Seasons 1 & 2 Discussion

[TheLastKidPicked]

The writers on this show are doing an amazing job of writing for Johnny.  The details such as his 80's Firebird, his 80's music, and his 80's favorite movie, Iron Eagle.

On a sadder note, I know a few people like Johnny.  They give off a vibe of,  "If only I could go back to the good old days, before the tournament, before I lost the girl.  Before I lost everything."  They do a nice job of giving Johnny that same vibe, where you don't quite feel sorry for him, but you do want to root for him.

On a happier note, my friends and I quote the first episode every time we have to deal with a difficult customer or co-worker, and laugh every time we do it:

"She said I called her a bitch?  I would never call her that.  I said she was being bitchy.  There's a difference"  **pause**  "Your firing me over that bitch?"

BHWHAHAHAHAHA!  It's amazing how often we work that into a conversation.

 

[DoctorAtomic]

First of all, Trapper Keepers are cool. 

I'm finding the second half of the second season to rely too much on not talking like people because plot. I certainly understand Daniel being frantic, but the fight was ridiculous. Johnny really wanted to fight? 'Sam crashed here. She's in the back.'

 

[DoctorAtomic]

9 hours ago, norcalgal said:

Yeah, I would think she would be expelled considering:

1) the whole school heard over the PA the scuffle between Tory & the girl giving the announcement ("You're not supposed to be in here!  Argh, crash, boom!)

2) the whole school heard over the PA Tory making a threat against Sam ("I'm coming for you!")

3) the school fight where Tory used a weapon (the spiked bracelet/cuff)

This was just patently ridiculous for your reasons. Also, there's no adult in the room for morning announcements? When she makes the threat no one is close enough to stop her. They're all in class. No teachers stop the kids from leaving? I could see if it was outside before homeroom. 

Taking that out, I'm not buying Miguel and Robby fighting. They've been fairly level headed with the girls' beef. 

Given that 'nerd culture' is cool now, it's silly that it's used as an insult. 

Although good for all the actors with the choreography. 

Edited September 11, 2020 by DoctorAtomic

[DoctorAtomic]

On 9/9/2020 at 2:08 PM, twoods said:

This was such a fun show then the last few episodes it got very dark, especially with the kids. I honestly don’t know how Robby can come back from this.

I'd call bs on the whole fight with the two of them and don't buy Robby would do that given he came clean about the medal, had a good talk with Johnny and tried to stop the fight in the first place. 

It looks to me like TPTBs had the ender in mind and just worked back without connecting much to the prior development. I think they kind of forgot the show they had. 

I mean, I have enough interest to watch S3, but this was contrived at best. 

Great use of Cruel Summer though. 

[twoods]

Yes, this show was amazing with all the 80’s music and the old school vibe, which is probably why I loved it so much. I prefer the Bananarama version but the newer version was very dark and sad, which was perfect in describing how Johnny’s life currently was. I really hope he gets some wins in season 3.

[norcalgal]

12 hours ago, twoods said:

Yes, this show was amazing with all the 80’s music and the old school vibe, which is probably why I loved it so much. I prefer the Bananarama version but the newer version was very dark and sad, which was perfect in describing how Johnny’s life currently was. I really hope he gets some wins in season 3.

As a child of the '80s, I appreciate the fan-servicing with all the '80s nostalgia. Some of you young whippersnappers might have to google "Iron Eagle" or Whitesnake to get the reference. And count me in as someone who prefers the Bananarama version of "Cruel Summer" as well...

[TheLastKidPicked]

12 hours ago, twoods said:

I really hope he gets some wins in season 3.

I think your comment is exactly what the writers are going for.  You hope he finally gets some wins.

41 minutes ago, norcalgal said:

As a child of the '80s, I appreciate the fan-servicing with all the '80s nostalgia. Some of you young whippersnappers might have to google "Iron Eagle" or Whitesnake to get the reference. And count me in as someone who prefers the Bananarama version of "Cruel Summer" as well...

I might be reading too much into it, but I think there is another reason that Johnny is an Iron Eagle fan.  

It would make sense that poor Johnny always latches on to second best.

All the cool kids are watching Top Gun.  Johnny latches on to Iron Eagle.

All the cool kids have VCR's.  Johnny's stepdad brings home a Betamax.

