Television Cobra Kai

Hoof the ball

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The first two episodes are up on YouTube for free.
Been looking forward to this. They're using unused footage from the original Karate Kid to turn Johnny Lawrence into the down-on-his-luck protagonist.
 

Coxy

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Thanks - one of my favourite 80's films - will check them out ;)
 

duffer

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I have such great memories of the Karate Kid that I don't think I'll ever watch it again (in case it's horribly dated and ruins my childhood).

"Sweep the leg". The bad sensei was one of the best baddies in the history of cinema.
 

Hoof the ball

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Binged the entire ten eps in one day. Completely nostalgic, yet, very well written character development.
IMDB has it at 9.3 thus far; Rotten Tomatoes has it at 100% and 97%, respectively; Metacritic has a 72/100 and user at 9.4/10.
 

Castia

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Just started watching this, it’s crazy watching a follow up to Karate Kid after all these years.

Good show so far.
 

Tarrou

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Seen the first couple. Massively plays up to the cheesy/80s vibe of the original, as you'd expect, and I'm loving it.
 

SwansonsTache

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This is like the The Exorcist series. I can't understand how they pulled it off, but they did.
 

Acheron

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I binge watched this on Friday night. :lol:

Thought it was going to be cringe af, but I actually liked it a lot with this cobra kai dude and how he handles the new generation of kids. I guess the main appeal would be for people who watched the Karate Kid movies and liked them as it's still about the underdog and has a similar plot. Didn't quite like as much how it ends as it feel very inconclusive but they might do a season 2, at least that's what I think from the ending but aside from that is a solid show and it's just 10 episodes long.
 

slyadams

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I enjoyed the crap out of it. It played up to what people thought it would be, like a spoof of itself mixed in with some genuine interest.

The writers obviously read the whole ‘Daniel was the bad guy’ theories from the original and played on it. The whole series is about not being able to escape your past but also how the lines between good guys and bad guys can be exceedingly blurred.
 

Traub

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I have such great memories of the Karate Kid that I don't think I'll ever watch it again (in case it's horribly dated and ruins my childhood).

"Sweep the leg". The bad sensei was one of the best baddies in the history of cinema.
It’s fecking great. I somehow enjoy it more now
 

crappycraperson

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I binged this over the weekend. It is a definite must watch for the original's fans. Reviews are also right, I am not a fan of all these rehashes as a form of nostalgia porn but I did enjoy this. The show walks a fine line between not talking itself too seriously and devolving into a full on parody. The fact it is a 25-30 mins dramedy with a light hearted tone is a relief and makes it as watchable as it was. May be 1 episode too long at worst.

Johnny's character is the central figure for the series this time. They kinda tease viewers with the notion that he was after all not the villain of the original movie ( a viewpoint popularised by Barney in HIMYM) but thankfully don't commit to that rehash in anyway. Though funnily enough, some people on internet believe that this series proved the same.

Things that work -
- Johnny's characterisation is the most important bit and they had to get it right for the series to work. If they had gone down a full on redeux route of framing him as a more sympathetic character then that would have killed the series. Continuing him as a 2 note villain would not have worked either. The origin story behind his villainous character in the movie is simple and effective - bad influence of step father and his sensei, not Sopranos level stuff but it does not need to be. He is still a screw up and prone to racist and sexist remarks. So whenever he becomes too root-able, they ground him with some of his other antics. Overall, he is the character most would root for which was the point given the ending.
- Most of the teenage characters are well depicted. The series nails the impact and scope of cyber bullying on youngsters in the age of social media.
- The series does not go down the full remake route ala the SW- ANH or some other remakes. Instead it gives some sub arcs of similar flavours to the younger characters. Daniel's daughter, Sam, looks like a stand in for Ali character but there is scope for more. Similarly Robby's starts off as a possible stand in for Johnny but by the end the roles are flipped and he is pretty much a clear stand in for Daniel character for now. Miguel's arc is the best though the ending for the same is somewhat poorly handled.

