Cobra Kai (2018-2025) William Zabka, Ralph Macchio, Tanner Buchanan, Xolo Mariduena, Mary Mouser, Peyton List

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Waited two years for S03. And at 2 am midnight, I will finally get to see it. Miyagido bitches

[AlbertV]

Need a recap but don't have the time to binge on Seasons 1 and 2? Well, have no fear. The cast of Cobra Kai will help you!

 

[The Ghost Face Killah]

Happy New Years Kung Fu fans, just started watching season 3 on Netflix. 

Once again I appreciate finding out about this show from this forum originally.

Looking forward to other hidden gems.

[DiP]

Watched whole Season 3 just today... Just like each last season, things got more interesting with each episode, especially with old familiar faces from the first two movies appearing. So overall, S3 delivers! I'm hoping to see the return of Thomas Ian Griffith (Terry Silver) and Sean Kanan (Mike Barnes) for Season 4, which at this point makes sense.

[SamSeed]

I read the writers are talking about Hilary Swank too. What a wild ride that would be.  But yes, this is that rare series that seems to get better with each passing episode, three seasons in that's rare! I love the callbacks, the fight scenes are well shot (episode 2 with Johnny and Daniel fighting together was brilliant) and it stays just the right side of sentimental/80s cheese. I like that they even give time to develop people like Yasmine the stereotypical mean girl into, if not a complex character, at least one with a few different facets to her character.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!! Season 3 blew away seasons 1 and 2 by a lot! The writing is so damn good! The stakes are so high for season 4.  I thought the school fight in season 2 was gonna be hard to top. Boy was I wrong, The finale in season 3 was so damn epic. 

[AlbertV]

Season 3 was awesome! It was both emotional and action-packed when it called for it! If you noticed certain actors looked better with their kicks, it's all thanks to Simon Rhee, who trained cast members before shooting. It was great to see Tamlyn Tomita and Yuji Okumoto return as Kumiko and Chozen and in the first episode, we learned the fate of 2 characters who are no longer with us

Spoiler

Aisha's family moved and sent her to a private school after the high school fight and Stingray is now on probation and cannot go anywhere near a minor due to his actions in the fight.

 

[SamSeed]

25 minutes ago, OpiumKungFuCracker said:

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!! Season 3 blew away seasons 1 and 2 by a lot! The writing is so damn good! The stakes are so high for season 4.  I thought the school fight in season 2 was gonna be hard to top. Boy was I wrong, The finale in season 3 was so damn epic. 

Agree and agree! The fights are so well written in to the plot, I didn't even notice the relative sparsity of action in the first half of the season because I was enjoying the story. Zabka is a great actor, his haggard face is tailor made it would seem for Cobra Kai, and despite doubling in the fights I thought Macchio was better than he has ever been. Even the teen drama, which I thought was a bit overdone in season two especially, had me invested. It feels like hyperbole but honestly I think this is one of my all time favourite shows. So unique too, has any other film had a sequel series so long after the original that was this good?

[AlbertV]

Just a few days before the premiere of Season 3, Ralph Macchio told LAD Bible that the creators have the story to be told in a total of six seasons. Of course, Season 3 already premiered and even before the cast Netflix already greenlit a season 4 which will be production in the next few weeks. 

https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/tv-and-film-cobra-kai-could-run-for-six-seasons-stars-reveal-20201227

Edited January 2, 2021 by AlbertV

[SamSeed]

6 minutes ago, AlbertV said:

Just a few days before the premiere of Season 3, Ralph Macchio told LAD Bible that the creators have the story to be told in a total of six seasons. Of course, Season 3 already premiered and even before the cast Netflix already greenlit a season 4 which will be production in the next few weeks. 

https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/tv-and-film-cobra-kai-could-run-for-six-seasons-stars-reveal-20201227

Can't say I'm complaining, if they can keep the quality this high. Obviously it's a gamble, if they got cancelled early. But obviously this is something that has been planned out, and I like that there's a finite number, so many shows go on and on until they fizzle out. If the writers have storylined for six seasons then presumably that has been agreed with Netflix, the only bad thing is the long wait between seasons, although my guess would be, given the situation in the world, their next filming block would be seasons four and five together.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

2 hours ago, SamSeed said:

Agree and agree! The fights are so well written in to the plot, I didn't even notice the relative sparsity of action in the first half of the season because I was enjoying the story. Zabka is a great actor, his haggard face is tailor made it would seem for Cobra Kai, and despite doubling in the fights I thought Macchio was better than he has ever been. Even the teen drama, which I thought was a bit overdone in season two especially, had me invested. It feels like hyperbole but honestly I think this is one of my all time favourite shows. So unique too, has any other film had a sequel series so long after the original that was this good?

 

 Preach brotha!!! Oh man wait until they get those guys, I think you know who? Once they are on board it's going to be an all out dojo war!!! 

[SamSeed]

Spoiler

I loved how the whole Ali arc was written, completely free of the usual 'will they/won't they? clichés. And then Terry Silver, at least I assume it is! Thomas Ian Griffith put in arguably the most crazy, over the top performance in the whole franchise so I'm interested to see how they''ll bring him into the modern world.

Finished the season now. Holy. Fucking. Shit. Best season yet without a doubt. Twists and turns aplenty, Season 4 perfectly setup, one hell of an end brawl.

[SMK]

I've watched 4 episodes so far of Season 3, and I am loving it. 2 things that stand out for me so far, the score/music and the humor.

Who ever is responsible for creating the music during the episodes has done a perfect job. The music just fits so perfectly and adds so much to each scene . Love it.

The humor is so perfect, subtle at times , but actually funny. it's done very well, by both the writers and the actors performing it. Especially by William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence). 

