Seasons 1 & 2 Discussion

[magicdog]

The latest from the CK speculation front:

This YT poster has been trying to be cast as an extra on the show and pays to get a casting sheet.  He says the latest has the show looking for extras who pass for teens with military style haircuts and no visible tattoos.  It would seem they're looking to cast inmates for juvie (or maybe a boot camp for first time offenders).  The big speculation of course is who will end up in juvie next season.  I suspect Tory would be a definite inmate since she instigated the fight and her grabbing the mike can be seen as a terrorist threat.  If Robby gets arrested he could likely go as well since he sent Miguel over the rail when he wasn't in any danger.  I also think Hawk could be another potential contender as he is a bit of a loose cannon.  

[raven]

I'm about 7 episodes in and a couple of things pull me out the story - one, Johnny should have been arrested for assaulting Daniel's employee (I guess we can handwave it as the guy didn't report it as a favor to Daniel or whatever) - Johnny and his friends could have been arrested for starting the fight in the bar (again, handwave as no one reported/cared about a bar fight) - Johnny's obvious drunken driving.   I like Johnny but it feels like the show is going to a few unbelievable extremes with him sometimes in an effort to show complexity.  They did it better in the first season.

I also don't really like the addition of Kreese.  I get it, Johnny is trying to rise above everything and the show needs something to pull him back down but Kreese is such a cartoon to me.  The show tried to humanize him a bit when Johnny followed him to the halfway house? I guess it was but he still strikes me as one note.   This is kind of how I feel about Tory's bad girl routine too.

I like Daniel training Demetri - we got to see a different side of Daniel.  I wouldn't have had the patience with all of Demetri's whining! 

Hawk turning into a bully, though understandable, is tiring to watch.

We need more Daniel and Johnny scenes - I really like their interactions.   There's room for a conflict over Robby and I'm surprised the show doesn't use that more often.

I've read this topic and am curious to see how I feel after watching the rest of the season.

[juno]

22 hours ago, raven said:

I'm about 7 episodes in and a couple of things pull me out the story - one, Johnny should have been arrested for assaulting Daniel's employee (I guess we can handwave it as the guy didn't report it as a favor to Daniel or whatever) - Johnny and his friends could have been arrested for starting the fight in the bar (again, handwave as no one reported/cared about a bar fight) - Johnny's obvious drunken driving.   I like Johnny but it feels like the show is going to a few unbelievable extremes with him sometimes in an effort to show complexity.  They did it better in the first season.

I also don't really like the addition of Kreese.  I get it, Johnny is trying to rise above everything and the show needs something to pull him back down but Kreese is such a cartoon to me.  The show tried to humanize him a bit when Johnny followed him to the halfway house? I guess it was but he still strikes me as one note.   This is kind of how I feel about Tory's bad girl routine too.

I like Daniel training Demetri - we got to see a different side of Daniel.  I wouldn't have had the patience with all of Demetri's whining! 

Hawk turning into a bully, though understandable, is tiring to watch.

We need more Daniel and Johnny scenes - I really like their interactions.   There's room for a conflict over Robby and I'm surprised the show doesn't use that more often.

I've read this topic and am curious to see how I feel after watching the rest of the season.

The amazing lack of police presence throughout the second season completely wrecked the show for me.

[magicdog]

Which is better: Cobra Kai or Miyagi Do? An interesting comparison video.

Ultimately, I'm certain we'll see a fusion of the two - it's inevitable.

Edited October 20, 2019 by magicdog

[raven]

On 10/16/2019 at 8:53 PM, juno said:

The amazing lack of police presence throughout the second season completely wrecked the show for me.

It didn't wreck it for me but it made me roll my eyes - we have Johnny beating up someone AGAIN with no consequences (the guy Carmen was dating) just to start.  I hope Carmen at least finds out about that.  Yes the guy was a jerk but I don't approve of Johnny's "hero" routine.

The rumble at the school went right to the line of being unbelievable for me.   Watching it, it seemed to go on way too long but I can handwave that maybe it wasn't supposed to if it were real.  I can understand some teachers not wanting to get in the middle of it and the police were there at the very end, so someone called them.

Stingray squicked me out.  He's supposed to be an adult and is partying with teenagers and then taking part in a school fight.  Grow up, dude.   It made the show seem more of a cartoon to me, to have him in those situations.

I am curious about S3 but there's only so much they seem to want to do with Johnny and Daniel.   I don't want to do they almost reach an agreement stuff again; let them grow up for good.  Having Kreese as an antagonist doesn't completely work for me because what about his students?  They're not the enemy.   We'll see.

Speaking of the students, we'll probably see more of them, which is unfortunate for me, as I like Daniel and Johnny and their significant others more.  

I understand Samantha a bit.  All of her negative behavior seemed to me to be driven by jealousy, not a feeling of superiority.  Last season she still wanted to be friends with Aisha and approached her again this season; I see the first Tory/Samantha dust up at the club as being because Sam was jealous of Tory & Aisha's friendship and used the stolen alcohol as an excuse to start something.  Not nice for sure but sometimes a certain person just pushes your buttons.  Everything with Miguel was about being jealous, as was the behavior from both him and Robby. 

Robby knocking Miguel over the railing was to me an accident but one he absolutely has to pay for.    Miguel was letting up and we see the act from Robby's POV - surrounded by everyone pointing, laughing and filming.  I understand why he was angry and wasn't going to stand up and shake hands.   He wanted to get those last punches in but was wrong, wrong in the way he did it. 

Johnny tearing up outside of Miguel's room really got to me.   Though Johnny has plenty of issues, he is trying and now feels like he failed.  

There are good pieces here so I hope S3 is more grounded. 

[magicdog]

On 11/8/2019 at 4:28 PM, raven said:

Stingray squicked me out.  He's supposed to be an adult and is partying with teenagers and then taking part in a school fight.  Grow up, dude.   It made the show seem more of a cartoon to me, to have him in those situations.

