Why Cobra Kai is defenseless against the crane kick of nostalgia
Netflix's Karate Kid-based series sets up interesting ideas about justice for a maturing Johnny Lawrence, but repeatedly boots them to the side
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A good friend of mine once observed, “nostalgia is paralysis,” but on Netflix’s Cobra Kai, there’s no ailment that nostalgia can’t cure. Despite the show’s brilliant premise—decades later, what happened to the bully who received his comeuppance during the climactic fight?—creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossburg have increasingly, and fatally, drawn from the drying well of the Karate Kid series for their soapy twists and turns, standing on the shoulders of franchise “icons” so small you’ll be forgiven for not remembering them.
That’s not to denigrate the actors from Karate Kid II and III that the trio brought back; even they acknowledge that their movies weren’t great. And indeed, there is real potential in an inventory—and an interrogation—of a past moment that seemed to mean so much at the time, but has largely been forgotten by the rest of the world. And, admittedly, there’s a fleeting joy that comes from reuniting these actors in their iconic roles. But Cobra Kai spends entirely too much time reliving what its showrunners—and to be fair, maybe some longtime fans—consider to be these films’ glory days, only to abandon the deeper meaning (much less dramatic weight) of its seeming raison d’etre: to question if those days were ever actually that glorious.
By season five, which premiered Sept. 9 on Netflix, you can’t help but feel sorry for Johnny Lawrence. Not only has Johnny lost Cobra Kai a few times over, abandoning being an instructor altogether, but Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) has effectively become the show’s central protagonist, precisely because Johnny decided to move on, grow up, and repair the damage he caused by fixating on the past. As a result, Johnny is largely absent from the main “plot” of the show, which involves the return of the calculating Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) and his nefarious plot to “control the Valley.”
Hilariously, this is exactly how Silver’s ambitions are defined—never mind that what LaRusso is referring to every time he says this is a potential monopoly of San Fernando Valley martial arts schools, and we later learn, an international chain of affiliates. (That this is a world where children have no other options for extracurricular activities or opportunities for self-improvement is a notion the show brilliantly dares not to acknowledge.) What Johnny’s doing instead is seeking out his student and surrogate son Miguel (Xolo Maridueña), who went in search of his absentee birth father, and bringing along his own biological son Robby (Tanner Buchanan) in hopes of mending three relationships at once—his with each of the boys, and theirs with each other.
When Johnny discovers that his girlfriend (and Miguel’s mother) Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) is pregnant with their child, he buckles down, cleans up his act, and tries to implement some healthier and more consistent habits. Recognizing that he risks losing people who bring meaning to his life, he forgets entirely about karate and starts acting like a grown-up. This sounds like it would be boring—he renovates his apartment and gets a job as a ride-share driver—but his awkward progress actually makes for both great comedy and emotionally enriching growth.
Daniel, meanwhile, becomes obsessed—and I mean obsessed—with Terry Silver, who infiltrates the same white-collar community where he and his wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) are fixtures, and becomes convinced that Silver is orchestrating a complicated psychological operation not only to gain “control of the Valley,” but to ruin the LaRussos’ marriage and, if possible, their lives. It’s a development into which the show never bothers to build any kind of reality check, but it’s impossible to not to think “Oh, he’s clearly gone crazy” while watching Daniel try to convince Amanda that the fight he is having with her, about Silver, is actually the direct and intentional result of a complex mind game by Silver to drive a wedge between them.
As aggravating as it is to watch Daniel blow up his life while believing that he’s fighting a malevolent opponent, his choices offer an object lesson that stretches directly back to the origins of the show: don’t hold on too tightly to the past, or it may jeopardize your future. His mania brilliantly illuminates how holding onto old grudges can be even more damaging than holding onto old glories. Instead, Amanda eventually leaves him and goes to visit her cousin Jessica (Robyn Lively), who was Daniel’s friend during his brief period under Silver’s tutelage. Jessica unfortunately confirms all of Daniel’s concerns by explaining to Amanda what a number the sensei did on him, so their marital reconciliation comes with a renewed commitment to stop Silver and to return control of the Valley to, one supposes, anyone who can complete a correspondence course in karate instruction.
