I Watched All of Cobra Kai Because My Russian Lover Made Me

So my new guy and I have VERY different tastes in movies and TV. In an attempt to spend some quality time that involved me sitting down for once

Ladies and gentlemen, everyone wants a younger man but fuck they are full of energy.

They are so BUSY all of the time. Let’s shoot bows and arrows, let’s go work out, let’s go swimming, BITCH I’M OLD AND TIRED. So in an effort to get some rest, I agreed to let him choose what we would watch. Praying for The Great but knowing it was NOT going to happen . . . my Parkour-loving, sword wielding, martial artist picked . . . Cobra Kai. And you know what? It is pretty epic.

For all the Karate Kid lovers out there, or those who want to share your love of the movie franchise with your kids . . . check out Cobra Kai on Netflix.

In Season 1, we are re-introduced to Johnny Lawrence (remember that guy who lost in Karate Kid when he got kicked in the face at the tournament?) who is played by Ralph Maccio. We find Lawrence as a middle aged drunk who is losing his job, has a small apartment, no woman, and honestly is just having a run of bad luck (he is fine as hell though so I kept watching).

In contrast, we see a grown up version of Daniel LaRusso aka the Karate Kid himself who is now a bougie car dealership owner with a “perfect” life. Nice house, money, on commercials, the picture of post 2008 bull run success.

Looking At Flashbacks With A Different Lense

With flashback to the Karate Kid peppered in and out of the series, one thing that became noticeable to me, is that Johnny Lawrence in the original Karate Kid was just depicted as a bully with no feelings. We all wanted LaRusso to beat him because let’s be honest, we were put into a position of bias by only really seeing LaRusso’s story. What I loved about the flashbacks is we not only get to see the old clips of the beloved classic, but we also get to hear Lawrence’s perspective on the events like when he had a garden hose pulled on him while going to the bathroom or when he lost the girl he loved. It made me look at not only Karate Kid’s climatic moments differently but made me question other shows and movies I had watched where I wanted revenge for one character but not once did I ever consider the perspective of the so-called villain.

Spoiler Alert: We also find out that the famous kick that knocked out Lawrence in the final competition was actually illegal.

Lawrence Brings Cobra Kai Back To Life

Lawrence despite trying to avoid it at all costs, ended up meeting a neighborhood kid named Miguel Diaz who is getting his ass beat by neighborhood kids. Lawrence finally ends up teaching Diaz how to fight and ultimately restarts Cobra Kai, the studio where he trained.

Mr. Miagi For A New Generation . . . Johnny Lawrence

While Mr. Miagi was imparting life wisdom with “wax on, wax off”, Lawrence also imparts life wisdom by assisting Diaz on first date planning. Diaz wants to date a girl at school (who is actually LaRusso’s daughter) and he is planning to take her on a romantic picnic. Lawrence responds with “the only cool thing you said was three way. (sic) you need to take her to the arcade instead.”

Where Mr. Miagi was teaching patience and self control to his generation of students, Lawrence is teaching his students not to be punk ass bitches. And I am here for it.

Would I Recommend Cobra Kai?

Not only did watching Cobra Kai enable my cougar ass to sit down for several hours . . . I actually ended up loving it. I give it a 9/10 . . . Lawrence I give a 10/10.