ITA!  A 20 something neck beard who works full time should not be partying with teens (definite maturity issues there) but I'll give him points for bringing a date who was closer to his age.  My guess is he was reliving his lost teen years (he wasn't invited to such parties when he was younger).  Personally I won't miss the character if he's not going to appear next season.

On 11/8/2019 at 4:28 PM, raven said:

I am curious about S3 but there's only so much they seem to want to do with Johnny and Daniel.   I don't want to do they almost reach an agreement stuff again; let them grow up for good. 

Ditto!  It's time for them to bury the hatchet and start realizing they're not angsty teens anymore and that they need to start getting along.  We know they can since they never want to admit they're more alike than they know.

On 11/8/2019 at 4:28 PM, raven said:

I understand Samantha a bit.  All of her negative behavior seemed to me to be driven by jealousy, not a feeling of superiority.  Last season she still wanted to be friends with Aisha and approached her again this season; I see the first Tory/Samantha dust up at the club as being because Sam was jealous of Tory & Aisha's friendship and used the stolen alcohol as an excuse to start something.  Not nice for sure but sometimes a certain person just pushes your buttons.  Everything with Miguel was about being jealous, as was the behavior from both him and Robby. 

There's a great 3 part analysis of Samantha here, here and here.  I don't think she's a bad person either, but she does have to start re-examining herself and her actions.  I let some of it slide since teens often don't make the best decisions.  Her character could be a lot worse.  At least she's not like Yasmine.

On 11/8/2019 at 4:28 PM, raven said:

Robby knocking Miguel over the railing was to me an accident but one he absolutely has to pay for.    Miguel was letting up and we see the act from Robby's POV - surrounded by everyone pointing, laughing and filming.  I understand why he was angry and wasn't going to stand up and shake hands.   He wanted to get those last punches in but was wrong, wrong in the way he did it. 

True - and based on what I've heard so far, there will be scenes shot at a juvenile detention facility, so someone will be going there - but who and for how long is the question.  Robby was no longer in a defense posture legally since Miguel let up on him and was willing to end the fight peacefully, so if arrested, he's going to be in a lot of trouble.

Speaking of Season 3, I have heard that shooting has just wrapped and we should get a trailer by Christmas.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 4/28/2019 at 6:29 PM, Thomas Crown said:

Damn the finale was brutal. The school fight was amazing and the consequences will be explored in season 3.  It's going to be another long wait until it returns. (I have no doubt it will be renewed for season 3)

That was brutal. It was almost like something out of Daredevil with how well it was done. They even had one long continuous shot that went from Hawk fighting to Miguel and Robby fighting to the girls fighting.  And it was perfectly timed. Although I kind of wish that the fight hadn't started with Tory going completely psycho since I liked her character and her knocking Sam off her high horse.

Plus seriously Sam, what kind of shitty girlfriend goes to a party with her boyfriend and gets wasted on the very day his mom checks herself into rehab.

On 4/30/2019 at 3:27 PM, CrazyDog said:

I think I'm in the minority, but I am not totally thrilled about Alli returning, 

I am not really either mostly because Elizabeth Shue was really bad in those last few seasons of CSI and her coming back will just remind me of that.

On 5/2/2019 at 1:46 AM, magicdog said:

Speaking of, I find it odd that he went from working his job at he hardware store to applying for a security job at the local HS.  Sure, he had more confidence than ever before but it would seem an odd choice.  

Well that guy's only friends are high school students and he is kind of an idiot so him trying to get a job at the school makes sense.

On 5/25/2019 at 7:32 PM, juno said:

The truly amazing part of the season and not in a good way was the consistent illegal acts being committed without any sort of repercussions.

Assault, assault with deadly weapons, vandalism, graffiti, theft, property damage and trespassing. I know we have to suspend belief in order to enjoy the show but the scene in the mall and school would have all the teenagers in jail. The police would have been called in very fast in both cases if teachers and security wouldn't be able to contain the violence.

I just sort of view that as the comedy aspect of the show. Unrealistic yes but so is the fact that so many other kids actually give a shit about the karate dojo some of their friends belong to. Once I sort of accepted that the only thing that really annoyed me was how much they overdid the damn flashbacks.

[Virtual]

I can definitely see Tory being put into a Juvie center after the fight. She might have been able to show up at Cobra Kai's dojo that same night because no ruling had been enforced on her yet. She strikes me as someone who has gotten away with doing stuff her whole life because of a lack of parental or mentor guidance, hence why she thought it was fine to grab the microphone away from school staff and hit THEM (it sounded on the mic that Tory hit the woman she took the mic from) before threatening a student for the whole school to hear. Add the whole spiked knuckles thing as well.

Kreese didn't help matters either, he pretty much gave her permission to act like a psycho, which I wouldn't even call Hawk (I get the feeling even he would have thought the spiked knuckles was going too far).

as far as Stingray, I think he was solely added to the show to relate to older fans of this show who grew up watching Karate Kid, in an attempt to "inspire" that group of people to the way of thinking that they're not too old to take up karate or enjoy the show.

[magicdog]

On 1/8/2020 at 7:49 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

seriously Sam, what kind of shitty girlfriend goes to a party with her boyfriend and gets wasted on the very day his mom checks herself into rehab.

I don't remember if Sam was present when Robby's mom came to the house asking the LaRussos to take care of Robby while she went to rehab (though she could have been clued in later).  It also wasn't Sam's intention to get drunk that night since she wasn't planning on having a challenge with Tory.  In fact, she seemed to be a girl who normally eschews alcohol.

On 1/8/2020 at 7:49 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

I am not really either mostly because Elizabeth Shue was really bad in those last few seasons of CSI and her coming back will just remind me of that.

I hadn't seen those episodes but she did do well in The Boys (and got quite a few positive reviews  - whatever that's worth) so she might be OK here.  We'll find out soon enough.

 

Speaking of which, according to John Hurwitz's page, there's an unofficial confirmation of a Season 4 (he mentions the finale of Season three to be a heart stopper) so we might get 5 seasons as they initially said when the series was gearing up.

