Can you maybe rate all the silverbranes scenes from the movie and ofc s5 I wanna talk about them with someone,people don't talk about them enough still sad they didn't get enough scene together 😭
This isn't so much a ranking as much as it's just me rambling and maybe analyzing them a bit cause there's diff elements I like in diff scenes.
Starting with their introduction cause Terry knew when Mike was arriving. He flew him in and likely had him picked up from the airport. He also got a call telling him Mike was there, so he could have easily arranged that differently. Meeting someone for the first time ever while presumably completely nude in a bubble bath is crazy work.
To his credit Mike doesn't bat an eye at this weirdo and is completely polite until he realizes the true scope of Silver's wealth, so he decides to try and negotiate a higher % in their deal. And there's so much to say about this alone. First of all, Mike could have just been like, "For me to do my absolute best, I'm gonna need 50%." But instead he says, "For me to do my absolute best, which is what I want to do for you." You just met him like 30 seconds ago relax?? and ofc Terry tries to barter with 35% instead, and Mike isn't having it, so he's ready to walk out, and Terry immediately calls him back and accepts his terms. Mind you, right before this, someone was on the phone telling him they can't dump his toxic sludge in Borneo, and he wouldn't take no for an answer and forced them to do it. Then he's discussing some letter Margaret is penning (presumably something he dictated to her) wherein he says, "I reject your final offer. If you proceed, I will sue your collective asses." So with that precedent established, it's insane that he gave in so easily to Mike's demands. And he really did have a lawyer draw up a contract. And the fact he's so amused by this, rather than irritated:
like literally biting his lip and asking Margaret what she thinks, and she calls Mike obnoxious, and he says, "Yeah, he's perfect."
I don't think I have to elaborate much on the next scene in the backyard. They were just doing way too much. I'm pretty sure Daniel was already convinced before the hair-pulling and near mouth-spitting. Terry had way too much fun with that.
this is practically foreplay. like atp if I were Mike I'd be asking what are we?🤨
Then the final scene in the dojo, where it turns out Mike was hiding out in the back. It makes you wonder how many times Mike may have been hiding back there and listening in while Terry trained Dannyboy. I could easily see Terry use that as an opportunity to really fuel Mike's rage towards Daniel. Imagine he's hearing Terry encouraging Daniel to pummel the wooden dummy with Mike's face on it and then congratulating him for it. I just know Terry was playing mind games with both of them. Anyways, in that scene we see Mike sort of play the attack dog for Terry in a similar manner that Terry himself does for Kreese. We see Terry restrain Mike from Daniel at first, and then Mike attacks Mr. Miyagi for him. Right after that, Terry is ready to fight Mr. Miyagi and is stopped by Kreese.
(they have more parallels than anyone realized)
Then we get to the avt. Mike already had his bad boy/tournament terror rep, but we know Silver's an awful influence, so he very likely had a hand in making Mike even worse, as evidenced by Kreese asking, "Did you teach him that?" Terry is delighted through almost the entire scene. Every time the camera pans over to him, he's grinning and even rubbing his hands and yapping excitedly at Kreese about whatever Mike was doing. He was absolutely getting more enjoyment out of the whole ordeal than Kreese was, who btw, this whole scheme was supposed to be for.
I could write another whole post about the aftermath of this scene alone. Because as messed up as Terry obviously is to cook up this scheme, to play all those mind games and manipulate and the clear sadistic enjoyment he's getting out of all this, at the end of it, he just puts his head down and walks away.
There's no retribution against Daniel or Mike. And okay, ofc this is the end of the movie and of Daniel's KK trilogy, but nothing's ever mentioned in CK either. One would expect with how temperamental Kreese is that he at least may have tried something (specifically against Mike, just as he did to Johnny previously), but as far as we know, nothing happened. It begs the question, why? Did Kreese not bother because Mike wasn't his student, and thus he didn't have the emotional connection to him that he did to Johnny? But then if that's the case, one could also argue that this is precisely why he could have reacted even worse to Mike's defeat, because Mike doesn't have Kreese's favour like Johnny did. So then did Terry maybe shield Mike from Kreese? Or maybe Kreese just knew better than to try the same shit with Mike, cause he might need Mr. Miyagi to save his ass from Mike.😛
When Mike comes back in CK, he doesn't even refer to Terry in any negative way until after Daniel reveals what Terry's been up to recently. And furthermore, while Mike wants to help Daniel and gives him the old lawyer's name, he doesn't express even a passing interest in seeing Terry get his comeuppance. It isn't until the furniture store is burned down that he decides to get involved, and even then, it's only when Daniel points the finger at Silver that Mike decides to take action against him. Also, as I pointed out in an old ask, what Terry does to Mike impacts his wife just as badly, if not worse (considering it was her father's store), which presumably caused some strain in their marriage.👀
When confronted by the trio, Silver looks from Johnny to Chozen when he speaks of their crime (trespassing) and that "any violence inflicted upon you herein will be justified." Also interesting how Terry points out that his newly hired senseis don't fight for money, but rather for the legacy of Master Kim and Cobra Kai. And yet in the past, he seemed quite ready and willing to entrust 50% of Cobra Kai and by extension his own legacy to Mike.
just like old times. we know he likes em fiesty.😏
While the tweet about keeping Mike in a cage and brainwashing him was just a little fun /what if/, we now know that's definitely something Silver could and would have actually done. And it's extremely likely that really was his intent, given that he believed he had taken Chozen "off the board" and didn't think twice to order his senseis to finish Johnny next. He was very aware of the threat Mike posed since he was the first one taken out of the fight (and left relatively unharmed), but he gave no order regarding Mike. This wasn't a mistake or an oversight. Terry always knew Mike would be gunning for him, and he most likely already planned ahead for what he would do with Mike when he got him.
For all his talk of Mike's motives for fighting (money) contrasted unfavorably against Sensei Min-Jun's, this proves it was basically just banter, and he still wanted Mike in Cobra Kai. Terry was sick. He had no one else. He burned his bridges with Kreese. He knew The Fist was only as loyal to him as Kim Da-Eun was. For as long as that would last. He chose Mike back in 85 and this moment was him choosing Mike again.
