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Cobra Kai


The Choc
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I'm only at the start of season 3 so skipped  over some of the comments in this page of the thread. 

 

I liked season 01. Season 02 was a bit of a chore to get through to be honest, mostly due to the repetitive nature of the episodes and the unrelenting cheese. Hoping season 03 gets better but the things that I don't like about it seem to be increasing in intensity with each season. Namely the cringey cheese. I just can't deal with some of it. Don't get me wrong, I like some cheese, and I know this is intentionally nudge nudge wink wink cheesy and knowing..but on top of that self aware-laugh-at-the-80s cheese is MORE cheese . A fondue of US television show-family value-relationship-lets-talk-about-feelings-cheese. The combined effect is just too much to take. 

Also a bit of trivia...I'm pretty sure the guy who plays Kessler did the voice for Canderous Ordo in KOTOR and KOTOR2. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just finished season 3.  Eh, I don't know....I think season 3 was the weakest.  Still enjoyed it a lot though.   

Kreese's backstory is so ridiculous, man.  I know they want to give him depth and dimension to his character and his actions but in this case it would just be better off if rhey just kept him a cheesy baddie just because.  Johnny following him to the halfway house was a good moment though.

So who gets the worst actor award?  Macchio?   The dude never knows what to do with his arms or hands, it cracks me up.  And does he has a bad haircut or a rug?   Can't tell but somethings up with his hair lol.  

They may sound like gripes but these things are part of what I enjoy when watching.   I have to admit that some of the character triangles they set up are pretty impressive.  It may be disguised as cheesy and campy but there's some pretty good writing going on here.  

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Cobra Kai existing had brought up stories i would have never even sought it. I never knew that the reason Daniel and Jessica were never me than friends in KK3 was because the actress that played Jessica was 16 when they were filming. Macchio was 27 and the producers thought that was too creepy.

 

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We finished Season 3 last week.  It's such a good, fun show, despite and/or because of the cheesiness.  The hardest part for us to watch, honestly, was at the start of Season 2 when Johnny was being manipulated so hard by Kreese, but that also made it so nice when Johnny sent him off.  Otherwise, my thoughts pretty much echo what so many of you have said about the show.

One thing that almost certainly altered our viewing/perception of the show is the fact that we started taking karate classes in 2019.  Sadly, the pandemic has kept us from continuing with them for almost a year now, but we are looking forward to going back once my wife can get the vaccine.  It really did make such a huge difference for us, both in getting us active and interacting with more people away from the university.  Our school has a nice mix of kids, teenagers, and adults (so we aren't the only adults there, by any means).

Kreese's captain mentioned learning Tang Soo Do, which is the primary style at our school.  Presumably, that is also supposed to be what Cobra Kai's style is, as well.  I definitely can see some aspects of Tang Soo Do in it with the emphasis on striking fast and hard, especially with the self defense techniques we learned, which are designed to end things immediately so that we can then escape to safety quickly, but the similarity in the philosophy of Kreese to the instructors in our school definitely ends there.

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My littlest sons totally adore this show, the rest of my fam dig it. I love it the most, hilariously, when there isn’t karate going on. Prolly weird, I guess. The West Side Story / Power Ranger multiple person mash ups super drag the show down for me. Other than that, can’t wait for next season.

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  • 9 months later...

Two episodes into Season 4 now. 

I liked it more when Amanda wasn't invested in Daniel and Johnny's rivalry and just had a completely irreverent attitude toward them about it. But now things have escalated to a point where it's fracturing my believability and enjoyment of the show. A bunch of teenagers breaking into your house to attack your kid and her friends and then throw someone through a window but you don't call the police on all of them?? Breaks all logic, even cheesy entertainment logic. 

 That said though, Johnny might be becoming one of my favorite TV characters of all time. 

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Hard to really tell someone where their suspension of disbelief should end and yeah Amanda's ability to point out the inherent silliness of how serious this karate rivalry in the valley is will be missed. For me though the most important thing for a show/movie is that it continues to do well what it does well and season 4 100% continues that. 

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On 1/3/2022 at 8:41 AM, Cerina said:

Two episodes into Season 4 now. 

I liked it more when Amanda wasn't invested in Daniel and Johnny's rivalry and just had a completely irreverent attitude toward them about it. But now things have escalated to a point where it's fracturing my believability and enjoyment of the show. A bunch of teenagers breaking into your house to attack your kid and her friends and then throw someone through a window but you don't call the police on all of them?? Breaks all logic, even cheesy entertainment logic. 

 That said though, Johnny might be becoming one of my favorite TV characters of all time. 

 

21 hours ago, The Choc said:

Hard to really tell someone where their suspension of disbelief should end and yeah Amanda's ability to point out the inherent silliness of how serious this karate rivalry in the valley is will be missed. For me though the most important thing for a show/movie is that it continues to do well what it does well and season 4 100% continues that. 

I haven't started S4...but I agree. 

I think the problem for me is that the show can't make up its mind what it wants to be.  It wants to be a silly show with the karate fights in line with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II and III, but it keeps trying to be the Karate Kid movies that are anything but.  It feels weird to have  silly karate fights and the next scene Daniel is back in Okinawa and trying to recapture its roots. 

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Five episodes in and I'm still enjoying it. I have to say that they need to stop it with the Mr. Miyagi emotional words of wisdom/life lessons. We get it. He's dead. You're running this into the ground though. The Terry Silver angle is interesting and I can't wait to see how it plays out. He's still a bad guy it seems, but his motivations are different than Krease's. And poor Kenny. A good kid caught up in a bad situation.