This is the tweet in question:

 

His twitter media page says:  

Quote

Last night, I watched the Season 3 finale of @CobraKaiSeries, an epic episode of TV that launches the Karate Kid universe into a world of new possibilities.

Make of that what you will!  They wrapped filming the first week of December so new episodes should be coming up by April or May.  I thought a trailer would have come down by now though.

Edited January 22, 2020 by magicdog

[Surrealist]

As much as I don't want to rush time, I'm really looking forward to Season 3.

[magicdog]

A new clue about who will be appearing in the upcoming season!

 

This YT video host noticed a credit on IMDB for an actor (Christopher Cocke) who will be playing the role of a wrestling coach.

Whom do we know who has been on a wrestling team in this series?  Kyler and his buddy Brucks (the pudgy kid who bullied Miguel and the other nerds in Season 1).  It seems we could be seeing them again - although I'm curious in what capacity.  I'd like to think they'd be doing more than just being on the team.  Perhaps Kyler WILL be learning martial arts or perhaps the theory of him looking to reestablish his BMOC status with Miguel in the hospital is coming to pass.

[CrazyDog]

Has there been any update as to when S3 will come out? I could really use this show for some good ol' fashioned escapism TV right now 🙂

[magicdog]

On 3/26/2020 at 4:00 PM, CrazyDog said:

Has there been any update as to when S3 will come out? I could really use this show for some good ol' fashioned escapism TV right now 🙂

Jon Hurwitz's twitter page has him posting that it will be just "weeks" before the new season debuts, but no specific date yet.  He also posted that Terry Silver was one of his favorite characters.  Most fans are suspecting that this is confirmation that Thomas Ian Griffith will make an appearance this season.

I suspect that each season will end on an appearance cliffhanger - and that Terry Silver will appear at the end of Season 3 just like Season 1 ended with Kreese's appearance and Season 2 ended with Ali's FB invite on Johnny's phone.  I can see a scenario in which Kreese dies and Silver appears to get revenge on those who he thinks is responsible for it.   

Meanwhile, Hayden Schlossberg has revealed on his twitter page that Tory will be in juvie briefly but will be let go.  He adds we'll find out why in the show.  It's hinted that charges will be dropped due to Sam showing mercy towards her after the fight.  We;ll find out soon enough.

Edited April 12, 2020 by magicdog

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

On 1/8/2020 at 8:49 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

I just sort of view that as the comedy aspect of the show. Unrealistic yes but so is the fact that so many other kids actually give a shit about the karate dojo some of their friends belong to.

That bugs as well. Most people in the real world view karate (and other martial arts) as a slightly eccentric hobby and are not captivated by it the way everyone on this show is. In addition, NO WAY would grown adults remember the winner of a long-ago children's karate tournament and be worshiping him decades later. The series tries very hard to sell us on Daniel LaRusso being a revered former athlete on the level of a Carl Lewis or Magic Johnson when that's not remotely realistic. 

On 4/12/2020 at 7:24 AM, magicdog said:

I can see a scenario in which Kreese dies and Silver appears to get revenge on those who he thinks is responsible for it.   

If Kreese dies, they should totally have Daniel show up at his funeral and demand to see the body to make sure he's really dead this time. 

Having said that, I'm kind of meh on either Terry Silver or Mike Barnes showing up. KK3 was so over-the-top and ridiculous. We can start with the idea of a corporate CEO walking away from his job for six months to plot a Machiavellian revenge on a teenager who beat his war buddy's student in a children's karate tournament, and go from there. And in that finale, Barnes' fighting was clearly superior to Daniel's, with the latter only winning because Barnes kept repeatedly cheap-shotting him and losing points. IIRC, take away the point deductions and the final tally would have been something like 7 or 8 to 1 in favor of Barnes. My friends and I joked at the time that "Karate Kid 4" would involve Kreese, Silver and Barnes meeting Daniel-san out in the parking lot and beating the crap out of him. 

Other thoughts:

Johnny lost it all this season, but at least some of the fault is his. You can't preach "No Mercy" to your students, then punish them for showing no mercy towards a fighter who just happens to be your estranged son. What did Johnny think was going to happen when everyone found out? The teenagers on this show are portrayed as smart and would be justifiably pissed at the double standard. And Kreese was there to exploit their dissatisfaction.

Speaking of Kreese, you can tell Martin Kove is just having a blast playing this guy again. Of course Kreese's philosophy led to him living in homeless shelters. For all of John Kreese's bluster and fighting skill, he really sucks at life. I especially loved that confrontation in the back yard when Kreese talks about winning his war with Daniel, and Daniel responds with a genuinely flummoxed "WHAT war???"

Ditto with everyone who pointed out that Sam and Robby intensely training together 1:1 was going to lead to a relationship.

Looking forward to Season 3.

Edited May 3, 2020 by Sir RaiderDuck OMS

[marinw]

5 hours ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

Most people in the real world view karate (and other martial arts) as a slightly eccentric hobby and are not captivated by it the way everyone on this show is. In addition, NO WAY would grown adults remember the winner of a long-ago children's karate tournament and be worshiping him decades later. The series tries very hard to sell us on Daniel LaRusso being a revered former athlete on the level of a Carl Lewis or Magic Johnson when that's not remotely realistic. 

Jumping in here. I am a second-degree black belt in Shotokan Karate. While this hardly makes me an authority on whatever style Cobrai Kai is, I will say  that there are many “regular” adults and kids who practice Martial Arts. Doctors, lawyers, various public servants,  IT people, professors, etc. We also about have about a 50/50 male/female split and range in age from teenagers to people in their 60’s and 70’s.

(Damn. I miss going to my dojo. Zoom Karate isn't the same 😪)

This Show is a fantasy, and that’s ok. I would like to see a show that realistically portrays a dojo, but this is clearly not that show. I do roll my eyes that Larusso is such a revered figure for winning a couple of tournaments,  but that seems to be the super-important founding myth for this whole show.

