kickedinthehead

I know this isn't the most active thread, but just wanted to share that I met several cast members (William Zabka, Ralph Macchio, Martin Kove) at MegaCon Orlando this past weekend (attended the Cobra Kai panel, as well) and had a really fun time! Zabka was my favorite -- really nice guy, and he actually took this selfie. I was stuck using my Kindle for photos, and he figured out how to turn the camera part towards us and not outward (yes, "Johnny Lawrence" helped me with my technological device!). I also have a couple more normal photos with him, but this goofy one's my favorite.

This very well might have been mentioned before (although I don't recall seeing it here or on other forums) but - I was rewatching this episode, and noticed toward the very end when Johnny and Daniel are talking that Amanda and Carmen are behind them...and Carmen realllly looks like she's showing off a ring to Amanda. This is the best screenshot that I could get of it, but there's a least one more very quick (but even more obvious) view of this in the episode. I'm surprised that there wasn't an actual scene of him proposing (maybe a deleted one), but I'm assuming that this means that Johnny proposed to Carmen? Is this common knowledge, or did anyone else catch it?

Didn't he "ghost" her? I seem to have faint memories of seeing a brief close-up of his phone with messages from Cheyenne that said stuff like 'Where are you?' and 'I'm worried about you' (although that could just be a figment of my imagination). I felt a little bad for Silver at first, until he started beating up everybody left and right to send messages to Kreese. Then... nope, no more sympathy. He's still my favorite villain on the show, though.

I had to look it up, but I believe that Julie was supposed to live on the East Coast (apparently, Mr. Miyagi was visiting to pay respects to her deceased father who was his military captain or something; and he let Julie's mom stay in his place in Los Angeles for a bit while he took care of Julie). That seems to fit with my memories of 20 years ago or whenever the last time that I actually watched TNKK was. I don't mind if Julie appears in Cobra Kai. In my fantasies, she'll have made amends with and forgiven the oh-so-important character of "Charlie", who was a minion of Julie's bully, and she'll bring him along. (But only if Charlie is still portayed by Walton Goggins.)

I thought that 'Mony Mony' montage was entertaining-ish, but that Zabka (as much as I like him especially in this role) hammed it up a bit too much when "rocking out" to the song. Also, I could have done without the using a beer can for... you know, scene. Just pull over to a gas station or something, Johnny. I do enjoy Johnny's rapport with Lyle (or whatever that pawnshop owner's name is). "There you go, knucklehead." 😄

^That was episode 9. I've seen those "terminal illness" theories and think that they're a bit far-fetched, but... who knows. I didn't dwell much about why Silver was there while watching and just chalked up his presence to being a Villain who magically knows where all of his enemies are at any given moment. (But maybe I'm not giving the writers enough credit?) Poor Mitch with his terrible nicknames (even though I don't really care that much about Mitch). Besides the one already covered in this thread, he was also called "A**face" at one point. Otherwise, as for episode 10 -- it wasn't my favorite of the season (nor was this season my favorite of the series) but it entertained me. And that's good enough for me (I'm not really expecting Shakespearean drama with 'Cobra Kai'). Johnny and Terry Silver weren't as compelling as in previous seasons, but were still my favorites to watch. I also wouldn't have minded seeing more of Mike Barnes. And Daniel and Chozen had their moments. The kids = meh. They're fine, but I watch for the characters closer to my age. 😅 My biggest complaints would be Kreese's ending (his story was okay and even sort of interesting until then, but... come on) and Kim Da-Eun, who was just WAY too over-the-top and cartoon-ish. A couple of times, in her scenes with Silver, she literally reminded me of a cartoon character: Sour Grapes from classic 'Strawberry Shortcake'. Although I think that's just because she was an evil villain lady whose partner in crime happened to be a tall guy with white(ish) hair.

I was a weird kid who was basically IN LOVE with Peter Cetera (I sent him fan letters and everything; and this was years after "The Glory of Love" was a hit) so that made me laugh, too. As did the "Sailing" scene with Daniel and Miguel.