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1 hour ago, Metropolis said:

Five episodes in and I'm still enjoying it. I have to say that they need to stop it with the Mr. Miyagi emotional words of wisdom/life lessons. We get it. He's dead. You're running this into the ground though. The Terry Silver angle is interesting and I can't wait to see how it plays out. He's still a bad guy it seems, but his motivations are different than Krease's. And poor Kenny. A good kid caught up in a bad situation.

I agree.  You should reflect back on your personal/ professional mentor guidance from time to time, but at some point you have to carve your own path.

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Finished season 4. Awesome. A few things. **Spoilers**

1. The All Valley was worth the wait. And you get two episodes of it! They set you up knowing that you're sure that Cobra Kai loses. You're sure you're getting the rematch of Robby and Miguel. NOPE! Hawk gets the redemption Kylo Ren wishes he could have. I actually jumped off the couch when Hawk scored the winning point. That the boys final was the first match unfortunately telegraphed the final. Once again i actually yelled at the ref for blowing the call on Sam's point. And of course that turned out to be integral.(i won't spoil everything because i don't like typing on my phone that long)

2. I said in the Ghostbusters thread that is they wanted to continue the franchise it would have been better served in short form. Cobra Kai is proof of this. It allows for plenty of moments for call backs. I wasn't sure before watching this season that there was much for another season. Wrong I was. Though this ending seems to be hinting to an actual finale. 

3. I hated the Kenny Payne story. It's almost as if they did a What If? Daniel Larusso was a bad guy. YOU'RE GOING TO END UP LIKE YOUR BROTHER!!!  This however is a set up for Kenny and Anthony Larusso showdown.

4. When they keep adding characters, you have to ask his do they get so good so fast? The writers know this and make it a side joke. At least they know.

5. Terry Silver. Wow. I couldn't pin down what was going with him. At first he seemed like he wasn't the same guy that we saw in KK3. Then it seemed odd he was taking Krease's crap. In the end though he reveals he is a manipulative psycho. 

6. If it wasn't obvious before, it is now. Johnny and Daniel's relationship is a product of the the Cobra Kai show. Not the KK movies. So i find it funny that adult me just rolls my eyes every time Daniel and Johnny get into fights after making up every time. 

7. Chozen is back. Also they kept teasing Mike Barnes. Do we finally get a Mike Barnes/Johnny Lawrence fight? Please yes!

 

So much more but it's late.

 

 

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It was a shame that Kreese got jailed just after he was showing some glimmers of hope of being a somewhat decent person again.

It will be interesting to see how Daniel and Chozen work together in Season 5. Will they have any quarrels like Daniel has with Johnny? I suspect maybe not because it seems Chozen has fully put aside his past, while for Johnny, it is still an ongoing thing.

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On 1/4/2022 at 3:45 PM, Hobbes said:

I agree.  You should reflect back on your personal/ professional mentor guidance from time to time, but at some point you have to carve your own path.

I think Daniel learns that in the end when he tells Sam to trust herself at the tournament. It also had a flashback where Daniel told Miyagi he would do karate the Miyagi way and Miyagi said no, Daniel should do his own way. The Miyagi flashbacks (or talking about Miyagi) never bothered me. He was obviously important in Daniel's life, so there would of course be a lot of influence on Daniel (similar to but not the same as the Kreese/Lawrence relationship). BTW, one of my favorite moments in S4 was Johnny looking like he was going to do the crane kick. :D

S4.jpg

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Still haven’t watched, but the Miyagi thing reminds me of the difference between myself and my brother regarding my dad. My dad died 10 years ago (almost to the day) and my brother is still bothered, cries over it, and talks about him constantly. My brother was in his 40s when dad died, so it wasn’t like a kid. Me? I tell my kids about him because they ask about him or my childhood, but otherwise I rarely think about him and the upcoming anniversary is meaningless.

So some people really have a hard time letting go, and it seems like Daniel is that type.

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Whats amazing about this show is that really once you accept the premise it tells some pretty epic stories. I mean the whole idea that this karate rivalry or war is this important is silly  but once you just accept that it is that important in this world the stories are stories that wouldnt be out of place in fantasy or sci fi.

Look at Hawk's storyline. In season 1 we see him laying in his bed crying to his mom about being bullied. As the show goes on obviously probably the most malicous of any of the bully characters on the show. He became the thing he started out trying to defeat. He finally realizes this and stops that but at same time he doesn;t want to go back to being the kid crying on his bed. So how does he become the person he wants to be. This is a classic story.

There are many other similar examples of just classic stories unfolding on this show using this ridiculous karate war as the backdrop for it. 

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5 hours ago, Cerina said:

 

And Carrie Underwood. What. 

My wife said that she commented on social media how much she loved the show so the writers invited her on to do that song. Unexpected but kinda cool i guess. Especially since it saves the All Valley guy's job it seems.

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18 hours ago, Tank said:

I’ve never loved an awful show before. It confuses me.

Oh man, you’re tossing softballs for me to make a crack about the stuff you’ve made but I’m not doing it.

1 hour ago, Lord Darth Hunter said:

Any chance Hilary Swank would make an appearance? We got all these Cobra Kais running around. It’d be interesting for another former Miyagi student to lend a voice to that side of things. Particularly since this show has focused heavily on the female rivalry of the war. 

I’ve read that the people behind the show think it’s possible. Personally I think it’d be best to see it as a small cameo, maybe at a future tournament where some unknown fighter wins and she’s the coach.

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