Edited May 3, 2020 by marinw

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

49 minutes ago, marinw said:

Jumping in here. I am a second-degree black belt in Shotokan Karate. While this hardly makes me an authority on whatever style Cobrai Kai is, I will say that that there are many “regular” adults and kids who practice Martial Arts. Doctors, lawyers, various public servants,  IT people, professors, etc. We also about have about a 50/50 male/female split and range in age from teenagers to people in their 60’s and 70’s.

My apologies if my post came off as denigrating martial arts. Perhaps "slightly eccentric" was a poor choice of words. I simply meant that it's an occupation not enjoyed by everyone, whereas on the show everyone seems to either be into karate or in awe of those who are.

On an unrelated note: If anyone wants to catch up on this show and doesn't subscribe to YouTube, Vudu currently has it on sale for $10 a season.

[marinw]

40 minutes ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

Perhaps "slightly eccentric" was a poor choice of words.

Not at all! No offence taken. It IS a  little eccentric. I just wanted to point out that many "real" martial artist are regular folks who fly under the rader. Martial Arts aren't part of the mainstream of North America fitness culture for a lot of reasons I won't get into here. I joke that I prefere Karate to Yoga partly because I don't have to worry about what to wear.

But I digress. Cobrai Kai is a silly show, but most Martial Arts shows are silly. (Enter the Badlands anyone?) Nonetheless, I would welcome the distraction that Season Three would bring.

Edited May 3, 2020 by marinw

[Jediknight]

On 5/3/2020 at 9:06 AM, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

Johnny lost it all this season, but at least some of the fault is his. You can't preach "No Mercy" to your students, then punish them for showing no mercy towards a fighter who just happens to be your estranged son.

He did at least start to get a handle on things before Kreese weaseled his way back in.  He saw it was stupid, and was moving away from "No Mercy" to "Be badass."  And being badass means fighting somebody one on one, not attacking them from behind, and not taking advantage of a cheap injury.

But, it's part of a flaw this show has put forth with Johnny and Daniel.  They're teaching kids karate, they're teaching bullied kids how to stand up for themselves and have confidence, which is great, but they haven't been teaching those kids how to use that power responsibly.  They've got all that training, but haven't been taught much maturity or responsibility.  Notice during the big school fight, that Chris had lost to his former friend one on one.  His friend didn't cheat, there wasn't anything underhanded, but then Chris uses a weapon (the book) to knock him out.  Right there, Miyagi would be appalled.

The show has made it clear that in order for both to be the best teachers and have balance, they have to work together.  Their petty rivalry has done massive damage to not just their lives, but the lives of their students.  And it's allowed Kreese to take control and rule over the Valley.

Edited May 6, 2020 by Jediknight

[magicdog]

Jon Hurwitz has tweeted that there will be a death in Season three!

I'm betting it'll be Kreese!

 

Quote

The show has made it clear that in order for both to be the best teachers and have balance, they have to work together.

True.  But it's too soon.  I'm sure that will be the endgame in upcoming seasons.  Season 4 or 5 most likely.

[methodwriter85]

Call me a sentimental 90's kid but I hope we see Julie. I can so see Hilary Swank being up for this. 

[magicdog]

On 5/11/2020 at 12:03 PM, methodwriter85 said:

Call me a sentimental 90's kid but I hope we see Julie. I can so see Hilary Swank being up for this. 

Ditto!  The producers made it clear Julie and Danial met at Miyagi’s funeral so it wouldn’t be a stretch.  I’d like to think the character became a Veteranarian or wildlife rehabilitator in keeping with her role in helping the eagle in the film.  Plus Daniel will need someone to help revive the dojo.  

[PumpkinLumpkin]

Season 3 of Cobra Kai will be moving to a new streaming service, possibly Netflix or Hulu

https://deadline.com/2020/05/cobra-kai-closing-in-new-streaming-home-youtube-release-season-3-series-netflix-hulu-1202941951/

[methodwriter85]

20 minutes ago, PumpkinLumpkin said:

Season 3 of Cobra Kai will be moving to a new streaming service, possibly Netflix or Hulu

https://deadline.com/2020/05/cobra-kai-closing-in-new-streaming-home-youtube-release-season-3-series-netflix-hulu-1202941951/

This should have been a Netflix show. If they go to Netflix they might actually convince Elisabeth Shue to cameo. I just need a scene where Johnny finally lets it go. 

Edited May 28, 2020 by methodwriter85

[CrazyDog]

I don't have Hulu but I don't trust Netflix. If they do move it there, hopefully a set number of seasons is agreed upon. Maybe 4 or 5, max.

[methodwriter85]

5 hours ago, CrazyDog said:

I don't have Hulu but I don't trust Netflix. If they do move it there, hopefully a set number of seasons is agreed upon. Maybe 4 or 5, max.

I can't see this show being dragged out to 6 seasons. Four feels right.

[ShadowHunter]

On 5/28/2020 at 5:58 PM, methodwriter85 said:

This should have been a Netflix show. If they go to Netflix they might actually convince Elisabeth Shue to cameo. I just need a scene where Johnny finally lets it go. 

I agree this should have gone to Netflix in the first place. I'll take Hulu even. I am glad about the news.  I could see the show having 4 seasons maybe ending after a solid 5 season run.

[paulvdb]

Cobra Kai moves to Netflix

Quote

Along with exclusive rights to Season 3 of Cobra Kai, Netflix will have access on a non-exclusive basis to the first two seasons of the show for fans to catch up. Seasons 1 and 2 of the  Karate Kid sequel series, starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, will premiere on Netflix this year, with an all-new third season to follow.

Quote

While the deal with Netflix is for Cobra Kai only, I hear there have been conversations between Netflix and Sony TV about potentially expanding the franchise in the future with other Karate Kid series.

 

[ShadowHunter]

On 6/22/2020 at 2:23 PM, paulvdb said:

Cobra Kai moves to Netflix

 

Sounds great. I'm glad Netflix is where it landed. This show deserves a bigger platform and audience.  Hey, we may finally see Elisabeth Shue now lol.

