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Cobra Kai S2 [OT] Some Mercy with consequences
- Thread starter Vestal
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I didn't even realize this season was out until I saw this thread. My son and I immediately dropped our MCU marathon and watched this entire season in one sitting.
I fucking loved it. I love how they're tackling toxic masculinity and it's lasting effects, as well as female empowerment, on top of Karate Kid's staple anti-bullying message. I'm a single father and my son is 11, and one of my biggest worries is that despite my best efforts and intentions he will fall into the wrong kind of crowd and start learning all the wrong lessons about life. I don't have anyone to help reinforce my message and to see my son truly captivated by a show that espouses respect and mercy and honor in the face of alpha male bullshit is truly a boon.
That it's also at turns compelling, funny and smart is not lost on him.
I fucking love this show. It carries on the spirit of the original movie, perfectly updated for our time.
I fucking loved it. I love how they're tackling toxic masculinity and it's lasting effects, as well as female empowerment, on top of Karate Kid's staple anti-bullying message. I'm a single father and my son is 11, and one of my biggest worries is that despite my best efforts and intentions he will fall into the wrong kind of crowd and start learning all the wrong lessons about life. I don't have anyone to help reinforce my message and to see my son truly captivated by a show that espouses respect and mercy and honor in the face of alpha male bullshit is truly a boon.
That it's also at turns compelling, funny and smart is not lost on him.
I fucking love this show. It carries on the spirit of the original movie, perfectly updated for our time.
This whole sequence was just too much for me. It was cheese and camp to the maximum degree
One weird thing about this show is it seems at best neutral on drunk driving.
I mean obviously Johnny is driving drunk constantly but even the Larussos have no hesitation driving home after drinking at that Mexican place, and they made sure to note they were ordering more rounds of drinks.
I mean obviously Johnny is driving drunk constantly but even the Larussos have no hesitation driving home after drinking at that Mexican place, and they made sure to note they were ordering more rounds of drinks.
The fuck happened last episode. Are we operating in reality anymore? It's slipping hard.
Season 2 started well enough, but I think I'm getting tired of the convenient parallelism, manufactured drama, on-the-nose lessons, and sledgehammer swings at nostalgia. It's inorganic and done for the sake of contention. Is there nothing else we can propel forward on?
Can't wait for Season 3!
Season 2 started well enough, but I think I'm getting tired of the convenient parallelism, manufactured drama, on-the-nose lessons, and sledgehammer swings at nostalgia. It's inorganic and done for the sake of contention. Is there nothing else we can propel forward on?
Can't wait for Season 3!
Quick Karate Kid theory: Tory is a previously known character's kid.
Three things stick out: her troubled past, massive amount of aggression, and her kickboxing.
If she is a known character's kid, I have two candidates.
Could be nothing, but for a character that came out of nowhere, Tory is suspicious.
Three things stick out: her troubled past, massive amount of aggression, and her kickboxing.
If she is a known character's kid, I have two candidates.
1) Dutch. There has got to be a reason he was brought up. He has two of the three issues Tory has (psycho, troubled kid). The big piece against this is that the rest of the Cobra Kai OGs knew his current status. They would likely know if he had a kid running around.
2) Matt Barnes from Karate Kid 3. Until Daniel brought up his time with Silver, I thought KK3 didn't matter. Now it is in play, Tory matches the villain in that movie in two ways: kickboxer and incredibly talented.
2) Matt Barnes from Karate Kid 3. Until Daniel brought up his time with Silver, I thought KK3 didn't matter. Now it is in play, Tory matches the villain in that movie in two ways: kickboxer and incredibly talented.
Could be nothing, but for a character that came out of nowhere, Tory is suspicious.
Tory's mother is...
BOM BOM BOM!😏
Julie Pierce, Miyagi's former student and black sheep who moved from Boston years ago and never lived up to her potential after Mr.Miyagi left her, now 25 years older and grown bitter. Just ignore the kick boxing thing and any other reason or logic.
BOM BOM BOM!😏
Yup, when that message got sent I suspected her showing up would be related to her work and then later Miguel gets injured, seems a good enough reason for her to come in, possibly on Johnny's urging.
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Speaking of on the nose, I couldn't believe they did the
body bag thing.
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I don't think he's a bad actor. I think it's just his 1990's TGIF look that throws me off any time he's on screen.