The cool kids have Firebirds, and Johnny has a hand me down station wagon.  When he does finally get that cool Firebird, it has gone out of style anyway.

Hashbrown Cobra Kai!  I'm just waiting to hear him say,

"The tournament should be on the internet!  Should we call the internet to have them come out and film it?"

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by TheLastKidPicked

[DoctorAtomic]

I'm not sure that's the case. In the movie, he is The Alpha always up front on the motorcycle. I would dispute Iron Eagle is second best to Top Gun as well. 

[lynxfx]

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. 

Sorry for the old reply but I think it was more tailored for Tyler Labine of Tucker and Dale vs Evil fame. He looks, sounds, and acts exactly like him. His character did bring a lot of solid laughs when used sparingly. 

I just binged S1 and S2 in two days. Such a great show. I ended up rewatching KK1 in between seasons which gave both the show and the movie more depth. Going to watch KKII and III next.

I felt like season 1 was better over all and really built on the lore of The Karate Kid. I prefered the focus on Johnny and Daniel and where they are now. Season 2 got a bit too CW Teen drama in the middle. William Zabka is the standout for me. His old school charm and tech naiveness plays so earnestly even if a bit far fetched considering the year. Season 2 did pay off with the battle royal at the school. That was awesome and ridiculous at the same time. A fantasy fight from a teenagers perspective if there ever was one. The ending brought it back to reality.

One thing I'm surprised that they keep glorifying is the drinking. Both with Johnny and his drunk driving and the immense underage drinking. These kids are what, 16-17? Seems odd to complain about when the rest of the show is kids beating the crap out of each other but I just found it distracting since there have been no consequences other than not showing up at home.

So glad it. is on Netflix now and look forward to season 3.

Edit: Finally read through the whole thread. One aspect brought up a lot is that no one would be remembering a local karate tournament champion 30 years later.  I think that is kind of the point of the show and they sorta winked at the camera in season 1 when someone mentioned that they had no idea that the tournament has been a thing for 50 years. The show sits in its own fantasy bubble where now karate and the karate kid cliques are the biggest thing around. Kinda like any of the movies where cheerleading, dance, or drumming is played like the most popular activity in town. So with that in mind it is easier to pass off the fights in the mall, or the epic showdown at the school. Cobra Kai is the ultimate teen karate role playing fantasy. Stingray is that weird adult outsider that wants to play too because he never got to play when he was younger.

Johnny and Daniel are the more grounded characters that are getting pulled into this fantasy world with the teens. They are reliving their past through the kids and are seeing them make some of the same mistakes. 

The school brawl actually reminds me of the South Park episode, Good Times with Weapons. The boys are imagining this epic battle, all is well until Butters is hit in the eye with a throwing star and it immediately cuts back to the real world. Miguel falling is kind of the same moment where the record scratches and reality comes back. Anyway that is how I'm viewing the series in terms of the karate.

Edited September 12, 2020 by lynxfx

[DoctorAtomic]

14 hours ago, lynxfx said:

Sorry for the old reply but I think it was more tailored for Tyler Labine of Tucker and Dale vs Evil fame. He looks, sounds, and acts exactly like him. His character did bring a lot of solid laughs when used sparingly. 

And Reaper! I actually had to look up Stingray to be sure it wasn't him. 

To be fair, there are national cheerleading competions. They're on ESPN. And you can get scholarships for college and lead to a professional career. So I don't know if that's an apt comparison to a karate tournament in the valley. 

[Raja]

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

And Reaper! I actually had to look up Stingray to be sure it wasn't him. 

To be fair, there are national cheerleading competions. They're on ESPN. And you can get scholarships for college and lead to a professional career. So I don't know if that's an apt comparison to a karate tournament in the valley. 

Maybe not the real Valley but if we take Amanda at her word and  Karate is like high football in Texas  then colleges would look at those athletes like other students in non collegiate sports 

[Morrigan2575]

Just started. Gets major props for the Iron Eagle clips. 

Episode 1 was pretty good, looks like episode 2 is showing Daniel's POV and how his life went from movies to now

[DoctorAtomic]

It's not like high school football in Texas because people didn't know that the tournament had been around for 50 years. It didn't look like many kids were into karate at all in school at all. 

[magicdog]

On 9/10/2020 at 10:15 AM, norcalgal said:

I'm sure the show will handwave a way for Tory to return to the SAME school with the kid WHO SHE THREATENED!  

