#yes i know robby isn't daniel's son but he is his karate son

[danielslaw]

MIYAGI DO FAMILY KATA THROUGH THE YEARS.

Nariyoshi Miyagi - Daniel LaRusso - Robby Keene - Samantha LaRusso

[msfbgraves]

I'm so disappointed that I've lost interest in rewatching the show lmao even though S1 was amazing. And it had nothing to do with the actors but only with the writing. NOTHING felt earned, everything that was stated to be oh so impactful fell flat - Johnny getting everything, Kreese's redemption, even Miguel's victory. Because it should've been Robbie who won. Robbie who directly mirrors Daniel from KK1. Daniel won after Kreese (!) had him injured. Axel injures Robbie at the pressure of his abusive Sensei. Robbie should have won the tournament just like Daniel did, and Axel should've had his "you're alright larusso" moment that Johnny had (who, according to the show never did anything wrong ever. Like, if he never did anything wrong and was always the victim ever, why did we have S1???) And sure, Terry was great, but even his "doesn't get Daniel's forgiveness" arc doesn't pay off because their last conversation was a fucking joke!! "Cobra kai never dies"??? How can you be so off the mark?? It was outright disrespectful by being so unfitting for a sequel to the KK saga. Like you don't get the source material you are drawing inspiration from! You've missed the entire point!! You don't even get the S1 that you wrote!!! Like, hello??? What the hell happened? HOW the hell was this allowed to happen? I know it's just a TV show but it makes me furious that such bad writing happened to a show that was just So Good in the beginning. Like, they did get it. In the beginning. They actually got it. But then they lost it, and I just don't get why!! I want to see or read an alternative version, because this isn't me complaining because "I didn't get my way". This is me complaining because nothing here worked, it was just badly written, and I don't think, as toxic as fandoms can be, that we deserved that. The actors certainly didn't.

What I think happened, and I've made a slightly satirical post about it, is that the writers didn't want to give up their view of correct masculinity while also feeling, deep in their gut, that The Karate Kid, that critiques this kind of masculinity in Kreese especially, had very valid points to make. Scarily valid points. Because if TKK is right, toxic masculinity and the bullying it leads to, is wrong. But how can it be so wrong when it feels so right? OK, they know, what if they use Johnny Lawrence as a protagonist who is macho, and funny, and we can all have fun watching him be badass and making fun of nerds. Because that is legitimately fun. And taking Daniel down a peg or two. And yes, we'd have to take an extremely bad faith approach to anything he's ever done but we can get away with that, can't we? It's Johnny Lawrence. He's not gonna have a positive view about Daniel LaRusso. ('What about Johnny handing him the trophy and saying you're alri-" "We're not gonna reference that I HATE THIS FUCKIN TWERP HE NEEDS TO BE OBLITERATED" "Hayden, stop being a pussy about Ralph" "... ... ... Most people won't remember that and will grant us some creative license." "Attaboy, Hayden"). Anyhow, and we'll keep the woke brigade off our backs by pointing out that Johnny obviously is not supposed to be a role model because he has fucked his life up and his son hates him.

And in the first two seasons it works because they are mostly emotionally honest (at least where the men are concerned. They could not, even in the first two seasons, fathom that mothers (Amanda, Carmen, Laura, Sharon, Rosa or Lucille) had any emotional depth or complexity. They're all walking clichés, and that is with the actresses trying their hardest to breathe life into them. Ralph made asshole!Daniel work through his Terry Silver trauma. (That's why it is such a great thing Thomas came in, too.) But when you are being emotionally honest... You are going to have to admit that this badass attitude gets people seriously hurt. Like what would have happened to Daniel if not for Mr. Miyagi. That boy would have been dead, according to Kamen. And now, Miguel is very likely disabled for life, whether or not he walks again, and Robby is in Juvie - his priors won't have done him any favors.

But the reason why they started writing it was that they wanted to make Johnny right and they wanted to have a reconcilliation with their own shit Dads through letting Johnny have one with Kreese but when you are true to these characters, which they know how to do, that is never gonna happen, because your son won't forgive you without you doing any work and shit Dads do not see the light suddenly because otherwise they wouldn't have been that shit in the first place and women don't date unkempt, violent, jobless losers who have abandoned their family because men would like it better if they did. Just like hot rich men don't fall for shy, plain, insecure wallflowers. Men don't have to be billionaires and women don't have to be models but you need to put some effort in.

So my only explanation is, that when they were being honest, they were proving The Karate Kid right (and of course they were, that film is based on real life for the most part). Which they had set out NOT TO DO. Because if the Karate Kid is right, and bullying is bad, that means THEY must have been bad for having been bullies and somehow that is too painful to grapple with. (Ralph said on YouTube, in a Q&A about TKK, which was held in 2012: "[The movie] offends no one - except bullies" cue the biggest indictment of CK before it even aired!)

So what did they do? The consciously went against their own characters, and what the story naturally set out to say. Now, as a fic author, I recognise this. It's frustrating to want to get to a conclusion with a story when the story has other plans. The story, then, may just about forgive you very small swerves, but if you start forcing it harder it gets ridiculous. That happens all the time. When for instance, in the Handmaid's Tale, a character would have left the story, but this would have put the actress out of a job, the whole rest of the series unravelled. Because it went against its own rules and stopped making any internal sense.

So, if you go against the laws of nature with Miguel's miracle cure and laws of humanity by letting Johnny off scott free for everything he has done to Robby, and pulling Daniel and Robby apart because you want Robby in Cobra Kai for the drama and you want to punish Robby for being the only one who has rightfully called Johnny out and you want to deny him the option to say, "To Hell with that old man, Daniel is my Dad now", and you ignore that Carmen, a single woman with two dependents and a job as a medical professional would be on birth control, and even if she wasn't, plan B, abortion pills and medical termination of pregnancies exists, because Real Men Impregnate and Johnny needs a true do over and what do moms even do, amirite, your story stops making Any Goddamn Sense. It stops working.

The reason why I didn't stop at S3 was that at least at the very end, Daniel started to get really interesting. Honestly I have no idea what S3 was even about apart from Miguel's miracle cure, but they tapped into Daniel's dark side and lo and behold, here comes Terry! And Terry's story, for the most part, also made internal sense. So by shifting the focus away from Johnny, whose story logic they had so strongly violated, it regained a lot of internal truth.

And then they had Kreese fake his death with a cup of Jell-o. Because to hell with truth, story truth or realism, we need Daddy back. And also, everything needs to be about Kreese and Johnny, so Terry has to be made to care about them more than Daniel, even though the whole third film was about his relationship with Daniel. Yes, he had one with Kreese but that was never the main point. So their ongoing fuckery also doesn't make sense. Kreese was done with Terry before they even met again. Terry was done with Kreese at the end of S4. They wrote that! Yes, Kreese may have wanted revenge, but Terry really doesn't much care about him or Johnny. Which is why a final resolution between these two rings so false. A final showoff between Johnny and Kreese would have had much more weight. I mean what is Kreese so mad about he wants Terry dead for? The loss of Cobra Kai? He had Cobra Kai back! The time in jail? The charges were dropped! And again Terry doesn't care so there is no emotional resolution. This doesn't affect either Daniel or Johnny, they just wanted two badass characters go out in a cool way.

That's what happens when you force a story to adhere to the writers' ideals or whatever outside factor prompts you to make a decision that goes against your story's own rules (or human behavior in general). It becomes a hollow parody of itself.

[Deep breath] Why was this allowed to happen? Because a big enough part of the audience likes toxic masculinity and apparently watches a story only to be very superficially entertained. When the audience stays happy who cares? People like me were never going to buy CK merchandise, but they just might. Also, the actors know that people have done far worse for a far smaller paycheck than tell a bad story.

Of course, ruining meaningful stories is bad for people's mental health, but who cares about that? That's what alcohol is for. And oh, you're a woman? Who cares in general? Go get fucked and then cook me dinner!

[crimsonblackrose]

.

Ah yes, the apple computer is a lemon because Lyle accidentally found himself as tech support.

Johnny's first computer is a Dell laptop. I wonder though if in the 80's they had computer classes, because then he might've known a desktop, which is still a different set up then a clunky Dell laptop.

LYLE WHAT IS THAT?!

Johnny is at least moving at the right part of the computer that is the mouse. Even though the cursor isn't moving. He also manages to open up every single Microsoft program ever, which how does he have those? They're totally extra now right?

Where's the internet? Have you tried connecting to the wifi? Obviously....what's wifi?

Book 2: The Internet for Dummies

His wifi password is Strike1strike (hard one guesses?)

Hot Babes > Wet T-shirt contest > Iron Eagle > Bloodsport (Lol he stops to read a blog post about it)> Conspiracy Theories (The Actual Truth: Mind Control, Flat earth, fluride poisoning children, herbal remides for sleep, faked moon landing, and of course dinosauras built the pyramids, zac efron is elvis's son) > misc fighting video from a movie I don't know. >all american karate championship on youtube> Top 10 spin kicks (blocked by a Daniel advertisement for Miyagi-do where he purposefully shows kicking Johnny in the face as part of his ad)

Daniel, darling, dearest, my boy, you were pissed when Cole made a targeted ad, you're literally putting kicking Johnny in the face on the worst night of his life (one of) as your ad for your dojo. You even say "Don't be a snake in the grass. Be a champion."

And then Daniel's once again undercutting Johnny's finances by making sure all the sessions are free. Which I get is because his lessons with Mr. Miyagi were free but still.

You know I do like that they didn't actually show google, and just made their own random generic internet search

New movie rec: Bloodsport

Whose making the cobra kai merch? a beach ball and a towel?

Demetri claiming the wins of Cobra Kai as his own is...something.

First mention of Johnny's rap sheet, I like how Eli's parents actually did their research on the guy teaching their kids.

Valley fest mention (did they only do valley fist in this one instance in the whole series?)

Amanda is a CEO.

Daniel spent half the Q3 (third quarter) marketing budget for LaRusso Auto on his dojo advertisement. That seems...uh...financially very bad. I don't know legal laws for corporations but...bad.

Like he excuses it because the dealership will get publicity at the Valley fest, but still to take corporate funds to use for personal I feel like is an actual white collar crime.

Jessica Bluestein is I guess one of Amanda's friends or coworkers/staff whose husband started a ska band and then hooked up with a palates instructor half his age.

Amanda misses the simple days of dicks on billboards. Which fair, it's going to get a million times worse Amanda, so be prepared.

Anoush got transferred from Encino to North Hollywood. Which I guess is a downgrade

Sam's hair when it's braided or in these little three buns is very cute.

Robby's hot water was also turned off.

Jacuzzi confirmed at the LaRusso's. It must be that thing by the fire place. Also apparently a possum died in it.

There's also a cobra kai phone case. Seriously? Johnny did you have all this made or did the students have it all made?

Poor bonsai, also did you go out and buy these to hurt the bonsai? Also poor kid holding the bonsai that was dirt and ceramic and tree that hit him in the face.

What Johnny says is pretty much exactly how Tom Cole did his targeted ad against Johnny.

Hashbrown and send it to the internet.

His students doing his whole internet marketing team is very sweet, but also he needs to compensate them for all that free tech labor.

I don't think I'd fully realized that he'd bought more space from Zarkarian. I guess he just had this room locked for Zarkarian to have storage previously?

I get why the kids automatically assumed that because of Robby being Johnny's son that's why Johnny got mad at them for the tournament. But in reality his rules he tried to instill after the tournament was don't cheat and don't be unsportsmanlike. And that should apply to everyone even Robby. And maybe he should've reminded them of that rather than just shutting down the conversation and telling them to clean mats because they got into his business and it's not their business.

Especially since Kreese is going to use that to drive a wedge between them all.

I get why Amanda is getting frustrated, Daniel said that he used part of the budget to get eyes on his dojo, and it's fine because they have valley fest for the dealership. But then he goes after the dealership spot too.

I don't think she has a name yet and I don't remember it, but I like that she gives Johnny the 411 on free food. He's got kind of a community in the area. Lyle his tech person, the Mini Mart guy (sorry I forgot his name) and the homeless lady.

Did Kreese not know previously that Robby was Johnny's? Or that Johnny had a kid? Because it feels like not only does he have his eyes on a way to drive a wedge but also a target.

Johnny says he'll never get a chance to train Robby.

Kreese dumping a lot of paranoia and random fears on Johnny, like Daniel stealing away Miguel too.

Ah the correction, Johnny's learning and paying attention.

They changed it, Miguel and the Diaz's are in apartment 1.

Johnny kidnapping Miguel: 2? 1? I feel like generally he has the kids meet him somewhere rather than driving them somewhere.

Sal and the delicious chopped onion burgers. So Johnny knows the name of the chef at this diner and it's not Smitty's.

Robby's birthday Monday February 4, 2002 after 17 hours of labor.

Johnny was coming off a 3 day bender.

He gets chocked up when he says he failed Robby on his first day in the world and every day since.

Mr. Miyagi never taught Daniel how to use a weapon during the first 3 films, so sometime later he must've taught him some, at least a bo staff.

Stingray is out here talking about the teenage mutant ninja turtles, Donatello is his favorite.

