You Should Be Watching: Cobra Kai (Season 2)
The first season of Cobra Kai did a masterful job of capitalizing on nostalgia and building off of it by presenting the Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence rivalry from both perspectives.
The down and out Johnny Lawrence from Season 1 trying to redeem himself made him a likable underdog at times. Meanwhile, “the living his best life” Daniel LaRusso… who is happily married, has two kids and a successful business to his credit, was easy to dislike at times. Cobra Kai turned The Karate Kid saga on its head and left fans wanting more…
A second season of the series was announced almost simultaneously with the release of the first season, but could the show’s premise stretch for multiple seasons?
- Student vs. Teacher: The second season picks up right where the first left off, as Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) is paid a visit by a man he thought was dead, his former sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove). To say it was not a happy reunion would be an understatement… Lawrence and Kreese have a knock down drag out to get things off to an action packed start. Kove’s performance in Cobra Kai is a thing of villainous beauty. John Kreese manipulates his way back into Johnny’s life as the season continues… but there is no doubt that the John Kreese character is a ticking time bomb and at some point he is going to explode.
- Dojo vs. Dojo: The rivalry between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence intensifies when Daniel decides he is going to open up his own dojo, called Miyagi-Do and he is going to offer his classes completely free of charge. This is seen as a declaration of war by Johnny Lawrence and the students of the Cobra Kai dojo. At first it is a classic game of one upsmanship as Daniel tries to attract students to Miyagi-Do and combat the cool factor that Cobra Kai exudes… kids don’t want to paint fences and sand decks… they want to kick ass. But by mid-season the war between the dojos escalates and one of Cobra Kai’s top students Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) goes off the deep end and crosses some lines that should not have been crossed.
- Man vs. Woman: On the romantic side of things, prized Cobra Kai pupil and All Valley Champion Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) finds himself unable to win back Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser). She even blocks him on Instagram ya’ll… but Miguel’s attention is diverted by a new bad girl in town that has enrolled at Cobra Kai. Meanwhile, there seems to be something brewing between Sam and Robby (Tanner Buchanan) the estranged son of Johnny Lawrence, who is not only a student at Miyagi-Do (a point of contention between Johnny and Kreese) but he finds himself living at the LaRusso home after his mother skips town with her new boyfriend leaving Robby alone in their apartment with no electricity and facing eviction.
I won’t spoil how the season ends and a big reason for that is I am only half way through Season 2 myself. But I can safely say that this is a series you should be watching. You don’t even have to be a huge fan of the movies or even familiar with them at all to enjoy the show.
As a casual fan of the franchise and a big fan of the first season, I did have some expectations going into Season 2… For one, I was hoping for another reference to Iron Eagle (and it was there along with references to Over the Top and Bloodsport!) After the surprise appearance of Martin Kove’s John Kreese in the first season, I am hoping that tradition continues in Season 2 and we get an appearance from Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), Karate’s Bad Boy Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) or Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) before the season is over.