[magicdog]

Could CK be getting its own video game?

Maybe!

[tennisgurl]

I finally got around to watching this (its a great binge) and I had no idea what to expect from a sequel series to the original Karate Kid as told from Johnnys point of view, but this was really great! There was a lot of good comedy here, but its more of a drama to me about what happens when your too obsessed with nostalgia and get stuck in the past, which is really interesting for a show that seemed to be another of the endless reboots/sequels/nostalgia cash-ins on the outside. So many of the problems that Johnny and Daniel have seem to come being unable to let go of the past, they just keep having the same fights over and over and are just hitting the same beats, which is most obvious with Johnny, who acts like he has been in a coma since 1987 and has been so lost in the past that he basically stagnated until he found a way to finally relive his glory days, but Daniel has this going on too. He has seemingly moved on to a successful life, but the second he sees Johnny again, he is a teenager again facing off against his big bad bully, having not gotten over the whole karate dojo war as much as he thought he did. So now Johnny and Daniel are both trying to redo the original Karate Kid movie, but both of them are taking it so personally, and have so much hostility towards each other (not helped by the fact that both of them see themselves as the hero and the other one as the villain, instead of the more complex situation that it is) that they pass that along to their students, basically using them (even if its unintentionally) to get a re-match, so Johnny can feel like the hero, and Daniel can confirm that he is/was the hero all along. The two of them just cannot let a grudge match from decades ago go, and now kids are actually getting hurt because they cant move past the past and their stupid teenage karate feud. Just seeing each other brings back all of these flashbacks and this feeling of "its the guy who ruined my life", especially Daniel, who takes it past that and into "this is the villain and he must be defeated" despite the fact that Johnny, while a very flawed person, is also really trying to be a decent person, and that a lot of his worst behavior was acting out due to insecurity and loneliness. Not that it excuses him being a jerk, but this isn't a black and white situation, especially now, considering Daniel is so often the one who is escalating the situation, although there is plenty of that between both guys. Both of them have decided that the other one if the Bad Guy and that everything they do to the other one is alright because its to the Bad Guy (which is more obvious with Daniel, but Johnny can have a bit of a selective memory as well) to the point that Daniel is quick to turn against Robby, a kid he moved into his house, because he blamed him for Sam getting drunk and going off to Johnnys house (which is more on Sam) to crash seemingly because he has evil Lawrence DNA or whatever. 

I really hope that next season, now that they have really bit hit by the consequences of their actions after the karate brawl and have a common enemy in Kreese, they can finally stop this stupid feud and work together. I feel like this show is heading towards Daniel and Johnny combining Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do and running their dojo together, using the best of both of them. Thats what I hope happens anyway. 

I really like how they weave in the scenes from the original movies as flashbacks, especially the ones with Daniel and Mr. Miyagi, it works really well to connect the movies to the show, especially considering how so much of the show is about dealing with the events of the movies.  

Like, holy crap that brawl at school was intense! Talk about escalating! The school is definitely going to be answering a lot of questions from some very angry parents about how the hell a giant karate riot broke out with minimal intervention from security or any other school employees. That should be a fun conversation. "Well you see parents, we have these two rival karate dojos..."  

Edited July 13, 2020 by tennisgurl

[ketose]

Dammit! I don't have Netflix. I guess I'll have to wait even longer.

[magicdog]

 We have a premiere date for CK on Netflix!

It will be Friday August 28th.  This will be when the the first two seasons will begin running;  hopefully this will build an audience.  This could mean that season three may debut in December, which would be ample time to catch up on plot points.

 

Source:  one of my favorite channels

Edited July 21, 2020 by magicdog

[TigerLily20]

I have been waiting for a date for Netflix!  We keep checking and waiting, can't wait!

[methodwriter85]

On 7/13/2020 at 12:22 PM, tennisgurl said:

So many of the problems that Johnny and Daniel have seem to come being unable to let go of the past, they just keep having the same fights over and over and are just hitting the same beats, which is most obvious with Johnny, who acts like he has been in a coma since 1987 and has been so lost in the past that he basically stagnated until he found a way to finally relive his glory days, but Daniel has this going on too. He has seemingly moved on to a successful life, but the second he sees Johnny again, he is a teenager again facing off against his big bad bully, having not gotten over the whole karate dojo war as much as he thought he did. So now Johnny and Daniel are both trying to redo the original Karate Kid movie, but both of them are taking it so personally, and have so much hostility towards each other (not helped by the fact that both of them see themselves as the hero and the other one as the villain, instead of the more complex situation that it is) that they pass that along to their students, basically using them (even if its unintentionally) to get a re-match, so Johnny can feel like the hero, and Daniel can confirm that he is/was the hero all along. 

That's the Crux of the show. The show is at its core about two middle-aged men who just cannot let go of who they were at 17. In Johnny's case, it's because he thinks he was at his best and it was all downhill from there, and Johnny's blaming his life failures on losing that match to Daniel. Somewhere deep in Johnny's psyche, he thinks that if he had just won, he would've won Ali back and his life would have better. It's like the equivalent of the football hero who thinks he would've gone pro if he had just pulled clutch at the high school championship game instead of choking. In Daniel's case, his professional image has been built on the fact that he's the Karate Kid. And he takes it seriously, getting offended when his professional rival suggests that it's a gimmick he uses to sell cars, even though it is. Daniel is essentially so invested in the idea of himself as the hero that seeing Johnny/Cobra Kai emerge becomes his one-man mission to try to stop it, because that's what a hero would do. It's really interesting character study work that you can't really get in a 2-hour movie. I'm really glad this show exists and we're not just stopped at the 2010 Karate (but really Kung Fu) Kid. Speaking of which, I wonder why it didn't become a new franchise? I didn't see it, but it was pretty successful and did well critically. Did Jaden just not want to do it? I guess at some point Will Smith must have let the rights lapse. 

