season of Cobra Kai.

Synopsis

Tory pays a price for defiance. Stingray does battle with his conscience. A celebratory night on the town takes a turn for Johnny, Daniel and Chozen.

Plot

The episode picks up shortly after Tory has told Sam everything. Sam is angry and trying to fight, but Tory won’t fight back. When everyone rushes outside, Sam tells Robby and Miguel. When Sam tries to question why Tory didn’t reveal this sooner, she calls her a coward. Tory gets fed up and leaves. The next day, the others get Demetri up to speed. Miguel wants to tell the senseis but Sam doesn’t know how much good it will do, and she doesn’t want Daniel to get hurt again. They also don’t know if Stingray or the ref would even confess. Bert thinks he might have an in with Stingray, though.

At the flagship, Silver and Sensei Kim watch the class, and Sensei Kim says Tory’s reasoning for leaving the exhibition was a lie. Silver says Daniel et al. will pay for what happened. Shortly after, Robby walks in and disrupts the class. He tries to tell them all that Silver and Cobra Kai are bad, but he looks directly at Kenny as he talks. Of course, this does nothing, and Silver reminds Robby where his students’ loyalty lies. Before Robby leaves, he and Tory share a look that Sensei Kim notices. So, after class, Silver and Sensei Kim pull her aside. They bring out Silver’s contraption that usually holds boards. This time, it’s with solid stone and they want Tory to break it but she can’t. Sensei Kim gets in front of her and thinks it’s because of Robby and that Tory cares more about him than the dojo. Tory says they broke up because of the dojo and goes to punch Sensei Kim. She moves, and Tory breaks through the stone. After, the lesson is over.

Carmen has her first ultrasound, and the doctor confirms she and Johnny can start telling people and hands them the result. They are very excited, with Johnny especially happy because he wasn’t there to do this with Shannon. As they leave, Silver shows up in the elevator with them. Silver offers his congrats, and Johnny gets on edge, thinking Silver means the baby. He actually meant Sekai, but now that he knows, he notes it as something else to celebrate. Johnny starts to get extra protective, but Silver assures him that he doesn’t want to fight and what he’s doing is for future generations.

At the dealership, Johnny tells everyone what happened and is still on edge, which Louie does not help in the slightest. Daniel thinks it was a genuine coincidence, considering Silver won’t jeopardize his spot at Sekai. Chozen has also finished a sweep of the perimeter to further ease Johnny’s mind. After all the madness, Amanda is ready for a night off, so she asks Johnny if Carmen wants to down some tequila with her. Obviously, she can’t and when Johnny confirms the reason, everyone is positively thrilled. Louie wants to celebrate and is going to plan the whole thing, also as a way to make up for that one time he set Johnny’s car on fire. He invites Anoush, who can’t come because he has a date.

The group pulls up to the club in a giant limo. Once Chozen relinquishes his weapons, they head inside and grab drinks, toasting to Carmen, Johnny, and the future. At a table, Chozen reminisces about old times while, Daniel goes to get another round of drinks, and Carmen and Amanda hit the dance floor. Chozen tells Johnny that he’s happy for them and asks how Johnny’s doing. Johnny isn’t really sure. He shares that he’s been haunted by THAT kick his whole life, thinking that if he could go back and react differently, his life would be fixed. As he watches Carmen, he says that now he wants to look forward instead. Chozen expresses a similar sentiment and how he always wanted a family and children. When prompted, he mentions a special woman back in Okinawa. He doesn’t say who as Johnny heads to the bar. He tells Daniel that Chozen is a good man, then mentions Kumiko. Before Carmen pulls him to dance, he says he can tell that Chozen is seriously into Kumiko.

