#Dallas Dupree Young

[emloafs]

oh my god i already miss them

[alteadelight]

are you kidding me.

i know jacob already said this in his stream w dallas but hearing griffin and dallas ACTUALLY confirm that kenny and anthony were supposed to be a couple in their original storyline….

this raises sooo many questions for me. when was this storyline changed?? was it before season 4 filming, or before season 5? was it a last minute change before season 6?? could that be one of the reasons 6x01 was rewritten and refilmed?

most importantly, WHY was it changed?

anthony and kenny were 100% supposed to be the queer representation one of the creators teased about and what the show desperately needed. i love all (most) of the couples in the show, don’t get me wrong. however the show just sometimes feels TOO straight if that makes sense. it honestly needed just one queer couple to balance it out and it would’ve been fine. just a slightly different perspective on things. they didn’t even have to go into any homophobic themes if they didn’t want to; just a sweet, angsty enemies to lovers trope. and anthony and kenny would’ve fit the bill perfectly.

so why get rid of the only queer couple in a show full of straight couples? dallas mentioned his character not having any lines in the last part due to time, and i get that. there were so many storylines and character arcs to wrap up in just five episodes. the writers were probably working their asses off to give each character a satisfying ending. and while i DO have problems with some things this last part, overall i really enjoyed the ending.

but i feel like it was so easy to develop them in the first 10 eps, even if it was just little things here and there. i’m not gonna lie, their last scene at kenny’s house peeved me a little bit lol, because it 100% would’ve been possible to write them romantically. they could’ve even left their relationship open at the end of part 2, then have them hold hands and smile at each other and tease them in part 3, and i still would’ve loved that.

haven’t watched the entire stream w/ dallas and griffin, so i don’t know if they talked about it more; i’m assuming they didn’t. but i just had to rant a little because kenny and anthony are one of the relationships i felt disappointed by this season. the writers had so much potential with them and planned for them to be a couple, and decided to randomly write it out. yeah. another loss for the books.

[daniellarusso]

What have they done for you? Hmm? Did you come here to win?

[angelflms]

Cobra Kai has a tone-deaf problem.

Now, I am a Black woman so all of my observations are through the lenses of that. You can critique my words all you want, but don't be disrespectful because I will be equally as disrespectful in the replies.

I have this phenomenon that I've noticed for a lot of shows I have watched that I call "The Leo Dooley effect," inspired by character from the Disney XD show Lab Rats, where the main character, a POC who set the tone for the whole story, is surrounded by a white ensemble cast that slowly but surely pushes that character aside to serve their purpose.

Cobra Kai does the same thing with Miguel Diaz, as he seems to be the sole reason why any of these things on the show are happening (for better or for worse) and gets one of the worst character driven storylines throughout the series post-coma (I rewrote his story on my blog. Go find it under the Miguel or Xolo hashtags) to further make the show The Robby Show (we'll get into the tone-deaf writing of his character this past season in a minute). He becomes a shell of a character, empty, boring, and in the sidelines all up until the final season, where the writers seem to remember *snaps fingers* oh shit, Miguel's one of our protagonists, and writes an okay story for him. Better than his s5 plot, but not as good as the stuff we got in s1, 2, and the last half of 3 and 4.

Now, s6 has him in his true prime (not in the way people claimed he was in the past seasons). He's got a clear mind, he's goals-oriented, you wouldn't even be able to tell that this kid was paralyzed from the waist down a year ago (in-universe time). However, he's out-performing everyone, was single-handedly saving his team, and it wasn't even enough for Johnny. It was very interesting to watch as People of Color, especially Black and Brown people, tend to have to go above and beyond to prove that we're the shit, but it'll never amount to anything if our white associates (minus Devon in this case - more on her later) aren't doing anything. But the second they do, everyone is getting praised. Miguel knocked his opponent out in forty seconds. FORTY SECONDS. But because the team wasn't doing good overall, he got no attention. I know that feeling all too well and it sucks.

As much as I thought Johnny's "Miguel is our anchor" line was powerful, it also didn't at the same time. The Magical Negro is such an annoying stereotype, as well as the Strong Black Woman/Man, and the Brown and Asian variations that come with it.

Miguel is the Brown equivalent of the Magical Negro, trying to tell the white Johnny what's right and wrong. Teaching him what's okay to say and what's not, despite Johnny being grown enough to probably understand shit on his own. He basically is teaching Johnny in a sense despite the fact that it should be the other way around. And I know that's a typical mentor/mentee thing trope but with how the show goes out of its way to show how self aware of modern problems it is, it's hella tone-deaf.

In terms of the Strong Black Man trope (or in this case Brown), Miguel isn't always strong. He breaks down and cries pretty often but it's viewed by the fandom as annoying, weak, and pathetic, as well as not manly which pisses me all the way off because every time he gets emotional, it's with valid reason. Losing his girlfriend (both times), finding out he's paralyzed, apologizing for running away, his mom possibly dying, not getting into Stanford (tho this would've had more of a punch if Stanford actually mattered but it doesn't whatever). Also, he's a 16/17 year old Brown kid in poverty who was embarrassingly bullied MULTIPLE TIMES. You're telling me you didn't cry as a kid? But when Robby cries every once in a while (which is also equally as valid because he was also a kid in poverty who was bullied), everyone holds his hand and says "it's okay."

