Season 3 Discussion

[cambridgeguy]

1 hour ago, memememe76 said:

Am I wrong or were the movies and the first season not as violent?

The kids weren't a bunch of trained fighters back in S1, plus setting up fight choreography takes a fair amount of time and money.  Now they're all trained (in universe, anyway) and there's that sweet Netflix money to use. 

As for the movies, the fights were usually reserved for the beginning and end.  You get the gloriously 80s training montage in the middle.

[Jediknight]

6 hours ago, Racj82 said:

It didn't come out of nowhere at all. We constantly see Hawk realizing everytime he has crossed the line. Especially to Dimitri. But, he just kept ignoring his conscious. During the house fight, he finally stopped fighting his urge to end the nonsense. Not defending his behavior. He deserves bigger consequences for his actions. But, they set up him having a change of heart throughout the season. Tory having a change of heart would have been out of nowhere because she's never shown remorse for anything she has done. 

Yeah, Hawk looked around and realized he was fighting his actual friends.  It's no coincidence that it was him not denying it after Kyler congratulated him.  He was fighting on the same side as Kyler, and other bullies that picked on him.  He had thrown aside actual friends like Demitri, Miguel, Bert, and Mitch.  They weren't his enemies, he was fighting on the side of his enemies

6 minutes ago, cambridgeguy said:

The kids weren't a bunch of trained fighters back in S1, plus setting up fight choreography takes a fair amount of time and money.  Now they're all trained (in universe, anyway) and there's that sweet Netflix money to use.

And in season 1, Johnny was training them.  Despite some missteps, his students weren't as violent as they would become under Kreese.  Notice that the only fights we see them in away from the tournament was Miguel defending himself at the Halloween Dance, and defending Sam in the cafeteria.  After the tournament, Johnny wasted no time in tearing into Miguel and Hawk for their actions.  Kreese encouraged everything that Johnny didn't want his students to become.  Kreese could use their anger, and have them unleash it whenever they felt like.  And now, Kreese has a dojo full of true believers, all his students are basically Dutch.

[Lamima]

Man, this show is bad. Not realistic AT.ALL. ANd plot holes galore. Seems like some old guys just wanted to relive their youth. I

Edited January 2, 2021 by Lamima

[Racj82]

Season 1 was framed like a 10 episode version of Karate Kid 1. Everyone is learning the art and it's all leading up to the tournament. The show has moved past that.

Now we are kind of in the world where it's like Karate Kid 1 is over and a bunch of kids are into karate now but the bullies and the need to fight back still exists. Just with a lot more kids. Hence, more fighting. 

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

The show should do a better job of explaining why these particular kids and parents don't go to the police (or if they did, what happened).

And it wouldn't take that much effort to sprinkle that in. They kind of did in this series with Kreese getting the restraining order (which is a little ridiculous but ok), but it was more played for laughs. The problem is they're just saying Kreese is bad which the police can't do anything about. 

That said, I can buy the house fight way more than the school fight, and could see them not calling the police at that point. Beating up the kid and taking the money though is too much. I assume the adults didn't know about it. 

I'm surprised none of the kids grabbed a gun yet. 

[norcalgal]

10 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Hawk had some moments of doubt throughout this season:

1. He was not a fan of Kreese signing up Kyler, the guy who had bullied him about his lip.

 I viewed Hawk’s objection to Kyler as twofold: one - residual shame/anger at Kyler’s bullying of him in S1; two - feeling that karate is HIS (Hawk) thing and not wanting his adverary to horn in on it. Basically, Hawk resents Kyler being a member of KC. 

2. He took it to heart that Johnny had changed him and called him soft as a baby's ass when he first met him.

You guys are more perceptive than me as I didn’t really see this on screen. 

3. He knew breaking Demetri's arm was a step too far.

 I do agree with this. 

4. He was genuinely friends with Miguel so having Miguel question Kreese had some residual impact.

Again, all on this forum who saw this are more perceptive than me. I didn’t see that Miguel’s view of Keese had much influence on Hawk. I saw Hawk as completely having drunk Kreese’s kool-aide (see the scenes of the new recruits “auditioning” to become KC members). 

5. He questioned Kreese bringing on Robbie, the guy who was not Cobra Kai and who put his friend in a coma.

See my comments on #1. So same as with Skyler, Hawk resents an adversary horning in on KC, a place he feels is HIS and that Robby didn’t earn a spot as a member - it was just given to him. So if Skyler and Robby were not KC, doubtful to me Hawk would have had a “change of heart”. 

6. He went back on the stealing the snake prank.

IIRC, he only did that when they realized someone at the museum was alerted to their presence, not because he truly felt the plan should be abandoned - full stop. 

 

9 hours ago, paulvdb said:

I don't see Eli/Hawk as starting a redemption path just yet, although it may happen. I think he just took Kreese's advice about the enemy of your enemy being your friend. Hawk first started doing karate to defend himself against Kyler and the other bullies. He was not happy when Kreese let those guys join Cobra Kai. And then Kreese let Robbie join who put Miguel in a coma. I think that's why Eli/Hawk decided to leave Cobra Kai and join the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang alliance.

Yes, again, I feel if not for Skyler & Robby being in KC, I don’t think Hawk would have turned, if in fact he’s sincere. 

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

In the real world, there are plenty of people who don't call the police to deal with crime because they do not like/trust the police to be fair, because they are skeptical the police would act quickly or thoroughly enough, because they would prefer to take revenge themselves, because they know that involving the police will cause the criminals to react even harsher in the future, because they think the criminal justice system is too lenient,/harsh/unreliable/slow etc. etc. etc.

