Cobra Kai recently premiered its third season on Netflix and there are plenty of lessons to be learned from this series. The following contains possible spoilers. Obviously.
If I'm to glean anything from the third season of Cobra Kai, it's that one always needs to be wary of karate fights breaking out at any time.
Teenagers, am I right?
I'm simply not speaking of one versus one action. Yes, there are still plenty of these occurrences. But in building off the second season's finale "all-out-brawl" at the high school, Cobra Kai only ups the ante in season three. We have fights at chop shops. Fights in dojos. A laser tag fracas between rivals. A rumble in the LaRusso family home.
The only thing really missing is a character yelling "Warriors!" and an epic fight with baseball bats.
Honestly, I'm here for every second of it.
Cobra Kai began in earnest, diving into the present-day life of one Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). The villain from the original Karate Kid, we first see Lawrence exactly where we might have expected him to be: a deadbeat father with still no real direction in his life. From there, the bricks are laid for a fantastic redemption angle.
Lawrence slowly earned our respect. He became our anti-hero and – in something viewers have been constantly reminded of in the course of three seasons – gave us a lens in which to view that there are two sides to every story. (Seriously. This has been harped upon with Thor's hammer, over and over again.)
While this angle continues to thread the stories of Cobra Kai, including Lawrence's rivalry with Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), the show has morphed into an action-packed series that has pulled into focus the next generation of karate masters. This includes the offspring of Lawrence and LaRusso, plus the students of Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do, and the newly-formed Eagle Fang.
A triad of dojos, all prepped for a season four showdown of possibly epic proportions.
Wax on, wax off
Classic lines and familiar faces were destined to show up in Cobra Kai, much like many others in this reboot heavy generation of media. All were meant to strike nostalgia, and some have certainly been more welcome than others.
What struck me is the direct nod to the street fights and battle sequences that can be traced to films from the late 1970s and 80s. Movies like The Warriors and The Outsiders are just two examples. (The very same organized chaos of these fights scenes gave way to spontaneous, choreographed dance sequences in teen movies during the 90s.)
Along the way, the focus on Lawrence deviated slightly. Storylines became slightly bloated, including a backstory involving John Kreese (Martin Krove) that wasn't really needed. It is understandable that depth was wanted for Kreese. Except here's the thing: Kreese is evil, pure and simple. Like Cal Hockley (Billy Zane) in Titanic. He's evil for the sake of being evil. End of story. (Okay. I understand attempting to give depth to a character, but I was not going to care for Kreese, no matter the situation.)
Thankfully, the last few episodes of season three brought focus again to Lawrence. Storylines converged and focus began anew. Cobra Kai is a series with good fun and it's been nice to see an extension of this world, one I was wary of jumping into at first.
A battle like no other is seemingly on the horizon for season four. The glimpses we've seen of Lawrence and LaRusso leaving their past rivalry behind could finally be settled. Friendship may not be on the horizon, but here's to hoping Lawrence's redemption can be fully realized. The steps have been taken to get there. Now it's time to finish the job.
Lessons have been learned. Grievances have been set aside. And karate is back where it belongs: running rampant in the streets of the valley.
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