where to freaking start... what an absolute INSANE season that upped the game and stakes for so many characters. i'm going to keep doing this in bullet list form since i find it easier to express my thoughts that way and is easier to read. SPOILERS BELOW!!!
first off: terry silver and kreese and their crazy dynamic was so unexpected. i thought they were going to get along splendidly have work great together, but there was so much scary tension between them!! at first i thought kreese was the 'bad' one, and then they switched it around to silver being the maniac. absolutely brilliant and one of my favourite parts of this season.
on that note... kreese being somewhat redeemed?? what!? did not see that coming and i'm still on the fence if i like it or not. but it does elevate silver's character not going to lie.
johnny/daniel storyline this season however was one of my pet peeves of the season tho... it was just underwhelming and felt like they dragged out the same old rivalry stuff from previous seasons. and i did not like how they regressed daniel so much, and johnny was more of a knobhead than normal.
conclusion: kreese/silver > johnny/daniel in terms of story
the larussos overall were done dirty this season *except* anthony and amanda...
i've seen people hate on anthony but i loved his arc (that is not yet finished) and it's something fresh for the show as well as his story with kenny. it brought out a new side to daniel too and amanda.
unlike anthony i did NOT understand the motivation for sam to be such a bully this season... i'd actually like to even call her a bitch because that's what she was. i would've been alright with it i guess if it lasted half of the season but she remained unlikable until the end so you didn't even want her to win the all valley. bad season for her.
oh kenny, kenny, kennny <3 my precious son. no, robby's precious son! so sad to see how he had to be corrupted for robby to have clarity in his relationship with his dad and who he wanted to be. i really do hope tory or robby save kenny from silver...
honestly all the new character additions were great and did not feel forced at all! i did think devon would play a bigger part but maybe next season, there were a lot of storylines to keep up with. but she seems like a really cool girl.
TANNER'S ACTING WHEN HE RECONCILED WITH JOHNNY. my heart burst at that scene and even though i wish johnny had fought for his real son much more before this happened, i realize it's just not in his character and i did sense that getting robby back was one of his greatest wants this season, just nothing he expressed outwardly... *cue another emotional scene with drunk johnny and sad miguel*
MIGUEL MY POOR BOY! honestly, i knew it would come to this. i said that what johnny was doing was kind of replacing his son partly, and that it would strike back on both robby and miguel, because it was self serving. i really hope miguel and robby can bury the hatchet and that johnny will bring those two together.
can i also just say the heart attack i had when miguel suddenly hurt himself in the middle of the tournament..? i was like omfg not again....
TORY!!! an absolute mvp of the season. wonderful acting by peyton list, you could feel her anguish the whole season and us seeing more of her soft side didn't feel forced at all! i love the way she realized she was in such a rough position she had to mature, let go of grudges and let people in (amanda... robby...). and the fact that kreese was looking out for her was a nice surprise.
also happy she is the first all valley girls champion <3 it felt very predictable to make sam win, and it didn't feel like she earned it the way she was gloating about being the best the whole season and just being immature as well. you definitely rooted for tory more. i'm sad to see they had to make it tainted through silver cheating for her, but this show will add drama when it can so... and it does make it interesting how tory will approach silver about it next season....
i honestly hate kyler but since i was oddly rooting for the cobras this season he didn't annoy me as much?? like he wasn't an ass to kenny either? they really felt like a little dysfunctional family. robby as the dad, tory as mom, kyler as a weird uncle and kenny as the son lol.
kenny being shawn's brother!!! did not see that coming but i like it, it was convenient but flowed well with the story.
robby losing the final yet again and hawk of all people winning.... i don't know man. on one hand i didn't mind that robby lost because it was deeper for his arc that he felt bad about kenny, but i don't think a win was earned for hawk. at least it was unpredictable but i would've rather demetri won.
hawk didn't go through that much this season, not enough for me to really care. don't get me wrong i definitely like hawk/eli more now than ever before but... i'm just kind of over him and his insecurities? i would much rather they give demetri his own storyline than be half of the binary bros and hawk's side kick. he deserved it more.
also the demetri + yasmine scenes were too many, i'm not into them or her lol.
i thought moon getting back together with hawk was meh, a new girl would've been better for him or just no girl. i also didn't like the cheap LGBT rep with piper/moon just being a plot device.
on piper... really weird character.
anthony and kenny > nate and bert. sorry but those two annoy tf out of me...
i can't believe i've gotten this far and not mentioned the elephant in the room... ROBBY AND TORY. omg. i was actually hoping for more scenes but there were SO many parallel storylines that i understand the limit... but what they did with them was amazing. well-written, so much chemistry and wholesomeness. in my books the best CK pairing on the show (pls become official next szn okay?).
the whole prom episode... parts were good (mostly robby and tory) but i'm not gonna lie the fight scene in tuxes and dresses was so embarrassing ahahaha.
i am very happy they chose the route to make tory/robby be completely over their exes but have sam/miguel (who people thought were gonna be solid) be hesitant and jealous. that is usually normal for cheaters. but it's also a cool contrast.
i don't think sam and miguel are good for each other, they also don't have the somewhat chemistry they had in s1. miguel should get someone new and i would like to see sam single. she needs to find herself.
THE ADDITION OF KATA DEMONSTRATION IN THE TOURNAMENT WAS SO COOL. however carrie underwood made me cringe. lol
i think more playing witht eh johnny/sam and demetri/johnny dynamic was missed. but johnny already has "two sons" so i get they don't have time to add more to the mix lmao.
when johnny was lubing up miguel in oil and tried recruiting girls for his dojo at the football field and this girl said "I'm asexual" - I've never related more lmaoooo.
omg... i actually think that's it! i'm gonna have to rewatch this szn many times over, it's gonna be a pain to wait a year for the next... plz share your favourite moments of the season and opinions <3 i'd be happy to hear them!
here's my CK character rank (POST SEASON 3) since nobody asked 😅 ... it's probably kinda controversial.
disclaimer: i have *not* seen the OG KK trilogy (shame on me, i know) so keep that in mind, i might have some oldies under my confused section lol. also this tier list is not graded by morality, rather by my personal liking/interest toward a character.