The initial shots make it look like they're up much higher then they actually are.

Look how proud he looks to have that thing and his ice blocks. It is really cool.

Okay so it always comes off as if Johnny like snuck in and struck, but the fact someone dropped the logo over valleyfest makes me think someone on the valley fest prep team knew about it.

Yup I went back, it's right there rolled up above the Valley fest logo

Plus all the lighting people knew exactly where to direct the lighting and the music to play. So they knew that Daniel would get interrupted and didn't tell him.

The smoke, the lighting, the fireworks, Daniel someone did not give you an updated memo on this and the Valley Fest was more than happy to put this on without telling you. Also the amount of work these kids put in to perform on even less notice then Sam and Robby?!

Like sure Kreese is standing in the back talking to a tech person but still, they had to have gotten permission and people had to have agreed otherwise security would've taken them off the stage. Someone on the Valley Fest committee loved this idea.

This crowd craves violence.

Omg there's even custom logo lights being shown on the backwall.

I do love that Aisha got her own solo where she was blindfolded and kicked and broke a bunch of boards. She looks so happy and proud.

Like yes, them upsurping Daniel sucks, but also this is such a great celebration for his students. And also again Aisha! (add to it disproving one of Silvers goals of blinding your opponent and making them unable to do anything, here Aisha is proving you can still kick ass and not see, which you would think Daniel and Sam would be proud of her)

Hawk's jump kick is also really cool.

For a festival it also makes sense, they're throwing out merch and what not. It's fun for the crowd.

Daniel's thing would've been super cool, and two stages can go at the same time, the fact they completely stopped to watch Cobra Kai is a bit of a bummer, because they could've continued. Our local fest had a big main stage performance and then a small stage performance like super close but the noise pollution wasn't bad enough to disturb either. But because the crowd left and Daniel was so stunned they just seemed to have given up, when that didn't have to be the case, he could've show cased his own thing at the same time and gotten a different audience because Cobra Kai isn't going to be for everyone.

Johnny and his five cement bricks on fire. I wonder if those are from Cutter. (Daniel btw has 6 blocks of ice)

Kreese looks ecstatic in the back with the tech and sound people.

The melting ice makes me so sad every time.

So do you think Johnny and Daniel both had similar ideas of breaking bricks without Johnny knowing that Daniel had that planned? Because Daniel's plan was a secret, they just both thought it'd look cool? Daniel's of course is from TKK2 but did Kreese teach Johnny that? Johnny told Kreese that he had a few moves Kreese didn't teach him, and if that's the case where'd he pick those up?

Robby looks mad. That's probably one of the biggest one step forward another step back is that not only did Johnny upstage Daniel but he also upstaged his own son.

[justanxioustrash]

so it's done... i'll probably make a proper post when i have more time to sit with it but for now enjoy notes i took while watching each episode. 

warning it's long so have fun 😁

episode 11

holy shit this really feels like a final season

like fr there's a referential monologue every few minutes

we need a full time therapist for theses kids

Kreese is definitely gonna die

Conflicted on the attempted Kreese redemption

yes Amanda call Daniel out on his shit

holy shit we were right about Terry

love that lawrusso can finally have healthy conversations

is everyone gonna die???

where's tory?

episode 12

give Daryl his blue mats

Kumiko thank you for not falling in love with the man who put a knife to your throat

who tf is Tory living with?! like isn't she a minor how is she living with no guardian 

and where's her brother???

can't say i love the hyper realistic vr that's somehow is supposed to prepare Robby

i fucking love the samtory friendship. it's one of the few that feels genuine and not needed just to move the story forward

SENSI MIGUEL

👏healthy conversations👏

these boys are literally planning their future together and there's been not a single girlfriend mention...but no no they're platonic i promise

this women is having contractions let's get married later

you can tell a man wrote this cause this is not romantic 😭😭

AWWW LAURA

Johnny can we please stop putting so much pressure on your son winning this thing 

episode 13

yeah i'm definitely not a fan of the Kreese "redemption"

thank you Daniel for finally pointing out all the shit Robby's been through

this really is a kk1 reference to a slightly too obvious level 

wait no Robby has to fight don't make him lose

i know he doesn't need it but the writers have literally put so much emphasis throughout the season on how good Robby would feel if he won...now it's suddenly unimportant?!? let this man have one singular win i beg

is Miguel gonna fight as the Cobra Kai male fighter??