"He's our anchor." It just sounds so off to me. Like has to be the one to help everyone else, when you have two Captains who can do the exact same thing. We as POCs have to be the ones to hold down the fort and keep things steady on our backs while white people can settle for mediocrity and not have to do to much because "hey, the POCs got us." It's just like that "if you're in danger, find a Black woman" thing. Because we're expected to be the ones to save y'all when y'all are in trouble. But when the roles reverse, we're expected to save ourselves because we're strong. Y'all don't like it when Miguel isn't emotionally or physically tough because y'all expect him to push through since he's the main character, but it also feels like he's expected to push through because he's a Brown boy in poverty so he's been through enough.

Tory's "we have to fight to get a spot in life" speech was well performed by Peyton List but it felt strange to see a white woman explain privilege to a Brown boy who has less privilege in comparison to her. I have always had a problem with that scene and I never won't have an issue with it.

Moving on to Kenny. Kenny is the only Black character of current time to be in the ensemble. Aisha was on the show but left ofc. Kenny, like Miguel was brutally picked on, primarily by white kids, especially by white rich boy Anthony LaRusso. In the fandom Anthony tends to be the more favored overall. Kenny is primarily favored on the Black side of the fandom (much like Miguel). Similar to Miguel, there was a moment in s6 part two that may have not been intentional but in my eyes, felt very racially targeted.

Hawk and Demetri were very skeptical towards Kenny because they assumed that he was working with Silver despite the fact that Kenny didn't even want to do the Sekai Tekai to begin with after he became publicly bullied again. During a round of tag-teamed fighting, the boys refused to let Kenny in, causing them to lose the round due to Robby not being prepared to be tagged in (he thought they were gonna tag Kenny). Kenny gets mad, rightfully so but the boys didn't back down on their theory (the only reason this theory was even a thing was because they say Kenny and Silver talking and assumed the worst). It took the team's "anchor" to give Robby a pep talk to lead and the others will follow (you know, something a Captain should already know) for Kenny to get the attention he deserves. And then Hawk and Demetri finally accept Kenny. All because the white guy said "hey, we should tag him in."

That sounds so off in so many ways.

It wasn't intentional, I know. But the fact that this was something that happened and the boys didn't even apologize to Kenny after for the assumptions they made only furthers my point on how tone deaf this show can get. Amanda, Miguel, and Robby are literally the only people who see Kenny as more than just a Silver puppet and it sucks because Hawk and Demetri were in the same spot as Kenny once upon a time.

And then there's Devon, the overworking, overwhelmed Asian girlie who tries her hardest to seek validation and gets overlooked. Similar to Miguel in this new part, Devon got ignored badly in the first part. It was so bad that she cheated to get into the Sekai Tekai and got her ass handed to her. And like Miguel, it takes her to have to explain to her white sensei that she's being ignored for him for her to be taken seriously. She's not the best fighter by any means but I thought we were done with this Asian stereotype years ago. And the way Sam talked to her after literally celebrating her victory with all smiles and everything in the first part??? Like it felt so fake as hell.

Finally, Robby. Robby is written well, we all know that. But this shit that they did to him in the second part pissed me off, especially since it's not gonna get addressed apparently. So Robby gets drunk at a bar and basically follows Zara back to her hotel room. Next time we see them, he's disoriented, and she's kissing him. I'm sorry, but that's sexual assault, yes? Robby was drunk and didn't remember anything. So that's her taking advantage of him, yes? Well the creator apparently doesn't think so and is saying that Robby made a mistake and that the interaction won't be talked about next part.

Bitch, Robby is a VICTIM.

Zara sexually assaulted him. Just because he's a man doesn't change the fact that the man got taken advantage of by Zara.

Like did we watch the same scene?

This show has so many problems and I feel like since it's a show about fighting no one cares. But as a Black woman, I see this shit and in between the lines, there's so many issues that won't even get fixed because the show is over.

[poeticamethyst]

I’m gonna be so annoying at any xolo tanner interactions from now on. Hello!?

[merv606]

[demifiendrsa]

Cobra Kai Season 6 | Date Announcement

The sixth and final season of Cobra Kai will consist of 15 episodes, with the season to be split into three five-episode blocks. The first five episodes will premiere on July 18, 2024, while the second batch of five will premiere on Nov. 28, 2024. The final five episodes of the series will premiere in 2025 with an exact date to be announced at a later date.

Stills

[abduloki]

I was worried about Kenny's brother trying to "bad influence" him but am glad that he's changed and matured, becoming a good brother! I only realized he's just trying to protect Kenny from Robby and the others because he knows Kenny is lost and confused now.

He knows Kenny needs some space and time to think and reflect. And the sight of Robby at the wrong time would only worsen it. There are things in life that you can't enforce on others. They need time to make a move on their own without being pressured.

[controlthesleeve]

From Xolo's instagram: We can’t wait to celebrate this last season with you all. CK6

[shirtlesscelebsofdaworld]

[thepermanentrainpress]

The Permanent Rain Press Interview with Dallas Dupree Young. (Watch in HD)

Dallas Dupree Young discusses Kenny's growth in Cobra Kai season 6, including his mental state after season 5, reuniting with his brother Shawn, humiliation and laxatives, and reaching an emotional truce. He also chats about the explosive end to episode 10, the return of Terry Silver, and creating content while interacting with fans on Twitch.

[blusandbirds]

dallas: the first time i met jacob on set, he put me into a headlock and shoved me into a door

so this is just them then, like not even in character, it's just them

[zappedbyzabka]

[sleepyicon]

sigh my main black rep in this show and one of the best characters being reduced to a BG character in the LAST episodes is tragic

[poeticamethyst]

Kenny wearing yellow being sunshiney with sunflowers like his daddy idc! 🌻💛

Didn’t crop the third pic cus Miggy was smiling at his husband there

[lizziefanconfessions]

Hawk: Hey, Kenny. Check this out. This sure is amazing!

Kenny: Really? Cool!