“Cobra Kai,” the American martial arts teen drama, is always a whirlwind of emotions. The best part of the fifth season is the end of the miscommunication trope found throughout the prior seasons. Created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the miscommunication started between the two original characters, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Danny LaRusso (Ralph Macchio).
Johnny reopened Cobra Kai as a way to pay the bills, and he intended to make it better than it ever was when he was younger and under the strict control of John Kreese (Martin Kove).
However, Danny didn’t like that because of his horrible past with Cobra Kai, as seen in the “Karate Kid” films, so Danny decided to reopen Miyagi-Do Karate to fight back against Cobra Kai. If anything, Danny opened the karate studio for the wrong reasons, because he is a very successful car salesman known throughout the valley so he did not need that additional income. The only reason Danny opened Miyagi-Do was to get back at Johnny, something that was not even necessary, as Johnny’s heart was in the right place when he reopened Cobra Kai. However, that was not the end of the miscommunication.
Between the students of Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, there was a lot of bullying, teasing, boyfriend/girlfriend stealing and more. One of the other big miscommunications throughout the show was the strained relationship between Johnny and his estranged son Robby Keeney (Tanner Buchanan).
Robby was jealous that Johnny was never a father to him, but Johnny ended up becoming a father figure for one of his karate students, Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena). This tumultuous relationship between father and son caused even more turmoil between Robby and Miguel which was not fixed until another fight between the two in season five, which was facilitated by Johnny in the only way karate connoisseurs know how.
The reason why Johnny wanted to resolve the relationship between the two boys was because Johnny had been dating Miguel’s mom for a bit, and they had a big surprise for everyone that would make them all one big family.
During this season, there was a great deal of karate and fights for honor and a place in the world karate competition. With Kreese in prison and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) now in charge of Cobra Kai, Silver wants to make Cobra Kai’s teachings valley-wide and global.
He recruits the help of Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) and her group of top sensei that know the Way of the Fist, a dirty form of karate, to help Silver bring them global. While Silver has their help, Daniel flies an old frenemy Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) from Okinawa to California to help fight against Silver and Cobra Kai.
The many resolutions between characters and groups make season five the best “Cobra Kai” season yet. Characters seem to have a brighter future ahead of them without the drama of their dojos getting in the way any longer; Johnny is growing as a father figure, and Daniel is realizing the importance of family over karate.
Season five was released on Friday, Sept. 9, on Netflix and season six is still pending renewal. Watch “Cobra Kai” now to see the drama, the tricks, the misconceptions and, of course, the karate. There is no “Cobra Kai” without a big season finale karate battle.
