TV Review - Cobra Kai: Season 3

This season is about former friends becoming rivals and former rivals becoming friends. It's still in a lot of ways a referendum on the kind of patriarchal, uber-masculine, violent culture that gave rise in the 1980's and a reexamination of the values of that time, putting them in a more progressive perspective. A lot of recent properties, particularly within the past five years have been about being nostalgic of the 1980's as this great time period. With this series and other properties like Wonder Woman 1984 to some degree, we're now seeing a bit of a backlash to that nostalgia or some acknowledgment that maybe the 80's weren't all that great and instead of being stuck in that time period, maybe it's time to move forward and advance from it.

There have been certain dramas like The Americans (2013), Pose (2018) and Mrs. America (2020) that have taken a harder look at the 80's and not been just about the nostalgia. However, this series by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, is a comedy and most comedies about the 80's like The Goldbergs (2013) or even something like Stranger Things (2016) have been nostalgia machines. Even a Hollywood film like Stephen King's It (2017) was more about nostalgia for the time than really reckoning with the cultural or even sociopolitical issues. I'm not saying that this series is that deep. It's not. At the end of the day, it has more in common with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993) than a more thoughtful or pointed comedy like Atlanta (2016) or Silicon Valley (2014). However, this series is on such a level that I would nominate it for Outstanding Comedy Series at the upcoming 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Since it left YouTube and was picked up by Netflix, it's now on a network that can push it for award consideration, which it deserves and could certainly compete as one of the best shows of 2021.

\William Zabka reprises his role of Johnny Lawrence, which he originated in The Karate Kid (1984). It's now 30 years later and he's still in a lot of ways looking back at his past and trying to reconcile it, as well as reconcile who he was and who he wants to be, going forward. Back in the 80's, he was perceived as a bully. As part of the theme of this series, we get to explore why he was a bully or what was going on with his life that put him in that position or what was really going on in his mind. He's a martial artist, a former karate student who still retains a lot of skill and talent. He tried to open a dojo, or a karate school, but he lost it to his former sensei, or karate teacher. He also lost the respect of his students, due to his wavering philosophies and policies.

In the first, two seasons, Johnny was trying to resurrect the philosophies and policies of the 80's, philosophies and policies that contributed to his image of a bully. It's a physically offensive posture or position, one that is all about an exaggerated form of machismo, self-aggrandizement or cockiness and little compassion or what's simply called mercy. In fact, one of the tenets that Johnny resurrected was the idea of "no mercy" and seeing every opponent as an enemy to be finished completely or obliterated.

Ralph Macchio also reprises his role of Daniel LaRusso, which also originated in The Karate Kid. Daniel is an Italian-American from New Jersey who moved to Los Angeles as a teenager with his single mother. He was bullied, but a middle-age, Japanese immigrant named Mr. Miyagi trained him in the ways of karate as a way of building his confidence, allowing him to defend himself and embrace the Eastern philosophies of peace, balance and compassion. In the 30 years or so since 1984, Daniel has gotten married to a lovely woman and has had two children. His eldest is his teenage daughter who he hopes to pass on the teachings of Mr. Miyagi, but after the events of Season 2, that might not be so simple.

As much as this series is about Johnny and Daniel dealing with their issues, stemming from the events not only in the 1984 film and its subsequent sequels, but the series is also about how they've passed those issues onto their children. However, the heart of the show in a lot of ways is the redemption of Johnny Lawrence through his teenage son. The question is which son. Yes, while Johnny technically has one biological son, he also has a surrogate son and how he repairs his relationship with both becomes bit of the thrust of this season. Even though it seemed as if Johnny was in a good place with both his "sons" at the end of Season 2, the beginning of this season sees him basically have to start over and rebuild his bond with both, if he can.

Xolo Maridueña (Parenthood) co-stars as Miguel Diaz, the teenage son of Ecuadorian immigrants. He has become the surrogate son to Johnny. Miguel lives next door to Johnny in an impoverished apartment building with his single mother and grandmother. He had really low self-esteem and it's through Johnny's mentoring and teaching that he grew that esteem. However, Johnny's teaching leaned toward that 80's aggressive type, making Miguel into a bit of a bully. When Johnny tried to reverse course, seeing how toxic his teaching was becoming, it led to Miguel letting his guard down and getting hurt. Miguel was hurt in the worst way. A fight at school led to Miguel falling off a railing, injuring his back and going into a coma.

It becomes a question if Miguel will trust Johnny after being hurt as badly as he was. It's especially a question, given that Miguel wakes to learn he's partially paralyzed and might not ever walk again. The series has always utilized fight scenes, choreographed fairly well. However, this season, the series really underlines the consequences and the injuries that can come from these kinds of fights that can get brutal. Some might quibble about the aftermath and the recovery process being a bit unrealistic in how fast it is, but again, this is a comedy where the martial arts is supposed to be a fun, action component.

Tanner Buchanan (Designated Survivor and The Fosters) also co-stars as Robby Keene, the aforementioned, biological son to Johnny. Robby actually resents his father because Johnny was an absentee parent for most of Robby's life. When Robby needed help or wanted to connect to his father, Johnny was already invested and focusing on Miguel, which made Robby jealous and rebel even more. Robby tried to connect to Daniel, but, because of his role in the school fight, which led to Miguel's coma, Robby decided to run, putting him more in trouble with the law. He's desperately in need of a role model or a father-figure to guide him.

Enter John Kreese, played by Martin Kove, reprising his role from the 1984 film as well. He was Johnny's sensei. He steps in to become the father-figure for Robby and other wayward students. Yet, he's unapologetic in his beliefs, which are very much tied to that so-called toxic masculinity, referenced earlier. However, this season doesn't just dismiss him as a one-dimensional villain. The series actually dives deeper into Kreese's backstory and explores his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War. The story line involving a younger Kreese, played by Barrett Carnahan (Alexa & Katie and The Thundermans), is actually very eye-opening and enlightening in various ways. It also provides some empathetic understanding of Kreese, which this show excels at doing. It excels at re-contexualizing a so-called bad guy.

Rated TV-14.

Running Time: 30 mins. / 10 eps.

Available on Netflix.