cgi Miyagi is ROUGH to look at but good try i guess

Sam not fighting makes sense cause she hasn't had much to fight for for awhile now but ROBBY ON THE OTHER HAND

no stop trying to redeem Kreese it's getting annoying 

okay acting chops 👏👏

HOLY SHIT I CALLED THAT

THE OG COBRA KAI

side note but love Tory's gold eyeliner

episode 14 

how tf is a show about karate making me emotional over a literal building

i get that the focus is the core four but i really miss the teens group dynamic 

johnny please spend more time at home you literally have a new baby 

sam and tory are so lesbian coded this season

wtf if the final episode gonna be about

BINARY BOYFRIENDS ON TOP

MY KINGS ARE HUGGING

coach Miguel makes another appearance

i know for a fact those flips were not necessary Zara but pop off ig

I LOVE YOU TORY TOO

kiss of confidence worked for eli in s4 so it better work this time too

no fucking mercy bitches

KNOCK OUT KNOCK OUT KNOCK OUT

TORY MY LOVE IM SO PROUD

Miguel do not let this get in your head istg

kiss of confidence x2

king shit Miguel

Carmen just gave birth give this women a break

sometimes the show forgets that Johnny is a good sensei but they popped off here ngl

Axel just join cobra kai please

the writers can be a bit much with flashbacks sometimes but this is actually cool as shit i can't even be mad

shout out the fight choreographers

MIGUEL MIGUEL MIGUEL MIGUEL

nah if there's a tie i'm actually gonna kms

FUCK

ahhh so that's what the final episodes going to be about

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

wait Johnny's so gonna die

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

nah keep Laura out if this shit

how tf did Kreese get on the boat?? this man gotta move away from karate and be a spy atp

can they both die please

oh good

episode 15

ooooo i like the name of the episode

APPLEBEE'S (also wtf is an applebee's cause they're only in the usa so i'm confused)

there's no way Johnny's gonna win this there has to be some reason the fight doesn't happen

🎵you're the best around🎵

THE FUCKING NECKLACE WAS HIS MOTHERS

like no shit Mr Miyagi wasn't a terrible person so idk why Daniel is acting so surprised

MY KING AND QUEEN ARE SUCCEEDING 

my man Daryl got back his mic!!

are we not going to address the ship exploding??

ITS KARATE TIME

god i love the og ck gi's

FEAR DOES NOT EXIST IN THIS DOJO

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I FUCKING LOVE THIS STUPID GODDAM SHOW

COBRA KAI! COBRA KAI! COBRA KAI!

how am i not supposed to ship elimetri when these are the scene they give us

they literally have matching shirts, a custom joint license plate, and are going off to uni together...but no they're totally straight 🤨

Robby and Tory have some how become my fav canon ship from this season despite not liking them previously 

we needed more Sam and Anthony scenes earlier i love them sm

WHY AM I CRYING THIS IS A SHOW ABOUT THE KARATE KID????

wait are we really not going to address the  literal yacht that BLEW UP

STINGRAY?!

YES SENSEI

will my feelings change after sitting with this a little longer? definitely. am i still running on adrenaline and incredibly happy despite my issues with the show? 100% 

[thatsweetbobbyfacetho]

So my two cents, though no one cares.

So when the whole Daniel starting his own dojo thing came up, I gotta say I didnt like it. The whole idea made me rather angry to be honest.

The Miyagi family Karate had been handed down from father to son. Karate was a way of life, not something of spectacle or used for personal gain and accolades. Sato was only taught because Miyagi begged his father too.

Daniel became a surrogate son to Mr. Miyagi and he was taught the Miyagi way.

Daniel teaching his kids, of course he would. I would be shocked if he didnt want to share that with then. Pick up a stray (aka Robby), for sure. Mr. Miyagi did that for him.

Start a dojo? Sato did that once. Yeah, that ended well.

THE MIYAGI METHOD IS NOT MEANT TO BE COMMERCIALIZED.

Cobra Kai is. Plain and simple. So like I said, daniel starting a dojo of his own made me feel off. It was going against everything Miyagi had taught him.

And yes, I know that this could be a financial blow to Johnny, but honestly the fact that it's free makes me respect Daniel a little more.

Also, @ace-degenerate pointed out to me it might also be a throwback to when he was a teen and couldn't afford karate lessons. This is his way of letting kids like him have the opportunity he never had.

Possibly, him offering free classes isn't all about Johnny -gasp-

[pilvimarja]

Episode 7

Yeah I'm just really not here for Anthony LaRusso's middle-school love triangle drama. But I love that they gave the kid who plays him an exact copy of Ralph Macchio's early 80s haircut!

Oh noooooo Miguel found Johnny's gi in his mom's bed!!! I guess we're about to have The Conversation.

I'm losing it at Daniel and Anthony having a talk about a Cobra Kai shirt like Daniel has just caught his kid with hard drugs. I'm also grinding my teeth at Daniel babying his spoiled little bully of a son, because the possibility that a LaRusso could be the bully hasn't even crossed his mind.

So there really is some kind of weird power play happening between Silver and Kreese, right? I don't really get it. Kreese wanted him back, but he's getting into some kind of conflict over the leadership of Cobra Kai. I guess he wants to be the only dom of the dojo.

Okay, we're back with Miguel, Carmen and Johnny for The Conversation. This is going to be painful, I know it. Okay, Johnny opens his mouth aaaaand... *facepalm*

They put Daniel in sweatpants that are so tight that they could be a pair of leggings and JOHNNY ISN'T AROUND TO WITNESS IT! Tragic.

Devon has finally joined the team. I like her. And look at her and Johnny bonding over shitty martial arts movies. And Johnny definitely needs Daniel around to rein in some of his more insane training methods, because yeah, it's only a matter of time before he gets sued...

Okay, but how did Daniel LaRusso's kid turn out this spoiled and obnoxious? It's fine if he isn't into karate or washing cars to learn muscle memory and I'm sure he barely remembers Mr. Miyagi, so I get that he doesn't have the same emotional connection to him as Sam, but it's not just that. It's his whole horrible spoiled rich kid attitude that grinds my gears.

Daniel is still strutting around in his his joggers leggings and still no Johnny to appreciate the view. Absolutely devastating. And are we seeing Chekov's karate technique in that scroll Anthony found in his father's dojo??? Is someone going to be shooting fireballs out of their hand in the tournament?

And yeah, here's Anthony, telling Daniel how he never knew Mr. Miyagi and always felt out of the loop. And it really is such a shame that he never got to grow up with Mr. Miyagi like Daniel and Sam. I do feel for the kid and I understand why he hasn't cared about karate as much as his dad and sister, why it might even be a little annoying to him.

Ooh I think we're about to get another deep dive into Johnny's damaged psyche and childhood trauma... Wait a minute. Is Johnny's dad going to be Someone??? Lol Terry Silver? :D There are so many absent fathers in this show/franchise.

I'm glad Johnny's once again admitting his mistakes with Robby, and Billy and Xolo are really bringing their A game in this scene, but I wish he didn't sound like he's completely given up on his kid, like there's no way he and Robby can ever have a good relationship. Robby is 17! There's still time, Johnny.

Ah, okay, so it looks like Johnny's also got a Chekov's karate technique of his own. Interesting, interesting.

Daniel finally learning that his son is a bully. Thank you.

These mind games Kreese and Silver are playing with each other are still making me go ???? It really isn't what I expected from their story arc, but I don't hate it. Tbh a huge part of me wants to see them tear each other apart and for Cobra Kai to destroy itself from the inside.

Kreese pulling rank on Silver and Terry almost crying as he's reminded of where his loyalties should lie *eyes emoji*. I have NO idea how Silver is going to react to this. Part of him looks like he just wants to kneel and go "yes, daddy!" and part of me thinks this is going to be the thing that makes him turn his fangs on Kreese.

Cobra Kai season 4 liveblog

This will be my Cobra Kai season 4 liveblog thread. I'm starting tonight with episode 1 and will probably have a reaction to each episode. I'll tag this thread with #Cobra Kai season 4 and #Cobra Kai season 4 spoilers so you can filter it and avoid getting spoiled.

I hope everyone has a great time watching!

[crimsonblackrose]

.

The fact the all-valley drama is about mats and the new blue and gold won. Daniel stay with these people. Their drama is very normal.

Johnny like drunk crying about Daniel becoming Robby's father and is just like 'we're all going to die' is actually kind of funny of a dramatic response. I mean he didn't do a one up this time. He just sort of got sad.

No mercy is a great pump up for tournament, but also a terrible idea.

Johnny is giving this speech in the lobby. Which...is full of other people.

Daniel always being known as the former champ always confused me as to why they always recognize him but never Johnny who also won twice, but then I realized Daniel's on the committee, they see him everywhere, and he's a sponsor for the tournament. He has, dare I say, Terry level influence here. (though he didn't win on banning Johnny)

If they did poster banners of previous winners including Daniel's 84 win, would Johnny's wins be up there and Daniel's 85th?