Not that outlandish as IRL, I've heard of many bullied kids who were still forced to attend school with the same bully despite threats and imminent danger.  School officials tend to shrug their shoulders and say they can't do anything.  At best, they may put them in different classrooms but the bullying continues until someone leaves school - or gets killed. 

[bettername2come]

On 4/26/2019 at 9:27 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?

It's the hair. I stare at it mystified because I thought that was one 90s trend that wasn't coming back. And I don't hate it. 

I was not prepared for the emotional roundhouse kick to the chest that binge watching this series was. That ending was intense. That choreography and filming was insane and awesome and really well done. And seriously, did the school not go into lockdown when a girl who I'm 99% sure didn't go to that school started making threats over the intercom? 

Don't care about Ali coming back...unless they throw in some Adventures in Babysitting references.

All the talk of Terry Silver coming back just makes me think "Huh, they should bring in Michael Ironside's character from The Next Karate Kid as some kind of security guy at the high school only to have him make everything worse, and no one knows to warn anybody cause all his crap happened 3,000 miles away 25 years ago in a different branch of the franchise."

[nachomama]

I finally watched the last episode and while I know Robby did make that a late kick I don't think he intended for Miguel to go over the railing. Not that it would matter to any authorities. Some of the choreography was kinda lame, the 2 smaller kids were cute but you could definitely see the pulled punches and kicks.

On 9/11/2020 at 7:57 PM, lynxfx said:

One thing I'm surprised that they keep glorifying is the drinking. Both with Johnny and his drunk driving and the immense underage drinking. These kids are what, 16-17? Seems odd to complain about when the rest of the show is kids beating the crap out of each other but I just found it distracting since there have been no consequences other than not showing up at home.
 

Johnny really loves him some Coors from the bottle. Even when he cleans up his act and things are going ok, he still has a coors in his hand and the very second anything goes wrong he's getting out of a car drunk. Also, How many times is he going to mount the same tv?

[DoctorAtomic]

15 hours ago, magicdog said:

School officials tend to shrug their shoulders and say they can't do anything.  At best, they may put them in different classrooms but the bullying continues until someone leaves school - or gets killed. 

In this case though, she threatened Sam over the PA, so everyone heard it. It's not like a she-said/she-said and the adults can't really figure out who was the instigator. 

What needs to be addressed is how/why the teachers let the kids out of the classroom. 

I don't really care about Johnny drinking that much. (Not driving). People come home from work and have a few beers. 

[norcalgal]

6 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

In this case though, she threatened Sam over the PA, so everyone heard it. It's not like a she-said/she-said and the adults can't really figure out who was the instigator. 

What needs to be addressed is how/why the teachers let the kids out of the classroom. 

I don't really care about Johnny drinking that much. (Not driving). People come home from work and have a few beers. 

THIS!  The threats were made when the kids were in their classroom(s). Then seemingly, the entire school body was let out of class to roam wherever - nevermind the entire school heard a threat being made over the PA system.

22 hours ago, magicdog said:

Not that outlandish as IRL, I've heard of many bullied kids who were still forced to attend school with the same bully despite threats and imminent danger.  School officials tend to shrug their shoulders and say they can't do anything.  At best, they may put them in different classrooms but the bullying continues until someone leaves school - or gets killed. 

Considering how much people in the US like to sue, this strategy is a lawsuit waiting to happen...

18 hours ago, bettername2come said:

[snip]

Don't care about Ali coming back...unless they throw in some Adventures in Babysitting references.

[snip]

OMG - I would so love this!  That was my first introduction to "Thor" (pre-Marvel films, obvs), and not until I re-watched years later did I realize that was also my first introduction to Joan Cusak and Bradley Whitford!  

[TigerLily20]

9 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

What needs to be addressed is how/why the teachers let the kids out of the classroom.

I may be wrong but I was under the impression that it was the end of the class period so kids were let out to change classes, now that being said NO teacher should have ever let Sam leave the classroom, she should have stayed there and they would have called the office/school officer if they have one.

[readster]

1 hour ago, TigerLily20 said:

I may be wrong but I was under the impression that it was the end of the class period so kids were let out to change classes, now that being said NO teacher should have ever let Sam leave the classroom, she should have stayed there and they would have called the office/school officer if they have one.

