Here's something that doesn't happen very often. A series finale that has a general consensus of people pretty happy with how things ended. Which feels weird because that just doesn't happen anymore. That in itself is a win for the show.
My only problem was we had long periods of time between all 3 parts spanning 7 F-ING MONTHS! Part 1: July 18, 2024, Part 2: November 15, 2024, Part 3: February 13, 2025. Now I don't know about anyone else but A LOT happened in my life in that time span. I know it's been done with other shows on other platforms but can we stop with this shit of stringing your viewers along to "build anticipation" or WTF ever. Look, we love the shows and will watch them when they finally do get dropped but at some point if it takes too damn long people will start losing interest and not be as invested as they were when they got into the show. End of rant.
I'm not going to get too detailed and do a full breakdown, I'll leave that for the guys that probably know what they're talking about. At least from a storytelling and cinematic point of view. I'm just going to point out the good shit about the final episodes and just an overall opinion on the show.
Now let's talk about this 80's nostalgic, cheesy teen drama, but yet a very deep-hearted-meaning of how life is type of show.
It's pretty crazy to think back when I heard about this new show on YouTube Red (now YouTube Premium), which I never knew was a thing, in 2018. About a Karate Kid show but reversed from Johnny Lawrence's point of view. In the aftermath of the original Karate Kid he is basically at rock bottom, still living in the past where he was the king of high school and would be living a better life if it wasn't for the now famous car dealership owner and the Valley's karate legend Daniel LaRusso.
It sounded great but it wouldn't be until Netflix bought the rights to the show in 2020 and launched it with season 3 in 2021 that I was going to be able to watch.
But from the first scene I was hooked. To be able to turn the character of Johnny Lawrence, who was the poster child for just about every douche-canoe you will run into in life, into a semi-sympathetic character and kind of see things from his view while also turning Daniel-son LaRusso, in the beginning, into a super-douche-canoe successful car dealership owner is pretty damn amazing to me.
They did almost lose me with the cheesy teen drama crap with karate nonsense but then you have to realize that's exactly what the OG Karate Kid trilogy is. I got passed that by thinking we all need a little stupid cheesy thing in our lives right now and this isn't so bad and just kept going without even knowing that at the heart of the show that was the whole damn point.
Part 3 of these last episodes told the story of this whole series and really about life .... balance.
Don't worry I'm not gonna get deep into it or all hippy-dippy but if you look at all the characters, storylines, even down to how people dress is all about balance. Light & Dark, Good & Bad, Up & Down, it's what a Yin Yang is all about. We all have these things in our lives and it's about finding your balance in it. If you lean one way or the other you fall into it.
Even in the end Johnny gets the chance to redeem himself with Daniel-son as his sensei. LaRusso tells him that the crane kick worked because Johnny was so angry and impatient he ran straight into the kick instead of being balanced. During the final fight with the Iron Dragons' sensei, Johnny has to come back because he was down on himself and lost his balance. So when it comes down to the last winning point Johnny takes the lesson learned from that crane kick to win the whole Sekai Taikai tournament for Cobra Kai.
That was the minutia of what I loved most about the show but you could also see yourself or recognize someone in your own life in any of these characters.
The intertwining of Mr. Miyagi's origin and backstory I thought was great and yes I even liked the AI Miyagi because it was used in the right way as a dream sequence and I refuse to nitpick the shit out of it. The fact that we can even do this and make it work onscreen is a good thing.
The scene where Johnny confronts Kreese after he tries to apologize for what he did to Johnny. The dialog between those two was awesome and you really felt it. That too is about balance by letting go of things you need to let go of in life and finding closure. Great stuff.
Then Kreese somehow someway like a stealth ninja gets on Terry Silver's yacht to literally blow up the boat. If you've paid any attention to this show John Kreese has a way of coming back from the dead. While this show is over there are other movies and probably spinoff shows in the works.
LaRusso of all people funding the revival of Cobra Kai letting Johnny run it while also making sure they teach Miyagi-Do, also a symbol of balance. You see guys! ... Guys?
Let's not forget the kids that were involved here. Miguel, Robby, Tory, Sam, Eli/Hawk, Demetri, Kenny Payne. They're all about in their 20's now but I have a feeling in another couple years we'll look back on this cast of young actors and be amazed who was all in this cast.
This show also gave us the gift of Paul Walter Houser the now Sensei Stingray.
So yeah enough rambling, I really loved this show. The 80's nostalgia, the music soundtrack, all the callbacks and easter eggs, cameos, the storylines, the comedy, the knuckleheadedness, the levity and of course ... balance.
Always remember ... "No fuckin' mercy"
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