For me it's ironic how, aside from Kreese,
Just one major nag:
Eli and Demitri are probably the biggest assholes in the show. Eli is aggressive, mean, and represents everything wrong about the philosophy of Cobra Kai. Meanwhile Demitri is a bitter, spoiled, undisciplined and unempathetic smart-ass in the extreme. The world fucking revolves around Demitri. Yet I find both Eli and Demitri fascinating and ripe for development. I want so badly for their Karate to actually make them both learn some discipline and (hopefully) reconcile. I didn't expect the two dorks at the losers' table at the beginning of the series to become so prominent and that was a pleasant surprise.
And Robby is still too perfect to be likable. He's too sensible for most situations considering his background and the crimiality he was getting into at the beginning of the series, his believablility as a character is stretched thin. And his actor isn't the best.
Just one major nag:
How the hell did Daniel NOT ONCE consider that Robby and Sam would PROBABLY get together, start going out, and cause trouble at some point until it was too late? I don't blame how he reacted when shit hit the fan but having a cute boy as your only other student with your daughter for so long, teaching them partnered fighting techniques even, and then not show us anything about him having thoughts about them being an item? Seemed weird.
Please tell me you don't think the kid who plays Miguel is good? He makes Ralph Macchio's performance in the movies look like Oscar material. The dude who plays Robby is better. He just needs a different hairstyle next season 😂
I haven't watched S2 yet, but "1990s TGIF look" perfectly explains the "he's annoying... but I can't figure out why" feeling I had in S1
edit: I don't dislike Robby or the actor, the feeling was mild at best, just something I couldn't put my finger on that now makes sense in my head :)
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I have no problem with Robby's hair. He's like a walking reforming-punk trope pulled straight out of the 90s / early 00s:
I love all the cliche shit in this show, I live for it - especially with Daniel's wife to be the anchor that goes "you realize just how fucking stupid this shit is, right?" (and she's not wrong).
I love all the cliche shit in this show, I live for it - especially with Daniel's wife to be the anchor that goes "you realize just how fucking stupid this shit is, right?" (and she's not wrong).
First season was a little better but I really enjoyed this season. Hope it gets picked up for season 3.
Right? It's just really distracting to have a time traveler in this show about karate. :P
Finished watching the second season a few hours ago. The Av Club's headline "Twice the melodrama, half the comedy" was spot on. Still really liked it, hope there is a third season, and that it's closer to the first one in terms of humor.
The more I think about it, the more I think the plan for Season 3 is to have Johnny and Daniel and kids go off to Okinawa for half a season or for a full season (Robby and Sam are probably going to be very suspended from school). Then they come back and figure out just how much Cobra Kai has influenced bullying at the high school, then they figure "they got to do something."
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Daniel and Johnny are totally gonna have a Goku/Vegeta relationship.
So at the end where Kreece said he was taking over the dojo because he made some kind of deal with the owner, doesn't Johnny still own everything in the building? Mats, weights, mirrors, dummies, etc?
I suppose, but he seems to want no part of it anyways. (See the car scene on the beach)
Lol
We using logic now
I half expected Kreece
to sue Johnny and claim he has copywrite/trademark ownership of cobra kai
I did not really like this season.
The drama just feels forced in the way it often does in a bad tv show. Why is fate so against Johnny and Daniel becoming friends and instead keeping them enemies? And I am going to be in the minority but there is just too much fighting on this show.
This shit ain't Karate Kid. Karate Kid was ultimately about a lost kid finding his way with his mentor, superbly done. This is just another tv show.
The drama just feels forced in the way it often does in a bad tv show. Why is fate so against Johnny and Daniel becoming friends and instead keeping them enemies? And I am going to be in the minority but there is just too much fighting on this show.
This shit ain't Karate Kid. Karate Kid was ultimately about a lost kid finding his way with his mentor, superbly done. This is just another tv show.
Finally finished watching the new season. Got to say that while I enjoyed it, it wasn't as good as the first. It felt like it was trying to do too much at once for a short series with short episodes (development of Cobra Kai and Miyagi Do rivalry, Kreese's return and backstory, Daniel's Karate/work/home life balance, teen relationships/rivalries, martial arts action, etc), and consequently it didn't feel terribly focused. The humour/drama balance seems to have shifted a bit too far towards melodrama for my liking too.
Oh, and one other problem that I think is the result of the short length: it's incredibly difficult to tell how much time is passing in universe between episodes. I'm assuming that the season's supposed to run the length of the US school summer holidays, but it could have been over the space of two weeks. There was nothing to really indicate how much time had passed.