As a teacher, there is so much wrong with this. The bullying situation differs from school to school. Depending on: policies, history, rural/urban area, ect. If you think someone can just "use the PA" like that not have their ass thrown into some serious problems. Then this school is really a joke in any sense. Even for a stream series that is continued from a classic movie series. I seriously just HATE it when I see tv/movies just act like people in education are shown to be so stupid, they could have never gotten a teaching degree, let alone been a principal. Or act like people can just wonder around school grounds or hall ways like it's Walmart. 

Post Columbine, Sandy Hook, ect and now in COVID-19. Doesn't work that way no matter if you have a school of 16 students one computer working in the entire school.

[Snapdragon]

33 minutes ago, readster said:

As a teacher, there is so much wrong with this. The bullying situation differs from school to school. Depending on: policies, history, rural/urban area, ect. If you think someone can just "use the PA" like that not have their ass thrown into some serious problems. Then this school is really a joke in any sense. Even for a stream series that is continued from a classic movie series. I seriously just HATE it when I see tv/movies just act like people in education are shown to be so stupid, they could have never gotten a teaching degree, let alone been a principal. Or act like people can just wonder around school grounds or hall ways like it's Walmart. 

Post Columbine, Sandy Hook, ect and now in COVID-19. Doesn't work that way no matter if you have a school of 16 students one computer working in the entire school.

To be fair, I don't think I've ever seen a show/movie that centered around teens that depicted high school in any type of realistic light.  When I was in high school (back in the late 90s) I used to hate all the "teen shows" (Buffy, Dawson's Creek, etc) because they were so unrealistic.  From how the kids talked, to the way they dressed, and all the stuff they were able to get away with (I mean, in both Clarissa and Dawson, you had characters who would prop ladders up to the side of the house and climb into the main character's bedroom on the regular.  What parent would ever allow that?)  So yeah, while it's completely unrealistic that Tory could have just barged into the PA control room, then just walk down the hall after threatening someone over the PA, I'll go with it because it's no more ridiculous than any other show about teens that's ever been made and far more enjoyable than most.

[Jediknight]

On 9/10/2020 at 9:39 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

Taking that out, I'm not buying Miguel and Robby fighting. They've been fairly level headed with the girls' beef. 

Miguel got there late, and only saw Robby shoving Tory against the locker, and kicking a Cobra Kai student.  Miguel didn't know that Robby was training to break up the fight, from what he saw Robby was attacking Tory, and kicking the guy that tried to stop it.  Robby has no clue that Miguel got there late, and misunderstood the whole thing.  From there their personal feelings for each other took over, and it became an all out fight.  Neither one of them tried to ask what was going on.

[DoctorAtomic]

Actually, I think Miguel did ask 'what are you doing?' A lot of the back end of the season was characters not saying obvious things that people would say to get the plot where they wanted it to be. It's a bit of a stretch there, but no show if teenagers act with a modicum of responsibility. It's admittedly hard to call BS on the school fight after they fought *in a mall.* I think it would have made more sense for Hawk to step in to get at Robby since he's consistently been a hothead and got beat at the mall, when Miguel has been consistently not that. 

My issue is that when the girls were at it at the roller rink, the boys were trying to cool them and not joining in at each other. 

14 hours ago, TigerLily20 said:

I may be wrong but I was under the impression that it was the end of the class period so kids were let out to change classes,

They already were in homeroom. They cut to the kids at their desks during the announcements. Typically, don't you do to homeroom, you get checked in, and then there's the announcements?

[Racj82]

On 9/10/2020 at 10:53 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I'd call bs on the whole fight with the two of them and don't buy Robby would do that given he came clean about the medal, had a good talk with Johnny and tried to stop the fight in the first place. 

It looks to me like TPTBs had the ender in mind and just worked back without connecting much to the prior development. I think they kind of forgot the show they had. 

I mean, I have enough interest to watch S3, but this was contrived at best. 

Great use of Cruel Summer though. 

I don't understand why people sometimes don't understand a character doing something that isn't normally in their nature. It's why I think the term out of character is dumb in reality. No one operates the same way and make all the right decisions all the time.

No actions in that fight are out of character or don't make sense because all of them are in a crazy ass battle with all the heightened emotions and energy to react.

Robbie is also Johnny's son. It shows that a little bit of Johnny's bad tendencies are still in him. 

It's also an inverse of season 1. Miguel wouldn't show mercy to Robbie and in season 2, he does and pays for it.

