My Thoughts on Cobra Kai, Part 1
So I finished watching Cobra Kai a few weeks ago, and having seen a lot of the fandom on TikTok, I went into the show with certain expectations. But I tried to also keep an open mind and form my own opinions. And honestly, to say I was let down would be a huge understatement. People were talking about Cobra Kai like it was this incredible show that showed the moral grayness of the world and how you can have a large cast and keep every character fascinating and complex, and it wasn't like that at all.
Obviously, the most popular part of any media is the characters, but honestly, with Cobra Kai, I found myself annoyed with most of the characters and their behavior than anything else.
Johnny Lawrence is supposed to be the true main character of Cobra Kai; its whole story is meant to be his redemption. Now, there were parts of him I enjoyed, such as his connection and bond with Miguel and the Diaz family, but I disliked how, in doing so, he ignored and alienated Robby. Johnny messed up with Robby a lot throughout his life, so I understand their distance in the first season. It was caused by a lot of lack of communication, and just Robby feeling abandoned by his father. Johnny, on the other hand, didn't know that Robby wanted to move in with him in those earlier episodes, and had he known that, I feel like he would have done his best to form a proper bond with him, maybe he even would have helped forge a bond with Robby and Miguel. But he didn't know that, and Robby saw him hugging and treating Miguel like a son, so he went to Danie,l and we all know what happened after that.
My main issue with Johnny is how he tried to act like what Daniel did to him was as bad as what he did to Johnny. The show tried to make it like both characters were just as bad when that wasn't the case at all. I had only seen the Karate Kid movie when I was really little, so my memory wasn't the best, but a quick rewatch made it clear that Johnny was not the victim in that scenario at all. And yes, we see that he had a backstory and was being taught by Kreese, but that does not excuse his actions and the pain he made Daniel suffer. And he never completely owns up to what he did to Daniel, all the pain he made him endure. And yes, the Cobra Kai mentality is one of the reasons why he did all that, but he has had the time to grow and heal past it, and he never did.
My other main issue that I've already discussed a bit here is his treatment of Robby. It always felt like he was treating Robby as second to everything else; he was second to Miguel, to karate, to his rivalry. It never felt like Robby was a priority to him, and while yes, Robby definitely caused some of that distance, it was in response to how Johnny treated him and his lack of priority for him; of course, he'd get angry and fed up with that treatment.
And of course, there's the misogyny. I know people like to joke that Johnny is just old-fashioned and to stop being so sensitive, but this grown man literally said that women are too weak to fight and constantly uses misogynistic language. It grosses me out and ruins the character for me. He's also just kinda racist, whether it's the immigrants comment he made, or his behavior in Mexico, it's all just a major turn-off and makes it hard for me to like his character.
Daniel Larusso, on the other hand, I felt bad for. I feel like the writers were purposefully trying to make him look like the bad guy when he was just trying his best. Now there were definitely moments when I was annoyed with him, but I also understood where he was coming from and empathized with him more. Of course, he knew that Johnny bringing back Cobra Kai wasn't good; the kids took the motto "Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy" literally (not entirely their fault, Johnny taught them that,) and as we saw in the first season's All Valley Tournament, they became bullies and violent from that. Eli attacked Robby when he had his back turned and dislocated his shoulder, Miguel played dirty and went for Robby's injured arm, and honestly, I didn't like seeing Aisha get so angry when she lost her match; it was unsportsmanlike and kinda annoying. You lost, this person had trained more and is the better fighter, throwing a tantrum is embarrassing. All this just supports that Cobra Kai's motto and core is rotten and toxic for its students, which Daniel knew. People can make fun of Miyagi-do all they want, but its core lessons are things that help guide people to not letting anger and revenge ruin their lives. Also, Cobra Kai is a fully offensive fighting style that loses to something like Miyagi-do, which is based on defense and reacting to your opponent. Cobra Kai has no defensive moves, which leaves you vulnerable to someone with a better offense, as we saw with Tory and Zara.
Speaking of Tory Nichols, wow, I did not expect to hate her as much as I did. Everyone online really made it seem like she'd be this badass underdog character who struggles before making the right choice. Instead, I got this annoying, trying-to-be-edgy character who takes her anger out on the world and acts like the victim when things don't go her way. When she's first introduced I liked her, I was hoping there'd be a backstory for how she knows how to fight, instead all we got is that she "took a few kickboxing lessons" and somehow that was enough for her to be able to take on Miguel who, besides Sam, should have had the most experience in training given that he was trained by Johnny for a few months before everyone else got into karate too.
