Cobra Kai Never Dies!

Last night, I binge-watched the last five episodes of “Cobra Kai,” released four days ago (Feb 13th).

All I can say is “WOW.” I love how the writers wrapped it up all by the final episode!

Semi-Spoiler Alert ahead!

Suffice it to say that Cobra Kai stuck the landing in the final five episodes.

They contained a satisfying mix of redemption, resolution, and catharsis, particularly for the main characters from the Karate Kid movies (Daniel, Johnny, Kreese, and Silver). I expected the final episodes to somehow circle back to the original Karate Kid movie, but I wasn’t quite sure how it would. Anyway, it did harken back to the beginning in a satisfactory way.

My favorite character is, by far, Johnny Lawrence. As many of you know, Johnny struggled for years after his loss to Daniel LaRusso in 1984. His struggles were brilliantly captured in the first episode of Season 1, particularly within the first three minutes.

One of my martial arts friends recommended “Cobra Kai” to me. At that time, it was on YouTube. “It’s part of the Karate Kid franchise and really good.“

To be honest, I was skeptical. I didn’t expect much when I finally sat down to watch the series. I’m generally not into nostalgia-type shows. You can guess what happened. I was immediately hooked. Making Johnny Lawrence the series’s main protagonist was a stroke of genius.

While the series sometimes focused on Daniel LaRusso, Kreese, and Terry Silver, the teenage characters, the throughline was always Johnny Lawrence and his struggles.

He seems to have been haunted for decades by his loss in the 1984 All-Valley Tournament to Daniel Larusso. He became a depressed alcoholic and became depressed and withdrawn.

There’s a lot about him that I identify with him. No, I did not have a devastating event in my life like he did. Nor did I have an abusive father figure relationship that he had with Kreese—Ditto for Johnny’s alcoholism. Instead, I can understand his feeling of “being a loser,” a fear he repeatedly expressed in the last couple of episodes of the series. Johnny saw himself as a loser for most of his adult life.

Other Stuff I’ve Written

• The Different Cobra Kai Dojos
• Two Themes of Cobra Kai – Season 4
• The Impossible Is Possible
• Horrifying Mall Attack
• Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy

Believe it or not, I saw myself in the same way Johnny Lawrence viewed himself for much of my adult life. A lot had to do with my experiences in law school and a bad experience at one law firm. I am convinced to this day that the negative law firm experience was based on discrimination due to my deafness. It impacted me for years afterwards. Anyway, I’d rather not get into too much detail here. Suffice it to say that I identify with Johnny’s struggles sans the alcoholism. I can say that martial arts helped me to sort through a lot of shit.

Without spoiling things, the series ended on a very satisfactory note for Johnny. That’s all I’ll say. If you’ve seen the final episodes, let me know what you think!

On another note, check out the trailer below:

According to Wikipedia: “In August 2023, Chan was reported to be reprising his role in the film. In late November 2023, Chan and Macchio were officially revealed to have joined the cast. The announcement confirms that the remake takes place in the same shared universe as the original films and the Cobra Kai series.”

There’s not much information about this new movie, but I’ll try to find out.

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