Griffith earns Silver medal for ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5 

“Cobra Kai’s” legacy, well-established by now, is that it legitimizes the cheesy-but-fun 1980s movies by expanding the story. Season 5 (Netflix) particularly sets its sights on boosting the cachet of “Karate Kid Part III” (1989), which I rate as a mere 2.5-star film. 

Riding the silver bullet 

I wasn’t blown away by Thomas Ian Griffith in Season 4, but now I realize it was the mere build-up in the “Return of Terry Silver” saga, fleshing out Silver’s subordinate (at first blush) status to Kreese (Martin Kove). This season, Griffith’s venomous anti-charms are let loose as Silver truly earns his enemies’ labels as “that ponytailed bastard” and “the head of the snake.” 

On the lighter side, villain-turned-hero Chozen Taguchi (Yuji Okumoto, first seen in “Karate Kid Part II”) has developed Mr. Miyagi-esque charms with his broken English. But he’s the “funny old man” in a different way from Pat Morita’s character. He thinks in terms of offense rather than defense – even when he joins Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (William Zabka) for a night of clubbing. 

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After a few too many Long Island iced teas, Chozen reveals he is crushing on Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita, off-screen this season) — and who wouldn’t? I hope we’ll see more of her in Season 6. 

Punching up ‘KK3’ 

One of the problems with “Karate Kid Part III” is that Johnny isn’t in it, but in Season 5 we get to see him battle Silver and meet Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan), who essentially replaced him as Daniel’s rival in that film.  

Another problem (or so I thought when watching the film) is that Robyn Lively’s Jessica has a platonic relationship with Daniel, an unusual and unsatisfying (on a base level) choice for a Hollywood film. But that pays off now that we know Jessica introduced Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) to Daniel.  

Daniel’s Jessica storyline now comprises a good lesson for guys: Not every girl you like will be a match, but your friendship with them might eventually lead to your soulmate. 

Hello, fellow kids 

I’m writing about the adult characters so far, and that’s not by accident. Season 5 does focus slightly more on them than the new generation. But not to the dismissal of the Gen-Z’ers by any means. The Miyagi-do/Cobra Kai rivalry is always present, and it’s a blast in “Downward Spiral” (4) when the dojos fight over water-park attendance rights. 

The romances aren’t compelling – it’s Sam-and-Miguel and Tory-and-Robby, although I didn’t remember that coming off the previous season. But Tory’s (Peyton List) life remains interesting, as she is now the imprisoned Kreese’s secret spy within Cobra Kai. When CK mistreats her, she can’t exactly defect to Miyagi-do, as Sam (Mary Mouser) and others hate her guts. 

I’m not saying List is as good as Eliza Dushku, but I’ve always gotten Faith the Vampire Slayer vibes from Tory with her scowling and troubled expression. It’s totally earned by Tory’s desperate longing for genuine bonds. 

The kids fight back into the picture 

“Head of the Snake” (10) makes up for the teens getting short shrift up to that point. The season’s adult fights aren’t great, no doubt owing to the actors’ ages. Indeed, in a clever sequence in “Bad Eggs” (7), Kreese earns top jailhouse dog status by channeling his younger self. So Barrett Carnahan plays him in that sequence. 

To continue my “Buffy” comparisons, “Bad Eggs” is almost as weak as the “Buffy” episode by the same name. But I love how the season finale brings back Chozen’s “protect the egg” lesson. It’s the latest reminder of how Miyagi-do and Cobra Kai are different, and it’s key to the good guys’ victory. 

Still, the fights are pretty weak before the finale. It got to the point where I wondered if “Cobra Kai” had changed choreographers, for the worse. “Head of the Snake” put my worries to rest with a multi-pronged battle that’s up to the series’ standards.  

The kids duke it out at the swank CK dojo, and we’re reminded of how talented these actors and their stunt doubles are at karate. Meanwhile, the adult good guys infiltrate Silver’s posh home and things get menacing when Silver’s senseis – recruited from around the world — emerge. When both battles combine back at the dojo, Daniel gets another shot at Silver – with “KK3” flashbacks as a spice. 

Referencing the classics 

Speaking of throwbacks, Season 5 has shades of the original “Star Wars” and “TMNT” sagas. Visually, Silver has some Count Dooku in him with his towering presence. And second-in-command Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) has a bit of Tatsu in her. (Plus, Chozen, like Raphael, favors sais as a weapon.)  

I can easily imagine Robby saying to Tory: “You call this here – and that over there – family?” Smartly, “Cobra Kai” doesn’t get that direct in its references. The writers toe the line but don’t cross it.  

Johnny gives the closing speech from “Rocky IV” in “Taikai” (8), because he takes it to heart as only Johnny (among the main characters) can. And in “Playing with Fire” (3), Johnny’s girlfriend Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) dreams of “Top Gun’s” beach volleyball sequence, with Johnny in the Tom Cruise role. No Eighties fan can resist smiling, especially since “Playing with the Boys” is needle-dropped. 

“Rocky” and “Top Gun” are franchises where you say “Remember that cool part where …” “Cobra Kai” has become one of those, too. In a review, it’s tempting to simply list the badass things from the season. Certainly, as Griffith’s tour-de-force performance reminds us, “Cobra Kai” is much more than a continuation of goofy cinematic awesomeness.  

That said, wasn’t Season 5 cool? 

IMDb Top 250 trivia

• “Cobra Kai” is now at No. 200 in the IMDb TV rankings, with an 8.5 rating.
• Not surprisingly, the finale is Season 5’s top episode, with a 9.4 rating.