One of the top shows on Netflix, Cobra Kai has returned for its fifth season. It was released Sept. 9, less than a year since the last season was released. This season continues the trend of overdramatized fights and the conflict between Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and the leaders of the Cobra Kai dojo. The season also brings back characters from the original “Karate Kid” movies like Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) and Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan).

This season was one of the greatest let-downs I’ve ever had, from the rushed Miguel (Xolo Mariduena) arc to how the season ended. Overall, the season felt rushed with how the writers handled the main story, and some side characters, like Hawk and Demetri, were hardly even focused on. The same applied to the Amanda Larusso (Courtney Henggeler) and Tori (Peyton List) subplot, which built a strong bond in season four just to be thrown away.

Despite the bad, the season made up for it with some intricate fights and the payoffs of some of my favorite fighters, Miguel and Robby (Tanner Buchanan). Their rivalry has been fierce since the start of the show, and this season allowed it to evolve to the next level. There were also a lot fewer fights than before, but they kept the same fast-paced hand-to-hand combat the series is known for. I miss when the fights would happen in public places, like the school fight, but the writers  made up for it with the fights between the adult fighters. 

My favorite character remains Johnny Lawrence who is clueless to the current world, and down to earth with his sons Miguel and Robby. Johnny makes every situation either a complete all-out fight or a hilarious scene about him not knowing about the world around him.

The season was overall average compared to the perfection of the last two seasons. There were barely enough interesting things going on in each episode to keep me hooked throughout. I expected so much with the finale and cliff hanger of season four, so I was saddened to see the payoff of the plotline was a lot less entertaining than I had thought.