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.

This object lesson on how to make a TV spin-off from an old movie franchise is even more fun third time round, and you don’t even need to be a Karate Kid fan to enjoy it.

If you liked the last two seasons, you’ll love the new one. Original characters from the first film appear throughout, giving the sense that the series has a much wider arc than it really does, while new characters continue to push the story forward.

Call-backs to the movie are as ample as fans would demand. At the same time, the show refuses to wallow in the past, preferring to drag it screaming into the present. Cobra Kai will continue to thrill Eighties kids. But it is no museum piece and viewers insufficiently ancient to appreciate the totemic significance of phrases such as “wax on/wax off” will still get kick from it.

The finale points toward an endgame. And that finale is wonderful, wonderful, ridiculous, and wonderful: A high energy showdown for youth in revolt, alongside a never-more-sensitive portrayal of middle-aged reminiscence. It reaffirms Cobra Kai as one of the cleverest reboots in our nostalgia-drunk era.

There are still more than a few moments of badly engineered plotting and situations that leave you dumbfounded none of these kids have called the police; but Cobra Kai isn’t trying to score points for believability. Season three pummels you with enough broad laughs and over-the-top twists to keep you coming back to its televised dojo, no matter how often it backslides into hokum.

The third season isn't a knock-out, but if all you want is cheap excitement, it'll do.

These characters continue to be fleshed out and have so much depth. I like that they expanded on John Krease and I hope to continue learning about who he is. Johny continues to develop and is such a likable character as well as Miguel. It was great to see the confusion in Hawk, as he battles with his own insecurities and what is right. I can't wait for season 4! My kids and I love this show! What is better Cobra Kai or Mandalorian? Its a toss up.

I've watched seasons 1 and 2. I loved season 1, it's Johnny-centric, it's funny and nostalgic. Season 2 started turning into full on teenage drama around the mid mark and I watched the remaining episodes with a hint of **** chills. Season 3... What was that? The full on teenage drama was dialed up to 11, almost every teenage character turned into a crybaby or completely evil, some episodes are bad copies of episodes of previous seasons, the overarching story feels like a car trying to accelerate while the handbrake is on. It was good while it lasted, had fun with season 1 and half of 2, guess the shine wore off.

Season 1 was refreshing, shifting the focus away from Dianel-san and quite well written (eschewing most nostalgic clichés), season 2 had some good moments but season 3 is really milking our last drops of nostalgia. The bad acting of some of the children is not so easily overlooked and cheesiness has crept in. It should stop here and not ruin the whole Karate Kid story like some other Disney franchise.

The return of Ali Schwarber is just the pinnacle of terrible and cheesy. Stopped after she appeared because to me she ruined the dynamic between the Larussos, Keene and Diaz. Also Larusso being jealous over Ali? Really who is going to buy that? His jealousy feels (rightfully) forced as his wife is way out of her league, making it a cringefest. I hope Season 4 can go back to the fun aspects that Cobra Kai did well. This show doesn't need this much drama on top there were so many laws broken that you just wonder how has no one called the cops yet. What started out as a fun show turned into some form of MTV CHEESE DRAMA and that's not what Karate Kid nor Cobra Kai was known for. The drama used to be a side gig for Seasons 1 and 2 focusing on fun and at least some form of realism. Now it feels like it's just drama left and right and it's quite stressful and annoying to watch unfold. It feels like a beginner or a child wrote the script of this season.

Esta serie es tan inflada y aburrida como las películas, de solo leer el nombre dan ganas de dormir.