Karate kickin into Netflix

Cobra Kai strikes first with its audience

 

     Cobra Kai is a Netflix series that takes place in the universe of The Karate Kid. It stars Ralph Macchio as he portrays the character of Daniel Larusso.

     However the show gives a different perspective of the characters from the original movie. It mainly focuses on the perspective of Johnny Lawerence, the antagonist in the original film. The main point of the show is that he is reassembling the main karate faction, Cobra Kai, from the original film.

     The most recent season is season 4, which came out on Dec. 31, 2021. Many fans were excited as over time it has grown a big fan base.  What makes it popular?

     The show started off streaming on Youtube TV but soon became very popular and was bought by Netflix.

     The main focus of the season is the unlikely duo of Johnny Lawerence (Billy Zabka) and Daniel Larusso(Ralph Maccio) teaming up to defeat a bigger villain. Martin Kove  returns as John Kreese. Kove first showed up in season 2 and has continued to be a pain in the back for most characters.

     The new season is very enjoyable however at times felt cheesy. A moment I really enjoyed was when Johnny Lawerence was recruiting people for his dojo. He is an old man and trying to understand highschoolers is the funniest thing in the show. 

     The cringe moments that happened kind of make it the upbeat and fun show that it is. The actors are clearly trying to act, even though at times it comes off as childish. Such as a random dance scene that the actors break into

     Billy Zabka clearly steals the show with his comedic timing and overall acting. Zabka has gotten much praise as people enjoy how he brought a generic bully from the first movie into a lovable, oldbeat, hilarious sensei. You can tell that Zabka cares about this role and continues to shine as the show continues to grow.

    With Season 5 scheduled to come out, it is exciting to see how they continue the story. Maybe introducing more characters from the previous movies or building off new characters introduced this season. Overall it is a very binge worthy show that will make you want to karate chop everybody in sight.