And so, determined to restore “justice” to the Valley—and never to ask the question, “Am I listening to what I’m saying as an adult man with a family, a career, and a pretty good life”—Daniel contacts Johnny and pleads with him to help stop Silver at all costs. The closest pop culture comparison to draw to this moment is in Heat when Nate tells Neil McCauley where Waingro is at the exact moment he and Eady are on their way to escape the cops—and for Cobra Kai, Johnny’s decision to join Daniel’s fight is almost as heartbreaking. Johnny has turned his life around. He lives like an adult. Even if not always thoughtfully, he communicates his feelings and encourages the kids he parents, or mentors, to communicate theirs. And now he’s part of a profoundly stupid fight for control of the Valley which he would likely never hear about, and would never impact him again, because Daniel has not only built his life around the past, but is determined to build everyone else’s life around it as well.
That said, watching a “successful” person get consumed by their success—or the perception of it, anyway—can develop into a thought-provoking character study. Certainly it’s as likely, and interesting, an outcome as it was for Johnny to become a washed-up nobody after his loss. But the creators of the show don’t seem interested in examining that idea more closely. From the first season, Daniel has always been the kind of insufferable friend that no one can stand in real life, precisely because he thinks his frequently unsolicited advice—collected from a thoughtful, taciturn mentor whose lessons were drawn from simple and practical activities—offers transcendent wisdom. The basic principles of Miyagi-do were common sense and kindness, but Daniel regurgitates these insights like no one in 2018, or 2022, has glanced at a feel-good internet meme, most of which his pearls of wisdom could boil down to. (To be fair, Johnny probably has not ever glanced at one.)
But as low as the show tries to bring Daniel by the halfway point of season five, its story pivots on validating his insane paranoia, which undercuts every one of those more substantive ideas about the legacy that chases these men as much as they may or may not be eager to leave it behind. It doesn’t help Daniel or Johnny’s evolution that Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossburg never provide more than one-dimensional motivation for Terry Silver’s evil schemes.
Again, it would be more interesting if he were just a dickhead businessman who Daniel becomes convinced is trying to destroy his life, and destroys it himself in the process of “stopping” an adversary who, Mariah Carey-style, does not know him. But even after staging a hostile takeover of Cobra Kai, Silver’s plans are never fused with a comprehensible psychology; he’s mean and manipulative, but why? I’d even accept the answer, “because nobody ever asked him why,” but the show certainly does not possess that much self-reflection.
But in an era where more shows are created than ever from the ashes of existing intellectual property, the only thing that seems to matter with a series like this is the quantification of callbacks and references. That would be fine—and in fact, the return of Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes, Silver’s former protégé, leads to a surprisingly charming reconciliation. But there’s a difference between extending a role and deepening it, and the showrunners do a whole lot of the former and not nearly enough of the latter. Or maybe the show isn’t about re-framing The Karate Kid around the loser’s perspective, and the whole thing was a bait-and-switch to honor Daniel LaRusso, and I’ve been bamboozled by Terry Silver.
But ultimately, what remains frustrating about Cobra Kai is that the more time elapses and the more story gets told, the more it feels as a whole like a missed opportunity. The show’s structure is otherwise clear; the teen characters exist to carry on the conflicts of their forebears, to perform choreography that (with all due respect) the older actors can’t or won’t do themselves, and to inject more of the soapy, simplistic melodrama that made the original film (and to a lesser extent its sequels) so much fun. But when characters in their mid-50s are still holding onto grudges from four decades ago—and they’re not pausing for a second to question why this is still important to them—it’s simplistic, but it’s not soapy, and it’s no longer fun.
It’s been 38 years since the events of original film, and somehow Johnny Lawrence still isn’t even the main character in a show that was explicitly supposed to be about him. A Cobra Kai season six seems inevitable, so if it’s unlikely that Daniel will ever do any real introspection, maybe at least let Johnny finally grow up? Otherwise, these characters really are going to keep fighting until someone gets sent home in a bodybag—and that would be the audience, bored by the repetition.
63 Comments
I’m sorry but Karate Kid II is fuckin awesome.And it’s kinda funny that Daniel is so obsessed with everything but by the end of this season he’s basically proven right about everything and all the adults, even his wife, are on his side.