 

Edited July 25, 2020 by methodwriter85

[Virtual]

On 7/25/2020 at 3:25 AM, methodwriter85 said:

Johnny's blaming his life failures on losing that match to Daniel. Somewhere deep in Johnny's psyche, he thinks that if he had just won, he would've won Ali back and his life would have better.

I'm really glad this show exists and we're not just stopped at the 2010 Karate (but really Kung Fu) Kid. Speaking of which, I wonder why it didn't become a new franchise? I didn't see it, but it was pretty successful and did well critically. Did Jaden just not want to do it? I guess at some point Will Smith must have let the rights lapse. 

 

That's what I believe as well. Johnny believes that he and Ali could have made up had Daniel not come along, and him saying to Miguel in episode 1x08, "LaRusso won [the tournament], I lost. But what's worse is that I lost Ali." He saw that as his last chance, is what I gathered. That's where Ali will have to come along, and tell Johnny it wouldn't have made a difference, and that she didn't like the person he became once being heavily involved with Cobra Kai.

This show is way better than the Karate Kid remake from 2010. The movie wasn't bad, but this show gives more of an original Karate Kid feel and even expands on some things we saw in the originals (like how the Cobra Kai students were so invested in their karate training because it had changed their social lives for the better, it began turning them into aggressive kids with chips on their shoulders, I imagine Johnny and the OG Cobra Kai's from the 80's had a similar development).

The Season 3 wait is getting intense! Wish it were here.

[magicdog]

On 7/31/2020 at 10:23 AM, David2147 said:

The Season 3 wait is getting intense! Wish it were here.

Ditto!  however, there are upsides to the wait:

Sean Kanan aka Mike Barnes will be interviewed by Cobra Kai Theory next week!  The channel is collecting questions from fans/viewers to ask him!

Sure, there won't likely be any spoilers, but it could still be interesting!

[Kel Varnsen]

On 7/25/2020 at 4:25 AM, methodwriter85 said:

That's the Crux of the show. The show is at its core about two middle-aged men who just cannot let go of who they were at 17. In Johnny's case, it's because he thinks he was at his best and it was all downhill from there, and Johnny's blaming his life failures on losing that match to Daniel. Somewhere deep in Johnny's psyche, he thinks that if he had just won, he would've won Ali back and his life would have better. It's like the equivalent of the football hero who thinks he would've gone pro if he had just pulled clutch at the high school championship game instead of choking. In Daniel's case, his professional image has been built on the fact that he's the Karate Kid. And he takes it seriously, getting offended when his professional rival suggests that it's a gimmick he uses to sell cars, even though it is. Daniel is essentially so invested in the idea of himself as the hero that seeing Johnny/Cobra Kai emerge becomes his one-man mission to try to stop it, because that's what a hero would do. 

One thing I really like about this show is that it is not afraid to make Daniel look like an assholes. And not just make it where he looks like an assholes from Johnny's point of view but an actual asshole. The scene with his wife at the restaurant where they run into Johnny and his date was good. I liked how even Daniel's wife was completely done with all of his stupid drama. I mean at least Johnny has a reason to be kind of bitter about things, but Daniel pretty much won by all measurable ways.

[magicdog]

Another interview coming shortly to one of my favorite channels!

 

This time, Grandmaster Darryl Vidal (Pat Morita's stunt double who invented the crane kick for the film) will be taking questions and offering behind the scenes conversation!   Coming August 14th, 5pm PST! 

[magicdog]

First the good news:

Netflix released a trailer promoting CK's first two seasons which includes a few seconds of an episode from Season 3.   

Bad news?  CK Season 3 will not debut until 2021.

Potentially great news:  It seems Chozin will be seen in the upcoming season;  he's believed to be the guy fighting with Daniel.  This Youtuber seems to believe it.

[magicdog]

According to this YouTuber, there is a video game coming out that is based on the show and is fairly close to the current cast of characters and plot points so far.  It also has a character called "Diaz" who is not Miguel!  That means, daddy's home.

[norcalgal]

On 5/12/2018 at 2:34 AM, Robert Lynch said:

I am watching the first two episodes and so far it is pretty good. I was a little off put when they revived a series done by a deceased director, but so far this was done with heart. I am impressed. Would it be awesome to revived The Goonies as well? While that movie has actors that are no longer with us, it would be nice to see what the whole gang is up to after the movie. 

Although I'm loving this nostalgia trip down memory lane with The Karate Kid, I would so, so, so LOVE LOVE LOVE a Goonies series!  I liked the KK film just fine and saw it in the theater back in '84, but it's really The Goonies that tugs at me the most when it comes to 80s nostalgia. I even tried to organize a Goonies treasure/scavenger hunt in my neighborhood back then but no one wanted to do it?!?!?  Can you believe that?!?!?  Now that I think about it, it's weird that both Cobra Kai and Goonies have the motto "never die".  [And not that anyone asked, but The Princess Bride comes next in my affection for 80s films]

[norcalgal]

On 6/9/2018 at 6:22 PM, Conotocarious said:

Ralph was so funny and relaxed in that great interview. He seems like a really nice guy.

Yes, he does seem like a genuinely nice guy IRL, and I recall when Pat Morita died, Macchio said Morita would "forever be his sensei". So sweet. The only thing I can fault Macchio for is being an Islanders fan. Dude!!!  Winnipeg Jets, man! Or San Jose Sharks or even Vancouver Canucks is where it's at!  😃😉

[norcalgal]

On 11/25/2018 at 8:35 AM, Amarsir said:

After hearing this recommended for months, I only just now got around to watching. It does live up to the hype.

I was very impressed by the actors, especially the young ones. It's hard enough to play multidimensional characters. But ones that transform are especially so. Xolo Maridueña as Miguel totally deserved the lead, and Jacob Bertrand as Hawk really pulled off both versions of himself - even if there wasn't quite as much depth to either. And in the other direction, Tanner Buchanan just screamed "smarmy" the moment his face appeared on the screen, but you could also find yourself rooting for him as the ultimate hero. I hope more of them get some growth as well. (Including, as many of you said, Daniel's son.)