The show should do a better job of explaining why these particular kids and parents don't go to the police (or if they did, what happened).

I can picture several variants of real world parents reacting to news of Kreese's tactics with indifference or emotions rather than shock and horror:

• Parents who are are relatively uninvolved with their kids
• Parents who have a lot of other problems going on  
• Parents who think their kids are liars/exaggerators
• Parents who specifically approve of the Kreese method of teaching/philosophy of life
• Parents who might not approve but defer to Kreese as an expert who has a good karate resume and military honors
• Parents who believe that injuries are just part of the territory of taking karate

 

ITA on the bolded. Also, your  bullet points are spot on! The Miyagi-do/Eagle Fang kids are just minding their business *at a private residence* when the KC kids bust in - literally. Are we supposed to believe every single one of the Miyagi-do/Eagle Fang parents fall into one of those bullet point categories and thus, would NOT involve the police?!?! Puh-leeeeze! 
If the show is going to resort to wide scale violence, they should confine those fights to places where it could be a he said/she said (no video cameras, no witnesses, not in a private residence) so there’s less chance of someone being arrested or even imprisoned. 

[norcalgal]

16 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I'm surprised none of the kids grabbed a gun yet. 

Without (more) harsh punishment, IRL this is the logical progression. How often have we heard about people being bullied to the point they finally are so fed up they take a gun to school and start shooting? 

[juno]

Tory has used quite a few weapons so far. Nunchucks in the fight with Sam and a claw knife in her other fight in the school.

I am not against "cartoon" violence but we have giant plot holes where Robbie goes to Juvie and even Johnny is arrested for a fight with some guys in a bar.

This show seems to do only two things well regarding the teens. Make the adults responsible for the teen's actions and have no consequences for the teens from parents, the school or the community for the assults, the break ins, stealing from a zoo, assault with a deadly weapon and yes, attemped murder.

[norcalgal]

28 minutes ago, juno said:

This show seems to do only two things well regarding the teens. Make the adults responsible for the teen's actions and have no consequences for the teens from parents, the school or the community for the assults, the break ins, stealing from a zoo, assault with a deadly weapon and yes, attemped murder.

Hence my contention that if the show wants these fights, have them happen in a he said/she said scenario so it’d be harder for any real life consequences. As it is, the show picks and chooses who pays and who doesn’t - it’s too Jekyll & Hyde. Either present consequences to all, or none at all. 

[Racj82]

34 minutes ago, juno said:

Tory has used quite a few weapons so far. Nunchucks in the fight with Sam and a claw knife in her other fight in the school.

I am not against "cartoon" violence but we have giant plot holes where Robbie goes to Juvie and even Johnny is arrested for a fight with some guys in a bar.

This show seems to do only two things well regarding the teens. Make the adults responsible for the teen's actions and have no consequences for the teens from parents, the school or the community for the assults, the break ins, stealing from a zoo, assault with a deadly weapon and yes, attemped murder.

There is a reason why Robbie and Johnny faced consequences others didn't. Johnny repeatedly gets into physical conflict around people outside of their bubble. So, yeah those people are more likely to call the cops. With Robbie, he nearly killed someone and then fled the scene. They had to make specific consequences for that.

And the kids on their own don't want to get law enforcement involved because all of them are in the wrong. It's not just cobra kai. So they would all be fucked.

With the parents are the main issue. They may also fear the law coming for their kids but the arm breaking and toss through the window just takes its too far. At that point, there was no both in the wrong. Just cobra kai breaking an entering and destroying someone's property and assaulting minors. 

But, it's a tv show. I don't really care. I find myself not really caring at all about "in the real world you can't do this" aspects that always comes up these days. Just watching and enjoying. I enjoy talking about certain elements that beg questioning but it's not something I spend any time getting mad about or quitting a show over. Shows lose me when I don't care anymore. I very much still care about these characters.

[raven]

Well, that happened.

I thought the season started off very strong but went downhill about midway.  I really enjoyed the Japan segment - and yes, Daniel has chemistry with Amanda, Kumiko and Ali (Johnny also has chemistry with Ali as well as Carmen).   It was nice to see Daniel learn something new and also to see that Chozen had matured.  I enjoyed those scenes.  We can also make a game out of "spot the sponsor" LOL.

I was completely bored with the Kreese backstory and the scenes took up too much time  - oh look, he was bullied!  He had an asshole for a C.O.!  His girlfriend died!  Who cares; I have no sympathy for him.  Fun fact - Martin Kove's son played the jock/bully in the flashback diner scene.  

Tory should be locked up - she is mentally unstable and dangerous.  I don't have any sympathy for her either.  

Johnny, I love ya but you are a shitty father.  I really felt for Robbie, abandoned AGAIN so that Johnny could.....pray for Miguel??? Seriously, show?  Robbie belonged in juvie but I really felt badly for him.  I understand why Daniel turned him in but not the way he did it.  He should have tried to get through to Robbie a bit longer - it seemed like Robbie was back for 5 minutes and then the police swarm in.     There was an interesting dynamic there but instead the show wasted time with Kreese's story - yuck.

The Johnny/Miguel scenes are golden tho - Miguel's patience with trying to teach Johnny about social media and Johnny trying desperately to help him is great stuff, plus Xolo Maridueña is the best of the cast playing the teens. 

Amanda, as always, was a lot of fun however I was a bit let down that she was so outraged over Sam being suspended.  Sam deserved to be suspended, as did all of the kids involved in the fight, no matter who was hurt.    I liked Amanda and Ali together, trading stories.  I laughed at Amanda snarking that Johnny and Daniel were fighting for the soul of the valley through karate.