Yeah, it’s not the classic that The Karate Kid itself was, but II holds up. It’s pretty much only III that is terrible. Even the Hilary Swank focused “The Next Karate Kid” was better than that.
Yep and I remember back in the day when it came out my friends and I were all just as excited about it as the first one.III is definitely terrible, that’s a fact. Cobra Kai has retroactively made it better in a way.
3 is terrible, but in an fantastically entertaining way, it’s just so ridiculous at every turn, I actually love it. People try to make movies like this now, and it’s never as fun as this movie, being intentionally bad and ridiculous isn’t as fun as trying to make a good movie, and ending up with something like Karate kid III.
Oh yeah trying and failing hard is a lot more fun than trying to fail hard.
Terry Silver makes the movie good IMO. He steals any scene he is in.
“And it’s kinda funny that Daniel is so obsessed with everything but by the end of this season he’s basically proven right about everything and all the adults, even his wife, are on his side.”-Todd says basically exactly this in the article. He’s saying that’s the problem.
Yeah I don’t think that’s actually a problem though: For the past 4 seasons Amanda has been right that all this karate stuff is crazy stupid, but Silver was actually hurting kids in a super sneaky way that needed to be stopped. That’s why I found it kind of funny.
I don’t see it as a problem. Terry Silver is a psychopath and Daniel only seemed crazy to those lacking the full context.I honestly don’t know why the plot would be enhanced by making Daniel a paranoid asshole. As unrealistic as the show is, I feel he has a realistic reaction to all the crazy shit going down. It’s also true his wife has a perfectly reasonable reaction to the events given the info she had at the time. Terry Silver legit tried to have Daniel murdered.In fact, pretty much all the villains tried to kill or seriously maim Daniel(which is why Daniel being the bully to Johnny was always BS, Johnny terrorized him) Keep that in mind. By the time the guy was 18 he’d had multiple attempts on his life. Then one of the people who set up those attempts, and who has infinite resources, says he is gonna come after you. It would be bad writing if Daniel wasn’t on the brink of some nervous breakdown.
II gets a lot of points for making a genuine effort to be something different than the first movie while still holding true to its spirit. Then with III they got scared and just made the first movie again. Call it the Rise of Skywalker to II’s Last Jedi.
Wholly disagree. This show knows what it is, leans into it, and has perfected it. Season five was the best season yet.
Have’t watched it yet, but if they didn’t get a Hilary Swank cameo, season 6 must happen.
You’re gonna be hoping for season 6. I mean, I am too, even though I’m not entirely sure where they go from the way season 5 ended. But they haven’t let me down yet.As to the original point of the piece, though, about how it feels like a “missed opportunity.” I mean, maybe to the author. But that is not the show these guys wanted to do. The show they wanted to do, though? It’s become one of the most delightful things on TV in recent memory. It’s up there alongside Ted Lasso and Schitt’s Creek for me in terms of a show that just makes me feel good when I watch it. Again, it knows what it is, it’s not trying to be anything more than that, and it’s doing a phenomenal job delivering.
I imagine Season 6 will be the international tournament they hyped up so much in this season.I think it would be pretty cool if Cobra Kai, now being completely leaderless, gets a new leader in the form of…Hilary Swank. It’d be nice to see a rival for Daniel who isn’t just cartoonishly evil.I do agree that this show is still going strong, but it is frustrating that only Johnny seems to be allowed to experience any real growth.I really hope in Season 6, Daniel reaches an A-ha moment and asks himself why the hell he cares so much about karate as a 60 year old man with a successful string of car dealerships.Also, shouldn’t all the Miyagi-do kids and adults be arrested for all the trespassing and assaults?
Maybe Michael Ironside, he could be the reason Swank shows up.
Michael Ironside is always a treat, but he’s not exactly looking martial arts ready these days. Based on his recent turns in Nobody and The Dropout, he’s fully embraced his new role as the heavyset grandpa type.
Oh, duh. I’ve watched the finale twice now and somehow the international tournament still slipped my mind.
Yeah, despite it being a big deal in the latter half of the season, it kinda falls by the wayside in the final episodes when everyone’s more concerned with just breaking and entering and kicking peoples’ asses.
