Well. I liked the finale enough but feel a little disappointed the way things ended with John Kreese and Terry Silver. On the one hand it was a little satisfying to watch them take each other out, at the same time, I wanted them to stick around longer, and for Silver to lose and get the punishment he deserves. I liked that Kreese died a hero, but wish he could have stuck around a little longer.
I was glad that John Kreese finally redeemed himself, but to be honest, I felt like he should have began redeeming himself after season 5. It was quite late. I just wish his redemption arc could have gone on a little longer, because it didn't happen until part 3 of this final season.
There could have been a season long arc of Kreese trying to make amends and help Johnny and Daniel battle Silver. I would have liked to have seen more of it. The fact that Silver wasn't there to see Johnny win his match was unsatisfying.
I was glad that Kreese redeemed himself, but I was slightly worried they were going to have Silver redeem himself too, which by that point, this show would have been unwatchable if they just had every single former bully turn good.
After this ending, I felt like I wanted to see the legacy continue, but I have absolutely no interest in putting Daniel and Jackie Chan together. I absolutely hated The Karate Kid remake from 2010. IT. WAS. BAD. Not really hated, but it felt disgraceful to the original. It wasn't remotely as good, nor was it even better. The moment where the kid realizes "Oh, I was learning kung fu this whole time" was no where near as effective.
I'll probably watch this "Karate Kid" film anyways, except...honestly though, I don't care about this new kid. Moreover, he will be the main character. In Cobra Kai, the only characters I cared about were Daniel, Johnny (and for Johnny, I liked Miguel okay) and I liked Johnny's girlfriend. I didn't like Daniel's wife very much. Bad writing on their part for making her the nagging b that complains about karate. Ridiculous. But having Chozen back was a big bonus. These three, and for the villains, I absolutely loved having John Kreese and Terry Silver. They're great characters, even though Silver was kind of ridiculous in the 80's, but still a fun villain.
That being said, I didn't really give a sh** about all the other kids and the high school drama, but I'll admit I had a soft side for Hawk and Demetri. The stories with the other kids getting bullied and learning karate weren't bad stories. Still, when it got right down to it, the only reason I watched this show was for Daniel and Johnny. This was a damn good series. Robby Keene was annoying and the actor wasn't very good.
Have to admit though, that high school fight in the season 2 finale was ridiculous. It went on for at least 10 minutes, and no security guards came and the fighting went on that long? Absolutely silly.
The fifth season had a good arc and such a satisfying ending, that I felt like the 6th season was a bit of a drag. At first I felt like, "Okay, another new tournament...and more drama...again?" Of course there has to be drama, but it gets annoying to a certain extent. All the teen angst. But as soon as Terry Silver appeared in the 6th season midway, I was 100% invested again.
This was a good show. I'm glad it ended though. I don't know what to expect from this next movie, but hope it's worthwhile. Kind of feel like they'll make a sequel if it ends up being successful, but all I care about is Daniel.