Neither is the bad guy in the same way Johnny and Daniel aren't the bad guy. Just people making the right and wrong decisions while trying to do the right thing.

I truly don't give a damn about where the teachers were or whatever during the fight.

As I always say, I really want someone to make a show where every episode has their characters do exactly what real life would dictate based on what people mock. Everyone communicate every single though or feeling they have. Adults or police there to break up every altercation immediately. The show will be one of the most uninteresting things you've ever seen with no conflict and lasts like five minutes.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Racj82

[DoctorAtomic]

That would be a good parody style show. I've said elsewhere a great variety show would be skits that send up the typical tropes we complain about. 

'Out of character' maybe overused, but it's a fair term. You can't say Eli is OOC turning into Hawk, and he's been consistently mean since. If he suddenly stopped trying to beat on Dem then I would question why and say that's not the character we've seen. Now, maybe being beaten by Dem, he starts to change his tune, which I would like to see. 

It's a fine like between OOC and actual growth.

I guess I can buy Robby lost his shit for a second and clearly he knew he did wrong right after. I was saying I don't think they would have gotten into the fight in the first place - but again, then you have no show. 

I don't think it's fair to lay Robby being Johnny's son or lay his actions on Johnny when Johnny has had really no influence on him and he hated Johnny to the point where he trained with 'his rival'. 

I would still maintain TPTBs had the ender in mind and worked back from that. To get where they needed to go, they needed characters to not say obvious things to one another to move the plot. Taking the season as a whole, the front end doesn't sync quite up with the back. 

Reasonable criticisms for an otherwise enjoyable show. I like all the characters. It's a B show though predicated on nostaglia. I'm still going to watch, but there's a little more suspension of disbelief required in S2 than there was in S1. 

[Snapdragon]

I can buy Robbie and Miguel fighting.  There's jealousy with both of them over Johnny and his attention, which isn't anyone's fault, it's just the situation.  Then you throw in Robbie finding out that Miguel kissed his girlfriend, which would cause a lot of people (especially teenagers) to fight.  So I can believe that they weren't trying to get involved with the girls' drama but once Robbie found out that Miguel kissed Sam, that would pretty much be straw that broke the camel's back in what was a very uneasy peace to begin with.

[ClareWalks]

Ralph Macchio was on Conan the other day and he mentioned that season 3 will drop in 2021. He also mentioned that they'd filmed in Okinawa and will go into "the origins of Miyagi-do" but he didn't give away anything else.

[Racj82]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

That would be a good parody style show. I've said elsewhere a great variety show would be skits that send up the typical tropes we complain about. 

'Out of character' maybe overused, but it's a fair term. You can't say Eli is OOC turning into Hawk, and he's been consistently mean since. If he suddenly stopped trying to beat on Dem then I would question why and say that's not the character we've seen. Now, maybe being beaten by Dem, he starts to change his tune, which I would like to see. 

It's a fine like between OOC and actual growth.

I guess I can buy Robby lost his shit for a second and clearly he knew he did wrong right after. I was saying I don't think they would have gotten into the fight in the first place - but again, then you have no show. 

I don't think it's fair to lay Robby being Johnny's son or lay his actions on Johnny when Johnny has had really no influence on him and he hated Johnny to the point where he trained with 'his rival'. 

I would still maintain TPTBs had the ender in mind and worked back from that. To get where they needed to go, they needed characters to not say obvious things to one another to move the plot. Taking the season as a whole, the front end doesn't sync quite up with the back. 

Reasonable criticisms for an otherwise enjoyable show. I like all the characters. It's a B show though predicated on nostaglia. I'm still going to watch, but there's a little more suspension of disbelief required in S2 than there was in S1. 

When I say Robbie is Johnny's son, I'm pointing out that some people are a reflection of their parents whether they were raised by them or not. And Robbie very much had his hothead tendencies like Johnny did when he was young. Most of the characters have had these moments to be fair. I'm just saying that, in the writing, I think is deliberate symmetry being shown from season one and season two.

And anyway, Robbie was in the moment. He's a teenager. Everyone makes bad choices like that. We are all one bad day from doing something really stupid. One choice you make in the moment could change you forever. Even with the best people. 

That's why I reject ooc generally. Bad decisions are in everyone. We don't always do the right thing. That's always in your character. Most people don't give into those impulses.

