Season five of Cobra Kai has just wrapped up and spoilers notwithstanding, how did it rate?

The show follows Daniel LaRusso, the protagonist of the Karate Kid movies, and Johnny Lawrence the antagonist of the first movie. The movie itself launched the imaginations of many kids in the 80s as they tried to replicate the crane kick.

But going back to the show itself, which takes place in the here and now nearly forty years later. We saw the all-valley tournament wrap up, with Terry Silver up to his usual tactics of bribery and corruption, bribing the ref so Tory could win the competition for Cobra Kai. This then forced Daniel’s hand as he seeks assistance from an old rival turned friend Chozen Toguchi the antagonist from Karate Kid II.

Terry, under the guise of a philanthropist, has now spread his wings by buying up all the dojos in the valley with the goal of bringing his style of ‘no mercy’ based karate to the fore by entering a world tournament. Miyagi fights back by getting entry into the same tournament, which ends up with a showdown at Terry’s house bringing back ‘karate bad boy’ Mike Barnes the antagonist of the third movie; into the fray after having his furniture store burnt down. To be honest, the character of Mike was used too little, like Chozen in season three. Hopefully he will join Miyagi-Do in the next season, and the character is not done in two episodes.

William Zabka, Ralph Macchio and Martin Kove (Left to Right) at Galaxy Con. Picture Source: Super Festivals

We also get a return of Jessica Andrews who was Daniel’s ‘love interest’ in the third movie. She was not needed and sort of forced into the series by being Amanda LaRusso’s cousin. It seemed forced but a good way to drive the story and Amanda’s character to the season’s climax.

So, with a karate war going on, John Kreese former sensei of Cobra Kai is locked up for a crime he didn’t commit and fakes his death to escape. There was an interesting arc of, will he find the path to redemption? Which of course was an act. He is back to his evil villainy but had the audience fooled.

So, with the karate war, there was a few arcs worth mentioning, the story of Miguel Diaz being in Mexico finding his father was a bit short. But allowed for the Carmen Diaz pregnancy angle which allowed Miguel and Robby Keene to reconcile. Which built up their arc knowing that they are probably going to be stepbrothers. The Samantha LaRusso arc of ‘I don’t want to do karate anymore’. It seemed like a step back as the character usually gets stronger after every season, as she overcomes adversity. Tory found redemption after finding out she only won due to the ref being bribed, and from help from Amanda in the last season. She had her own interesting journey, which culminated in fighting back against the ‘family’ that raised her to be strong. But learned that strength was spiritually useless.

The climax of the season was good, with Chozen and Mike out injured during their battle, it allowed Johnny to come to the forefront and defeat his opponents, and show he is badass. It also allowed Mike to show off his ‘bad boy of karate’ persona if only for the last scene when he saves Johnny. The Chozen fight against Terry was predictable as it was a steppingstone for Daniel’s fight at the end against Terry. Which allowed the collapse of Terry’s plans and his empire.

So, with Terry defeated, does this mean the end of Cobra Kai now that John escaped from prison? What will the new battle lines be if this is the case? Finally, what will happen to Kenny who was raised by Cobra Kai? Hopefully, when the new season comes out, these questions will be answered and hopefully, the season will come soon. But definitely, as always, the season is worth a binge.

TV Series Review: ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5