Granata Hills: All-Star Karate (I think there was an all-star earlier, maybe that van that Johnny stood on with the eagle?) Ah just checked it's the all star kids academy which could be karate but could be something else. It's the eagle club before after school?

Topanga karate and their blue gi's

Sponsors:

How did Robby decide to be a part of this tournament? He wasn't training with Daniel about it? Like he might know about it because of his dad but how else would he know about it? Also why'd they let him fight unaffiliated? Did he use his money from working at LaRusso auto to sign up and buy his gi? That's a lot of work he put into.

You would think everyone would know about the crane kick and how to defend against it. It's interesting that Miguel got that kick in.

Bert not getting a nickname but being just bert. He's so tiny out there.

Who taught Robby the rules?

Xander's speech is very Terry Silver speech like.

I suppose Johnny couldn't just tell Hawk that that's his son without worrying that it'd throw him off his game, but still.

Hawk yelling Hawk like he's a pokemon or something is hilarious.

I also get why the ref said hey back on your side, but Johnny could've said 'that's my son'.

Hawk shouldn't have done that either. Like Hawk snaps at Johnny for yelling at him for that kick to the shoulder while Robby's back was turned, but still, he got himself disqualified. Like Johnny's anger should make sense to Hawk for that, him running to Robby's side probably didn't make sense, but being mad that Hawk got disqualified, yes.

I get that Robby is upset with his dad for not being there for 16 years, but I don't understand why Robby went from showing up ready to move in with Johnny to...this.

Daniel taking back his "johnny is a monster" and pinning the worst teacher award on Kreese, which I guess means he thinks Kreese is worse then Terry?

I just realized the parallel between Miguel accidentally hitting Sam when trying to hit Robby and Johnny accidentally hitting Daniel when trying to hit Barnes.

Sam must know at this point after her dad being a sad lump on the couch with her that Robby is Johnny's son, why didn't she say that to Miguel?

"I'm going to have to face him sooner or later it might as well be today" is that Miguel (who he really doesn't ever have to interact with) or Johnny who he literally isn't facing during this fight and instead pushed away?

"Someone needs to be there for him" as if Johnny hasn't been trying and Daniel is unaware.

Miguel is sure aiming for that shoulder, which strategically makes sense but is also so unsportsmanlike.

The one handed kick is pretty cool.

the horror strings when Miguel tells Johnny no mercy and he realizes oh shit maybe I shouldn't have taught them that.

Miguel just grabs Johnny who tries to go to Robby, spins him and shoves him into their cobra group in excitement. And it's interesting how excited all the cobras are that they don't realize oh shit we might've seriously maimed this kid and why does our sensei keep worrying and trying to rush to his side?

Miguel dedicating his win to Johnny is sweet.

Johnny does apologize to Robby.

Demetri: team sports are gangs. (In this case he isn't quite wrong, but still)

Robby and his second place trophy. He also talks about his dad in not a mad way. Like hey maybe my dad's dream will be realized now, which is a good thing and he's smiling a little but then Daniel has to say "over my dead body" and it's like Daniel, come on. You said you didn't want to get between Robby and his dad, it could've ended here.

Daniel possibly kidnapping Robby take 2, Robby's literally nervously joking "is this where you bury your dead bodies or something?"

Pretty sure that Buddha statue needs to be higher then where it is at foot level.

I think Johnny's drinking Jim Bean?

Kreese's dark western music and standing in the dark at the entrance. How did he find out anyway?

[crimsonblackrose]

.

Johnny's started cheering on his students.

The van he stands on in the junkyard has a painted eagle on it.

The kids are wearing protective gear so he's not completely unaware of protection (also Miguel wore protective gear against the baseball thing in a previous episode)

Eli's the one who gets bit by a dog because everyone else picks small cars to jump onto and Eli picks like a truck he can't get over.

Lucille!!!!!!!

Daniel truly goes from JOHNNY to he's a monster and shouldn't be allowed around kids and for...what? So far Johnny just painted a dick on his billboard. Like right? That's the score right? Johnny warned Daniel about Kyler (and was correct). I don't fully get out Daniel got to Johnny is a monster at this point, though maybe he's upset because he doesn't know the details about Kyler? So he thinks Johnny just beat up some teenagers and is teaching the kids to be like him. But also Johnny isn't Kreese or Silver?

