By Dennis DuBay
10. The music of Cobra Kai
I don't know about you, but for me, a great soundtrack makes an okay show good and a good show great - and the music of Cobra Kai does that for me.
Whether it be classics that instantly take you back to those amazing moments of the original movie or the new tracks that fuel a kick ass fight scene, the music of Cobra Kai is one of the most important characters on the show.
9. Demetri get's his arm broke
The thing I love most about the Cobra Kai series is it's ability to interweave so many different emotions so easily. For example, in just one scene, you can experience nostalgia, humor, fear, sadness and surprise.
In the scene that ended with nerdy loudmouth Demetri getting his arm broke, all those emotions were thrown into the scene, ending in a heartbreaking crescendo.
8. The acting of Mary Mouser
Listen, this show is about the feud of Danny LaRusso & Johnny Lawrence - but in season three, the story arc of Mary Mouser's "Samantha," was a vital piece to the puzzle.
Everyone was reeling from the events of the season two finale - but it was Samantha who struggled the most, mentally, it would seem.
Her confidence at a low, she fought the fear in her mind all season long. Mouser played this role so amazingly - the fear in her eyes, the inability to breathe when in the presence of Peyton List's "Tory Nichols," was some of the series best acting.
7. Happy Johnny
While I was never a star athlete in my High School days, part of me really identifies with Johnny Lawrence. I often time put way to much stock on the happiness of yesterday.
I also enjoy a niche Coors Banquet from time to time.
Seeing Sensei Lawrence happy is some of the best parts of this show. It gives those who identify or sympathize some sense of hope - be it for Lawrence or even the viewer who may feel down on his or her luck as well.
It can't rain all the time, right?
6. Okinawa
While the plot twist at the end of the Okinawa excursion was a little to convenient, it did honor the past - which is something the writers of Cobra Kai do very well.
The size of the Karate Kid/Cobra Kai universe is expansive - and in season three it grew exponentially with a return to Okinawa for Daniel.
LaRusso, trying to save his dealership, is "contacted" by Miyagi through a commercial about Okinawa, which is ironic as LaRusso then travels to Okinawa to find that the once idyllically stuck in the past home of Miyagi has gone full commercial itself, with a mall where a village once stood.
He finds Kumiko and they reminisce over drinks and letters sent from Miyagi. Unknowingly to Daniel, she invites Chosen.
I won't spoil there interaction, but it's some of my favorite minutes of the Cobra Kai series.
5. Demetri get's the girl
While a very small plot point in the show, it was nice to see Demetri sucking face with season one villainess Yasmine (Annalisa Cochrane).
The strange thing about Demetri is that his character development from season one to season three doesn't seem to be that extreme, he still carries who he was at the core from s1 to s3, yet he's a very different person, like he flipped the switch ... half way.
How can this crack the top five you ask? Easy. At the very center of what Cobra Kai is, at it's best it's story is that of hope. Demetri has never really lost the course of his journey, but there were times when he could have easily quit - he's starting to see the fruits of his perseverance pay off.
4. The resurrection of Eli Moskowitz
Which leads me to his Binary Brother, Eli Moskowitz - or Hawk, if you will. Now, Cobra Kai has been afforded a ton of positivity from it's viewers - season three, I started seeing comments about how cartoonish Moskowitz's Hawk had become.
Yes, I can see it. In three short seasons he's become a killing machine (well, ass kicking machine with the possibilities of killing one day).
But I think that was a means to an end - and if you haven't seen season three yet, you'll understand this more after you stop the insanity and WATCH THE SHOW.
3. The Backstory of Kreese
How did we get here - that's a question the show is constantly asking and reinventing the answer. As is real life, moments are just chapters in a life, constantly editing the final outcome of the story. Kreese is a mystery. Well, he was. How could one man become so evil.
Well, now we know. We can see the chapters in his story that altered where he was when he joined the military.
He wanted better, to be a provider, for his GF - when that was taken away from him, it took more than just the future. It froze the pain of the past inside his soul.
I wondered while watching if this was a backdoor or soft pilot for a future Cobra Kai spinoff - and if it is, I'm fucking here for it.
2. Ali Mills
So to be totally transparent, I have to admit something. My love for Karate Kid is 1000% factored in by my love for Elisbeth Shue. For me, Shue is fucking iconic. She's the girl next door who is so impossibly out of your fucking league, yet she's so sweet it hurts.
Daniel wasn't the only one who fell in love with Ali Mills on that beach in 84. Hell, I think I wrote her poetry in 85 that exists somewhere in a box in a basement somewhere in Michigan.
Earlier, I said that the center of the Cobra Kai universe was hope. I'm editing that. It's Hope & Ali Mills.
The last two episodes are great examples of how the show uses music to add so much to the story that's developing in front of us.
That first scene with her Mom entering the room talking about gifts, with camera bring Ali back into the universe, was a gift for all Karate Kid fans.
We never really knew much about Johnny and Ali's relationship with exception to the end and how badly that was - so some of the happy to see you was a bit forced, to me. But, I guess they say time heals old wounds.
And the interaction later between LaRusso, Lawrence and Mills is so fucking great. Zabka's facial expressions towards Daniel when LaRusso is in Dad mode trying to figure out how the hell Mills and Lawrence reconnected is perfect.
I just hope this isn't the end of the Ali Mills character in person.
1. Miyagi Fang
Listen, before I go any further, can I just say how much i dislike the Eagle Fang name? I do. I hate to be negative about anything on this show because I fucking LOVE LOVE LOVE this show.
But Eagle Fang? No.
I digress.
I think we've all been waiting for the moment that Johnny and Daniel finally team up - we've had moments where the enemies have played nice; and it felt natural.
It was only until Ali told them that they were "more alike than they'd like to believe," that I think it really dawned on both that maybe they could mend their ways.
That last scene of season three was a culmination so many years in the making.
It was bigger than Maddie & David hooking up.