All together there's a strong message about nurture vs nature, as well as the potential for change. Daniel is better, but not perfect. Johnny is flawed, but not without good qualities. The heroic kid became pushy and aggressive and the laptop thief a peacemaker. All while kicking up 80s nostalgia really hard. I wonder though if they're going to give any gray area to Miyagi and his teachings. They could say that if you're too passive you miss opportunities and life passes you by, so you need a little Cobra Kai even if the "no mercy" angle is wrong. But that doesn't seem to have been set up.

Naturally I have a few quibbles. The motorcycle travel time as @magicdog pointed out. The money - Johnny would surely be under a lease that prevents rent changes so soon. Nor would he suddenly have lots of cash from one class of students. The convenience of a stack of karate flyers on top of a billboard, or of the school faculty being over-the-top incompetent. I could even nit-pick the unlikelihood of Sam and Robby both getting a Kaiser Soze reference since that movie would have come out 7 years before they were born. But none of those are really the point. And the show is so good at what is the point that it gets an A+ from me. 

ITA to all this, but esp. the bolded parts. As for the kids on the show, Tanner has the misfortune of having a "pretty boy with a smarmy face" sort of appearance. Even though he's not a rich kid character, his physical appearance seems to scream rich, entitled jerk. Interesting that his character is not like that at all, and has gone through quite the emotional growth from what we saw of him in the first few episodes.  As for Hawk, it's too bad each season is limited to 10 episodes because it's hard to believe the Eli we saw in the first few episodes turned into Hark so quickly. Very jarring for the audience.

Lastly, I wouldn't mind if they retconned ONE BIT even while the show is in its original run that Daniel-san doesn't really have a jerk son named Anthony. Seriously, this character serves ZERO purpose to the show so far, so I wish they'd cut him loose. As it is, we have ZERO sympathy, empathy for him because from what we've seen so far, he deserves none.

Oh, and Grandma Lucille FTW!  I can't believe they were able to get her to return as well, but I love the Ma/Danny vibe between them.

[norcalgal]

On 4/25/2019 at 7:06 AM, cambridgeguy said:

I think this is vague enough without giving too much away: the school's security guards are going to be facing some interesting questions about why their response time is so slow.

I thought the school fight was RIDICULOUS in the sense that no adults broke it up sooner. So all those kids just left their class, had extended fights all over the school and only near the end did any adults do anything about it?!?!?  The noise didn't alert any school staff to the fight sooner?!?  🙄

And speaking of the school, it's my understanding most school "resource officers" are from the local police force, rather than using private security. Does anyone know who public schools usually use?

On 4/25/2019 at 7:25 AM, Jediknight said:

Seriously, even Wolfram & Hart wouldn't think about giving them an interview, let alone a job.

Good callback to Angel.

On 4/26/2019 at 4:26 AM, Princess Consuela said:

OMG - just finished the whole season last night.  I think season 2 might be better than season 1 (if that's possible)  I LOVED episode six  I loved all the musical callbacks to the movie & the references to the other two.  I may or may not have cried & screamed while watching.

And William Zabka had better get some Emmy love this time around - he was just amazing.

I really need a season 3

Sad to say I must be in the minority because I liked S1 more than S2.

On 4/26/2019 at 6:27 AM, Robert Lynch said:

Robby looks exactly like the actor that played Shawn from Boy Meets World! Am I the only one that sees that?

I know it's not the same actor, but it was bugging me I couldn't think why Robby looked like someone I would have seen on other shows.

On 4/26/2019 at 3:09 PM, magicdog said:

[snip]

Tory is NUTS.  That is all.

[snip]

Even though I don't think Peyton List is the greatest actress since Meryl Streep, she's still doing something good if she can make me hate her in CK. If you ever saw List in the Disney shows Jessie or Bunk'd you can see how the two characters (Emma and Tory) are such polar opposites!!!

On 4/28/2019 at 12:46 AM, Cthulhudrew said:

I really loved this season. William Zabka still kicks it out of the partk, although it was definitely more of an ensemble than last season, which was more focused on Johnny's story. 

My only complaint was that the last episode ratcheted up the drama to ridiculously high levels, starting with Daniel's (over)reaction to Sam not coming home and fighting with Johnny, all the way up to the high school fight. While that was some pretty amazing fight choreography and great cinematography for a 3 o'clock high showdown (and it was awesome to see Hawk get his just desserts from Dmitri), it was too over the top. And then it gets topped off by Kreese's hostile takeover. Just too much.

I loved the reunion of the old Cobra Kai, and how they all tried to warn Johnny about Kreese (even though they just confirmed what he already suspected). I liked the developing relationship with Johnny and Carmen (falling apart just i time for Alli's return?). The reconciliation of Robbie and Johnny got way too glossed over, and I'd like to see more development of their relationship next season. And I'd like to see Johnny and Daniel finally, definitively, put their pasts behind them and move forward. They keep getting these moments of reconciliation that are immediately followed by pulling the rug out from under them.

I really would love for William Zabka to get an Emmy nod this year. He totally deserved it for last season. #EmmyforZabka

ITA!

[norcalgal]

On 4/29/2019 at 7:56 PM, magicdog said:

If she had confessed about the night Yasmine hit Johnny's car, most of the events of Season 1 would never have happened!

She did say in the hospital that the events that day were her fault (and she feels guilty), so I hope she does bring that up to her parents.  If so, perhaps Daniel will go out to look for him.

Those two are yin and yang, but they should put this rivalry to bed.  Actually, Daniel is more at fault at this point than Johnny, thanks to the latter taking Carmen's advice about putting himself above it all.  Everything with Daniel was about taking CK down and it was upsetting his world in more ways than one.  Amanda was right.  I do expect that they will mend fences by season 3.  It's long overdue.

Agreed.  I can relate to him perhaps doing things the old fashioned way, being dismissive of PC culture or waxing nostalgic about his younger days (his Whitesnake inspired dream was hilarious!), but there's no way he could be that ignorant about the internet ("What's a Facebook?).

