Back a few years ago when the first season of Cobra Kai hit Youtube Red, it was a certified hit. Sure, it hit all the nostalgic notes, but it also managed to produce something totally new without a reboot. It sparked my interest, but I never wanted to pay for the subscription. Then it moved to Netflix for its upcoming third season and the show made my shortlist! Being a fan of The Karate Kid, I had decent expectations for this show.
Man did it not disappoint! This first season was such a clever mix of drama and comedy that made every character intriguing. We start the show with Johnny Lawrence living in squalor 30 years after his defeat at the hands of Daniel LaRusso. He’s got a crappy car, a crummy apartment, and a job doing repair and installation work. After he gets fired and his car gets smashed, he ends up coming face to face with Daniel LaRusso. While he’s happy to sort of let the past be the past, Johnny just wants Daniel to get out of his face.
After helping his new an nerdy neighbor kid in a fight, Johnny decides to re-establish his old dojo, Cobra Kai. Miguel is at first the only student, but slowly others start to join, including a bullied Aisha. Even more flock to the dojo after Miguel defeats some high school bullies for making fun of Sam. Miguel definitely has a crush on Sam, but she is also Daniel’s daughter! Sam keeps quiet that she’s dating someone from Cobra Kai, lest her dad stop her from dating him.
To make matters even more complicated, Johnny’s estranged son, Robby, gets a job at Daniel’s car dealership to get back at Johnny. Only thing is, the two start to develop a real father-son relationship and Daniel teaches Robby karate. Things all sort of come to a head when Miguel gets jealous of Sam’s non-relationship with Robby, and then both Daniel and Johnny find out that Robby’s been playing them both. Sam breaks up with Miguel and Robby gets kicked out of Daniel’s life.
The season finale sees Cobra Kai return to the 50th Anniversary All Valley Under-18 Karate Championship. Robby also shows up with no coach representation. Throughout the tournament, Johnny’s students show no mercy and Robby finagles his way to the semi-finales. After he dislocates his shoulder, Daniel decides to coach Robby much to the chagrin of Johnny. Miguel has totally fallen victim to the no mercy policy at Cobra Kai and lands some dirty moves to Robby’s injured shoulder to eventually take the win. Johnny is disappointed in his students’ ruthlessness, but does manage to apologize to Robby. In the final scenes of the season, Johnny’s old coach John Kresse shows up and Daniel decides to open up Miyagi-Do.
This show had me hooked from the very first episode! Everything flowed nicely, and there were plenty of storylines to focus on that it never got boring or slow. I love that Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprised their roles. It’s clear that The Karate Kid really had an impact on their lives, but could also see how a revitalized version could impact people. The show was fun, but also more intense than I thought it was going to be. Never would I have ever guessed that there would be swearing in this show! Kudos to them! Anyways, I can’t wait to start the second season!