Counterbalance

Easily the best episode of all 3 seasons. This had a lot of heart and emotion. If you aren't moved by the last scene then you have no heart!

This is a solid episode. The one I've been waiting for. The fight in the canteen was excellent. It all came together. Daniel and Johnny have achieved a complete role reversal from the movies. Now a wonderfully recrafted Johnny Lawrence is the one we're all rooting for. While Daniel is acting without thinking. The visit to Mr Miyagi's grave was poignant. He is missed. I also loved the pictures from the old movies. The humour is still on point and finally we see Daniel trying to slip into his old self. The gi and the famous bandana comes out. Maybe it's time to see if Daniel has still got it.

This is another solid episode that features some surprisingly fierce fight choreography, in a scene that mirrors Johnny's fight against the high-school punks in the first episode.

Outside of that there's some enjoyable work by Nichole Brown as she becomes only the second applicant to the struggling martial arts program at the new Cobra Kai dojo - it's just a shame for her, then, that William Zabka has a "no girls in Cobra Kai" rule; and Ralph Macchio admirably evokes a sense of mid-life soul-searching, returning to the grave of his old sensei Pat Morita in the hopes of recapturing a sense of "balance" in his life.

While this show does not have an original bone in its body - and, like some of the recent Star Wars films, seems intent on rehashing elements from the original source material beat for beat - there's still a really nice balance of humor and drama here. The writing also has a way of not being completely lazy, even when the episode plots undoubtably are.

To that end, what Daniel does in this episode to get back at Johnny (with the help of a sleazy Ken Davitian) is genuinely surprising - it's a jerk move that puts other peoples' livelihoods at risk, and he's rightly called out for it. Its character moments like this that make "Cobra Kai" worth viewing; without them, the show would be dangerously close to being just another cheesy nostalgia trip.

Just like memoriam. Mr. Miyagi is far away but I feel his motto on behavior and words of Mr. LaRusso:) Good to see him even it's old screen shots. It is special show. I remember the first releasing time.

Does this review include spoilers? Maybe, of a kind...

Every time I expect the kids to do something "typically inane" they surprise me by stepping back and coming out with something above and beyond rather than ridiculous.

Every time I see one of the pro(an)agonists do something silly, I expect it to escalate beyond reasonable, as it seems to en every single other series I've watched recently... It doesn't... it stays firmly grounded in that person's honest desire to do what they feel is right and doesn't spiral out of control as I've seen it happen so often of late.

This series is right on par with Breaking Bad in terms of character relationship development!

Outstandingly heartwarming without unnecessary saccharine.