Cobra Kai Season 3 Reivew

 

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: In continuation from the dramatic fall down from the season 2 finale, new alliances are formed and broken as the cast goes through various character arcs.

 

My Thoughts: Cobra Kai once more kicks its writing quality out of the water (or should I say dojo) with its masterful balance between comedy, character-driven drama and dynamics, and some good old martial arts action. However, this season met and exceeded my already high expectations in the following respects:

1. Miguel’s Recovery Arc 
2.  Reconciliation Arcs
3.  Backstories

Note: For the purposes of my critique, there will be a fair number of spoilers ahead so proceed at your discretion.

 

 

    As everyone who saw the second season knows, Miguel fell into a coma after being kicked down a flight of stairs at the All-Valley high school by Robby Keene [Tanner Buchanan]. While Miguel was becoming more of a bully within the past season and a half (a far cry from the inquisitive, well-meaning kid early in the series), one heartwarming aspect of his character was his paternalistic relationship with sensei Johnny Lawrence. This itself was a pivotal quality to Lawrence's evolution from a bellicose curmudgeon to an increasingly caring, level-headed individual who spends more time with Miguel partially to make up for his broken relations with his estranged son. The intimate sensei-student dynamic continues as Johnny helps Miguel recover from his paralysis for much of the first half of the season. This could have easily been the perfect opportunity for the writers to have Miguel plan to secretly exact his revenge on Robby. Instead, they traveled the wiser road of showing Miguel learn to be the more forgiving, well-rounded person he was at the beginning of season 1, albeit with more experience and maturity naturally.

 

    Addressing the second point, my favorite reconciliation arcs were the Okinawa trip and Ali [Elisabeth Shue] reunion ones. The former is a nostalgic throwback to Karate Kid II involving Daniel LaRusso taking a trip to Japan in an initial failed attempt to make a business deal with Toyota Doyona. Along the way, he decides to visit Tome Village where he reunites with erstwhile love interest Kumiko [Tamlyn Tomita] and nemesis Chozen [Yuji Okumoto] . As exciting as it was to see their original actors reprise their respective roles, I still held a modicum of concern regarding how the writers would handle the storyline fearing that it would devolve into a soapy liaison and love triangle. Thankfully, those concerns were placated and replace with another pang of amazement seeing how the reunion was utilized as a poignant and fun plot point to advance Daniel’s overall personal journey. The same can be said for Ali’s return. Not unlike the Japan arc, this one toys with our expectations by presenting a potential love triangle which becomes more apparent as we witness Johnny and Ali relieve their high school years and come frighteningly close to sharing a passionate kiss. Luckily for us, a cheap ratings gimmick like that is averted and turned into the perfect opportunity to mend Johnny and Daniel’s tense rivalry as Ali and Amanda [Courtney Henggeler] together serve intermediary positions during a Christmas dinner party.

 

    Regarding the final point, Tory [Peyton List] fleshed-up more as we learn she is the breadwinner of her family due to her single mother’s illness which might explain her gruff attitude even if it doesn’t condone her conduct. However, Kreese [Martin Kove] had the most detailed backstory story of all the characters with sizable portions of his screen time alternating between the present and the past during his younger days constantly being pushed around by his peers and in combat in Vietnam. As with Tory, Kreese’s past provides further context behind his overall aggressive ‘No Mercy’ outlook, giving him an inch worth of sympathy.

 

    If there is any aspect of the season I have to complain about, it would be Robby’s development. What made him so interesting in the previous seasons was his progression from a teen delinquent with dysfunctional parents to a calmer, charitable kid under Daniel’s tutelage. During season three’s first half, Robbie is reasonably jaded from Johnny’s absence in his life and Daniel for turning him in to the authorities. However, when Robby is released from juvenile hall on probation, the first thing he does is visit Sam [Mary Mousse] who he finds in the backyard sparring flirtatiously with Miguel. Since it doesn’t bode well with him, he attempts to attack Miguel before Sam intervenes. While I could see why Robby felt that pang of instinctual disappointment, attempting to attack the person that got him into this mess is beyond stupid. Worse yet, Robby ends up joining Cobra Kai under Kreese’s leadership which feels prematurely anticlimactic to all the change he underwent previously. Besides that, I’ll add that Aisha [Nicole Brown] departure seemed pretty abrupt and would have been better had it occurred on-screen.

 

Final Thoughts: For the most part, I can say proudly that Cobra Kai season 3 was a blast binging through. I hope next season’s trifecta rivalry is just as (if not more) interesting.