As with last season, I was much more interested in the adults than the teens, except for Kreese, who is so much of a cartoon that I can't take him seriously (plus Kove is not a good actor).  Really, the show wanted me to believe he beat up the landlord's two thugs?  I can't suspend my disbelief that far.

Love, love, Johnny & Daniel working together but the guarantee of that may not be enough for me to be excited about S4 like I was for S3. 

 

[The Kings Foot]

18 hours ago, norcalgal said:

. Finally, I hope this won’t come to pass but:

  Hide contents

Bet Kreese’s army buddy who felt he owed Kreese will be some BigWig who uses his clout/wealth to help in some way 

 

 

You havent seen Karate Kid III  have you  ?  

[The Kings Foot]

12 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

 

On another note, am I wrong, or did they just age Terry Silver about 20 years? I'd have sworn Kreese's CO referred to his army buddy as "Silver" at one point, but Thomas Ian Griffith is younger than Ralph Macchio by a year or so, and for him to have been an active soldier in Vietnam in '68 would add two decades to him. Maybe Terry Silver is the son of Kreese's army buddy?

EDIT: NM. It looks like Vietnam was always part of Silver's back story, even though TIG was never old enough to have been a part of the war (in RL). I've only seen KK3 once or twice, so it completely escaped my memory.

 

This was actually  known  trivia back in the day  . Both that Macchio was about 10 years older than he was playing  and Griffith at last 12 years too young. 

[norcalgal]

36 minutes ago, raven said:

[snip] Johnny also has chemistry with Ali as well as Carmen).   
The only woman I’ve ever felt who had chemistry with Johnny is Carmen. That may be due to the fact she’s Miguel’s mom, so of course she’ll be in Johnny’s orbit more than any other woman. 

I was completely bored with the Kreese backstory and the scenes took up too much time  - oh look, he was bullied!  
The actor who played young Kreese was on this Nicklodeon show I watched called The Thundermans. The actor played a superhero named Linc so the whole time, I couldn’t see young Kreese- I only saw Linc. 

Tory should be locked up - she is mentally unstable and dangerous.  I don't have any sympathy for her either.  
ITA #1. 

Johnny, I love ya but you are a shitty father.  I really felt for Robbie, abandoned AGAIN so that Johnny could.....pray for Miguel??? Seriously, show?  Robbie belonged in juvie but I really felt badly for him.  I understand why Daniel turned him in but not the way he did it.  He should have tried to get through to Robbie a bit longer - it seemed like Robbie was back for 5 minutes and then the police swarm in.    
ITA #2. 

The Johnny/Miguel scenes are golden tho - Miguel's patience with trying to teach Johnny about social media and Johnny trying desperately to help him is great stuff, plus Xolo Maridueña is the best of the cast playing the teens. 

Through 3 seasons of episodes now, I’ve felt the most authentic, emotionally affecting scenes are between Johnny and Miguel, and ALOT of the credit goes to the two actors. The writers also seem to up their game writing scenes with these two together. 

 

14 minutes ago, The Kings Foot said:

 

You havent seen Karate Kid III  have you  ?  

Nope I skipped it. Now I fear what I put in spoiler tag will have me rolling my eyes come season 4. 

[nomodrama]

Never in my life would I have believed it if someone told me that I would one day fall in love with Johnny Lawrence, but my goodness do I love him. William Zabka is an absolute genius! I wish I could remember all of him amazing lines. One of my favorite that popped into my mind just now was when he was googling "how to make legs work," and then the way he pronounced WebMD. I just want him to have nice things and stop getting hosed. 

They definitely toned down the smug attitude on Daniel this season and I enjoyed him so much more. I like Ralph Macchio but I find his acting to be a bit wooden sometimes. His relationship with Johnny is the one of the best things on the show, 2nd only to Johnny's relationship with Miguel. Aside from Johnny and Daniel, I really do not enjoy any of the other adults. Unpopular opinion maybe but I actually don't like Amanda....oh wait I do like Carmen and Miguel's grandma, but thats it. 

The kids, oh man the kids. It's very clear to me that when they did the casting for this show they seriously went for karate ability over acting ability. Xolo Maridueña is wonderful and I completely agree his is the best of them and miles ahead of his young cast mates when it comes to acting talent. Robby is a great character as well and I think Tanner Buchanan does a good job with him. The girl that plays Sam is the worst of the bunch in my opinion. The rest of the kid characters are such caricatures, I don't know if it's bad acting or just the writing. Despite this I really do enjoy the show though. 

I've never really been that bothered by the lack of law enforcement involvement on this show, though I do think that the level of violence would garner more significant injuries than they do in the show. Granted that Miguel actually ended up in a coma, but these other kids get punched in the face, kicked in the stomach, thrown against things and then they get up like nothing happened. The kid who got thrown thru a window was attending Karate class a few days later!!! Now I've never been thrown thru a window but I would imagine it is very painful and that you could sustain some pretty serious injuries from that. 

Also a more petty nitpick but this took me right out of the show....when they showed Kreese in Vietnam, one of his war buddies had super long hair. No that would never in a million years have happened. That doesn't happen in the military now, it would especially not happen back them, particularly because the military was so again hippie culture and hair like that was associated with it. They couldn't just hire an actor for that very small part with short hair....come on!

[DoctorAtomic]

2 hours ago, norcalgal said:

How often have we heard about people being bullied to the point they finally are so fed up they take a gun to school and start shooting? 

There's no way that little Asian kid is ever going to be equal in karate to the likes of Miguel and Eli. He's just too small. The other two aren't jacked, but they are of average size for their age. They beat him bad, and took the money. That's the situation where the kid is getting the gun.

