This is a no spoiler review for all 10 episodes of Cobra Kai: Season 5 out on Netflix on Friday September 9th.
Cobra Kai season five breaks tradition with the last two games premiered at the end of the year, with a September debut and a conclusion that feels like a slump for the first time should the series not return for another run. It’s because things feel a little too neat and tidy when the finish line comes that Season 5 feels a little less organic than what preceded it. That being said, in true Cobra Kai fashion, there are still plenty of audience-pleasing moments, an abundance of heartbreaking sentiment, and some joyful uses of franchise legacy characters that help make these 10 “summer break” episodes on are most triumphant.
This is the first post-All-Valley-Tournament story since the show’s second season, so much like this year, there’s aftermath to deal with, regroup and recover, and healing that needs to happen. Thomas Ian Griffiths wealthy and villainous Terry Silver is now in charge of Cobra Kai and has big plans for expanding the dojo. Meanwhile, Peyton List’s Tory and Mary Mouser’s Sam are both distraught from their championship fight, although it was Tory who clinched the win.
Ralph Macchio’s Daniel and William Zabka’s Johnny are both in the dumps because their respective dojos are now having to close, but while Johnny, who’s glad Kreese is in jail, sees it more as a clean break, Daniel is obsessed with Silver who, as we know, is usually a few steps ahead of poor Daniel. Additionally, Johnny is now more forward-thinking than ever, having to look at the future in ways he never expected while also wanting his son Robbie (Tanner Buchanan) and surrogate son Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) to make amends. As usual, Cobra Kai is loaded with drama born out of simple misunderstandings, but it also earns hell out of its reckoning and reconciliations with creative tricks and rewarding exchanges.
It’s incredible to be at a point now where Daniel and Johnny can act as full-fledged friends and see the real benefits in each other’s styles (this season has a fun element where the two seem to swap roles for a while ). The same goes for Daniel and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), and it’s actually Chozen’s role that shines the brightest this season. Whether serving drama or comedy, Chozen becomes a much more well-rounded character in Season 5 than Daniel’s bizarre “Ride or Die” versus Terry Silver. Though this year’s offering is firmly rooted in the events of The Karate Kid Part III (this film even features a new villain brilliantly sprung from a throwaway lineage), Chozen remains a lingering part of the second film that’s still worth checking out. to be explored here.
The fact that Daniel and Chozen recently left on “okay” terms wasn’t enough. The series is determined to make them BFFs, and that’s one of its masterpieces. It’s an absolutely beautiful MO for a show, and probably the best way to honor a film series that uses stupid teenage anger for the sake of action. That message is also meant to spread throughout the show, seeping through to Robbie and Miguel, Tory and Sam, Dallas Dupree Young’s Kenny and Griffin Santopietro’s Anthony and so on. There’s even a brief moment in Season 5 when LaRusso Auto employees Louie and Anoush get into a fight…only to make up a few minutes later. Whether it takes years or minutes, the theme here is understanding and forgiveness.
Okay, maybe not when it comes to Terry Silver, who’s a massive villain this year. Yes, you might have to put up with Daniel making some massively stupid missteps for a while, all because he can’t see Silver making him self-sabotage, but things eventually smooth out and people’s heads get set right. — and not just Daniels, by the way. He learns from his mistakes, but others are reaching his level and seeing the true, serious damage Silver can do. It’s no surprise that Sean Kanan’s “Bad Boy of Karate” Mike Barnes is returning this year, as it’s already been announced (although Mikes role may surprise you in its own way), but Cobra Kai has more tricks up his sleeve from Part III, from guest appearances to recalls. Cobra Kai is nothing if not thorough when it comes to the Miyagi verse.
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Five seasons into Cobra Kai and there’s a definite pattern to play, although there’s still room for twists and turns. As Martin Kove’s Kreese lives out his days in prison (framed by Silver for caning Stingray), we’ve got to guess if this is finally the time he truly goes in search of his soul. And just as Season 4 gave Robbie a bullied child to mentor in Kenny, Season 5 allows Oona O’Brien’s Devon to emerge from the ashes of All-Valley, ready to exponentially complicate Tory’s life. There’s so much gold still to be mined here, in what feels like the penultimate season, that it’s hard to blame Cobra Kai too much for skipping the finale of this series of episodes.
That’s not to say that things remain unclear or that there are gaps in the plot because it all just falls into place. There’s just one moment of very poor decision-making on the part of our heroes that feels like it’s meant to lead them down a very different path than it is. The series seems uncertain as Season 5 rounds out the final base and things are handled cleaner than expected. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a path forward to Season 6, as Episode 8 opens up a very big story for our heroes, but there are just elements of that ending that play out like that End-End if necessary. With Netflix you never know. Of course you tip Complete this without bringing Hilary Swank in, right? You just have to.
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