Cobra Kai - Hai!

[Ben]

Season 3 of Cobra Kai has dropped on Netflix. This is a great show. I didn't catch it when it was on the youtubes, but when Netflix picked it up I binged the first two seasons.

I am normally not a fan of the "antihero" or "misunderstood bad guy" stuff, but this show does that so well that I can't tell you. I am a big Johnny ("What's a Facebook?") fan, and I like how good guy Daniel-san is actually kind of an ass. Anyways, recommended.

[AZRedhawk44]

I love this show, but I'm irked at its tendency to "reset" character relationships at the end of each season.  Daniel and Johnny seem to find common ground only for it to be torn out from under them in the final episode each time, same thing with the teens in the show.  Reminds me of most CW shows that way.  Hard to get invested in following a plot if there's no character growth to show for it.

Johnny is my hero in this iteration of the Karate Kid saga though.

[Ben]

I love this show, but I'm irked at its tendency to "reset" character relationships at the end of each season. 

I do agree with you here. I can see why you might want to do it once, but making a habit of it is kind of annoying.

[AZRedhawk44]

I finished Cobra Kai Season 3 this weekend.

Very happy with Netflix's new direction with the show.

I think the Karate Kid "extended universe" has more cohesiveness to it than that of Star Wars.  All manner of memes and fandom culture over the last 30 years have been acknowledged and integrated into the continued story.  The No More Kings "Sweep the Leg" song and video, the "Daniel is the bully" theory, the previous movies.  I've probably missed other things too.

They cut Robbie's hair.  Ditching the CW YA style appearances.  He had a young Brad Pitt kind of hairdo that is now gone. 

Johnny is scarred now.  Some real character development.

They've doubled-down on Daniel the *sshole.  Negative character development.  It works.

They ditched the fat kid that was Daniel's son in the first two seasons.  Recast, allowing for the son to be a plot device to continue the show when the daughter graduates from High School or moves on with life.

It's over-the-top in ways that you question the sanity of everyone involved and why law enforcement or even federal organized crime or gang units aren't brought in to resolve it.  I do think they took the rivalry too far with the last couple episodes, but the confrontation in the end of the season finale was quite fun (without giving spoilers).

Kreese's background story is entertaining.  I half expected Chuck Norris or Stallone to emerge from the treeline to assist with the rescue.

Over all, much improved under new leadership at Netflix.  A fun series now has more potential.

[Ben]

I also liked the Kreese backstory. As I said early, I'm normally not a fan of the good guy / bad guy switcharoo, but they just do it so well here. I also saw that unlike the first two seasons, the last episode wasn't those two guys screwing up and taking ten steps back. I was waiting for Johnny to screw it up with his girl, but in the end, he did the right thing.

[AZRedhawk44]

It's unfortunate, but you know the last dude in the bamboo prison is who Kreese called from his telephone, Terry Silver from the 3rd movie.  And that movie was so cartoony and awful.  The first and second movies were good, but Silver/Barnes were just caricatures of caricatures by how over the top they were.

Not sure how Netflix is going to de-camp that content when they inevitably bring it in, especially with how campy the kid level high school karate gang conflict has gotten.

I was really hoping they were going to ignore the 3rd movie, the girl movie, and the Jackie Chan movie.  Now I'm worried.

[Ben]

I only ever saw Karate Kid 1&2, so can't comment on anything after.

[WLJ]

Apparently it's too white

Cobra Kai BACKLASH! Netflix MUST use the show for radical change?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CzsRmVWMGc

[AZRedhawk44]

Apparently it's too white

Cobra Kai BACKLASH! Netflix MUST use the show for radical change?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CzsRmVWMGc

Oh FFS.

I'm already annoyed at the level of tokenism in the show.  Good fight choreography is taking a back seat to gender "equality."  I've trained with good female martial artists.  A couple in particular that were a bit scary to step into a sparring ring with.

But the female fight choreography in this show is all limp wristed, punching from above the shoulder, slow-kick nonsense.  Girl fighting manifested, but without the hair pulling. 

It's always been blatantly apparent that William Zabka was a far superior martial artist compared to Ralph Macchio.  His balance and stances are more natural and less stuttered and he has cleaner and stronger technique.  And it remains apparent, watching "Sensei" LaRusso.  Neither of these guys are good senseis, but watching the show it's clear that Zabka has some actual training in real life that he maintains, while Macchio does not.

We have fat kids in the show.  We have nerds.  We have girls.  We have mexicans.  We have black kids.  We have asians.  We have les/bi characters. 

What we don't have?  A particularly good character arc for 2 of the 3 main characters:  Miguel has an interesting arc, but Robbie and Samantha are both utterly boring, over-predictable, and so one dimensional they might even just be a point in zero-d space.

The wokes won't be happy until the main character is a transexual futanari, weighs 250 pounds, has zero character flaws, has a flawless victory in every confrontation, and invents xer own martial art style that's better than everyone else's.  With no effort.

[Ben]

The wokes won't be happy until the main character is a transexual futanari, weighs 250 pounds, has zero character flaws, has a flawless victory in every confrontation, and invents xer own martial art style that's better than everyone else's.  With no effort.