Cobra Kai: Different but Same
May 21, 2018 7:44 PM - Season 1, Episode 9 - Subscribe

Louie's reckless actions forces Johnny and Daniel to go down memory lane. The Cobra Kai students plot revenge against the popular kids. Miguel grows impatient with Samantha

Decider: Overall, Johnny and Danny’s bar bonding is Cobra Kai in a nutshell, a bit sad, very funny, and incredibly relatable to anyone who has ever felt a little older than they’re used to. It is too bad we gotta get old, but getting old—as Johnny and Danny are realizing—is the only thing we all have in common.
posted by ActingTheGoat (11 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
"I could eat."

Daniel's wife isn't wrong, but I could see Daniel's point of view (and another point of grievance) re: having making up for his idiot cousin and giving Johnny a car. Offering to fix Johnny's car in the first place wasn't intended to help Johnny, it was a bit of financial bullying. This time around, its ceding to his wife and ceding to Johnny not being wrong.

I kind of loved the whole extended banter and sharing between Johnny and Daniel. I wonder if Johnny's background is retconned/ was originally superficial or if his home life situation (rich stepfather who emotionally abuses him) was actually considered in the original movie?

Johnny: "Is that her husband? Lets see what this loser looks like."
...
Johnny: "Look at the dumb face."
Daniel: "Yeah. What an asshole. ... Another round!"

Speaking of star crossed - Sam's friends wrecking Johnny's car start the whole thing, and her mom finding out about it precipitates confusion and confrontation between her/ Miguel/ Robby.

Aisha wedgying Yasmin was epic - but... Aisha pre-empting Yas' party, Hawk stealing Yas' friend Moon should have been enough but Aisha crossed a line. Yes, kids, but this reinforces that Cobra Kai are jerks.

Miguel is going to grow up to be an angry drunk.
posted by porpoise at 5:25 PM on May 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


Aisha wedgying Yasmin was epic - but... Aisha pre-empting Yas' party, Hawk stealing Yas' friend Moon should have been enough but Aisha crossed a line. Yes, kids, but this reinforces that Cobra Kai are jerks.

I'm not convinced, Aisha was responding to Becky trying to claim a public space as a VIP area. They could easily have joined the party or moved to an adjacent area. She told Tyler to make all the losers move, she doesn't own that beach. That situation is going to be passive aggressive or justified stand taking depending on perspective (which of course is what the whole series is about.) And while Hawk has definitely gone from Zero to Berserker in under 1 season, he didn't steal her friend. Moon was making eyes a cute guy and decided to join the party. Becky doesn't own her.

While I have personally (mostly) excised gendered insults from my speech, I don't really judge intra-group usage of offensive language. Similarly, I do not condone teen violence. However, Aisha's No Mercy B! was about a lifetime of bullying, much of it from her victim. I wouldn't have countenanced a curb-stomping, but this felt like a somewhat proportional response and was emotionally satisfying.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:56 PM on May 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


I totally agree with you, setting up a public party in "VIP Space" is ballers and awesome. And they got sooo many people there, too! Yas could have embraced the unpopular folk in her fake way and come out ahead but completely flubbed it.

Aisha physically assaulting Yas (wedgy) reveals some "might is right" ideology that's pervasive to Cobra Kai school. I admit, it was epic. But still problematic - the repressed going through a revolution and end up repressing those who formerly repressed them don`t have a happy history.

I think that the neat bit about this show is that it shows Johnny finally "get it" (ethics, whatever) and will be in a "oh shit... I just let things go over the line."
posted by porpoise at 9:31 PM on May 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


Aisha physically assaulting Yas (wedgy) reveals some "might is right" ideology that's pervasive to Cobra Kai school. I admit, it was epic. But still problematic - the repressed going through a revolution and end up repressing those who formerly repressed them don`t have a happy history.

I absolutely agree. Counterpoint: Aisha as Reseda's Khaleesi.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:37 PM on May 24, 2018


Reseda's Khaleesi?
posted by porpoise at 9:42 PM on May 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


Sure, she takes the repressed through a problematic revolution and something, something... Valley Karate. It's getting late, I'm going to bed.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:08 PM on May 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


(Sorry, I just had no clue what "Reseda" referred to), but yas, she queen.
posted by porpoise at 8:24 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Sorry about that, let's blame the messenger. I guess not every body thinks of Daniel LaRusso as, "not that boy from Reseda."

I see the Reseda's Khalessi thing (I can't stop saying it) as a season 3 plot. Along with redemption for Hawk and an arc for that little blonde kid that keeps getting stomped on by much larger dudes but keeps showing up anyway. Cobra Kai!

posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:48 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


I know - that little blonde kid with the glasses is totally game, and he didn't (get the chance to) jerk-i-fy.

Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) kind fit into the 'little kid with the glasses' role earlier. He fit into the skinny kid with a congential dysbiosis and a less-than-great neonatal surgical correction.

Bert (Owen Morgan) is a decent looking kid. He'll probably end up being 7 feet tall once his growth is done.

Incidentally, my masters supervisor is/was a pediatrician and imparted that kids with leukemia (who then undergo chemo-/ radio- that destroys their gonads) and significantly short/ small kids of very wealthy parents are prescribed recombinant hormones. They work well enough, but these boys are still consistently shorter and less muscular than their cohort.

Except for their penises. Apparently the recombinant hormone cocktail given during the 90's-00's to these cohorts of young boys were only somewhat effective on height/musculature but extremely effective for penis size increase (flaccid and tumescent).
posted by porpoise at 6:50 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


Daniel's son as the shitty, spoiled rich kid is played perfectly, even if there's not much to him. AJ Soprano vibes.
posted by duffell at 6:03 PM on July 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


I mean, I knew it was impossible because Daniel, Johnny, and Robby were all going to wind up in a room together at some point, but I really wanted Daniel and Johnny to wind up friends. For each to realize that you can't go through life 100% Cobra Kai or Miyagi-do. That it takes balance.
posted by ob1quixote at 11:15 AM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


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