I think the fight went on a bit too long and far too many kids chose to participate.  I'd have been fine if it were kept between Sam & Tory.  In some schools, I can see teachers choosing not to get involved since some students are armed and are truly dangerous if you try to break up their fights.  I was interested in seeing Johnny's oldest student, Stingray interview for a security job and do pretty well in trying to break it up.

It is since he was the one who didn't pick up on Miguel's act of mercy and chose to give him a final kick which sent him over the rail.

I hope S3 will lead Johnny/Daniel to lead a dojo with an amalgam of KC & Miyagi-do ethos and styles of karate. It's seriously time to end their (sometimes infantile) rivalry for good.

On 4/30/2019 at 12:27 PM, CrazyDog said:

Stingray is the most random character this season, lol. He was breaking up the fight, but wasn't he only helping out the Cobra Kais? Loved the high five with Hawk.

[snip]

 

On 5/1/2019 at 6:43 PM, Cthulhudrew said:

[snip]

I kind of hope they ditch Stingray next season. I thought he was a joke that was taken too far, especially when he was going around assaulting kids (only Miyagi-do!) in the finale.

 

On 5/2/2019 at 6:08 AM, Robert Lynch said:

Stingray's character looked like something that was tailored made for Jack Black. It doesn't fit with the theme at all. I have nothing against goofballs, but that character could go. 

A little goes a long way. If Stingray only showed up 1-2 times in S3, that's enough for me.  Also, the thing I was eyerolling super hard was him and his lady friend coming to a teenage party (at Moon's house)?!?!?  OK, Stingray, I can still see it, but that his lady friend stayed?!   She even questioned why they were there, but apparently didn't mind hanging out with a bunch of high school kids, after all. Yeah, AS IF!

[norcalgal]

On 1/8/2020 at 7:49 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

[snip]

I just sort of view that as the comedy aspect of the show. Unrealistic yes but so is the fact that so many other kids actually give a shit about the karate dojo some of their friends belong to. Once I sort of accepted that the only thing that really annoyed me was how much they overdid the damn flashbacks.

 

On 5/3/2020 at 7:06 AM, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

That bugs as well. Most people in the real world view karate (and other martial arts) as a slightly eccentric hobby and are not captivated by it the way everyone on this show is. In addition, NO WAY would grown adults remember the winner of a long-ago children's karate tournament and be worshiping him decades later. The series tries very hard to sell us on Daniel LaRusso being a revered former athlete on the level of a Carl Lewis or Magic Johnson when that's not remotely realistic.

Ditto with everyone who pointed out that Sam and Robby intensely training together 1:1 was going to lead to a relationship.

 

On 5/3/2020 at 12:05 PM, marinw said:

Not at all! No offence taken. It IS a  little eccentric. I just wanted to point out that many "real" martial artist are regular folks who fly under the rader. Martial Arts aren't part of the mainstream of North America fitness culture for a lot of reasons I won't get into here. I joke that I prefere Karate to Yoga partly because I don't have to worry about what to wear.

But I digress. Cobrai Kai is a silly show, but most Martial Arts shows are silly. (Enter the Badlands anyone?) Nonetheless, I would welcome the distraction that Season Three would bring.

The thing that bugs me about KC is the show assumes that martial artists, but esp. those who win championships in the sport are well-known among the general public and would be huge babe magnets.  ???   Seriously, the only two MMA (and that's not even martial arts a la karate) people I can name are Connor Macgregor and Rhonda Rhousey.  But show wants us to think everyone and their aunt desires martial artists?  [This isn't me knocking martial arts of any kind or its practitioners, but like MarinW posted above, it's not exactly American football, so doesn't get the media coverage of other sports.]

Finally, WRT the bolded in Sir Raiderduck's post, it's interesting that the show didn't have them go the Romeo and Juliet route with Samantha and Robby because I could see that happening all too easily.  So props to them for originality on that point. Tiny voice:  I'm Team Robby.  [I get the feeling though that most on this forum are Team Miguel]

[magicdog]

19 hours ago, norcalgal said:

And speaking of the school, it's my understanding most school "resource officers" are from the local police force, rather than using private security. Does anyone know who public schools usually use?

My local school district has it's own police force with full police powers. People have a habit of not taking them seriously (like glorified security guards) but they can be arrested by them.

[magicdog]

Watch Party has another semi spoiler for the upcoming season.  It seems that thee will be a time skip again when Season 3 begins.  That means that we will likely see Miguel going through physical therapy and coming back to health and Tory (and possibly others) just getting out of juvie.

Much of the season will be non linear so mostly flashbacks and flash forwards;  not just about Kreese's and Miyagi's pasts, but other events which will link up to the season finale. 

Collider also did an interview with Billy Zabka and WP seems to think he let it slip about the time jump during it. 

[Laurie4H]

I loved it.  Yes it’s cheesy but that’s what makes it fun.  The finale did go over the top but still entertaining.  A few things I noticed.  Johnny was out of touch with technology but he sure texted pretty fast to Ali.  I have friends who are on their phones constantly that can’t do that.  He said he never got over Ali.  Can you really at 50 years old (is that the age they are supposed to be?) not get over someone you dated when your were 17?  Seems a bit far fetched.  Did they mention how Daniels dad passed away?  They mention he was sick but that was it.

[tennisgurl]

On 8/29/2020 at 5:59 PM, norcalgal said:

I hope S3 will lead Johnny/Daniel to lead a dojo with an amalgam of KC & Miyagi-do ethos and styles of karate. It's seriously time to end their (sometimes infantile) rivalry for good.

 

Thats what I really hope happens in the third season, it seems like its almost the inevitable conclusion for Johnny and Daniel and their whole pointless feud. They team up to take down Kreese and realize that they need each other to find the balance that they have been missing, yin and yang style, and combine dojos. They might be rivals, but they're also the only people that can really understand each other, and taking the best of Kobra Cai and Miyagi-do, they can finally make peace with the past. 

Edited September 2, 2020 by tennisgurl