1 hour ago, raven said:

I was completely bored with the Kreese backstory and the scenes took up too much time  - oh look, he was bullied!  He had an asshole for a C.O.!  His girlfriend died! 

That happens to a lot of people and then they grow up. I think the point of all of that was - and it didn't need to be that long - was that Kreese never got over himself just like Johnny and Daniel. Except now - Johnny and Daniel have. I take the point they were trying to make, but Kreese is too far in the hole at this point that this serves him as a tragic character. He's always talking about 'enemies at the gate'. You know he's the kind of guy that blames everyone else for everything when he's the problem. I suppose that's the point of the next season, and that's fine. The whole buy in for the show is that these other two are in their 50s and haven't moved on.

1 hour ago, raven said:

Really, the show wanted me to believe he beat up the landlord's two thugs?  I can't suspend my disbelief that far.

I could buy that within the context of the show. Those guys were big and couldn't move and probably thought Kreese would cave. He's wiry and still strong, and I don't think he'd have too much of a problem. I don't think it's that real he lasted as long as he did against Johnny, and Daniel flat out beat him with the new moves, so that's fair.

 

[SoMuchTV]

21 hours ago, paigow said:

What kind of Country Club serves pasta for Christmas dinner???

 

14 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I think it was only one course. If it's any Italian influenced event, you'll get a pasta course usually after salad or soup. Of course, there's always the antipasto to start if they're really doing it up.

Yeah, I thought it was just the country club restaurant, where people are members, but they still order their own meals.  They talked about ordering drinks, and settling up their tab at the end.

I know that's not the main takeaway from the season.  I'll have to come back when my eyes stop rolling before I can say much more.  Not necessarily in a bad way.  I did enjoy the recurring theme of Johnny trying to help Miguel walk, Miguel falling on his face time after time, and Johnny's "oops, my bad" reactions.

[DoctorAtomic]

It looked like a set menu because the waiter that almost ran into Johnny had a large number of pasta plates. For an xmas party at that venue, it's probably choose out of 2 selections, but they'd all come with soup, salad, pasta, then a meat or a fish.

[threebluestars]

I think we'll find out that Kreese is mentally ill like his mother, and combined with Vietnam, I don't see him getting a traditional redemption arc. I can see him going off the rails enough that he's finally held accountable for everything and that's his arc.

 

[Jediknight]

44 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I could buy that within the context of the show. Those guys were big and couldn't move and probably thought Kreese would cave. He's wiry and still strong, and I don't think he'd have too much of a problem. I don't think it's that real he lasted as long as he did against Johnny, and Daniel flat out beat him with the new moves, so that's fair.

And I just assumed that all they had was muscle, and no legit training.  It's believable that all they have is size and strength, and that's not gonna mean much against somebody who is trained.  Kreese is a blackbelt that was a karate champ in the military.  Kreese is a legit ass kicker, who can take advantage of any weakness or somebody being sloppy in a fight.

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, norcalgal said:

 

Yes, again, I feel if not for Skyler & Robby being in KC, I don’t think Hawk would have turned, if in fact he’s sincere. 

ITA on the bolded. Also, your  bullet points are spot on! The Miyagi-do/Eagle Fang kids are just minding their business *at a private residence* when the KC kids bust in - literally. Are we supposed to believe every single one of the Miyagi-do/Eagle Fang parents fall into one of those bullet point categories and thus, would NOT involve the police?!?! Puh-leeeeze! 
If the show is going to resort to wide scale violence, they should confine those fights to places where it could be a he said/she said (no video cameras, no witnesses, not in a private residence) so there’s less chance of someone being arrested or even imprisoned. 

I think there's a lot of room for possible interpretations. I wouldn't roll my eyes if next season it turns out that Hawk is a double agent, since there's support for that notion in what we've been shown. There's support for the notion that Hawk has returned to the Light Side because of the sorts of things I referred to, but I might also be reading too much into things. And it's prefectly fair to say that Hawk became less interested in the CK way of doing things when it was clear that he was no longer the top or second ranked guy in the Dojo as he had been until both Kyler and Robbie were in the mix.

In terms of involving the police, it's first important to know that we don't know yet one way or another if anyone has or hasn't called the police, or will or won't call the police with regard to the final ep fight. As I understand it, the confrontation with Kreese is within hours of the original fight happening. Most of the parents presumably don't even know that the fight has happened, let alone have time to have called the cops. For all we know, Amanda or Carmen has called the police simultaneously with Daniel going to find Kreese. Hopefully, TPTB address that in particular because that sort of attack is something most people would report.

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

17 hours ago, norcalgal said:

That would be quite clever if CK embedded Hawk as a spy, but I think they sincerely presented him as having a change of heart (which came out of nowhere)!  🙄

They were trying to sell us on Hawk having a big moral revelation, but his turning against Cobra Kai was more about Kreese marginalizing him.

Other thoughts about the home invasion:

The whole scene was ridiculous on multiple levels.

Under California's "castle law," Sam and her friends could do pretty much anything they wanted to the Cobras, up to and including killing them, and be immune from civil and criminal liability (basically, there's a legal presumption that if someone breaks into your home, you can assume they intend "great bodily harm" against you, and therefore anything you do to them is considered self-defense).

On the other hand, the Cobras are 100% liable for anything they do: if Sam and Tory beat each other up equally, Tory would go to jail and owe restitution, whilst Sam would not. Kreese himself could well go to prison if any Cobra fingers him as the organizer.

Speaking of Tory: Nunchakus are considered deadly weapons, you idiot. If they hit Sam even once, you'll spend your next few birthdays in prison. Assuming your sick mom is still alive when you get out, have fun supporting her with a felony conviction on your record.

