Cobra Kai ReKap

Cobra Kai is probably one of the most surprising shows to come out in recent years. A legacy sequel series to a middling ‘80s franchise that was, at best, crowd-pleasing and at worst a shallow attempt at chasing sports underdog stories (with some less than great white savior stuff thrown in for good measure). Basically THE KARATE KID and its sequels were a far less intense version of BLOODSPORT, but with the added inherent social anxiety of being a teenager. Don’t get me wrong, The Karate Kid film series is fun, but it’s mostly goofy/corny without much in the way of emotional depth.

And yet, 24 years since the last entry (in the original film series), a TV show came along on Netflix that was not only incredibly fun but retroactively made its cinematic source much more meaningful and complex. Cobra Kai has some terrific fighting sequences, nice character arcs with constant changes that fluidly move between episodes and seasons, great music by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson, and genuinely strong humor.

The highly entertaining show is coming back tomorrow (September 9) for its fifth season on Netflix. To prepare for it, ScreenCrush has a quick breakdown of the previous four seasons on the streaming service to get people caught up. Host Ryan Arey hits the highlights of each of the episodes, covering 40 episodes in just under 13 minutes. Watch it and get excited for the new season with all of its hard-hitting teens and the return of Karate’s Bad Boy Mike Barnes!