[Racj82]

53 minutes ago, Snapdragon said:

I can buy Robbie and Miguel fighting.  There's jealousy with both of them over Johnny and his attention, which isn't anyone's fault, it's just the situation.  Then you throw in Robbie finding out that Miguel kissed his girlfriend, which would cause a lot of people (especially teenagers) to fight.  So I can believe that they weren't trying to get involved with the girls' drama but once Robbie found out that Miguel kissed Sam, that would pretty much be straw that broke the camel's back in what was a very uneasy peace to begin with.

Yes, there is always an uneasy peace between characters on this show just waiting to boil over the other way. There is a part of them that wants to just discard all the bullshit but there is another part that just doesn't want to let certain things go. It's just a matter of what wins over in the end.

As much as I don't want Miguel hurt, everyone involved needed a wake up call. This rivalry has been going on too long and it's destroying their families and the ones they love as a result. 

With Kreese as the actual enemy, they can divert their anger elsewhere. But, I hope in the process, all involved work through their own bullshit.

[HurricaneVal]

On 7/25/2020 at 1:25 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. 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. 

Yes...I agree.  This show is a very interesting study on how things that happen to people in high school can follow them the rest of their lives.  So many people are told to "get over it and move on" but in reality, a little bit of who we are is set in stone during those formative years, and that will follow through the rest of your life. 

I also think another major theme of this show is all about bullying and perspective.  We've seen in the original movies how Daniel was bullied by the original Cobra Kai gang, but then we also see in this show how Johnny The Bully was himself bullied at home by his step-father and again at the dojo by Kreese.  He sees Daniel as the upstart, the new guy who came in, stole his girlfriend, and also stole his superiority he'd won by being the karate champion.  And we see the bullying from different perspectives from the new crop of high schoolers.  You can see why these kids are attracted to the Cobra Kai experience--they're eager to find a way to fight back.  Ian/Hawk is the most extreme example, but you also see it in Aisha, Demetri, and  Miguel. 

I love how "Hero Daniel-san" is kind of a smarmy, smug, jerk as an adult.  He still clearly loves, reveres, and respects Mr. Miyagi, but even so he's he's become a likeable/unlikeable guy.  I love how bully-jerk seeming on-top-of-the-world Johnny is now a sad-sack loser who just can't catch a break--even though he clearly participates in his own downfall.  It is like he can't help himself, his identity was solidified as "Total Jerk" back in high school when he lost to Daniel, so now he has to maintain that identity.

Zabka is really knocking it out of the park.  Macchio is as well, but Zabka is really showing a lot of depth with the current conflicted Johnny.  I like how this new show is giving these characters a space to really breathe and show all sides.  Don't get me wrong, I loved the original "The Karate Kid" movie, but it really was one dimensional, and now this series is showing us all the sides of the dodecahedron.  Life is complicated, yo.

[SoMuchTV]

I'm just now watching this, and I've only finished the first season, so I haven't read all the comments... but i had a couple comments on S1...

At the big tournament (the 50th?), there was such a big recognition of Daniel as the former champion... there would have been 49 other former champions, right?.  Did they all leave town?  Why was he so special?

There were a lot of posts disliking the little brother as a couch-potato, bratty, spoiled, etc.  To me, he just seemed like a typical annoying sitcom little brother.  I don't want to think this, but I have to wonder if he was slimmer and shorter-haired, would he get the same dislike?

I'll be back when I finish S2...

Edited to add... I really did enjoy the first season, despite the nitpicks. 

Edited September 18, 2020 by SoMuchTV

[Raja]

3 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I'm just now watching this, and I've only finished the first season, so I haven't read all the comments... but i had a couple comments on S1...

At the big tournament (the 50th?), there was such a big recognition of Daniel as the former champion... there would have been 49 other former champions, right?.  Did they all leave town?  Why was he so special?

 

Not only that but Mr. Lawrence was also a two time champion. The illegal kick however did provide "the picture" from which the tournament advertises itself.

 

It took me a minute to think of an anology. In basketball terms Johnny Lawrence and Cobra Kai were Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boy Pistons while Daniel LaRusso and Miyagi Do was Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

Edited September 18, 2020 by Raja

[magicdog]

16 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

At the big tournament (the 50th?), there was such a big recognition of Daniel as the former champion... there would have been 49 other former champions, right?.  Did they all leave town?  Why was he so special?

