Cobra Kai Season 5 Review by Josh Davis : Pop Culture Leftovers

Cobra Kai Season 5 Review by Josh Davis

September 19, 2022 2:57 pm |

If Cobra Kai’s fourth season ended on an “Empire Strikes Back” note of defeat for most of the main characters, the fifth season certainly has a sort of “Return of the Jedi” redemptive note.

After losing the All Valley Tournament and a bet that effectively disbands Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) Miyagi-Do and Johnny Lawrence’s (William Zabka) Eagle Fang dojos, the new karate kids find themselves cast adrift. Their mentors are equally aimless, having lost badly to longtime nemesis Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith, returning from “The Karate Kid Part II” as the new big bad last season).

Silver framed Cobra Kai founder John Kreese (Martin Kove) and has taken over the dojo in the valley, but his sights are set much, much higher. He’s smarter, more polished, and far wealthier than any of the show’s heroes, setting up an impossible David-versus-Goliath battle.

In that fight, Daniel has enlisted Chozen Toguch (Yuji Okumoto), his nemesis from “The Karate Kid Part II,” because “Cobra Kai,” the series, never met a cameo it didn’t like.

Johnny, meanwhile, heads south of the border with his real son, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan), to try and catch up with his surrogate son, Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), who is looking for his real father.

If that sounds convoluted as hell, it absolutely is. But it’s not long before the show gets back to what it does best: putting all the main players on two sides for a classic good-versus-evil showdown with cheesy 1980s music, over-the-top karate, and just enough emotional stakes to make it extremely watchable.

“Cobra Kai” never should have worked in the first place. Series creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg took a one-dimensional antagonist from a 40-year-old movie, and brought him back as a character who learned virtually nothing in four decades.

It turned out to be a neat trick, because the audience gets to see all that growth happen across five seasons, and it’s a huge credit to Zabka’s performance that the show has been such a success. Zabka is so committed and believable in the role, that you root for him again and again, whether he’s kicking ass or getting his ass kicked.

Finally, in season five, Johnny seems to have gotten over the hump of figuring his shit out and becoming the father figure both Robby and Miguel desperately need. He’s also grown into a worthy partner for his girlfriend, Carmen (Vanessa Rubio), and, finally, a true friend that Daniel can depend on.

Macchio doesn’t quite have the acting chops of Zabka, but that’s half the fun. Like Johnny, his character is something of a stilted manchild, still high on the glory of his childhood and hellbent on extending his legacy through his children and his students.

The show soars highest when focusing on Johnny and Daniel’s dynamic and the comedy their oddball pairing sets up. Okumoto is also a welcome surprise, bringing some of the danger and gutsiness of his original portrayal, along with an unexpected amount of heart and pathos.

The younger cast is fine and has mostly grown with each season. Maridueña is the best of them and gets much of the focus of season five. Peyton List (as Tory Nichols) also gets more to do, and it’s gratifying to finally see her have a redemptive arc after playing something of a one-note badie in prior seasons.

Kove, another returning villain, continues to chew scenery in each and every frame he’s in. The man is an overactor’s overactor, and he could not be more fun to watch, even when he’s mostly sidelined.

“Fun” is the whole point of the show and season five sure is a hell of a lot of fun. It’s bigger, with more large-scale fights, higher stakes, and more of an overall production value and sheen. But there are also some of the most gratifying character moments and, for returning fans, it’s a lot of fun watching Johnny and Daniel grow up – even if it’s taken 40 years.

The season ends with one big resolution, but also a clear direction for where it could go in a possible season six. The final episode also has a truly badass and bonkers bookend with Kreese that must be seen to be believed.

Here’s hoping that, for at least one more season, Cobra Kai never dies.

PCL RATING: Tupperware

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH