Cobra Kai - A Review
By: Mallory Johnson
I recently watched the Netflix show Cobra Kai with my parents, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But, before I go any further, I want to mention that this review will contain spoilers, so SPOILER ALERT! I also want to set some trigger warnings, for: alcoholism, violence (in general, the show is about karate), child neglect, smoking, snakes (it is more imagery, not real snakes), bullying, fatphobia, sexual harassment, car crash, underage drinking, and persistent drinking and driving. Cobra Kai is a sequel to the Karate Kid movies, and stars Ralph Macchio (The Outsiders, The Karate Kid), William Zabka (The Man in the Silo, The Karate Kid), Xolo Mariduena (Goodnight America, Twin Peaks), Courtney Henggeler (Into the Dark, Do Not Reply), and Tanner Buchanan (The Fosters, Chance).
To enjoy the show to the fullest extent, it does require minimal Karate Kid knowledge. In the show, Lawrence (played by William Zabka) and Larusso (played by Ralph Macchio) have a rivalry from the past which I liked at first, but it eventually got old. I loved all the flashbacks that they included to the original movies! The show is very easy to binge, with 10 30-minute episodes per season, with a lot of cliffhangers. It was interesting to me how opposite Larusso and Lawrence are. I loved how in the show, the Cobra Kai dojo started out to teach kids self-defense, but at the end it went too far. I really liked all the romance, especially the forbidden love trope with Miguel and Samantha. I loved all the 80s references and found it funny how Lawrence did not know modern slang and how to use a cell phone. There were some jokes and references that I did not get because I have not watched the Karate Kid movies in a long time. Throughout watching the show, I was torn about which side of the rivalry to support (and I still am). My overall rating is 9/10, because I wished the rivalry was sorted out and I did not like that season 2 ended on a cliffhanger, but I am very excited for season 3!