Wouldn’t an A-Ha moment be getting pulled into a mirror universe where you’re squiggly animated?
What is there really left to explain on why Daniel cares about this?In the first few seasons, it was pretty clear he was doing it to honor Miyagi’s legacy, that he felt he was letting his mentor down by not continuing his legacy and allowing Cobra Kai to return. After that, he’s been fighting against people who have literally broken into his home, tried to ruin his business, and tried to kill members of his family. And now both of his kids are into karate so he wants to pass on the teachings that guided him to them too.It’s crazy to me that people don’t understand why someone whose formative years were so heavily influenced by karate would care about karate…
“And now both of his kids are into karate so he wants to pass on the teachings that guided him to them too.”There is a recurring theme that Sam feels pressured to be “into karate” because of Daniel’s obsession, and she repeatedly waffles back and forth between not wanting anything to do with it and winning tournaments. It’s been a through line throughout the series, including Season 5. And in the earlier seasons, pretty much up until he gets bullied in Season 4, Anthony wants nothing to do with karate. So a lot of times it seems less like Daniel is continuing to do karate because his kids like it, and more like that parent who forces their kid to like the things they liked. “It’s crazy to me that people don’t understand why someone whose formative years were so heavily influenced by karate would care about karate…”I, the viewer, understand why Daniel continues to be obsessed with karate. What I’m saying is that HE, the character, really needs to step back and take a look at whether this whole karate obsession is really healthy, or whether it’s destroying his life, business, and family. Especially when he lets Terry Silver get under his skin like he’s a teenager again, with all the maturity of Marty McFly being called “chicken”.The show lets Daniel get away with just continuing to be a hot-headed immature guy with a child-like obsession with karate. It needs to let him grow the way the show lets Johnny grow.
I guess that’s fair with the kids.I do think there’s a pretty big difference between Daniel getting emotionally charged about people who have inflicted physical and / or mental trauma on him returning vs Marty McFly getting emotionally charged about his honor being bismerched by frenemies of his.
I think it’s clear why he cares so much about karate: Mr. Miyagi. Letting go of karate probably feels like letting go of him.There is also nothing inherently wrong about a man his age caring about karate or about negative influences on the community. Before Johnny started Cobra Kai it seemed he had everything under control. I think he also probably has some form of PTSD from his past. He was almost seriously maimed in the first film, and both of the sequels had people legitimately attempting to kill him.Some of the people who tried to maim/kill him show up in his life again, I can’t blame him for losing it.
Right, there’s nothing inherently wrong about a grown man liking karate, but Daniel’s obsession repeatedly comes close to alienating him from his family and friends, and has even affected his business. While I might understand the obsession as a spectator, I don’t think the show has really had Daniel reckon with it.
The first season was the story the author was looking for, and it was brilliantly done. When you introduce characters like Kreese and Terry Silver into this world, it can’t help but be cartoonish, and I for one love it, they really get it right.
I think it’s obvious where they go for S6. The one guy did the thing and he’s probably gonna go after them.
Three words – Force Ghost Miyagi
Three words – Computer Animated Tarkin
Thank you. This was definitely the best season so far, simply because they had so much character growth pay off. Everyone acted like reasonable adults, learned to put aside their differences, and showed that they actually learned from past seasons. I’m actually so happy with how they ended up this season, that I’m okay of there isn’t a season 6. But there better be.
That’s it right there. There was never an aim to make high art out of the Karate Kid franchise. They made a spinoff with a fun concept that keeps going and going. We want it to be ludicrously focused on karate. It’s Karate Kid, not Business Men.Next season (or the one after) has to step it up a notch as they go international. We need to see dojos run by Hilary Swank and Jackie Chan. (Are there any Karate Kid knockoffs we can sweep into this?)
Oh man I completely forgot about Jackie Chan being on the table as someone who could potentially come in. Especially since Will Smith is an executive producer on the series, so that door is 100% open.
Sooooo you’re giving this season a C? B? Why not just call this a review instead of whatever this rant is supposed to be?
Have you seen this guy’s “reviews” before? He clearly has no clue how letter grades work, so this time he didn’t even bother and just framed it as some trite thinkpiece about nostalgia.
