The first season of Cobra Kai was a solid revival of the iconic Karate Kid film that ended on the strong hook of Kreese returning to Cobra Kai. However, given how standalone the rest of Season 1 was, it feels like this season wasn't really sure what to do now.
Season 1 had a clear end goal in mind from the start. Johnny wanted to rebuild Cobra Kai, get some new students, and join the All-Valley tournament to win once and for all. Season 2 doesn't quite have that same hook. Kreese is here and joins Johnny at Cobra Kai, but he doesn't do too much other than slowly corrupting some of the students from the background. Daniel making his own dojo is probably the highlight of the season, but even that just feels like it's ripped right from Season 1. It generally feels like Johnny and Daniel's rivalry is put into the background this season, which is a shame. Thankfully, the high school drama is way better this time around. While the melodrama and intricate romantic subplots are still there, the drama feels a bit more realistic. I like that some of the Cobra Kai kids are starting to get corrupted and become the bullies themselves, and it all builds into an explosive final episode that, while not as satisfying as last season's, is easily the craziest and most eventful episode in the whole show.
Generally, this is a far more character-driven season than the first, and it warmed me up to a solid amount of the cast. Kreese is still an excellent villain, his manipulation skills are on point, albeit hard to watch at times. I like the conflict between Hawk and Demetri as well, and it's interesting to see people who were previously interested in Cobra Kai to be pushed away into joining Miyagi-do as well. On the other hand, I think Miguel has gotten a bit less interesting since his budding mentorship with Johnny is pretty much nonexistent. Once again, the production values are still pretty solid for a YouTube Red show, and the fight scenes are also a lot of fun (though the blood seems a bit on the fake side at times). I didn't mentioned this in Season 1's review, but the choice of 80s music for key scenes in Cobra Kai is usually excellent. However, Season 2 definitely takes that to another level, the music choices here are just plain amazing.
Once again, there are still a bunch of really solid episodes in this season:
Take A Right: Johnny's storyline about spending one last day with the old Cobra Kai before Tommy died is an incredibly affecting and poignant plot (with a fun bar fight), but we also get a backstory for Tory and a surprising reference to the events of Karate Kid III, believe it or not.
Pulpo: Similarly to last season's penultimate episode, Johnny and Daniel hold a temporary truce that actually seems to stick this time around. We also get the hectic events at Moon's party where Demetri reveals Hawk's secrets and Sam kissing Miguel, setting the stage for...
No Mercy: While as a whole, this season is weaker than the first, No Mercy is not only the best episode yet, it's one of the most insane episodes I've ever seen. It starts with the long-awaited rematch between Daniel and Johnny, and that's just the beginning! All of the season's conflicts collide in the insane school brawl that leaves not a single character unscathed, it's intense, frantic, relentless, excellently choreographed, devastating, and boasts in an impressive long take. And even the aftermath is shocking, from Kreese taking over Cobra Kai to Daniel quitting Miyagi-Do to the exciting text from Ali. No Mercy destroyed me in the best way possible and I have no idea how Season 3 could possibly top this.
Overall, Season 2 is a solid, character-focused continuation with a strong ending, but it suffers to figure out how it's supposed to continue the show's main story.
3/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment