Go! Right now. I’M SERIOUS. Go watch the new season of Cobra Kai!  Season five of Cobra Kai was released on Sept. 9 on Netflix. The last season ended with Cobra Kai winning the All-Valley Tournament under the direction of Sensei Kreese and long-time friend Terry Silver. In the Karate Kid franchise we see Silver trying to take advantage of young Daniel LaRusso by recruiting him into Cobra Kai. Silver’s ‘teaching’ tactics have been known to be extremely intense to say the least, which puts LaRusso in a lot of mental and physical distress, permanently scarring him. 

Many of the interactions between Silver and LaRusso are extremely tense and frightening. However this is where the plot of this season starts to take a turn for the worst. The main storyline has always been the battle between the bad guys vs. the good guys, which culminates in a big fight (although this storyline has been exhausted in season four, when the ‘bad guys’ (Cobra Kai) won the All-Valley Tournament). In this season we find out that Silver paid off the judge to get Cobra Kai to win against Miyagi-Fang. The antagonist is Terry Silver, but the new problem is that Silver’s trying to conquer the world– with Cobra Kai karate. Clearly, the writers of Cobra Kai have run out of storylines and are looking for an excuse to continue the show.

Nevertheless, it’s the annoying side characters that really make this season a dissapointment. A prime example is LaRusso’s daughter, Sam who has become a pretty big supporting character. I think what irks me most is that she complains too much. She lacks personality, but somehow she’s got not one, but two hot guys fighting over her. 

There was still hope throughout the early seasons when we saw the masterpiece that is John Kreese’s character arc. In the original Karate Kid movies we only get a certain narrative about the crazy, evil sensei. In the Cobra Kai series we get a chance to look into his past, and the audience gets to experience parts of his life that have shaped him into the person he is today. It’s especially interesting to see how he views himself, as he thinks everything he’s been doing is for the good of his students. He definitely has some severe mental health issues, but I think that the directors broached this topic appropriately and also made it relevant to the storyline. “I really enjoyed the character arc of Johnny Kreese. His latest endeavors in season five have been particularly interesting,” junior Rohan Giare said.

While I do appreciate that the writers want the ‘good’ guys to win, there’s only so many times you can get lucky. I have to say though, at first the cameo appearance was a nice touch. However, they’re doing too much by bringing all the characters back and trying to fit them all into the plot. On the other hand, I love the ending, because after tension has been brewing for the whole season we get to see the product of anger and teenage hormones: an epic karate fight scene. 

My personal favorite part of the whole season is when the ‘good’ guys look like they might lose, but they stand together to defeat their enemies. I don’t want to spoil this season for those of you who haven’t watched it yet, but if you like those types of scenes, you surely won’t be disappointed this season. For the sake of the Cobra Kai and Karate Kid fans alike, it’s time to let the past be the past. We should treasure all the good memories and epic battles and let the legend of Cobra Kai lie to rest.