Like yes the billboard after the fixing the car for free sucks. But also Daniel already got his revenge on that by doubling rent for everyone at the strip mall. So theoretically...even? And the students have nothing to do with it.

Also shouldn't Daniel be happy she's not hanging out with the previous crowd? Or has he not noticed that she's home more and not hanging out with her friends or Aisha. I guess she never told them and Amanda didn't pass along the fact her newer popular friends ditched her to go to the concert without her.

Rocky III was where they went in '82 because Dutch loved Mr. T. Dutch threw milk duds. Ali dumped popcorn on Dutch got butter all over him.

Johnny had to hit on her a few times before he got a date to Golf 'n stuff and they kissed on the ferris wheel.

I think it would've been more affective to explain that Sam was in the car that t-boned Johnny's firebird and drove off. Rather than make Johnny's problems Miguel's problems.

If Daniel and Amanda who have a big house host Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas...does everyone from Newark fly out?

Rosa made seco de carne

Johnny was going to just eat hot pockets.

Carmen: I don't want my son to get hurt. Miguel: That's what the referees are there for. Somewhere the referee from TKK3 got a chill.

Sam trying to get Miguel to change dojo's...she's gotta realize how weird that sounds right?

Sam also lying about Miguel didn't help anything. It reinforced what Johnny said but also hurt Miguel's feelings and for what? Daniel's seen Miguel what twice? Will he even realize Miguel is one of Johnny's students? Does Sam even know that Daniel would recognize Miguel? I don't think she would. It's not like he's wearing cobra kai gear. Also isn't Daniel already in the dog house for being awful (but right) about one of her boyfriends? So shouldn't Miguel automatically get a better shot then Kyler did?

I love that the Diaz's sent Johnny home with leftovers.

Johnny tries cleaning up his life take 1

Mr. Miyagi's chimes!

Robby needs a new board.

Does Shannon know that Robby got a job? Or that he's taking karate lessons? Does she know that Daniel is driving her under age lying about his age son outside of the county? Because there's no way they're still in the county. Does this count as kidnapping because he's 16?

Johnny's first flat screen TV and TV #2 for his apartment.

Knowing that Johnny orders what he hears other people order to try and impress people...

How much of what he has in his fridge are things he bought for himself because he likes it or is it because he saw someone he thought had a healthy life style and bought what they bought?

Like does he like hummus and bell peppers, grapes and salad???

Johnny watching Iron Eagle, again. Johnny's Mr. Miyagi is truly Chappy and Carmen and a smidge of Shannon.

Do you think this is Mr. Miyagi's from when he was training Daniel?

The shots of Daniel and Robby doing karate are very very TKK

Robby mentioned Jackie Chan, so how is that going to work for in-universe future things?

Robby being a skateboarder I think gives him an edge. I also for some reason always thought his dad had trained him a little, but clearly not if he couldn't properly make a fist.

We also point out frequently that all the stuff Johnny as the kids do is dangerous, but that tree Robby is practicing on and falling off of is also uber dangerous.

Daniel wandering off to watch a hockey game lol.

Hawk, Aisha, and Miguel at a horror movie and Hawk pulling a dutch, throwing popcorn at people.

Aisha being best friends with Sam since third grade is kind of sad that they're no longer friends. Also I know he's not going to listen to Aisha and meet and talk to Daniel but I wish he would.

Daniel was totally itching to try and pull off a move to impress Robby the way Mr. Miyagi always used to.

I always forget Daniel falls and lands hard on that rock.

Apparently he almost got it in his 20's, the one handed two legged kick.

Sid's mansion

Sid has a nurse but seems used to having a staff. I wonder why he only has a nurse.

I am proud of Johnny paying Sid back. But that was supposed to be money to buy him out of Sid's life...

Lucille's famous Chicken cacciatore

Robby needs all the home cooked meals he can get. He's probably stunned by a big family meal.

Oh I forgot that Miguel does try and introduce himself to Daniel.

I would totally think they're siblings or heck cousins. Miguel doesn't know who Robby is. So Miguel just walking away never makes sense to me.

According to Johnny's letter to Robby he is trying to call him. Lol Johnny's like I'm not going to text or email so here's a handwritten letter, which is kind of sweet.

Dang it Louie.

Louie being like this is from Daniel Larusso only to immediately take it all back when Johnny kick's all their asses and asks for Daniel's address. Like Louie, come on. Terrible idea.

Daniel lives on Escalon drive.

The fact that they always have this back and forth even when it's not them of one upping the stakes. Like seriously? Soap opera since 1984