Cobra Kai isn’t perfect, but I think it’s done an admirable job of combining nostalgia-infused callbacks, soapy melodrama, and high-stakes martial arts action into a format that wholly knows what it is and who it’s appealing to. That being said, I wouldn’t mind if the sixth season was the final season. It gives them a chance to wrap up the few lingering plot threads left after the end of season five while also going out on top.
Wow, a “Female Body Inspector” shirt and a Cinderella shirt? Nostalgia indeed!
TIL: The character in Heat is named Waingro, not Wayne Groh.
BTW: If you’re a fan of the movie, check out the book “Heat 2″ – very faithful sequel co-written by Mann in the vein of “Godfather II”
“nostalgia is paralysis” – ooo, edgy stuff.
Not everything can be as “edgy” as a reboot of an 80s kids movie.
I think Cobra Kai does a pretty good job of invoking nostalgia and capitalizing on it while framing some of these characters in a more realistic (for a TV series) light that the movies couldn’t really accomplish in their run-times. I do think that season five was especially heavy on the callbacks. I hope they re-focus on the younger cast for season six, it would be a shame if they were sidelined.Five seasons in and I’m still thoroughly enjoying it though.Also, Chozen is the season MVP, hands down.
I’d really like to see Tory catch a break, Peyton List is killing it in this role, but man, Tory needs something good to happen to her.
Chozen is far and away the best part of the season. It’s not even close, and I say that as someone who genuinely loves basically every character on this show. He was such a delight every single time he was on screen.
His moments of remorse and humility juxtaposed with his moments of sheer bad-assery made his character so watchable. He had some of the best moment of comic relief as well…who knew Okinawan karate assassins were into 90 Day Fiancé?W should all be so lucky to have a ride-or-die like Chozen.
And don’t even get me started on the drunken phone call to Kumiko. Just adorable, really, and so help me if that woman doesn’t give my guy a chance next season…
I am 100% with you! if Chumiko© isn’t endgame for those two we take up pitchforks and torches!
This piece voices *exactly* what I have been feeling about the show. It started as a show ABOUT Johnny. That was the whole hook to me, and it was brilliant. The roles were reversed, Daniel was the semi-villain (but didn’t really know it) and Zabka got to basically play Kenny Powers with a black belt. That’s the show! That’s how it got sold. But the longer it goes on (and honestly, I have a feeling, the higher Macchio’s title/pay gets bumped) the more the show just centers him again. Every good moment of comedy on the show (save for the occasional laugh from Chozen), and most of the compelling character stuff, still comes from Zabka’s increasingly dwindling screentime. (Also, almost every other comment under this article proves its thesis.)
Johnny doesn’t have any history with Terry Silver or Mike Barnes, it wouldn’t make much sense for him to be the center of the story when those characters take center stage. Terry Silver being the villain kind of has to make Daniel the main protagonist in that part of the story.
Right, you’re missing my point. What I’m saying is that the show got so caught up in bringing those guys back (which has basically made it a nostalgia-fueled karate telenovela mashed up with a CW show) that it forgot to be a fun, funny comedy from Johnny’s POV about a guy stuck in the ‘80s slowly growing and changing.
Ah, ok, guess I did miss that point, luckily for me, I’m enjoying the show as it is. We got three seasons with Johnny growing and changing, season 3 was kind of the culmination of that, with him reconnecting with Ali and apologizing for his behavior, and realizing his future was with Carmen. Great stuff, but I’m enjoying the over the topness of Terry Silver. Although, I’ll admit, the Kreese escape might have been a little too over the top.
