I recently did a thread on TV series that only had a good first season, and cobra kai is a borderline entry I think. Not because the other seasons are bad but because the first season really stands out IMO.
Season 1 was such a surprise: a really mature take on how these characters would have grown up, avoiding all the obvious tropes, and genuinely funny.
After that, the conflicts seemed increasingly implausible, and for my money, the show didn’t know whether it was parodying the karate kid, or playing it straight.
It’s not a bad show at all, but I guess maybe the concept could only really work for a couple strong seasons YMMV (and I’m aware I’m about to get flamed…)
I finished the series and I liked the last couple of episodes (as silly as they were). The training montage was great. I was convinced that one of the fights was going to end with a crane kick (if do right, no can defense), but alas it was not to be. Otherwise it was pretty satisfying, in a cheesy kind of way.
I liked the ending as well - they could have gotten there 2 seasons ago, but at least they stuck the landing for a Karate Telenovela, which is nice.
Now why on earth the new Karate Kid Movie stars Ralph Macchio instead of William Zabka I do not understand - seeing Macchio trying to do Karate was painful, and I think Zabka and Chan would be a much more interesting dynamic. But then again, I don’t see the need for another Karate Kid which is AGAIN the same story. At least Kobra Kai shifted the perspective a bit.
Apparently the movie and the show are supposed to share the same universe but there is no actual connection to the show. It takes place a few years after the end of the series. They don’t want to limit the audience to only those that sat through 6 seasons of TV. If you only watched the movies you won’t be lost.
I understand, but I feel confident that the whole “Johnny Lawrence is a good guy now, but still kicks ass” could be covered in less than 5 minutes of flashback. I will admit to not having seen the “Kung Fu Kid” with Jackie Chan, but to my understanding his role is basically identical to Mr. Myagi. So what kind of interesting interaction/conflict can there be between him and Macchios character? We will see (maybe, once it streams somewhere