I hope that if they do a third season, and they should, that they cut down the number of plot threads and develop a tighter plot arc.
Oh, and one other problem that I think is the result of the short length: it's incredibly difficult to tell how much time is passing in universe between episodes. I'm assuming that the season's supposed to run the length of the US school summer holidays, but it could have been over the space of two weeks. There was nothing to really indicate how much time had passed.
I hope that if they do a third season, and they should, that they cut down the number of plot threads and develop a tighter plot arc.
I agree, though I still enjoyed it even with those complaints. I hope it'll be tighter and less off-the-rails like it got in the later episodes, I think that the "lessons" the kids learned in the first season were a lot less on the nose than last time.
Also, we had way too many characters this season-- Johnny, Kreese, Daniel, Miguel, Robby, Hawk, Demitri, Sam, Tory.. I get that they wanted to have parallel rivalries and shit but that's just too much. I liked Miguel's (slight) arc here, and I think all through out this season he showed that he's a stand-up guy.
Why you gotta do my boy like that :(
The more I think about it, the more they need to find an excuse to get Johnny to Okinawa next season. Maybe Robby finds Daniel's book and escapes there or something in trying to run from the law.
The humor potential of Johnny trying to make it in Okinawa would just make for a great few episodes.
The humor potential of Johnny trying to make it in Okinawa would just make for a great few episodes.
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The two kid actors trained by Daniel are awful. Hell his daughter is limited to two emotions: big stoner smile or pouty face. Same for Johnny's son
Two more episodes left. This season not hitting the highs the first did. Hawk and Johnny are the only two interesting characters
Two more episodes left. This season not hitting the highs the first did. Hawk and Johnny are the only two interesting characters
I'd love to see that. Cut down on the amount of characters for a while. Have some more intimate bonding moments, reconnect with the origin of the marital art they practice. And yes, the comedy.
The issue is Kreese is a slimy motherfucker. He's inserted himself back into Johnny's life as someone who has meant to have changed and he's emotionally, not blackmailing per say but he's using the fact that he was the only strong role model in Johnny's life as a kid to get what he wants. He's abusing Johnny's morality to continue being evil.
Like Johnny desperately wants to be a father, he also desperately wants one. He 'gets' the kid with Miguel and the father with Kreese. And in both cases that has lead to heartbreak.
I'd agree entirely with this, I still enjoyed it a lot though.
They most certainly upped the melodrama and took the fighting to an absurd level but overall it was still a very fun season and I enjoyed every minute of it.
That said:
That said:
Dimitri beating Hawk was really lame given that there was nothing this season to suggest he had progressed to that level of skill.
About Dmitri
I genuinely think that Dmitri is meant to be the real Danny of this season. Like I see a lot in Dmitri what I saw in Danny's old character before he was taught by Miyagi. I think he has a lot of potential to be a better character it's just he needs the right teacher to show him how to be that.
mixed reactions on this season.
Also
Still, it was a good season, way lower than season 1 that is perfect. Will be there for Season 3.
I dont like the "gang wars" between daniel's disciples and Johnny's disciples... it's just too 80's with smartphones.
Also
I loved that Miguel didn't bought kreese's crap and still only listened to Jhonny's advice and he take the better of him and Jhonny's lessons. And in the other hand, Bobby only took the worst of Daniel's lessons, to be intolerant, hate anything cobra kai related, blinded of prejuice. That's nothing like Mr Miyagi would teach to Daniel in modern times.
Still, it was a good season, way lower than season 1 that is perfect. Will be there for Season 3.
They way I see it, Dimitri isn't skilled. He did nothing more than a block and a turning hug. The real issue is that Hawk is mentally a lot more fragile than the persona he's trying to adopt suggests. Dimitri blocking his attack was all that was needed to throw him off his game. Hawk's really Eli wearing a mask, and I reckon we'll see him unravel at some point in the future.
Yo, go see my previous post in this thread. My exact complaints.
It's become a self serving drama machine
It was not a bad teen drama.
But it really has little to do with the Karate Kid movies at this point. The movies were always about Miyagi helping troubled kids find their way, this started with the redemption of Johnny (compelling for KK fans) and slowly became a teen drama going for shock and isn't really realistic or grounded in the way I want the show to be. I am not really interested in this kind of show.
Most people seem to love it so more power to them.
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