Critic Reviews

Cobra Kai Season 5 is a showcase of the best elements of the series, despite a bit of roughness around the edges. The latest installment features some big laughs and impressive fights but also sheds a light on what's to come without feeling like it's just a set-up for the next season.

Schlossberg, Hurwitz, and Heald were able to do the near-impossible by making this series as great as it is, and the fact that they've been able to maintain that same level of quality as the series nears its end just goes to show that Cobra Kai never dies.

Although it meandered a bit on its way to the finale, I still ended the 10th episode feeling like the show had been reborn.

Cobra Kai manages to give Karate Kid fans exactly what they want, while using the template of the original to launch new characters aimed at younger viewers. ... But it’s hard to imagine anyone enjoying this show as much as those of us who grew up on the original.

Cobra Kai doesn’t live in the past; instead it hits viewers with bursts of nostalgia endorphins, leaving us giddy and defenseless against the next emotional wallop. ... Cobra Kai remains more entertaining and well-executed than it has any right to be.

Three seasons in, creators Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossberg preside over a scorching hot sandbox that’s as complex as it is cluttered. Characters keep emerging from the shadows, beats zig and zag at a rapid clip, and the action gets more and more ludicrous. But, clutter can be good for a series, particularly when it’s maintained, and the three showrunners happen to keep a clean dojo.

Cobra Kai season four nicely continues the journeys of our favorite (and only) Valley karate fanatics, delivering fun along with impressively high kicks, moments of true emotion, and just enough stunted development to keep it all spinning.

The show is back with its loveable blend of cheeky self-awareness, teen-drama soapiness, and genuinely impressive athletic displays.

All in all, Cobra Kai , which thankfully has already been picked up for a fourth season, remains a pure, escapist delight.

Season 2 of the YouTube series is, if anything, better than the first -- a teen soap, largely, which also packs a wryly nostalgic kick.