Cobra Kai Season 5 Review: Promises Nostalgia And Novelty, Fun And Action, All Together Violently
Stars: Jacob Bertrand, Tanner Buchanan, Gianni DeCenzo
Directors: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
The new episodes of Cobra Kai Season 5 are here and the suitcase of its creators still has a good repertoire of cakes to distribute right and left. This time we have not had to wait so long: after a little over half a year, season 5 of Cobra Kai will land this Friday, September 9 on Netflix to continue with the maxim of “hit first, hit hard and without mercy”. For me, who grew up alongside Daniel-san kicking the crane, knowing that the final confrontation between the protagonist of Karate Kid and the ruthless Terry Silver is upon us was a source of absolute emotion. Because, let’s face it, for thirty years we have wanted to see LaRusso strike “first and without mercy” the one who tormented him most in his youth, a sadistic and uncompromising madman who had no qualms about using a teenager to satisfy his vainglory cocaine addict.
Yet the Serpent has won and is ready to wrap the world in its coils. He has already poisoned the bonsai and tamed the eagle. But, as Mr. Miyagi taught young Daniel-san, bonsai has strong roots. For Chozen, who in the fifth season of Cobra Kai will have the opportunity to teach the students of LaRusso, the attack of Miyagi-Do will not be so extensive, but it is kilometers deep. If Daniel’s new ally is right, you just have to continue reading our review of Cobra Kai 5 after seeing the new season of the Netflix series in preview. A block of episodes that unfortunately proved to be complex to digest, especially when compared to previous iterations, and which on balance is perhaps the least convincing phase of the entire franchise. But I’ll go in order.
Cobra Kai Season 5 Review: The Story
Where had we stayed? In the review of Cobra Kai 4 we told you that, even with some perplexity in terms of writing, we were satisfied both with the fanservice and with the management of the antagonist, to the point that we considered Terry Silver a great villain. The fifth season of the sequel series of Karate Kid picks up right where the previous one left off: Falco’s landslide victory during the men’s selection of the All Valley Tournament was not enough to ensure Miyagi-Do’s victory in the competition. The individual tests, and above all the final match between Sam LaRusso and Tory Nichols, ended in favor of Terry Silver’s students, with the consequent victory of the Cobra Kai. As agreed, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang must close their doors, while Silver – after knocking John Kresse out of business with a deception – begins to expand his franchise just as he promised, opening new dojos across the valley and hiring the best (and most ruthless) sensei to shape his boys with. Daniel, however, has chosen not to give up by calling an old ally from Okinawa: Chozen, his old rival, is now ready to help Miyagi’s former disciple to take his revenge.
Yet the defeat at the All Valley has marked all the young protagonists, starting with Sam, unable to find herself. And even Tory, after learning that Silver has rigged female encounters, has doubts about her loyalty to Cobra Kai. And Johnny, Miguel, and Robby? We had left Diaz shortly after leaving the mat and making the decision to travel to Mexico in search of his real father, disillusioned and saddened by the failing relationship with his sensei. Lawrence, on the other hand, immediately sets off in pursuit of his most loyal student, and alongside him is none other than Robby. For the character of William Zabka therefore begins a path of reconstruction, both about his biological son and those of his stepson. Meanwhile, the Cobra Kai continues to extend its grip, Terry’s machinations strain Daniel’s psychology and even Kresse, locked up within the prison walls, carefully plans his revenge.
Cobra Kai Season 5 Review and analysis
There are many storylines in Cobra Kai 5, unfortunately not all of them are effective. Starting with the first episodes, which simplify enough the narrative segment dedicated to Johnny, Miguel and Robby, is all too easily involved in the mesh of a South American criminal context that is not very credible. The same Silver, who in the fourth season had given a show, ends up falling victim to his antagonism: Terry is always a step ahead of Daniel and manages to anticipate every move of his rival with the air of a great antagonist, but the feeling is that the various plot points that involve him are on the verge of a rather vulgar situationism. The dynamics and relationships between the boys, and their adult counterparts, have also turned out to be more insipid than in the past. The reason is obvious: Cobra Kai begins to lose its original foundations.
