Review: Cobra Kai – Season 2

For over a decade Battlestar Galactica had been considered by most to be the gold standard of reboots. However last year Youtube’s hit series Cobra Kai effectively claimed that title by rebooting the classic 80s franchise The Karate Kid. Bringing back the franchise’s original actors (Ralph Macchio and Billy Zabka), as well as adding a few newcomers (Xolo Maridueña, Mary Mouser, and Tanner Buchanan), Cobra Kai effectively reignited the heated rivalry between longtime foes: Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. It also managed to bring that rivalry to new heights by having it spill out onto the next generation, as well as giving us an objective, deeper look at both characters’ flaws, similarities, vices and virtues.

But how well does Season 2 match up when compared to Season 1? Does it build upon a great foundation or stumble onto a sad sophomore slump? Fortunately the answer is quite clear.

Season 2 picks up immediately after Season 1 ended, with Johnny Lawrence receiving a surprise visit from his former Sensei, John Kreese (played by a returning Martin Cove), whom everybody thought was dead. And in many ways that first scene sets the pace for the rest of the season. The past coming back to surprise you, a desire to overcome it, a search for redemption, a clash of ideals, and a buildup of misunderstandings leading to an inevitable conflict. It’s actually quite something to see.

The return of John Kreese also introduces a new, interesting aspect the show didn’t have before, a villain. While season 1 had plenty of characters at odds with each other, none of them were ever evil, or bad people. They were just people trying to do what they thought was right from their own perspective. Kreese on the other hand has a darker view of the world, a hatred for weakness, and a long tainted history that people can’t easily forget. His introduction to the story makes the show take a darker turn, and pushes our protagonists into facing some of their deepest, darkest demons. None are hit harder by this than Johnny Lawrence.

Throughout the season, Sensei Lawrence faces many challenges, the biggest being finding a way to get his life in order and trying to fix many of his past mistakes. The past is a very heavy theme for Johnny this season. But he first and foremost wants to do right by his students, and trying to teach Miguel (Maridueña) and Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) that the dirty methods they used to win last season was wrong is no easy feat. He also wants to do right by his forsaken son, Robbie (Buchanan), and tries to deal with the shame of how big of a failure he’s been to him. In the midst of all of this, the opportunity for love also knocks on Johnny’s door, but he needs to break out of the shadow of his former sensei, and become a better man before he’s capable of maintaining it.

What’s true for Johnny Lawrence applies for Daniel LaRusso as well, only in reverse. While Johnny struggles to free himself from his sensei, Danny struggles with trying to live up to the idyllic memory of his own sensei, Mr. Miyagi, and believes he’ll never be capable of becoming the man he was. These struggles show us how similar Johnny and Danny actually are, and how they are both suffering in their sensei’s shadow.

Now unlike Johnny, Danny starts the show with his life completely in order and, by all accounts, a success. It is through his own actions, and inability to let go of the past, that his life starts stumbling out of control.

In season 2 Danny decides to reopen “Miyagi-Do Karate,” and we see how his obsession with Cobra Kai leads him to making choices that are both idealistic, and petty in nature. We also see how this begins to affect his work and home life in negative ways, particularly his relationship with his wife, Amanda (Courtney Henggeler).

The opening of Miyagi-Do however does come with a few perks. The biggest one is that he gets to spend more time with his daughter, Samantha (Mouser), as well as with Johnny’s son, Robbie, whom he’s continuing to mentor. Which leads to one of the biggest themes of the show, parenting.

It’s very interesting how most of the main male characters on this show have one thing in common: Father issues. Which has either led them or is leading them to find a new type of father figure somewhere else. It also makes it heartbreaking to watch how characters, who could probably relate a lot with each other, decide to squabble over petty differences, and misunderstandings. And how blind, senseless prejudices and hatred can be passed on, even accidentally, to the next generation.

Speaking of the next generation, after a messy breakup, Miguel and Sam’s relationship becomes even more complicated when a dangerous new girl, Tory (Peyton List), enters Cobra Kai, and Sam begins to spend more time with her father and Robbie.

Now the beauty of season 1 is how it found a way of building up to a big fight in which you never really knew what character you were rooting for. Season 2 manages a similar feat, except it’s bigger, bolder, more explosive, more chaotic, with higher stakes, and bigger consequences. To say that they found a way to outdo themselves almost feels like an understatement.

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Overall, season 2 found a great way to build upon season 1 while still taking the show in an interesting, chaotic new direction. It found a way to raise the stakes, and managed to keep the characters feeling like real people faced with complicated decisions. It also succeeded in bringing back multiple elements and characters from the original Karate Kid in a way that felt organic and not just like there were just shoehorned in. But most importantly, it made you not want to stop watching, and leaves you both excited and eager for the next season.