Cobra Kai’s season 5 sets the scene pretty early on. Terry Silver and his karate dojo Cobra Kai have won the most recent All Valley Tournament with Tori Nichol’s as its female winner and overall. At the end of the tournament, Terry Silver broadcasts his plans to expand Cobra Kai to provide training to young people all over the valley.
The likes of Daniel LaRusso, Johnny Lawrence are both down. Their dojos Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang are closed due to the bet waged between the rival dojos and it seems that the villains have won and our heroes have been collectively defeated. Instead of putting the blame on his students, Daniel LaRusso decides he has to take down Cobra Kai on his own.
Meanwhile, we see the youngsters branch out and find closure for themselves. For instance, we see Miguel travel to unruly Mexico in search of his real father. The journey is important as it gives Miguel a necessary closure and allows him in the latter half of the season to embrace his new family with Robbie and Johnny Lawrence. Aside from Miguel growth, it’s nice throughout the season to see Eli and Demetri’s friendship continue to bloom, Samantha and Tori settle their differences, and a growing trust between Daniel and Johnny.
In addition, Chozen becomes a mainstay in the story and aids Daniel and Johnny throughout the season. He even goes as far as infiltrating Cobra Kai as a potential sensei in episode two. Although he shows great promises and almost manages to fool Terry Silver. Terry Silver, being the master manipulator, is able to uncover his true when Chozen cheers to whisky with the Okinawan “karii” instead of Kyoto “kanpai”. Aside from the early mission, Chozen’s role in the story is great. He manages to teach new skills to the Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang students and does a lot of cool things in the season.
It was good to see Mike Barnes make a return to the series. Although initially I was unsure whether Mike had already been under Terry Silver’s influence, but as the season unraveled it seems that Mike was just minding his own business. He only appears in two of the ten episodes.
I liked Tori’s story a lot. She felt conflicted over the cheating scandal where Terry Silver paid off the referee in during the All Valley Tournament. Despite wanting to come clean, she approaches John Kreese as a mentor, while in jail, to seek justice and guidance. A lot of her actions with Kreese’s guidance help Daniel and Johnny, but she ultimately decides to go out on her own.
Terry Silver is simply an excellent villain. His wealth and his manipulative ways are so captivating to watch. You never truly know what Silver is thinking, but you know he is a king of slipperiness. The introduction of his Korean partner and his plans to compete in the Sekai Taikai (lit. World Tournament) were good and are likely to be expanded upon in season 6.
So all in all, I really enjoyed season 5. Silver proved to be a great standalone villain and a powerful one thanks to his connections and wealth. Somehow the end of season manages to establish the combination of Miyagi-do, Eagle Fang and ex-Cobra Kai as a potential powerhouse team for the Sekai Taikai. I love the closure on Terry Silver, Stingray and now want to know what John Kreese will do next.
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