Things that don't -
- Robby's character. First of all, the actor is terrible. You really needed a bankable actor to carry that part. He had the third or fourth most important part in the series. The sequence in the last episode with the one handed kick was very poorly depicted too. I could never just get too much invested in his arc. It was also the most predictable one out of the lot. The daughter's arc was much more interesting one for me. I guess they are saving her as a karate competitor for second season.
- Transformation of Miguel and other outcasts into becoming the bullies they fought against was somewhat hurried. Needed some more breathing time between them being timid and hyper aggressive. You could argue it was done to depict how Johnny himself does not sees it materialise. But still, it was jarring to see Miguel being on the wrong side in that last fight. If show wanted viewers at that point to root for Robby then they did a poor job IMO, I was still rooting for Miguel :lol: and on first look on internet, as were others.
- Finally, the twist ending of original villain coming back was not a good sign for me. So much of this series worked because it was intent on depicting everyone as a shade of grey rather than black or white. I really can't see the original bad coach being anything more than a 2D villain. I am also not really looking forward to a forced love triangle between 3 teenagers. May be the series will surprise me again in the second season it should get.
 

ivaldo

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Loved it! Right down to the poorly choreographed martial arts.
 

FujiVice

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When they played "Young Hearts" I swear, I almost shed a fecking tear. The use of the old soundtrack was cripplingly nostalgic.
 

Andy_Cole

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Best show I’ve watched in 2018. So enjoyed more than season 3 of Narcos (which was great), Altered Carbon, Walking dead (lol), Little big lies (meh), probably a few others I can’t think of.

I’d absolutely loved this to the point I want to watch again. Karate Kid was one of my favourite films growing up though.
 

FujiVice

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Best show I’ve watched in 2018. So enjoyed more than season 3 of Narcos (which was great), Altered Carbon, Walking dead (lol), Little big lies (meh), probably a few others I can’t think of.

I’d absolutely loved this to the point I want to watch again. Karate Kid was one of my favourite films growing up though.
Take away the Karate Kid connection, and it could stand alone I feel. It is its own beast after the 2nd episode. If you had never seen the movies, all you need to know is "he beat him when he was a kid and stole his girlfriend" but even then, that's explained to you. It's wonderfully done.

Cant wait for season 2.
 

oneniltothearsenal

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Yeah I was really impressed by this. I can't tell if I just loved it so much because I am in an 80s nostalgia mood but I'd rate it up there with the best I seen in 2018 so far.

For @crappycraperson
I agree the transformation of the kids was a bit rushed but I think the fact that I haven't seen any media off the top of my head deal with it in such a manner still earns positive points (and I have watched a lot of the best shows from around the world this past year).

For instance, I think the intent of the writing is still that we are supposed to root for Miquel. I don't think Robby is supposed to be the hero at that point, just that he is a deeper character than the stereotypical "drug addict thief" stereotype they could have set him up as. To me that wasn't sloppy but very clever in humanizing the villain role in Robby rather than a poor execution of making Robby the intended hero at that point. Additionally I see that as showing that even an underdog like Miguel can be susceptible to becoming a bully if suddenly they become alpha for their crew. That is a very real thing. We see in the famous anthropology example of the Tutsi and Hutu of Rwanda - the oppressed becomes oppressor when they gain power.

From a writing perspective, Miguel was always established as the one the audience should support, Robby is just humanized.
I feel this is emphasized in the contrast between that All-Valley blue guy in the final tournament with the obnoxious mom. To me that guy showed "hey look we can make some 2D villain for Miguel to go up against but we would rather attempt to show a deeper character in Robby (even if that fails to hit all notes)".
 

hungrywing

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Miguel's something-don't-feel-right-here 'abrupt' turn is an artifact of the choice to introduce the love triangle angle, which is IMO the only annoying/false note, and which is in turn a by-product of them kind of screwing up an opportunity to develop the daughter character.

A part of me died inside when they did that. It was so unabashedly Shakespearean until then!

But the rest is just so, so guilty-pleasure good.

Pls let Robby show some actual emotion next time around. It's why everyone is creeped out by him. Dude's still throwing off sociopath/repressed vibes. Let the poor kid get mad and cry.
 

Sky1981

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I binge watched this on Friday night. :lol:

Thought it was going to be cringe af, but I actually liked it a lot with this cobra kai dude and how he handles the new generation of kids. I guess the main appeal would be for people who watched the Karate Kid movies and liked them as it's still about the underdog and has a similar plot. Didn't quite like as much how it ends as it feel very inconclusive but they might do a season 2, at least that's what I think from the ending but aside from that is a solid show and it's just 10 episodes long.
It always started solid, just 10 episodes long.... until 10 years later... season 10.

Lol.

Jokinh aside i tend not to start a new tv show unless i know the end is on the horizon. Hate to hangs by a thread.