Binge Away
I am not sure I can emotionally cope this week. First I was recovering from Endgame punching me right in the feels. Then I was steeling myself for the Battle Of Winterfell to be a bloodbath of my favourite characters in Game Of Thrones. Just as I was just about ready for this, they went and dropped Cobra Kai Season 2 which dished out a sucker punch.
As is the way with all good shows when they drop the entire season at once, a cheeky couple of episodes before bed turned into a binge watch of six episodes, followed by the remaining four the next night. Honestly, if I get any more emotional about fictional entertainment, something that really doesn’t matter, then people are going to start thinking I am a millennial.
Pull Yourself Together
As we mentioned in an earlier article here, Cobra Kai Season 1 was nostalgia done right. It came completely out of nowhere to be one of the best things put out on the small screen last year. It respectfully paid homage to its own Karate Kid source material while updating and driving forward the story in a believable manner. The genius was in the leads being both protagonist and antagonist, pulling together then butting heads as the universe conspired to keep them from reconciling.
This season picks up where that season left off, with the entire cast returning, old friends being revisited, and adds a few newcomers into the mix. And what a mix it is.
Part comedy, part John Hughes high-school drama, part soap opera with outbreaks of karate. It simultaneously gives you a nostalgia reach around, whispering sweetly in your ear about the awesomeness of your childhood in the 80s, while at the same time presenting real and recognisable adult drama that feels genuinely relatable to the grown-ups we have now become. William Zabka shows some real acting chops.
Season Three?
There are moments of real laughter and genuine character development. Just when you are enjoying the ride of pure nostalgia driven shits and giggles, the very real consequences of these two adults behaving in such a way that effectively creates opposing factions slaps you right in the face and almost makes you feel guilty for enjoying their folly. At the climax you find yourself thinking “Of course it was going to end like this.” and wishing somebody else had stepped in before it did.
And the final shot, a tease for next season, leaves you crying out to find out where they are going to take this next.
It remains masterful. Everyone involved is at the top of their game. Season 3 is expected and, in this house, highly anticipated. Season 2 also successfully owns Karate Kid II and Karate Kid III rather than pretending they didn’t exist.
If you haven’t seen season 1 yet, get your ass to YouTube and subscribe to Premium. Don’t rip it or torrent it. This deserves your money.