I pretty much have to disagree with most of this. Now it is fair to say that the story could’ve been easily written where Terry Silver was focused more on Johnny. I would say Daniel being the center of the conflict and Johnny being in the plot B conflict did happen at the beginning of the episodes. But to be fair, Silver was always Daniel’s adversary. He defeated and humiliated Silver, and it made sense story wise that Terry Silver would obsess on both petty revenge and furthering his ambitions. I never saw it as a “one-dimensional motivation,” but I guess that’s a matter of opinion. And season 4 did a pretty good job into explaining why. Maybe not to your satisfaction, but there is a why.Silver was with Kreese to begin Cobra Kai. He had the resources and ambitions to make it go global, but because of his loyalty to Kreese, he never pushed forward without Kreese’s say so. After Karate Kid 3, Cobra Kai was pretty much finished. Silver have to give up his original goals in life because Kreese gave up, and try to reinvent himself into someone that can move on. Then Kreese came back into his life for help. Reminded Silver that he owes him one still for saving his life in the previous century, and that together they can achieve with Cobra Kai that they couldn’t have done before. But he did in a manipulated fashion, only this time Silver finally saw through it. He didn’t need Kreese, and realized he was being held back. Silver was done being a James Bond villain playing sidekick. It’s his final hurrah to succeed where he failed without anyone holding him back. In a way he’s doing what Johnny did back in season 1. This season, the teen characters were not so much the main focus on resolving this conflict. They were in the previous seasons, so it felt refreshing that they weren’t too instrumental in moving the show forward. I disagree with your thoughts on the shows references and callbacks being more extended the deeper. I found as the series progressed each season, the characters and the events referenced from movie flashbacks grew organically. They were pretty creative in showing what happened to a lto of the characters and places in the movies. From Johnny’s former bully friends/sidekicks, Daniel visiting the Japanese town that went from lush authentic countryside to a tourist spot, to even Chozen in this season. Again, to each their own. You saw it one way and were disappointed. I saw it another way, and have enjoyed the series thus far. It may have it’s flaws, but they’re actually very funny flaws. That being said, you’re right in a sense that the series about Johnny Lawrence focused more on Daniel eventually. But I felt they did it in way that felt organic for the story. Cobra Kai never disappeared in season 5. It just went from controversial anti hero group in season 1, corrupted by season 3, and full fledge dark side by season 5. Miyagi-Do was pretty much non existent this season. Johnny was less of the main protagonist in season 5, but again I feel the show did it in a creative way. Season 5 showed 3 former villians: Johnny, Barnes, and especially Chozen, got a victory that really overshadowed their past defeats, and they all got their moment to shine.
One thing too re: Silver that I’ve seen speculation on elsewhere is that he may not be well, healthwise. There’s subtle references to taking pills and how he’s not afraid of death/is more concerned about building legacy, plus how he’s randomly at the hospital in S5 for no clear reason.
He may well be a character who is living on borrowed time, is well aware of this, and as such that was driving him all the more in S4/5.
I still think the show is great and really enjoyed the season, but I also believe that it is coming to the end of it’s run. If they choose to wrap up the current cliffhanger in 1-2 season then call it a day that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Better to go out on top then end up like The Walking Dead.
The premise of the show is the legacy of Cobra Kai (and, by extension, its foundations). I don’t know if the premise has changed over time, or if it just seemed focused on Johnny and the focus has expanded as more seasons were added, but that’s where the show is now.Also, it’s pretty clear to me that the show is being made for teenagers to be able to watch with their parents. It’s a sports melodrama show that’s a sequel to a series of sports melodrama movies. Why would you expect it to be a serious in-depth examination of an adult’s emotional growth?
I’m just catching up, and this show is incredibly bizarre. It’s poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed, poorly edited … and yet it’s fun and kinda knows it’s operating on a level of irony (though I don’t think it understands which one) and has a few moments of genius that make me think that it’s run by people who’re much smarter than the show seems…. and then I see articles like this and I think “oh, probably not. It’s just accidentally fun.”
No, it’s intentionally fun. This author’s been watching a Karate Kid spinoff and wants it to be Better Call Saul.
Well yeah, it’s obviously trying for some degree of camp, the questions are: 1) how well it does whatever level of camp it’s aiming for, and 2) what percentage of my laughs are AT the show vs. WITH the show (right now it leans towards the former, hence “accidental”).
I found the first ep this season extremely rough, like it
made me question if the show which I’d been enjoying so far was always
like this, just total, bafflingly bad shit.
I
wearily watched the second and at least it popped a lot when it was
focused on snaky ol’ Silver. The rest of it, the Mexican rescue mission
without a rescue, was meh but I didn’t hate it like that first ep.
I’ll
probably get through the rest of this season at a slower pace than
previous, but if it’s going to continue, I admit I’m hearing that little alarm that tells me it was time to bail on shows I’ve been watching for years.
