Alright, so I didn’t watch the latest season of Cobra Kai when it dropped on Netflix this past Friday, but you bet I binged it all in two days time.
Yes, that’s right! It’s only September and we already get new Cobra Kai! I hope that means we get some sooner next year, too. I know that’s a lot of pressure, but this show is just so dang good and I watched it way too quick. This show manages to pack so much story into ten episodes, but it never feels all that rushed or muddled in any way. Also, with such a sprawling cast, I feel like almost everyone gets their screen time. Some new faces definitely shined this season, but everyone else at least made meaningful appearances when they did. Take for instance, John Kreese. Yeah, that guy is in prison for almost killing Stingray (cough), so we aren’t going to see a whole lot of him, but what we did was interesting, and then bonkers. Oh yeah, the rest of this review will contain some SPOILERS, so you’ve been warned.
Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang lost out to Terry Silver’s Cobra Kai at the All-Valley, so Daniel and Johnny are forced to close down their dojos. Surprisingly, that seems easier for Johnny than I would have thought. Although, he’s a little busy at the moment. First, he’s trying to foster this new relationship with Robby, but he also needs to find his other “son” in Mexico. Miguel learns some hard lessons about his real father, but I’m glad he learned for himself so he can appreciate the people that love him at home. Robby and Miguel still aren’t keen (see what I did there) for each other, but they finally fight it out and come to an understanding. Finally! Johnny is also presented with the fact that he’s going to be a dad again when Carmen tells him she’s pregnant. That was a twist I did not see coming!
I knew Daniel would have a hard time closing down Miyagi-Do, but he spirals pretty quickly, and pretty badly. Terry Silvers has made him a paranoid mess, but his paranoia is proven time and time again with Terry slyly sabotaging everything Daniel does to try and shut him down. Terry’s ultimate goal for Cobra Kai? Global domination. So not only is he opening dojos all over the Valley, but he’s expanding into other cities in the hopes of competing in a global karate tournament. When Johnny and Daniel catch wind of this plan from Kreese (crazy!), they make it their mission to join forces again, with the help of Chozen, to take him down, or at least get into the tournament, too. They are successful, which doesn’t come as a huge surprise, but it’s what happens in the final two episodes that are wild.
There are certainly aspects of this show that are corny, and a little unrealistic, but what goes down in the season finale has to be the furthest removed from reality I’ve ever seen the show attempt. With that being said, it still had real-life consequences, but still, this stuff cannot be happening in real life (but what do I know?). There’s an ultimate show-down at Cobra Kai with the Miyagi-Fangs attempting to expose Terry Silver’s cheating to the world, all thanks to Tory’s help (another crazy thing!). The drunken adults also plan on taking Silver and his minions down, but they are woefully out-numbered. Stingray finally gets brave and helps Daniel get to the kerfuffle in time to beat Terry. Admittedly, Terry is a psycho who’s spiraling, but still, a win is a win, and he even got all of the Cobra Kai kids to jump ship when they learned of his deception.
It seems like that’d be the end of Cobra Kai, but there’s still Silver’s right-hand sensei, Kim, in town, and oh yeah, Kreese escapes from prison! I’m sure he can’t be the face of Cobra Kai again right now, but I am dying to know how his story plays out next season (hopefully). Now in the clear from Cobra Kai’s evils, Miyagi-Fang can focus on the world tournament, but will they get some new recruits in the process? Seems likely, but as I’ve learned over the course of watching this show, anything is possible. If you’ve not given this show a chance in the past, freaking start now! I promise you’ll love it.