So remember when YouTube Red and YouTube Premium were a thing? Not sure if they still are, but this series was just one of many you can watch on it. That is, until Netflix acquired it from the third season onwards. I figured as I talked about
The Karate Kid films yesterday, it would only make sense to also talk about
Cobra Kai. A series that serves as both a sequel to the Miyagi-verse films and a continuation too, set 34 years later and from the perspective of one of the film's characters, Johnny Lawrence (reprised by William Zabka). Four seasons with a fifth on the way, so let's take a look:
Season 1
30 years have passed since Johnny lost to Daniel LaRusso (reprised by Ralph Macchio) at the 1984 All-Valley Karate Tournament. Since those days, he has become a struggling handyman while Daniel and his wife Amanda (played by Courtney Henggeler) have been running a successful car dealership chain. Johnny finds himself engaging with his old rival when his car is sent to the dealership for repairs. Nevertheless, he soon finds a new calling to revive Cobra Kai when he saves his teenage neighbour Miguel Diaz (played by Xolo Mariduena) from a group of bullies and after some encouragement. From then on, Johnny sets out to change Cobra Kai from being what it was in the past, but must face the challenge of convincing people the dojo is not like it was back in the 80s. The first season starts the show well by having some nostalgia for old fans and coming of age characters to make it fresh. All the characters are well written, and the rivalry between Daniel and Johnny is still strong as ever, even after so many years off-screen. 9/10
Season 2
John Kreese (reprised by Martin Kove) makes a return to Cobra Kai, but is rejected from returning by Johnny. At least at first, until he realizes what has happened to him. Meanwhile, Johnny's son Robby (played by Tanner Buchanan) gets taken in by the LaRussos when he gets convinced that his dad Johnny is not a good father. Eventually, Daniel creates his own dojo called Miyagi-Do and both that and Cobra Kai go head-to-head in terms of how many students each one gets. All leading into a full on brawl at school where nobody is safe. Not even Johnny and Daniel's own kids. While not as good as the first season, it's clear that things are heating up for better or for worse, and it's really fun to watch. Much of the season is about the two dojos competing for members and also more coming of age stuff such as relationships and a few revelations here and there. Plus, some other characters from the films make an appearance, albeit due to one of the actors passing away not long after this season wrapped up filming. 8/10
Season 3
Following the school brawl, both Johnny and Daniel are feeling the pressure. Miguel is in a coma at hospital, Robby is on the run, and Daniel's daughter Sam (played by Mary Mouser) feels she can't go to school while people make fun of her. While all that is happening, Kreese manages to force Johnny out of Cobra Kai and some students who he feels are too weak, in particular when some refuse to feed a hamster to a snake. Daniel's own car dealership is also facing cuts from various sources, which prompts him to pay a visit to Okinawa to seek advice and more from some old friends and rivals he has there. All that and more, plus we also explore Kreese's past before he became the head of Cobra Kai (his young self being played by Barrett Carnaham). This season, once we've passed the depressing stuff from the previous season, does become fun, entertaining and has enough humour and so forth to feed those of us that are part of Generation X. All good stuff. 9/10
Season 4
With the 51st All Valley Karate Tournament on the horizon, Miyagi-Do, Cobra Kai and newcomer Eagle Fang set out to prepare their students for what looks to be a pretty badass event. Stakes are high with the future of Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do at stake, and maybe we will see an end to ongoing rivalries and more. Plus a few familiar faces return to do battle and then some. All ending in victory for some and defeat for others. Yeah, that's as far as I can say about this one without giving too much away. But what I really like about this season is that it feels like everything we learnt in previous seasons has been leading to this moment. To see how it could all end and also see hints at what we can expect in the next season, which is looking to be pretty interesting. 9/10
The show, for what it is, definitely is a worthy sequel and continuation of the original four films. Lots of the story, characters, plot lines and so forth have been carried over for good reason, and it's kind of nice to see the main characters from the original films train a new generation of characters. That and we have clips from the films to help us remember certain events rather than us having to dust off the films and watch them again to watch this. Looking forward to seeing where things go next. 9/10
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