When the LaRusso house was invaded by the Cobras, did nobody think to just call 911?

And earlier when Robby saw Sam and Miguel kissing each other: how did he get in through the house without anyone noticing?

Other thoughts:

Speaking of Tory, Part 2: Assuming Kreese intimidated the asshole apartment manager into letting her stay without paying rent, why couldn't the manager call the police five minutes after Kreese left and say "The tenant in Apt. 1 won't pay, and now they're sending their friends to threaten me"?

During the final fight, Martin Kove's body double was really obvious (Kove has dirty blonde hair that's graying, and the double had dark brown hair).

I love the attempts to present Johnny as technologically inept, and Zabka does a great job with the character, but come on: Anyone would know a laptop needs to be plugged in.

The rehab scenes with Johnny and Miguel were hilarious but ridiculous. Falling without protection (like he did many times) would result in multiple broken bones, and the whole plotline seemed to suggest that all paralysis is psychosomatic (which is not remotely true).

Looks like we're getting Terry Silver in Season 4 (and I assume Mike Barnes might come along for the ride).

Edited January 2, 2021 by Sir RaiderDuck OMS

[raven]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I could buy that within the context of the show.

I know it's the context of the show so I won't belabor too much.  Kreese is sloowww.  Johnny and Daniel are slowww.  The show wants us to ignore this, I get it, but they all move very slowly when fighting.   I handwave it but sometimes the show asks too much - obviously, mileages vary.  The show wants me to think Kreese is a legitimately scary badass and it hasn't convinced me.  He is old and slow.  

 

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I take the point they were trying to make, but Kreese is too far in the hole at this point that this serves him as a tragic character.

I get it but the scenes were boring.  I don't care about Kreese, it was all cliche and I'm sure we all saw the ending coming from a mile away.

38 minutes ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

Falling without protection (like he did many times) would result in multiple broken bones

I winced every time he fell.  This was one of the things I could handwave though because I was entertained.

I like Johnny, Daniel, Amanda and most of the kids.   The show is trying to straddle real life/cartoonish stuff which is fine, it is TV.  Some of the cartoony stuff just doesn't work for me though.

 

[Robert Lynch]

I think the stunt doubles for the older actors like Kove, Macchio, and Zabka must have been a Covid19 restriction guideline because two actors are in their 50s and one is in his 70s. While in the first two seasons before the pandemic, they did do those stunts themselves and even though they are not karate expert in those seasons, it was still contact among individuals. I would not have been shocked at all if it was a meeting decision to make sure the actors are not put in harm's way. While the other two younger actors are karate trained and engaged in these stunts, I would not be shocked if some meeting went on when the pandemic was in full force.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Robert Lynch

[Racj82]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

It looked like a set menu because the waiter that almost ran into Johnny had a large number of pasta plates. For an xmas party at that venue, it's probably choose out of 2 selections, but they'd all come with soup, salad, pasta, then a meat or a fish.

There really is no reason to question that dish at the dinner. It was simply an Easter egg referring to part 1 when Daniel ended up covered in pasta sauce after thinking he saw Johnny and Ali back together. 

It was basically Chekhov's pasta making you think Johnny was going to be the one reacting that way and being covered in food. Thankfully everyone remained mature.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

The rehab scenes with Johnny and Miguel were hilarious but ridiculous. Falling without protection (like he did many times) would result in multiple broken bones, and the whole plotline seemed to suggest that all paralysis is psychosomatic (which is not remotely true).

I was enjoying this show up until the last few episodes.  There is so much of it that is just ridiculous.  Miguel should've been in rehab with professionals, but apparently they're paying out-of-pocket, so let's have dumb-as-dirt Johnny handle it.   Insert eye roll here.

Then there's the whole plot line of the evil dojo, which I find just as ridiculous.  I'm not saying that there's not some whackos out there in the martial arts, but having seen Mr. Chat through his Tae-Kwon-Do years, there was none of this kind of behavior from his dojo or anybody else's that they went to competition with.  It was all about self-discipline and defending one's self if necessary.  It wasn't about going out and picking fights with other people. 

The show went a little off the rails for me with the last 2 episodes, plus the violence was more than I can stomach these days.  I'm hoping they'll tone down the violence in the next season.  

 

[SoMuchTV]

8 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

1 hour ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

 

I was enjoying this show up until the last few episodes.  There is so much of it that is just ridiculous.  Miguel should've been in rehab with professionals, but apparently they're paying out-of-pocket, so let's have dumb-as-dirt Johnny handle it.   Insert eye roll here.

Not to mention, apparently Miguel couldn’t go back to school until he was walking again?  No reasonable accommodations here?  I’m just going to go with all the eye-rolliness and enjoy it for what it is. Kept expecting Batman-style “bam” “pow” during all the fight scenes. 

[Cthulhudrew]

3 hours ago, raven said:

The Johnny/Miguel scenes are golden tho - Miguel's patience with trying to teach Johnny about social media and Johnny trying desperately to help him is great stuff, plus Xolo Maridueña is the best of the cast playing the teens. 

Agreed. Also, while I think many of the younger actors have grown into their roles, I feel like you can really see the most development with XM's line deliveries and emoting than the others.

On another note, Ali first mentions to Johnny that she and her husband are separated, but later in the same conversation says her parents are mad at her about "the whole divorce thing." Even later (following episode) she mentions to Daniel that it's just Mills now, no Schwarber. Almost all the pictures we see on her FB page are also of her alone, or occasionally with her kids (no hubby). 