Honestly, I hate how people act like Sam started their whole rivalry, and I feel like we need to revisit the scene so we all understand what happened. Before the beach club, Aisha asked Tory to come with her since Sam would be there, and she didn't wanna see her, which made no sense to me, seeing as Cobra Kai had just interrupted their show at the festival, so why is she upset? Sam should have been the one angry about that. Tory had no idea who Sam was by that point, but since Aisha knew her and apparently didn't like her, that led to her having the assumption that Sam wasn't a good person. Now that is fair, it's how anyone would feel about that situation. But then we get to the beach club, and by the time Tory goes back to Aisha after stealing the alcohol, Aisha and Sam have already made up, not that Tory knows that. Now, Sam's first impression of Tory is when she steals the bottle of alcohol and tells Aisha that all the adults won't notice them drinking. Sam politely, I don't know why everyone is saying she was rude when she did that, girl was being in a much more polite and nonjudgmental tone than I would have used, said she should put it back before someone notices it's gone which could lead to either an employee getting in trouble or Tory herself (and Aisha and her family since Tory was there as their guest, but Sam doesn't know that, she's probably under the assumption that Tory is their wth her own family). Tory definitely looks down on that reaction, literally scoffing, and then she finds out that she's Sam. Literally going "The Sam" as in the Sam that her new friend Aisha didn't want to see, and is therefore not a nice person, she didn't know they made up, and Aisha never bothered to clarify that. Tory defends her stealing the bottle of vodka and literally says she could swipe half the silverware before anyone notices, something that Sam is visibly horrified and uncomfortable with, telling Tory, again very politely, that she shouldn't steal anything. That's not her being spoiled; this is Sam showing her good morals and dislike of people breaking the rules (and laws) for their own joy. Tory responds by snidely saying "What are you, a nun?" and telling Aisha "are we gonna drink or not" insulting Sam for her morals and peer pressuring Aisha into drinking, I feel like I shouldn't have to explain to people that stealing is not good especially something as unnecessary as alcohol and that minors should avoid drinking and stealing. This moment is why Sam later accuses her of stealing her mom's wallet, because she'd already admitted to being able and willing to steal, so why shouldn't she wonder if Tory stole her mom's wallet? Now, Sam should not have grabbed Tory's bag, but frankly, people make it seem like she broke Tory's arm with the way that they react. And honestly, compared to the stuff some of these characters do, it was nothing. Tory escalates the situation by shoving Sam, causing her to fall into the food table, which could've actually hurt her since the plates broke and the silverware could have cut her. How does Aisha respond to this whole thing? By telling Sam that she shouldn't have accused Tory like that and then leaving, ghosting her as well, apparently, since she doesn't respond to her texts later on. This incident results in both Sam and Tory having made up their minds about one another, and they both hate each other. By this point, I didn't really like Tory; she seemed like a too much in your face character who needed people to think she was the tough-cool girl and just didn't have any emotional parts to her.
I was kind of annoyed by Tory's relationship with Miguel since she knew that he was still hung up on Sam and was willingly being his rebound, basically asking to get her heart broken. I get that she likes Miguel, but he clearly didn't like her back, and Tory said to make Sam jealous by being with her, which is why they got together in the first place. Frankly, I was willing to look past it, but her behavior at the roller rink bothered me, not only was she rude to Sam and told her to find a another waiter (this is incredibly unprofessional behavior) but she also kissed Miguel right in front of them (also unprofessional, you should not be kissing people at work. Exceptions can be argued for if you're just clocking in or are about to leave, this is clearly neither, and just Tory trying to 'mark her territory'). She then trips Sam out of jealousy. Please note that Sam and Miguel were just talking and that he approached Sam. Now I understand that girls may not love seeing their boyfriends and their exes talking, but you do not get to trip their exes out of jealousy, especially when nothing happened and especially not at work. And then we get the party at Moon's, oh boy.
This scene was annoying for me on so many levels. Tory makes a point of bothering Sam repeatedly when she could have easily just avoided and ignored her. She goaded her into the drinking game and then got angry when she lost and was humiliated. Don't even try to argue that Sam shouldn't have gotten snarky with her because that was a perfectly human and normal reaction. By this point, Sam has drank more than she probably ever has in her life and is very drunk. Then she learns that Miguel was the one who returned Mr. Miyagi's medal of honor. Remember, she views Mr. Miyagi as a grandfather and was also devastated that it was stolen and his memory was insulted and dishonored in that way. Remember, Miguel approaches her in the pool scene, and she thanks him for returning it, trying her best to act put together even though she's slurring her words. She trips and Miguel catches her, and although they kiss and had stared at each other for a bit before they did, Sam was drunk. Clearly not blackout drunk, but drunk enough to not fully process her actions or think clearly, Miguel, on the other hand, was sober (or close to it). I don't wanna play the assault card because Sam clearly didn't consider it that and probably would have wanted to kiss him even if she was sober (she wouldn't have done it because she'd be able to think her actions through and know it's not a good idea). I've never drank before, but from what I've heard, it basically makes you not think in the long term and makes you more impulsive, less likely to think of the consequences. Tory witnesses the kiss and is furious, but instead of taking it out on her boyfriend, the one she should talk to, she plans to confront Sam at school the next day.
