Cobra Kai Season 5 is a huge success

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Courtesy of Nexflix

A New Era of No Mercy movie poster.

Cobra Kai strikes again with its new season featuring ten exciting episodes. Cobra Kai follows the antagonist of the first Karate Kid, Johnny Laurence, who is deep into a midlife crisis, divorced, and can’t hold a job. The show also follows Daniel Laursso, the hero of the Karate Kid trilogy, a successful dealership owner, with a family. As the infamous dojo Cobra Kai reignites, we see both Sensi’s reignite with it, as their lives spiral into adventure, drama, and karate.

The end of season four left off with the All Valley Championship and an ultimatum demanding that the Dojo that lost be shut down. In season four, one of the main changes was the joining of Miagi Do and Eagle Fang. But, Johnny and Daniel find it hard to learn from the others’ differing views on Karate. Both teachers have such different styles it is difficult to like their characters when they are constantly arguing.

Season five of Cobra Kai focuses on the growth of the well known dojo Cobra Kai and its new leader Sensi Terry Silver. Silver is a vicious leader we have both come to dislike for his destructive tactics. The combined loss by Miagi Do and Eagle Fang at the All Valley Championship caused the two Sensi’s, Daniel LaRuso and Johnny Lawerance, to shut down their respective dojos. However, LaRusso isn’t willing to give up. In season five LaRusso is determined to take down Cobra Kai by teaming up with old friend Sensi Chozen Toguchi. Sensi Toguchi offers a refreshing mix of different teaching styles and humor making him a fan favorite.

In season five, many surprising characters were developing into new people. The audience was surprised to see development in longtime villain John Kreese and his protégé Tory Nichols. Even more surprising was the reconciliation between Johnny and Daniel, mirrored in the bonding that occurred with Robby and Miguel over their similar relationship with Johnny. The character development by Johnny from season one, and even from the Karate Kid movies, up until season five was varying. Overall, the development of characters we never thought would change is refreshing.

John Kreese has been an essential villain, since the beginning, in the Karate Kid movies and in the Cobra Kai series. He has been known as the cruel Sensi that made Cobra Kai infamous in the Valley. In this season Kreese was in jail for alleged assault and he spends his time with a therapist working on himself. We see the development of his character and look into his past revealing the beginning of his cruel teachings of karate.

Tory Nichols was introduced in season 2 episode 4 as a new recruit in the Cobra Kai dojo. As the only girls, Sam LaRuso and Tory were instantly pitted against each other. Tory has shown time and again her commitment to Cobra Kai. So, after winning the Girls All Vally, against Sam, Tory is faced with a difficult decision when she learns Sensi Silver paid the referee so Tory would win. Season five allows the audience to see Tory’s struggle to admit the truth and the development of her character because of it. From the beginning she had been an unlikeable character for both of us, but this season really changed our outlook, and she was actually good-natured.

The relationship between Robby Keene and Miguel Diaz has been a struggle from the start. The confusing romantic relationships between Robby, Miguel, Sam, and Tory create a bubble of constant drama. In season five the two boys are forced to learn how to tolerate each other and work together for the common good of karate in the valley. We both agreed that by the end of the season we were sick of them fighting so much, and seeing them come together was great.

Johnny Lawerance is a vital character in the show because of his original role in the Karate Kid Movies. He is a Sensi of Eagle Fang Karate, father to Robby and father Figure to Miguel. In season five Johnny works on his relationship with people. He makes an effort to reconnect his son Robby with Miguel, after their constant arguments. Daniel LaRusso and Lawerance have been at odds since day one but, in season five they team up and really find ways to work together as one Dojo. Also, in season five Johnny and Carmen, Miguel’s mom, go further into their relationship together.

Season five has been one of the best yet packed full of action and cliffhangers. Olivia and Matilda liked this season because it had a good controlled chaos. The directors did a great job having multiple storylines then connecting them all. We loved the storyline of Kresse’s therapy and how we saw deeper into his character without leaving behind his signature fiery ego. Our best ranked episode would have to be episode 10, “Head of the Snake”. We loved the episode because of the satisfying ending and the intense fight scenes. We think it’s impressive to have such a chaotic season with so much happening, come to such a close. Matilda and Olivia both agree that Samantha LaRusso is not our favorite character. She constantly creates drama, and is very annoying.

Season five of Cobra Kai has the highest ratings of any of the previous seasons released in the past. Paul Tassi, says in his article for Forbes, “Cobra Kai season five currently has not just a perfect 100% score from critics, but also a sky-high 96% score from fans, one of the highest I’ve ever seen for a Netflix original.” This isn’t new for Cobra Kai, as the reviews have been extremely high since the show started. It’s rare to see a show thriving and getting its highest reviews on a later season of the show. This season of Cobra Kai is one for the record books, and is a must watch for families, or anyone in need of a cheesy, feel good binge.