My takeaway is that she is actually divorced now, and not just separated. It's possible that the writers just used those terms interchangeably in her dialogue with Johnny, without regard to the fact that they have very different meanings/implications (as any child of separated or divorced parents would know). I hope that they were actually doing this intentionally, though; maybe Ali was initially nervous about being forthcoming about the extent of her marriage situation, but later became more comfortable with Johnny. He didn't seem to have much reaction at the different terminology, though. It's possible that the writers may also be hedging their bets here, setting up a storyline for a possible love triangle with Johnny-Carmen-and-Ali if they can get Elisabeth Shue back for a few more episodes in S4.

[twoods]

All that violence the last episode- I had to FF through some of it because all those Cobra Kai jerks belong in jail, especially Tory. So she’s all riled up because her ex who she never talked to while he was in the hospital is dating Sam? She has zero redeeming qualities. At least with Hawk they showed his turmoil starting with breaking Dmitri’s arm, and now Robbie has a chip on his shoulder so is Kreese’s new minion. 
 

I just can’t wait for Johnny and Daniel to team up next season. Their scenes are definitely the highlight of the show.

[SoMuchTV]

5 minutes ago, Cthulhudrew said:

 

On another note, Ali first mentions to Johnny that she and her husband are separated, but later in the same conversation says her parents are mad at her about "the whole divorce thing." Even later (following episode) she mentions to Daniel that it's just Mills now, no Schwarber. Almost all the pictures we see on her FB page are also of her alone, or occasionally with her kids (no hubby). 

I dunno, but I think being “seriously” separated and well on the path to divorce would track with all that. 

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

And it's prefectly fair to say that Hawk became less interested in the CK way of doing things when it was clear that he was no longer the top or second ranked guy in the Dojo as he had been until both Kyler and Robbie were in the mix.

I'm not giving him that much credit because he's done a lot of bad things, but that is surely part of it. Additionally, Kreese never really listened to his input beyond suggesting recruiting. I feel like I'm remembering Johnny listening to the kids more when they spoke up. Eli also spoke up for Ass Face and talked about his 'loyalty', which amounted to nothing. I think that, coupled with Johnny correctly calling bs on him in school just added up.

And really, most of the time, the best you can get is having most people act in enlightened self interest.

You should not be ok with *anyone* calling you Penis Breath.

This whole double agent theory seems way off to me, and makes more narrative sense that Eli is the source of Kreese's undoing because Kreese gave him short shrift. Similarly, with Johnny in the movie, when Kreese started choking him out for losing. Kreese always used the kids as a means to an end. That's going to unravel.

I don't think he bought into 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' either. As trite as that is in general, I don't think it applies either, which is again a point that Kreese's undoing is his inability to adapt. These kids have histories and grew up together. The Cobras in the movie were insulated from the rest to a point where there were clear groups that just didn't interact for the most part. It's not like Daniel and Johnny used to have sleepovers when they were kids and now they're fighting every day in high school.

[RunningMarket]

I loved it. Absolutely loved it. Is it without its problems or potential plot holes? Of course not. But IMHO, it was fantastic and I immediately wanted season 4. Some of the lines were golden, including:

• I thought you were the bully?! (random guy)
• I don't understand why everyone in the Valley is so big on karate. (Councilwom - uh - person)
• So your wang can still get the tang! (Johnny)

My one main issue is Tory. The way she is presented, her entire MO is that she doesn't like Sam because, reasons? Because Sam is wealthier than her? Because Sam and her dated the same guy? Good luck in life Tory, if you're always going to be pissed off because someone has it better than you. Of all the Cobras, she's the one I would actually be concerned about - she needs professional help for her anger. And not the kind karate can bring you.

[juno]

In most shows characters like Kreese and Tory that have caricature villians like these 2 have 2 paths to travel; death/prison or redemption. On this show loyalties seem to last from episode to episode so my guess is that there will be an event that redeems Tory-death in family, illness etc. My guess is that like Hawk all will be forgotten including a broken arm, and she will be welcomed into the group.

My guess is that Kreese will not be redeemed, he will go down with the ship and be left with an empty Dojo.

[moonshine71]

5 hours ago, Racj82 said:

 

But, it's a tv show. I don't really care. I find myself not really caring at all about "in the real world you can't do this" aspects that always comes up these days. Just watching and enjoying. I enjoy talking about certain elements that beg questioning but it's not something I spend any time getting mad about or quitting a show over. Shows lose me when I don't care anymore. I very much still care about these characters.

^This.

It makes for interesting conversation, but doesn't ruin the show for me.

[cambridgeguy]

2 hours ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

Falling without protection (like he did many times) would result in multiple broken bones, and the whole plotline seemed to suggest that all paralysis is psychosomatic (which is not remotely true).

Let's be honest, if they were going for realism the final scene of the season would have had every single cast member hanging out in the ER.  Meanwhile, the police would be there ready to arrest the Cobra Kais for breaking and entering.

[mtlchick]

It shows how much I overall loved it when I managed to steamroll through this in a  day when other series like the Mandolorian I took my time with (and I have yet to watch that show's second season.) 

Mind you my memory is mostly fuzzy on Karate Kid 2 and 3 so the Okinawa episodes probably didn't resonate as much for me as it probably should have but I loved the cinematography and that Chozen was able to let go of the past, teach Daniel San a new trick or two and also move forward. 

The downside? So. many. FIGHTS.  I thought the one at the school was bad enough and the excuse of teachers not allowed to interfere was ridiculous.  But at Sam's home?  Wut?  And Aisha was sacrificed for more Tory? How is THAT a good idea.  I so wished Aisha was still there to sort of counterbalance Sam's quest for revenge.  And Hawk finally decided to wake up to his conscious after a full season of being a dick, a bully and an asshole to almost everyone but probably also realizing that he will never be top dog (snake? Cobra?) at the dojo with the way Kreese was actively recruiting. 