The citation material directly from Karate Kid is now really stripped down and the Netflix series is starting to feel the need to walk on your own two feet. Unfortunately, the result is not the best: Cobra Kai starts talking to each other, constantly calling himself, the result is that in the fifth season we see repeated situations and storylines that have been repeated for at least two seasons now. Sam’s inner dramas, redemptions and second thoughts, dojo brawls. Unfortunately, everything in Cobra Kai 5 knows already seen, except for an ending that somehow definitively closes some narrative parentheses – however opening others that have left us doubts about the future of the show, but we will talk about this on another occasion. It must be said, however, that not everything is “to be thrown away”.
The series tries to do even more introspection on some characters than before, partially succeeding there is no doubt that Cobra Kai is written by a team of creatives who know and respect the mother saga, and on this front, it must be said that Season 5 will offer new food for thought, especially on the second and third installments of the film series. Once again, in full tradition with the previous seasons, cameos, returns and surprises will not be lacking, and the quotations – also and above all from a musical and directorial point of view, and more generally artistic – will undoubtedly be wasted. Too bad that this time, much more than in the past, writing is therefore the great weak link of the story. In short, for the first time in years, following at least two blocks of absolute transition, Cobra Kai finally tries to “strike first”. Too bad that the Law of the Fist starts to lose its hits, and if the Netflix show does not stop stretching the soup I’m afraid that the response of the fans will take John Kreese’s motto: “No mercy”.
It is noted that, since it is in the hands of Netflix, Cobra Kai has raised its level of production a bit (which was already good when the series was active on YouTube Red). This fifth season has the honor of having the longest episode of the series, although not by much, exceeding the final episode of season 4 by three minutes. We can divide the season into three acts: the first, calmer, would cover the first six episodes; then we will have a turning point of two episodes that cook up the tremendous finale that awaits us in the final two chapters, especially in the last one, of course. The waste of action remains one of the strong points in Cobra Kai, where any excuse is good for someone to tattoo the sole of a sneaker on their face.
However, the deployment that we will see in the bars of the season is, as we say in Madrid, fetén. In many respects, Cobra Kai strays from these obvious attempts to stretch the formula, dilating conflicts to infinity and beyond. The series is starting to find new paths and, if they develop them well, it can lead to a fantastic ending that, despite everything, should not take too long. Despite everything, sometimes it continues to insist excessively on the same themes, making them less effective on a narrative level than the first time they were used: the first, the second, the third… They are episodes that are very enjoyable, they have a suitable rhythm that has characterized the series from the beginning, the same one that makes you suddenly say “I have already seen 6 chapters?”.
The balance between nostalgia and current affairs is once again another of the strengths of a series that has proven to attract the eighties and young people alike. Remember, on Friday, September 9, you have an appointment with the path of the fist on Netflix with the fifth season of Cobra Kai. Whichever type of karate you choose, remember that the best way to avoid a blow is to not be there. It is also true that from the point of view of the pace Cobra Kai 5 starts very slowly and seems to run in circles, at least in the first 4 episodes. But then, when the writers finally decide to get in gear and move the lives of the protagonists beyond the finale of the fourth season, Cobra Kai 5 acquires rhythm and becomes again the beautiful series we remembered: full of grit and life. This gives a truly breathtaking season finale with many twists.
Cobra Kai Season 5 Review: The Last Words
A season with a very correct development that continues to extol the virtues of the series and corrects, although not completely, some of its errors. Great display of action and fantastic work from Alicia Hannah-Kim and Yuji Okumoto. Cobra Kai Season 5 is currently the least convincing season of the Netflix show, and it is paradoxical: finally, many slines find their own conclusion and as usual everything related to the fanservice and the Karate Kid mythology is managed with dignity and respect. What doesn’t work this time is the whole outline: between reiterative storylines and not very credible plot points, including a villain that is too situational at times, the fear is that Cobra Kai is starting to run out of his best ideas. It seems that the snake has to sharpen its fangs: the bonsai will also have deep roots, but if the soil is no longer fertile the leaves will only grow rotten.