Daniel heads back to Chozen, who is really feeling those Long Islands as he brags to someone about the time Daniel broke ice blocks. Daniel brings up Kumiko, and Chozen shares how when they were kids, Kumiko always found him. When he was disgraced in the village and tried to hide, Kumiko still found him. Daniel thinks she should know, but Chozen disagrees, not after how he treated her and is unforgivable. But Daniel knows that’s not true. Afterward, they join everyone else on the dance floor. Soon, Louie spots Anoush and finds out he’s dating Vanessa, and the two get into a brief fight. Chozen goes outside and leaves a voicemail for Kumiko. He wants to see her when he gets home. He’s also glad he went to Cali but should’ve brought her. At that point, he panic hangs up. He rejoins the others, and he, Daniel, and Johnny are going to head to another bar while Carmen and Amanda head home.

Stingray plays a makeshift version of D&D with his friends, Dungeons & Dojos, and his friends hate it. Someone knocks on his door and it’s Bert. Stingray is excited until the others show up (and his friends leave). Sam and the others want the truth. He sits back at the table where he keeps dodging answers. After a beat, he wants to tell them about a new D&D campaign he’s been working on. Through that, he confirms that he and Silver framed Kreese. Sam claims he won’t come forward because he doesn’t want to lose the benefits, but Stingray is actually just scared of what Terry would do to him if he told anyone. Sam is aggravated and leaves and Miguel follows her, where he apologizes for the party but is confused that Sam is upset because of what she said before. She explains that she just wants normalcy and blames Tory. Miguel gets that, but Sam doesn’t know what Cobra Kai is like. He agrees Tory should’ve come forward sooner, but what matters is that she did.

Sam goes to see Tory, whose hand is in rough shape. Tory shares how badly she wanted to win the All Valley. When she did, she was so proud. But when she saw Silver and the ref, she felt like a fraud. So, she turned to Kreese. Now that Sam knows, she thinks they can help each other. She mentions Stingray and Tory says that if the assault happened at the old dojo, they can get video proof.

At Silver’s, he and Sensei Kim discuss the students, including Tory. However, Sensei Kim thinks the younger students are better because they have less to unlearn. She notes Devon, whose youth is an asset. Despite Silver’s surprise, it doesn’t matter because if they succeed, Cobra Kai will live forever. And he won’t let anyone ruin that.

Meanwhile, in the limo, Chozen, Johnny, and Daniel are all inebriated but happily rocking out to “Eye of the Tiger.” Outside the club, Anoush and Louie have made up when the limo driver finds them and asks where the limo is. Then, the drunken trio realizes something is wrong but they find that they are locked inside and Chozen believes that Silver or one his henchmen is kidnapping the three and hijacking their limo. The driver starts driving recklessly, and the group begins to get frightened.

Cast

Starring

Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso
William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence
Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso
Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz
Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene
Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso
Jacob Bertrand as Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz
Peyton List as Tory Nichols
Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny Payne
Vanessa Rubio as Carmen Diaz
Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver
Martin Kove as John Kreese (Credit only)

Special Guest Star

Gianni Decenzo as Demetri Alexopoulos

Guest Starring

Co-Starring

Aba Arthur as Dr. Howard
Seoum Tylor Aun as Gaming Nerd #2
Sean Goulding as Gaming Nerd #1
Alphonso A'Quen-Aten Jackson as Bouncer
Kevin Saunders as Reggie

Trivia

The song that Daniel, Chozen and Johnny sing in the limo is "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.
Chozen mentions the vegetable weighing scam from The Karate Kid Part II and how, in hindsight, it didn’t really benefit him as the weights were fake, meaning the villagers were paying him less and not more.
This episode reveals why Demetri was not at the party in the previous episode.
The game Stingray is playing with his friends and using as a campaign to reveal what really happened is Dunces & Dragons, a game that Mike and his friends of the party play in Stranger Things.
- Even the song that Eddie plays for Chrissy in the fourth season is heard in this episode.
Robby only has two scenes in this episode.
This episode marked the return of Vanessa LaRusso, whom Anoush appears to have been dating.
Sam finally sees the life that Tory has been put through, realizing Miguel was right about the latter having a sob story that ended up making Tory the person she was when she was terrorizing Sam.