The upside? The relationship between Daniel and Johnny (not Tango and Cash!) was always fun with Amanda being a bad ass in a good way and Ali coming back into the fold.   And very questionable therapy aside, Johnny and Miguel's relationship is the cornerstone of this series.  

1 hour ago, Robert Lynch said:

I think the stunt doubles for the older actors like Kove, Macchio, and Zabka must have been a Covid19 restriction guideline because two actors are in their 50s and one is in his 70s. While in the first two seasons before the pandemic, they did do those stunts themselves and even though they are not karate expert in those seasons, it was still contact among individuals. I would not have been shocked at all if it was a meeting decision to make sure the actors are not put in harm's way. While the other two younger actors are karate trained and engaged in these stunts, I would not be shocked if some meeting went on when the pandemic was in full force.

This season was completed before the pandemic when it was meant for Youtube Red. They are aiming to start season 4 sometime this month in Atlanta. 

Edited January 3, 2021 by mtlchick

[Robert Lynch]

14 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

It shows how much I overall loved it when I managed to steamroll through this in a  day when other series like the Mandolorian I took my time with (and I have yet to watch that show's second season.) 

Mind you my memory is mostly fuzzy on Karate Kid 2 and 3 so the Okinawa episodes probably didn't resonate as much for me as it probably should have but I loved the cinematography and that Chozen was able to let go of the past, teach Daniel San a new trick or two and also move forward. 

The downside? So. many. FIGHTS.  I thought the one at the school was bad enough and the excuse of teachers not allowed to interfere was ridiculous.  But at Sam's home?  Wut?  And Aisha was sacrificed for more Tory? How is THAT a good idea.  I so wished Aisha was still there to sort of counterbalance Sam's quest for revenge.  And Hawk finally decided to wake up to his conscious after a full season of being a dick, a bully and an asshole to almost everyone but probably also realizing that he will never be top dog (snake? Cobra?) at the dojo with the way Kreese was actively recruiting. 

The upside? The relationship between Daniel and Johnny (not Tango and Cash!) was always fun with Amanda being a bad ass in a good way and Ali coming back into the fold.   And very questionable therapy aside, Johnny and Miguel's relationship is the cornerstone of this series.  

This season was completed before the pandemic when it was meant for Youtube Red. They are aiming to start season 4 sometime this month in Atlanta. 

 Thanks for that! 

[DeeDee79]

1 hour ago, juno said:

On this show loyalties seem to last from episode to episode so my guess is that there will be an event that redeems Tory-death in family, illness etc. My guess is that like Hawk all will be forgotten including a broken arm, and she will be welcomed into the group.

And to make it extra dramatic the redeeming event will be witnessed by Sam who will be the one to welcome her in.

[bettername2come]

Episode 6: Love how Kreese outsmarted them by going to the police first.  Cape Fear-level karate psychos plan ahead. "I feel like this story's missing a lot of context." As angry as I am at the Cobra Kai kids in general, they've done a great job humanizing everyone . Not that that's an excuse for breaking arms and releasing snakes into car dealerships.

Miguel's "QUIET!" was beautiful. The "Miguel can only do something new when he's not trying" aspect is getting a little ridiculous at this point. Glad to see so much focus on him and Johnny though...and then I get to the next episode where's off the crutches completely. 

[moonshine71]

5 hours ago, nomodrama said:

 

The kids, oh man the kids. It's very clear to me that when they did the casting for this show they seriously went for karate ability over acting ability. 

Also a more petty nitpick but this took me right out of the show....when they showed Kreese in Vietnam, one of his war buddies had super long hair. No that would never in a million years have happened. That doesn't happen in the military now, it would especially not happen back them, particularly because the military was so again hippie culture and hair like that was associated with it. They couldn't just hire an actor for that very small part with short hair....come on!

Lol, most of those kids are have no particular talent for karate and are generally unathletic. Any deficiencies you find in their acting has nothing to do with being chosen for karate skills and everything to do w/ the fact this show started on YouTube w/ a more limited budget and was less likely to draw the caliber of talent that one would imagine it could do now.

 

I get the criticism of the hair, it seemed a little weird to me too. I believe they were trying to set up the impression that it was a young Terry Silver(his ponytail being the most memorable feature many fans remember about him), so they could pull a switch and kill him and have the other friends turn out to be Terry. Basically the same thing they did when they introduced young Kreese in the first flashback.

 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

49 minutes ago, DeeDee79 said:

And to make it extra dramatic the redeeming event will be witnessed by Sam who will be the one to welcome her in.

That's unfortunately likely. However, it doesn't change that she's still got 2 jobs and has to take care of her mother and brother, so I don't see how that much stress mellows her out. I'd actually like it of Sam beats here in the tournament and she decides she doesn't need all this extra drama and just leaves.

My enjoyment of the show isn't ruined due to all the nonsense because I'd just stop watching. It's just silly and only requires stepping back a half step. And I don't even mind the fight in the house. I like watching all the fighting and the stunts.

[Racj82]

I will say bravo to the show for never using Ali as plot device to fix Miguel. That seemed like a no brainier and they just didn't bother going there. They made that story just about Johnny and Miguel. I appreciate that. Also, for not bothering to make Chozen Johnny 2.0. Nice bit of nuance there. Also, for never having Amanda be jealous of Ali. 

[juno]

5 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

I will say bravo to the show for never using Ali as plot device to fix Miguel. That seemed like a no brainier and they just didn't bother going there. They made that story just about Johnny and Miguel. I appreciate that. Also, for not bothering to make Chozen Johnny 2.0. Nice bit of nuance there. Also, for never having Amanda be jealous of Ali. 