48 since Daniel won twice.  Fewer still depending on how many other former champions won more than once.  I agree it might have been nice to have all remaining champions stop by but they acknowledged them with banners.  Plus, Daniel was on the committee and an active part of the community.

16 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

There were a lot of posts disliking the little brother as a couch-potato, bratty, spoiled, etc.  To me, he just seemed like a typical annoying sitcom little brother.  I don't want to think this, but I have to wonder if he was slimmer and shorter-haired, would he get the same dislike?

I think so!  He was an obnoxious character and rather disrespectful to his family at times, his weight or hair style not withstanding.  I have heard the actor who played Anthony has indeed lost weight and changed his hair.  If the character plans on returning for Season 3 (he was off at summer camp during Season 2), perhaps we'll get him involved more in the story.

[lynxfx]

15 minutes ago, magicdog said:

48 since Daniel won twice.  Fewer still depending on how many other former champions won more than once. 

Johnny was a two time defending champion in the first movie. It is kinda odd that his championships are completely ignored. Plus he was even younger when he won his.

Edited September 18, 2020 by lynxfx
Ah I see it mentioned above as Mr. Lawrence.

[DoctorAtomic]

13 hours ago, Raja said:

Not only that but Mr. Lawrence was also a two time champion. The illegal kick however did provide "the picture" from which the tournament advertises itself.

 

It took me a minute to think of an anology. In basketball terms Johnny Lawrence and Cobra Kai were Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boy Pistons while Daniel LaRusso and Miyagi Do was Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

Daniel is kind of a jerk, but there's no way he's as petty an asshole as Jordan is. 

[norcalgal]

4 hours ago, magicdog said:

[snip]

I think so!  He was an obnoxious character and rather disrespectful to his family at times, his weight or hair style not withstanding.  I have heard the actor who played Anthony has indeed lost weight and changed his hair.  If the character plans on returning for Season 3 (he was off at summer camp during Season 2), perhaps we'll get him involved more in the story.

Yep - for me it's the way he spoke to his family (parents esp.) and his general bratty attitude. Is it "affluenza" which is the reason for this?  Daniel and his wife (sorry, forgot her name) seem fairly down to earth, and the daughter didn't come across as particularly spoiled/entitled either. So I'm not sure why the son seemed to have his "my sh*t don't stink" attitude.

[Kel Varnsen]

20 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

At the big tournament (the 50th?), there was such a big recognition of Daniel as the former champion... there would have been 49 other former champions, right?.  Did they all leave town?  Why was he so special?

As others have mentioned with Daniel and Johnny both being 2 time champs there should be at most 46 other champs. I imagine those guys probably moved on and got over shit that happened when they were like 16.

[magicdog]

We may have a date for the release of Season 3!

 

According to this Youtuber, it seems it was accidentally leaked onto IMDB, then removed shortly after.  A screenshot of the date was saved before it was taken down.

 

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/18/2020 at 1:57 PM, magicdog said:

48 since Daniel won twice.  Fewer still depending on how many other former champions won more than once.  I agree it might have been nice to have all remaining champions stop by but they acknowledged them with banners.  Plus, Daniel was on the committee and an active part of the community.

 

On 9/18/2020 at 6:08 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

As others have mentioned with Daniel and Johnny both being 2 time champs there should be at most 46 other champs. I imagine those guys probably moved on and got over shit that happened when they were like 16.

I know, I know. I thought about the returning champion count thing after I posted. But there must be at least a couple dozen other former champs out there. I guess they all didn’t stay involved like Daniel did. (And give out bonsai trees at their car dealership.) I still think the almost standing ovation seemed a little much. 

Anyway, I’ll show myself out. I’m trying to stay awake  till I’m caught up with s2. 
EDIT: trying to stay away. But staying awake would probably help too. 

Edited September 21, 2020 by SoMuchTV

[Thomas Crown]

Just speculation (and a wish!) on my part, but since the show loves to gives us nods to the original KK movies, I'm thinking the series will end with Daniel saying to Johnny "You're all right Lawrence" as an homage to the ending of the original Karate Kid movie and bringing the series full circle. 

[methodwriter85]

One little bit that I loved in season 2 that doesn't get mentioned- Johnny is hitting it off with this woman he met in the bar, but he ditches her to come to the defense of Miguel's mother, who is nice but doesn't really seem to have that much in common with him. It's those little self-sabotage moments like that which make Johnny seem so real.