Johnny's been to that high school so many times (usually -- if not always -- with Miguel, or going to give Miguel some message), the few other adults there might even just assume he works there at this point. As for the pool at "Stingray's" house -- well, these were a lot of the same kids who went to the LaRusso house back in, I think, the very second episode (when Daniel caught several of them wearing his "bathing suits"). So there's that consistency! (Of course, back then they would have known Sam lived there...)

I'm glad to see this masterpiece mentioned; it's what I most remember William Zabka from outside of the Karate Kid franchise. I've also seen him in a sort-of Christian film called Where Hope Grows (it was fine, except it began to get on my nerves that everybody kept referring to the main character as "Produce"). And watched the short film that he co-wrote/co-produced, called Most, a variation on that train-track dilemma story but actually really well-made (Johnny's an Oscar nominee!).

Greg Morton's act reminded me a little too much of Joey Gladstone for my liking...

Marcin did go through; he was the Judges' Choice.

Ugh, Jackie "Fabulous" has fans? Lukas and Falco might not have been the most original act, but I would have FAR preferred to see them move on than Ms. "Fabulous".

So THAT's who the guy banging drums with the little girl (Daya's daughter/Pornstache's... adopted sister?) at the end was -- thank you! He looks so different without his "porn stache"; and despite having watched every episode of this show, I honestly had no idea who he was or why they were showing him. At first I even thought he was that weird CO who needed to microwave his popcorn just so back in Season 6. But no, of course, it was "good old" Mendez. Well, at least he seems to be a good "father"/brother? (And, hey -- we never did find out what happened to Bennett, did we? Though the first couple of times I saw that stupid "You've got mail" guard in ICE, for some reason, I thought HE was Bennett?!) Anyway, goodbye, OITNB. Honestly, I spent much of my time over the years "hate watching" rather than watching as some adoring fan (especially with the previous two seasons, and awful Season 3). But while there were many subplots and characters that either didn't interest me or actively annoyed me, and relationships that I couldn't care less about (hello, Piper and Alex) -- this show definitely had its moments. I have to admit, I will miss it. And Season 7, while depressing as all heck, also had some excellent and genuinely compelling stories. Especially Taystee and Pennsatucky's. Wow. When Taystee opened that envelope from Tamika... well, I think only a Hellman could watch that and not feel anything. On that note: RIP, Pennsatucky. I went from despising her in Season 1, to liking her better than most of the other inmates (I did also enjoy Lolly, and maybe a few others with smaller roles; and many of the more important characters were okay or at least tolerable in smaller doses). But Pennsatucky, as has been pointed out, changed for the better. If only she hadn't sat at that table and overheard Daya and her minions (speaking of -- if Aleida killed you, Daya, then don't RIP... rest in turmoil, or rot in h*ll or whatever else is appropriate for horrid Daya. Her character was pretty much the opposite of Pennsatucky's as far as growth and such; except I didn't like Daya better than most of the other inmates at the beginning of the show -- I just found her boring back then). Black Cindy was another character who (slowly) grew on me. She should have listened to her mother a few episodes ago and stayed, but at least they seemed to end things on a hopeful note. Morello and Red? I'm not really sure what to make of their final scene together, and their storylines were both also very sad, but ... they have each other? And Nicky seemingly taking over Red's role is a good ending for her, considering the circumstances. What else? Even though I hadn't really missed the characters in Ohio since the end of Season 5 -- and especially not Big Boo (of course, her one line would be about "taking a dump"; ugh) -- I suppose it was good to see them again, if only for a split second. (The Sankey and Soso scene, though, was very... odd.) Dixon = Glad they remembered his friendship with Pennsatucky, and based only on what we actually saw of him onscreen, he did show some growth throughout his time on the series, but... uh, did the writers forget about his coversation with Bayley in the Season 4 finale? (Maybe he was "only saying" he did those terrible things in the Middle East in some horrifically bad attempt to make Bayley feel better at the time, and didn't actually do them?) I'm not sure why they suddenly tried to turn him into this "lovable teddy bear" type of character, without even addressing his (pre-riot) past (minus the one throwaway line with Maria in the group). But if nothing else, showing him sing with Suzanne in the finale was a nice callback to when he sang for that ridiculous "Got Talent" episode back during the riot. McCullough = who cares. Hopper = mostly who cares (however, I did fleetingly wonder what will happen to Aleida's kids now). Larry = whatever. Karla = her phone call with her sons a couple of episodes ago was another VERY well-done (if incredibly sad) moment, but as far as her scene in the finale -- well, I wish they'd either left it out entirely, or just showed her risking her life by making the trip again, and left it at that. It would have been powerful enough, and illustrated how determined she was to follow through on her promise to her boys. But I didn't need to see Karla break her ankle and be left (likely to die) in the desert to realize that crossing the border is incredibly dangerous. Good for Blanca, though (and good for Flaca, for also showing some growth and thinking about others instead of her makeup or whatever). So I take it the Caputos... er, Caputo and Fig (they might as well have been married by the end) adopted that little girl? Good for them, too. And finally, good for Suzanne. She was far from my favorite character in the first six seasons (despite having some of the more interesting flashbacks) but was surprisingly okay in this final season. That egg on Pennsatucky's pillow. 😞 But it was nice to see her and Taystee join forces for the Poussey fund. (Oh, yeah... uh, good for Judy King. And for Luschek, too, I guess.) That's all I can remember for now... oh, sorry, except for one more thing, and then I'll end this rambly post. Kudos to the music supervisor; with Linda Ronstadt, Sam Cooke, etc., the song choices were quite effective this season.