[bigrogie]

On 1/1/2021 at 7:21 PM, DiP said:

Watched whole Season 3 just today... Just like each last season, things got more interesting with each episode, especially with old familiar faces from the first two movies appearing. So overall, S3 delivers! I'm hoping to see the return of Thomas Ian Griffith (Terry Silver) and Sean Kanan (Mike Barnes) for Season 4, which at this point makes sense.

I also watched the whole Season 3 yesterday. Still cheezy, but I liked it. Looking forward to Season 4.

[massa_yoda]

I pretty much agree with everyone here: season 3 rocks.  I love how many original actors they were able to bring back. I’m glad I rewatched the movies again before getting into the season.  The high school drama stuff is just okay, got better at the end.  Everything with the original characters though was a perfect 10/10.

Spoiler

I like that “hawk” finally came around at the end.  His tough guy shtick was getting pretty old and it was WAY over the top. Also, the good students always getting blamed for things that wasn’t their fault was getting annoying. One of my least favorite tropes in general. 

 

[laagi]

I'm about half way done now. So far really enjoying it! However, I'm not as forgiving as before when it comes to the cheesiness of the show. Especially the entire high school setting with their D.A.R.E. like program is cringeworthy at times. Also Macchio doesn't cut a fine figure. Maybe do to poor choreography!? Not even sure how much of the stunts he does himself tbh. But these few negative points are easily outweighed by a lot of great stuff. I'll give it my final verdict once I'm done.

Edited January 4, 2021 by laagi

[Iron_Leopard]

I'm surprised so many of you came onto this show so late.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I look forward to every season, but I gotta say, some terrible, terrible lessons and expectations. Starting from the ending first, expecting these doughy, flabby and scrawny kids to somehow beat the best athletes in a sporting competition is beyond ridiculous, it's dangerous. An athletic competition is not a morality play. Sure, in the case of the 1936 Olympics it can seem like one, but Jesse Owens was still the best, fastest athlete, not the best, most moral person. Now Owens was an all around good guy, but he was also a stud. All those Nazis he beat were studs too, just not as fast.

I say this as a 98 LB weakling that in some ways punished myself throughout my martial arts career because these inspirational messages can make you think you can deny reality. I got to be a decent martial artist, but I just didn't have the genetics to go as far as I wanted and kept getting injured over and over. In karate and kung fu they can string you along, but in a brutal sport like Boxing or Muay Thai you either have it (high pain threshold, cool under fire, excellent reflexes, lack of flinch response, fast twitch muscle, tough skin and killer instinct) or you don't. No amount of Katas is going to put you over that, and even a million knuckle pushups most likely won't.

And also, I was that 98 LB weakling, but once I got to serious, non McDojo training and conditioning, after 3 years I at least looked good with my shirt off. Even the "senior students" look soft and have love handles. Yes, I am sure someone will pipe in and say that Sammo is a bad ass, but they should all look like Sammo....

Anyway, I'll be there for season 4.

[AlbertV]

Little Season 3 Trivia...the jock who bullies young John Kreese (Barrett Carnahan) in the diner is played by Jesse Kove, Martin Kove's son.

[laagi]

Binge watched the remainder of the season. Loved it! Sure there are few things which are debatable and the show walks a fine line when it comes to the cheese and teen drama. Also I'm not really impressed with the fighting. However, the entire Karate Kid saga was never renowned for its incredible choreography. To me it was always more about what Karate or Martial Arts in general embodies. Which are important values like friendship, family, love. Myiagi Do is clearly focused on the philosophical aspect. While Cobra Kai only cares for the physical level, which in this particular instance ends up in a lot of hate and violence. Also appreciate they digged deeper into the background of both schools, especially Kreese's past. Think it's obvious he suffers from PTSD. The Okinawa (Did they actually film this in Japan?) episode was probably my favourite. Not to mention it was cool to see some familiar faces back. My only real gripe was the ending. At one time it actually gave me goosebumps... friends united. And yeah I get it they had to keep it this way to bring an important figure back from Part 2.

Spoiler

Still it's like you're watching the villain finally getting his comeuppance and the next thing you know they're all like "Oh no wait, all this violence and stuff let's do it the right way and face off at the tournament". It's a complete 180. It's was rather silly.

Nevertheless great entertainment overall! And as mentioned by @SMK the soundtrack is spot on.

Edited January 4, 2021 by laagi

[AlbertV]

1 minute ago, laagi said:

Think it's obvious he suffers from PTSD. The Okinawa (Did they actually film this in Japan?) 

Ralph Macchio had stated in interviews that the Okinawa scenes were actually filmed in the real Okinawa (Karate Kid 2's Okinawa was actually Hawaii).

[SMK]

I watched episodes 8 and 9 while on the treadmill, and I saved the last episode until I go to bed tonight, and can relax and enjoy it. Looking forward to it, but not looking forward to it ending already. 

UPDATE:

I finished season 3, and I did really enjoy it. 

Spoiler

I am so glad that they did not show or try to rush and show the All Valley tournament this season and saved it for season 4. 

I am definitely looking forward to Season 4. From what I read, they have enough material for at least 6 seasons and possible spin-off shows.

[laagi]

I just realized that two fan favourites were missing in season 3... What happened there?

[AlbertV]

1 hour ago, laagi said:

I just realized that two fan favourites were missing in season 3... What happened there?

They were written off the show. The season 3 premiere explained what happened to the characters.

[laagi]

6 hours ago, AlbertV said:

They were written off the show. The season 3 premiere explained what happened to the characters.

Oh man that's a shame! I must have slept during the first episode as I don't recall any mention of either one