I could be wrong but did I notice Ali giving Daniel an extra look when he was leaving? I think she may be back to create some havoc with Johnny and Daniel next season. That could be interesting.

[TigerLily20]

On 1/1/2021 at 6:01 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

Weird that they have some rule that teachers can't break up fights, but that doesn't preclude the inaction from Tory screaming into the PA system and then everyone pouring out from the classroom into the halls. I could buy the mall fight, but I think they went way too much with the school fight. It should have been off grounds again.

I did enjoy the show at least winking to the viewers with the news montage.

Karate Footloose should be greenlit immediately.

A friend of mine works in Middle School and while over all it's not an overly rough school they have had a few instances, and she has told me they are not to get involved between students, so yeah this part didn't surprise me much.

I am trying so hard not to just bust through this, we are on episode 4 right now, trying to make it last at least a week lol.

[Racj82]

13 minutes ago, juno said:

I could be wrong but did I notice Ali giving Daniel an extra look when he was leaving? I think she may be back to create some havoc with Johnny and Daniel next season. That could be interesting.

Oh of course. That could happen. But, they also had that little hand touch in okinawa that could have been hinting at things that ultimately were nothing. I think there was an air of oh what could have been with Daniel and both of his exes but I don't think they will do anything with it. 

But, I love Amanda clocking the two hugs because I did too. It didn't anger her but she saw it and Daniel without any hesitation threw that possible concern away. 

Ali ended up being more like their Christmas angel than another source of conflict. Thank God for that. Daniel and Johnny fall apart at the end of every season. Finally we end with them united.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Racj82

[bettername2come]

Episode 8: "Being a badass doesn't mean being an asshole." That saying needs to be on some show merchandise. Good to see Miguel struggling with karate moves after moving so quickly from unable to stand to independent walking. It's fun to watch Amanda be the one to get all riled up about Kreese. It's nice to see her getting involved in the karate aspects of the show more. 

I'm too happy about Carmen and Johnny hooking up. 

Episode 9: Elisabeth Shue! I was beginning to think she wasn't going to appear this season. She and Zabka have great chemistry. It was nice to see Miguel and Daniel get to know each other and for him to hear both sides of their story. I was expecting Sam and Miguel to Parent Trap the senseis not the students.

Episode 10: Bert! The kid needs to stop falling for cute animal tricks, though.  I do like the touch of Tori in a skeleton hoodie since the adults are making fun of Johnny's costume "skeleton pajamas." I like that the Ali/Daniel breakup was based on a misunderstanding rather than her being a jerk after the first movie. I like the consistency of Amanda always teaming up with the other woman about the ridiculous guys (this and Carmen at the double date last year). The fight wasn't as good as the school one, just because this time the Cobra Kais have a lot of random extras instead of nuanced characters so I'm less excited about the matchups. I enjoyed Assface encouraging Demetri to get back up in the fight. I like that after all the conflicted looks Hawk's given this season, that he finally manned up, apologized to Demetri and rejoined his friend. Johnny would've been so proud to see that. My brain went "Oh shit! Cobra pit!" without trying to make a rhyme. I love that Johnny dropped the sai without hesitation when Robbie told him to. Daniel rescued Johnny! I wasn't sure that would happen since we hadn't seen him come home yet. "We won't lose." Daniel and Johnny on the same side makes me so happy, even if Robbie not being on their side is heartbreaking. At least all the other duos are back together. And I guess Johnny didn't screw everything up with Carmen like I was expecting. 

So, Terry Silver next season? 

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by bettername2come

[memememe76]

I thought that the show (and how Ralph played it) made it that if Daniel had any lingering feelings for an ex, it is with Kumiko. Her never having been married was included for a reason. For a second, I thought she and Yuna were an item.

I felt the chemistry between Daniel and Kumiko. Interesting that Daniel and Ali never truly had a scene together. There was always someone there. 

Edited January 3, 2021 by memememe76

[Conotocarious]

5 hours ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

I love the attempts to present Johnny as technologically inept, and Zabka does a great job with the character, but come on: Anyone would know a laptop needs to be plugged in.

LOL, I loved his line about he doesn’t have Facebook anymore because he threw away his phone. My 75 year old mom said the same thing a few years ago. Of course it’s bit much but its so damn funny Zabka makes it work. He is what really makes this show work. 

[DoctorAtomic]

46 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

Also, for never having Amanda be jealous of Ali. 

I would have found that way ooc for Amanda. Her going to Ali - These two idiots amirite? - was exactly how I thought it would go.

39 minutes ago, TigerLily20 said:

A friend of mine works in Middle School and while over all it's not an overly rough school they have had a few instances, and she has told me they are not to get involved between students, so yeah this part didn't surprise me much.

I suppose there's liability issue when I think about it more. A teacher popping a student during a fight in 1986 I don't think would raise much of an eyebrow. I guess my overall issue is that there seemed ample time to avoid the whole thing since the students were already in class and the teachers could have just shut the door and stood there. So I'm lumping the whole thing together.

28 minutes ago, memememe76 said:

Interesting that Daniel and Ali never truly had a scene together.

I don't know what else could have been said about them ending. He apologized and that was it. Johnny was the one who never got over her and needed that time with her now to really move on. One thing I do like about the show it that Daniel and Amanda have a good, healthy relationship. Johnny already said he is terrible at relationships, so I thought it worked fine.

 

[Megan]

Ralph Macchio looks so much like Tony Hawk. 80's colliding.

Watching the thingy with David Spade and Cobra Kai cast and WTF are the boys wearing? So much weird jewelry and monochromatic jacket outfits.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Megan