Cobra Kai's Fatherless Universe

 Cobra Kai's Fatherhood Theme Makes it Universally Appealing

How did This Happen?

Cobra Kai just released its 4^th season of a show that’s done better than it probably sounded on paper. I’ve become an unexpected fan of the series that feels like it’s geared to much younger kids. Originally I thought this was the brainchild of Ralph Macchio hoping to capitalize on a hit from years ago.  I tried to imagine Ralph (Daniel LaRusso) from The Karate Kid trying to sell this remake to a studio executive.

Machio: “Daniel and Johnny are still rivals see? And they each start their own dojos because they hate each other”.

Executive: “Yeah. . . they’re adults now right? So what’s the rivalry about, that was like 30 years ago?”

Machio: “But Johnny never got over it and wants another shot at the man who defeated him in the 1984 All Valley Tournament. He still remembers the humiliation. Daniel is a success because of it and Johnny is a looser, stuck in the 80s”

Executive: shaking his head in disbelief “You mean the tournament put Daniel on a path to success and destroyed Johnny at the same time? We’re talking about karate? A kid’s sport?”

Machio: “Exactly”

What is the theme?

But in TV the biggest shows are often silly, don’t forget Knight Rider the talking/jumping Trans Am with personality. Actually Ralph Macchio wasn’t interested at first, but the creators convinced him to try a series from Johnny’s point of view. YouTube made the initial offer and then parted ways after the second season. Netflix picked it up in the third season which is when I started watching. A quick look at fan reviews from the first season show how popular it was from the beginning.

The fight scenes have improved since then as various characters and story arcs expand far beyond the original rivalry.

But like Disney’s mega hit The Karate Kid, the appeal of this saga is in the universality of fatherhood. How do the characters relate to their fathers? What does the absence of a father do to a kid? Who fills the void? From the two primary characters Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and their missing fathers to their respective mentors, they navigate conflict in different ways.

Both have kids of their own, even though Johnny’s relationship with his son is nonexistent. Daniel teaches his daughter, and others, in the ways of his late Sensei Mr. Miyagi. Fathers help us with identity. Both men continue their mentors' version of fighting through their persistent rivalry.

How did it start?

Despite being an unemployed Coors sipping brawler, Johnny Lawrence finds his purpose when neighbor Miguel asks him for training lessons after seeing him in a fight. Johnny’s only frame of reference for discipline is the old dojo (Cobra Kai) he trained at as a kid. So he reopens the storefront and begins training kids in the “Strike First” mentality his mentors encouraged. 

His nemesis is the successful, well-adjusted Daniel LaRusso who bested him 30 years ago in the All Valley Karate Tournament. LaRusso who owns a string of car dealerships in the area, actively works to shut down Cobra Kai, seeing it as a blight on the respectful version of karate he was taught. But he shifts tactics and starts his own dojo after failing to stop Johnny Lawrence.

The first season sees both men, LaRusso and Lawrence, teaching kids their radically different methods but finding areas of cooperation in fits and starts. An uneasy truce develops as the successive seasons move forward. Old characters from the original movie come onto the scene with their own issues and back stories. I’m trying not to spoil any of the story lines.

Kids crave structure and discipline, martial arts provides that in the Sensei. But they’re as different as dads too, each one seeing the world through formidable experiences, failures and successes. 

What is the background?   

No need to have watched the original 1984 movie either. Characters from The Karate Kid II and the The Karate Kid III pop up and fill out the roster of new story lines. It’s not difficult to catch up though. The series flashes back to scenes from the original movies frequently.  

You’ll have to suspend disbelief that kids can have a karate brawl that would make Bruce Lee wish he’d worked harder. Anyone who has seen a fight between two kids, two people of any ability, knows that the kicks and punches don’t usually hit their target. But it’s still fun to watch and that’s the point.

I’m taking on faith the idea that karate and martial arts are a big deal to kids in Southern California. As a lifelong Midwesterner the idea that a yearly tournament in the valley could be so important is hard to believe. But then again youth football in Texas and Oklahoma is almost a sacred right of passage. So maybe youth karate as a similar marker of fame isn’t such a stretch.

Season 5 is already in the works.