The year 2022 will go down in history as the year we were graced with not one, but two, seasons of Cobra Kai. Season 4 released near the beginning of the year, and Season 5 released in September. Spoiler alert: Both seasons cracked my Top 22 Shows ranking.
Season 5 definitely was less interesting, though. The show continues to bring in crazy new/old characters from out of nowhere, and the Cobra Kai dojo's wild expansion suddenly escalates the drama to a global scale. Sounds about par for the course for this show!
The opening episode of the show actually served more as a misdirection. Miguel (my favorite character) went on a quest to discover the truth about his real father. He did this without telling anyone, which didn't seem like something he would do, and his inevitable realization that the solo trip was a bad idea made me cringe all the more. But it was a nice contrived way to get Johnny and Robby to spend some quality father-and-son time on a comical road trip to save him, and it led to a fun fight scene in a low-life MMA-type arena.
The crux of the season's main storyline actually was from Terry Silver's perspective. His expansion of Cobra Kai after winning the All-Valley at the end of Season 4 led to the enslavement of many kids who were sucker enough to join his evil dojo. But Silver's sights were set beyond the Valley. He recruits some special trainers from Korea, namely Kim Da-Eun, the granddaughter of Kim Sun-Yung. Sun-Yung was the one who trained Kreese and Silver when they were young men in the military, so it was only fitting that Kim helps lead Silver's operations to push even their very best fighters to the brink to make them even better. Tory Nichols gets caught in Kim's crosshairs the most since she is defending All-Valley champion, and that led to some compelling fight scenes on the mat. But Kim was mostly just a one-note antagonist, which is fine.
Meanwhile Tory has more personal problems to deal with. In previous seasons, Tory mostly just fit the mold of a kid who had to learn to fend for herself and exude a tough exterior to make her way. But this season gave her a moral compass that was missing. To further make that complex and compelling, she has to consider the consequences of honesty when dealing with Silver's wrongdoings, and it's not such a simple answer. I love how she gets help from the most unlikely place: her rival Sam. The girls put aside their angry feelings towards each other at the most critical time, something Sam's parents and several other adults on the show fail to do.
Silver gained some depth as a guy you love to hate. On top of the usual cheating and dealings he makes, he also has the bright idea to enter his dojo into a prestigious international competition. This story idea blows the top off the scale of the show, sure, but it also gives a good excuse for Miyagi-Do to get back on its feet after its second-place finish at the All-Valley tournament. It was a bit frustrating to see Daniel, Johnny, and, primarily, Sam go through the same old story of wanting to quit karate for all the "wrong" reasons until the right reason to take it up again comes along, but hey, I'm still here for it. Miyagi-Do is pitted against Cobra Kai in competition of a different sort: they must exhibit which dojo is best. Daniel's play of looking to the past and building off tradition was predictable, but sensical, especially considering the audience. Silver tried to show off his resources and futuristic technology. So who gets chosen to join the international competition? Why, both, of course!
The relationship drama between Sam and Miguel was as good as it gets. Miguel looks like such a childish boy when shopping for Sam, but heartbreak arises before he can give her the jewelry! It's okay, because many episodes later, Sam randomly finds it in the ground where he lost/dropped it, and eventually all was well. Robby and Tory also get back together; I think they may even be a better match for each other than Miguel and Sam.
The funniest relationship drama of it all is between Johnny and Miguel's mom, who, surprise, is pregnant! If any tough guy needed to be seen baby proofing his apartment and practicing silly baby talk, it was Johnny. Such a brilliant dichotomy for Johnny, who stubbornly and comically refuses to lose his edge.
The season was great, but mostly forgettable. The finale featured giant, lengthy fighting scenes, capped by Silver's exposure. We're given one last treat before the credits roll: Kreese sneaks out of prison in a clever way, which means he'll likely appear in the next Cobra Kai season (or movie? I heard that was being talked about). Though Season 5 wasn't spectacular, I still liked it overall, and I love the show and can't wait for more.