Commentary: ‘Cobra Kai’ Gives Audiences What They Want
by Frank Martin
Storytelling is often a balancing act between two different elements: plot and worldbuilding versus action and character growth — as well as the simple matter of love and tragedy. In terms of audience desires, balancing those elements with what the viewers want and subverting their expectations can be difficult. Of course, audiences love to be surprised; this is why the twist is such a powerful tool. Nothing seemingly turns them off more than them guessing what’s going to happen from one scene to the next. Nevertheless, there’s also a lot of power in also giving audiences exactly what they want.
Often, that is exactly why they tune in to a specific story. They watch horror because they want to be scared, and they watch romance because they want to see love. For shows like Cobra Kai, audiences want to see karate fighting. The problem with that is its inherent absurdity. It’s hard to keep a serious tone while kids are using karate to fight in the hallways at school, in the mall, and even at each other’s homes. Thankfully, the show’s already absurdist tone somehow makes all of the martial arts work, so there’s really no harm in the story just letting loose and diving into ridiculous fights.
In terms of the show’s fifth season, this meant having all of the franchise’s former villains battle it out for supremacy. Like most seasons, Cobra Kai‘s latest run was a pressure cooker of tension. In the past, it erupted in the season’s climax, usually in the form of a high stakes fight. This season certainly didn’t disappoint in giving fans what they wanted. Johnny (William Zabka), Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), and Karate’s Bad Boy Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) stormed Terry Silver’s (Thomas Ian Griffith) house in a blitzkrieg assault. This is the sort of thing viewers expect to happen in Cobra Kai, so the show succeeds in satisfying expectations. It’s only a matter of the route it takes to get there (why would these three team up?) that leaves the audience in suspense.
Cobra Kai is now streaming on Netflix.