[TheLastKidPicked]

17 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

It's those little self-sabotage moments like that which make Johnny seem so real.

Very good point!  You want to root for Johnny, but you know that even if he gets a few breaks he will find a way to mess things up.

 

[Virtual]

On 9/6/2020 at 9:56 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

This was a good scene, but it was motivated more by Kreese taunting Johnny that Daniel was going to scoop Miguel, so I'm having difficulty how genuine he was.

That scene where Kreese puts the possibility into Johnny's head that Daniel might steal Miguel as a student was well done. Obviously Miguel was planning on staying loyal to Johnny (the talk at the restaurant helped that though; Hawk didn't get that same talk with Johnny so he just went on thinking Johnny favored his son over his students, even though he was with a rival dojo & Kreese took advantage of Hawk's feelings on that, in a way), but in Johnny's mind, it's very feasible that Daniel could poach him. After all, he still blames Daniel for losing Ali and believes he stole her, and Daniel ended up training Johnny's son after years of neglect kept Robby from truly connecting with Johnny.

It's crazy that we have to wait until 2021 for Season 3, by the way. Filming was finished in 2019.

Edited September 21, 2020 by David2147

[TigerLily20]

21 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

One little bit that I loved in season 2 that doesn't get mentioned- Johnny is hitting it off with this woman he met in the bar, but he ditches her to come to the defense of Miguel's mother, who is nice but doesn't really seem to have that much in common with him. It's those little self-sabotage moments like that which make Johnny seem so real.

I guess I took that scene a little differently, that woman was just him in female form, I saw it as more of a growth for him instead of going for something easy maybe go for someone who would challenge him a bit and also want him to be better (no more slim jims for breakfast)...

[nachomama]

12 hours ago, TigerLily20 said:

I guess I took that scene a little differently, that woman was just him in female form, I saw it as more of a growth for him instead of going for something easy maybe go for someone who would challenge him a bit and also want him to be better (no more slim jims for breakfast)...

He seems to have a thing for fried bologna. Which is not a thing that I do but he seems to be doing it wrong. I used to work in a deli and we have very devoted fried bologna fans. They order their bologna to fry sliced especially thick. Granted, Johnny's on a budget and maybe just using regular package bologna to fry but purists I think do it thicc!

[DoctorAtomic]

Sid was in his fridge saying that he bought the 'reduced meat' because it's almost spoiled. So I would guess he didn't have the income for the good stuff. 

[TigerLily20]

5 hours ago, nachomama said:

He seems to have a thing for fried bologna. Which is not a thing that I do but he seems to be doing it wrong. I used to work in a deli and we have very devoted fried bologna fans. They order their bologna to fry sliced especially thick. Granted, Johnny's on a budget and maybe just using regular package bologna to fry but purists I think do it thicc!

My aunt eats fried bologna all the time but she always just used the packaged stuff, but she grew up on the poorer end so they used what they had.  I always get a kick when I see people eating it, it's not something I have ever seen anyone else do but her

[nachomama]

I buy the meat that gets marked down too! I freeze it immediately. I feel Johnny's thriftiness. Aint no shame in that game. I never would have called fried bologna a thing either but I learned a lot of weird things working in a deli. We had people who bought the german bologna and sliced it on the widest setting (like 1/2 inch) and they were grilling it in the back yard like it was steak. Also Lebanon bologna (think amish) is like salami that you marinate with motor oil. It smells like a burned out clutch. No thank you. At first I thought Johnny was actually living at the place where Daniel used to live, until they went there and he was looking at the pool. I feel like I need to join "IloveJohnny anonymous" it feels wrong.

[magicdog]

1 hour ago, nachomama said:

At first I thought Johnny was actually living at the place where Daniel used to live, until they went there and he was looking at the pool.

He lives in the same city when he and his mom first moved to CA - Reseda.  The apartment building Johnny lives in is just a stone's throw away from the building used for Daniel's 80s apartment.

 

Meanwhile - I got a surprise when I checked in one one of my favorite YT channels.  Better late than never I guess, but at least he liked the show!

[methodwriter85]

They have a later scene in season 1 where we see Johnny's fridge and it's actually stocked with real food. I think it was to show he was taking better care of himself?