Tory had several hours to plan the school fight and chose to do it; she chose to ignore all attempts to reach her and chose to hijack the morning announcements and threaten Sam. I'm not sure why Sam chose to leave the classroom or why the school wasn't put on lockdown (this is America, people, Tory threatening Sam like that could be taken as a gun threat), but either way. Tory confronted Sam in a crowded hallway and attacked her. She then dragged Sam by her hair and attacked her with an object sharp enough to slice her skin easily. Remember, she was aiming for Sam's face, and had Sam not defended herself, it could have led to serious brain damage. Tory's actions also helped cause the whole brawl (although Eli was the one who really instigated it into a fight, yet he never got in trouble for that or anything else), and led to Robby kicking Miguel off the stairwell. He didn't mean to lose control like that, but he still did it, and Miguel almost died. Yet somehow Sam deserved all that, Tory was perfectly in the right for her action, and it's all Sam's fault.
Season three tries to sympathy-bait the audience into liking Tory, and a lot of people unfortunately fell for it. Yes, Tory has it hard, needing to provide for her sick mother and younger brother, but how does any of that relate to her attacking Sam? How does it excuse that her actions led to Miguel almost dying and becoming paralyzed? If anything, you'd think that needing to provide for her family would keep her busy and she wouldn't have time for all that drama, but apparently not. She spends this season (and possibly seasons four and five) on probation. If she breaks the rules one more time, she'll go to juvie, and her mother and brother will be on their own. Yet she doesn't hesitate to go to the laser tag fight, she doesn't hesitate to break her probation, and attack people. She never learned her lesson. And she proved she's an idiot once again by breaking into the Larusso household with the intention of ending it all that night (possible death threat?). She makes a point of targeting Sam and following her; she even grabs a weapon (nunchuks) and has no problem attacking Sam, even though Sam isn't fighting back due to her panic attack. Hell, I wonder what she would have done if Sam didn't fight back. Was she just going to hit her repeatedly until someone stopped her or until Sam died? Thankfully, Sam fights back and pins her easily (second time she's beaten her, btw. Also, the school fight took place when Sam was hungover, and she still won that).
People try to argue that Tory was redeemed more in season four, but I don't see it. She's still arguing that Sam needs to be put in her place and still thinks she's the victim. How???? Sam had literal scars and trauma from the school fight. Miguel was paralyzed and had to learn how to walk again, and had it not been for Johnny paying for his surgery, his family would have been financially crippled, and they already struggle with money as it is. Demetri had his arm broken by the boy he thought was his best friend, at Tory and the other Cobras pressuring btw, although Eli is still responsible for actually breaking his arm. Robby had to go on the run and to juvie. Yet somehow she's the victim of it all? Season four, Amanda confronts her at work and tells her to stay away from her daughter, but does Tory listen, or at least agree just to get Amanda away from her? No, she challenges her and says, "And what if I don't?" making it clear that she wants to and might actually hurt Sam again. Then Tory snaps at a customer and gets fired, her manager saying, "I've had enough of your attitude," confirming that this isn't the first time she'd been unprofessional, and this was the final strike. This was not Amanda's fault; a lot of workplaces have a point rule, where if you get in trouble enough times, you get fired. Tory is responsible for her behavior and is old enough to know you can't yell at your customers; she should know that she needs to stay calm at work to keep her job. Honestly, I hated Amanda and Tory's arc. I hated how Amanda was ignoring her daughter's trauma and fear of Tory because 'Tory needs a good adult.' This relationship is never brought up again after season four; it's just for plot convenience so Tory can be at prom and bring Robby with her. It paints Amanda as a bad mother who wants to take care of another kid rather than the needs of her own daughter.
Now, should Sam have bothered Tory when she was at work? No, but honestly, can you blame her? This girl has made her life hell, and now she has a chance to get back at her; of course, she's going to take it. Amanda telling Sam to stop because 'other people have it worse' was honestly so annoying. It's an invalidating phrase that makes it seem like no matter what you go through, you can't be upset because someone else has had it worse. It's bullshit, and I can go on a whole rant about it, but I won't (right now, I'll make a post later).
This post is getting too long now, so I'll try to wrap up my thoughts about Tory. She's an annoying character who never takes full accountability for her actions (her 'apology' to Sam in season six makes it seem like Sam was the true villain, and honestly, the writing in that season sucked for the characters) and gets away with her actions too easily. The writers saw that Peyton List made the character popular among the fanbase and decided to make her the new female main character instead of going with the original plan of making it Sam. It made no sense why this new character, introduced almost halfway through season two, became such an important character when she wasn't even that fascinating. She's the edgy new badass girl, but she's also a hard worker who loves her family and does it all for them. But she also sacrifices everything for the karate war, but she also takes care of her mom and little brother all the time; she's also involved in a dumb love square.
The Cobra Kai writers were too worried about appealing to the louder part of the fanbase than they were about making the story and characters make sense. I don't care about Kreese and Silver and how they made the no mercy mentality, I care about the present characters and how they're dealing with the current situations. I care about seeing these relationships grow, seeing these characters heal and bond with one another.