I've missed a lot of the show tonight, but did get the "pleasure" of seeing Kara-with-a-K, who might be the LEAST funny comic this show has ever featured; I'd easily rather see Jackie (Not-So)Fabulous again or even another "Trailer Nasty" set before having to be subjected to more Kara-with-a-K. Ugh...

Well, that was definitely an improvement over last week's show. Marina the Contortionist: I almost forgot about her until I glanced at a recap somewhere online. Like all contortionists (at least on this show), I don't really have an opinion of her one way or the other. At least she wasn't a singer? Dom the Magician: Didn't "wow" me, but I suppose he had a somewhat more entertaining presence than a lot of the other AGT magicians I've seen. The beer/coaster thing grew old quickly, though. Carmen the Singer: A singer who "gave up" because somebody a long time ago told her that she was fat, yet somehow managed to find the courage to record an album that some recruiter came across "audition" for this show. How very original. Elderly Brasilian balancers: I can't imagine they'll do anything other than a very slight variation of the exact same act, should they manage to move forward. That said... um, originality points (I guess?) for not being "hot"/shirtless like the kind of acts that do this sort of thing usually are. Sethward: Couldn't find enough acts to fill the two hours this week, eh, AGT? Charlotte Summers: Teen Girl Singer number ... 3 of this season? I'm sure there are at least a few more to come. 🙄 Kevin Schwartz the Agoraphobic Comic: I wasn't sure about all of the "umm"-ing and "uhh"-ing at first, but I ended up liking him. I tend to enjoy pun comics (sue me). MacKenzie: Zzz, though he at least sang a nostalgic song of 1990 (albeit not exactly my favorite nostalgic song of 1990) and not, say, John Legend. Irritating Lady with the American flag unitard (?) who made ugly, annoying poses to the tune of "The Final Countdown": See 'Sethward'. Michael Paul (and Willy): I was fooled, too, at first and thought "here's this year's first animal act" (you know one with actual animal/s is coming). That would have been okay, since I usually don't mind animal acts. But I enjoyed the ventriloquism, too (even if he did overdo the "crap" thing a little). Willy's cute; I like his floppy purple hair. Tyler the Violinist with the Double Sob Story: The Golden Buzzer was 100% predictable (and while it's getting harder and harder to find somebody who WASN'T bullied on this show, it's genuinely terrible if kids made fun of him for having cancer...brats). In all seriousness, I have plenty of experience with a (different kind of) cancer and can't imagine going through all that treatment at such a young age, so kudos to Tyler for making it through that and I hope he stays NED for the rest of his life. And since it can't be said enough... at least he wasn't a singer! (PS. Please shut up, audience. Producers, nobody cares about some random person saying "Now I'm scared of giraffes" loudly and clearly right as the camera just happens to zoom in on her.)