Is it really necessary to recap every twist in the show in order to review it?
I don’t know. On one hand, this season is clearly Daniel-centric and it did bug me at times because Johnny is a much more interesting character. On the other, it made natural sense for Daniel to be the central character with Silver as the big bad and Johnny was mainly sidelined because he grew as a character, which was nice to see.Overall I thought the season was good and the show remains fun. I think S5 was maybe even a notch better than the previous season as they toned down some of the drama with the teenagers this year. I would agree that Silver was a boring villain though. At least Kreese had those flashbacks that fleshed him out a bit, Silver is just a random rich psychopath who chooses to violently pursue karate domination over just being rich and happy. And his random sidekick this season was even worse – she’s just OK with attacking and seriously injuring kids because she wants her dad’s teachings to be more widely known?
There’s definitely a Rubicon you have to cross where you decide if you’re going to just go with the ridiculous world that’s been set up. Mine was after season two. I crossed that river and remain happily entertained by the increasing insanity of the Karate Kid universe. This show remains fun PRECISELY because it completely ignores letting any of these people transition over to reality. Truly, what we really have is the Jedi Academy and the Sith Academy, with students (and teachers) jumping back and forth from Light Side to Dark Side with impunity. We even got a Darth Sidious this season with plans to take over the world. Cobra Kai is everything the Star Wars sequel trilogy should have been (maybe 40% less cheesy than Cobra Kai, but the focus on the fight for each character’s soul should have been the throughline of the trilogy).What I enjoy most about this show is the absolute joy the creators and actors are having in bringing all this to life. They keep finding incredible new ways to expand upon the Karate Kid lore, drilling deep for the tiniest nuggets, like turning a throwaway bit of lore from KK3 “The Way of the Fist” and Kim-Sun-Yung into a major centerpiece of the villain’s plans for world domination. This is only going to become a bigger piece in the puzzle next season, and it has its roots decades ago. It’s ridiculous!! But I had to tip my cap to them. I cannot WAIT to see how they ultimately incorporate Hilary Swank into the show. With the whole Sekai Taikai tournament, the Miyagi-Do as underdogs is back in full force, but now with the ability of Topanga Karate, Chozen’s eventual dojo, Cobra Kai USA, and whatever Cobra Kai offshoot Kreese comes up with to all play off of each other in fascinating ways.I remember scoffing loudly when the very first mention of a Cobra Kai show was made. The dumbest idea I’d ever heard of. But that first trailer… Two seconds in, I saw what they were doing and I was a believer. And they’ve somehow been able to continue this for four more seasons.
The die is cast.
Anyone who has seen KK 3 knows Daniel was never being paranoid about Silver. The dude is legit insane. In the movie he says shit like “for the next few weeks my only business is revenge”. Not even HIS revenge. It’s like if Lex Luthor took time off from running his company to harass a teenager. As for why? I assumed Vietnam messed with his head, and Kreese specifically is a trigger for him. I also assume he does copious amounts of cocaine.
This review sounds confused. It’s not actually complaining about “nostalgia”. This season took the story to new places never before seen in the Karate Kid universe. It’s not a rethread of any of the other past plots, even though it makes a few references to the past here and there (even then, I got the feel that there were far less flashbacks to the movies than in any other season).What this review is actually complaining about the is fact that the author wishes that Cobra Kai was more focused on drama and natural character development (like Johnny’s self-improvement) than over the top action and martial arts. Essentially, it’s complaining about the genre the show chooses to be. Not “nostalgia”.
Sour grapes much? The show aims low, and scores its points exactly as it desires. If the adults all “grew up” as you suggest? We’d have a really uninteresting story. If that was your aim? Maybe it’s why you’re a critic and not a creator. Sorry. Not trying to be a snarky d-bag here. It’s just that your point is VALID, but it seeks to improve a show that dug it’s heels in back in S2. Cobra Kai isn’t going to become “bigger” than what it set out to do.
This show is binge fodder. It knows it. The audience knows it. We’re all in it to dip into nostalgia, and see a ridiculous world where karate is indeed… the only activity children can do. (And in less than a montage grow from picked-on dweeb to mini-six-pack-sporting super-samurai)