Mercy

I'm actually kind of embarrassed by how much this episode had me in my feels, so many mixed emotions. Amazing acting, great storyline, and one heck of a comeback.

The way this series has crawled its way deeper and deeper into my heart scares me. this season, this ending! i can't believe they were able to make it so good and true to the movie. johnny realizes his mistake each and every time but is not able to make it right. why? he's always gonna have the soul of a cobra kai. robby in the beginning was hurt and then totally turned it around and became in balance with himself. this is what i call an amazing show. congrats crew.

Despite all the positive reviews, and the recommendations from my friends, I still let "Cobra Kai" slide when it was on Youtube. Elevated to Netflix, I finally decided to give it a try and, truly, the show is better than it has any right to be.

Over three decades after his defeat in the final of the All Valley Karate tournament, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) has barely moved on in life. Divorced and estranged from his teenage son, Lawrence find some measure of redemption when, after saving his teenage neighbour Miguel (Xolo Mariduena) from being beaten up by his school bullies, he re-establishes the Cobra Kai Dojo. With blunt talk and strict rules he builds confidence in some of his misfit students. But the return of Cobra Kai does not sit well with Danny LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), now a successful businessman he and Johnny begin to clash again.

Honestly, "better than it has any right to be", is the term I always use when trying to describe the show to people. It could have lived alone on the nostalgia pops and, to be fair, it does lean into them heavily. There are plenty of flashbacks to the movies and revisits to locations seen before. But the show does a great job of moving one foot forward, whilst keeping the other back in the 80's. So Johnny and his music, car, attitude and language is distinctly "retro" whilst his new students deal with contemporary issues like cyber bullying.

Whilst the plot is a little predictable, and the conclusion of the All Valley 2018 tournament you'll see coming a long way off, it's a wonderfully written and funny show. Outwardly humorous and with some tremendous inside jokes. The characters are honest and layered (although what they're going to do in Season two with the character who reappears in the final moments is going to be really interesting, can they humanise him too?)

Exceeded expectations more than I could have hoped possible.

I'm going to say this now. I have never enjoyed a finale quite this much. From the karate fights, to the strong character moments and drama, to the humorous and well-timed callbacks to the original movie. "Mercy" does what any finale should, wrapping up just enough stories to leave room for what seems to be a second season. That might be my only problem with this finale. It ends on several cliffhangers which make the wait for the next season all the more agonising. Cobra Kai has revived the Karate Kid saga in ways that I never expected and this episode further cements that.

I really didn't expect much from this show, but have been blown away by how good it has been. There has been a raft of spin-off shows from old nostalgic TV shows & films, most have failed to match the original. Yet this somehow does.

When I first heard they were doing a series on the back of the Karate Kid (a film I absolutely adored as a youngster when it first came out), I was apprehensive. I thought it would be fun to watch as a filler for nostalgia purposes.

The producers though have hit the spot. This is no simple spin-off, we have instead an incredibly well put together, written & acted show that is multi-layered with characters with mixed emotions.

The two leads are perfect, with William Zabka returning as Jonny Lawrence making us all wondering where he has been all these years? His acting performance is worth awards, and he has been the real crux of the show. Ralph Macchio is now actually the rich man. There are contrived parts to the show, but it has to help bring in teenagers to the show. The Kids are varied and you can see their arcs developing.

There is a lot of grey in this show, which is what makes it interesting. Nothing is simply black & white, but what remains is that the two leads are like big kids who can't let go of their old feud which has been rekindled, but their love for Karate is there.

Jonny Lawrence is on a road to redemption which is the greatest part of the show for me, and I truly loved this whole nostalgia show. He may be non-PC, offensive and a throw back to the 80s, but that's surprisingly part of his charm.

Give this show a try. On its low budget, its an incredible achievement. I never thought they could make it work without the peerless Mr Miyagi, but the old sensei's charm & character still permeates throughout the show.

This show and the arcs will develop as we follow the two men now sensei's and their young charges. I look forward to go on the long road with them, as well as seeing returning faces from the original set of films.

Thank you to all for making this series, and the wonderful surprise it has given me. Just rewatched the original films on the back of this.