The Review: Cobra Kai

Cobra Kai 10/10

This was an amazing series! Cobra Kai is a show I never would have checked out if K.N Parker had not mentioned how good it was. Click here to check out and buy his awesome ass stories and convince him to grow his hair out. This is a Youtube Red series and the first two episodes are available free. They knew what they were doing because they hooked my ass after just the first one. I have to point out that I was not a huge fan of Karate Kid. I saw the first two one time and never watched the remakes. Culturally this is one of those movies that never went away and is quoted by people and series. “Wax on, wax off.” All that. I thought this series would be a straight up comedy sort of mocking the original movies, but it is not that at all.

This is the story of Johnny Lawrence played by William Zabka. Thirty years or so after the first series of films he is doing odd jobs and heads home to get hammered and do it all over again the next day. He relives his glory days of being champion and whipping Daniel's ass and drives around in his old car blasting classic rock. One day he loses his income and is visited by his father who runs him into the ground and then hands him a check. Johnny tears it up at first but is later convinced to slap that shit back together and use it to open up a dojo.

Miguel, played by Xolo Maridueña, is the one that convinces Johnny to open a place to teach students. Miguel is the only one for a while. He is a unpopular kid that is made fun of and has no athletic ability. They live in the same apartment complex. I loved this kids story arc because it did not go where I thought it would. Matter of fact, none of the stories ended how I thought they would! I thought that Miguel would end up turning Johnny into this nice sensei that realized that his tough ways of the 80's did not work anymore and that he should change with the times. That is not what happened at all. Miguel shows Johny how to advertise online and set up ways for people to apply which is better than handing out flyers to strangers the way Johnny was.

I haven't even talked about Daniel LaRusso played by Ralph Macchio. He seems to have the perfect life. He runs a car dealership. Has a wife, a son that does nothing but eat and play video games, a daughter that is nice but hanging with the popular and mean girls, a big house, and gives out free banzai trees to people who come to his dealership. His perfect life is not as perfect as it seems though. For as much success he has there is something missing. He ends up crossing paths with Johnny after a car accident. Daniel's daughter was the passenger of a vehicle that wrecked Johnny's (no one knows that yet) and the car is towed to Daniel's place to be repaired. Once Johnny realizes this he tried to get his car and take off. Johnny is sort of cocky towards Johnny and they each have a different view of how history transpired.

His daughter Samantha is played by Mary Mouser and she is good. Her story could have easily been flat and as if she is just this object that other boys are fighting for. Samantha knows some moves she learned from her father when she was younger. She starts dating this kid that turns out to be a massive asshole and bully. She then gets with Miguel and that whole thing goes in a direction I was not expecting at all, especially when Robby Keene, played by Tanner Buchanan, gets involved. Turns out he is Johnny's son and that introduces another level of story and chaos that I was not expecting. It gets even worse when Daniel starts training him. That is one of the best things about this series. The fact that nothing goes the way I thought it would. Even at times when it seemed like some happy ending was coming the rug would get yanked from under me.

With a show or premise like this one had it could be so easy to fall from parody to homage. A lot of movies make that mistake and it comes across as embarrassing or as if they are making fun of your nostalgia. There are a lot of times where I just say “Let what I loved in the past stay in the past.” Don't think I do not cringe every time I hear of a remake of The Last Dragon. Ash Vs. Evil Dead is a homage. Cobra Kai had me cheering at my screen and hoping that it does well enough to get a few more seasons. Maybe four and that should be enough. I also liked that episodes were about thirty five minutes or less and ten episodes which meant less chances to waste time or episodes. Check this show out even if you're not a fan of Karate Kid.

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