Emmy Catch-Up: Cobra Kai

Every year, I watch the six submitted episodes of every series I don’t regularly watch that’s up for one of the Emmy series prizes. Last year, I started watching the entire season of each show to get a better idea of the quality I missed, and I’ve decided to continue that this year.

Cobra Kai: Season 3, Episode 9 “Feel the Night” (B)

I can’t say I have many memories of the movies that spawned this show, but I do remember Elisabeth Shue from another 80s classic, the “Back to the Future” sequels, and she was also the star of the one and only film I ever worked on as a production assistant. It was interesting to see Ali return and show a softer side of Johnny, one who ordered something vegan and mature-sounding to impress her only to have her laugh it off and order a burger for herself. It’s not great timing for the two of them to potentially get together given the fact that Johnny and Carmen just slept together, and the quick end of that relationship likely wouldn’t go over well with Miguel. He did get to a good point with Sam, however, even earning what counts as approval from Daniel, who in his old-fashioned way just doesn’t want his daughter’s life to be complicated. The fact that Johnny saw Daniel hugging Ali at the party means that there’s yet another opportunity for old grudges to resurface, and Johnny isn’t good at letting anything go. Stealing a live snake from a zoo feels like a distinctly Cobra Kai thing to do since it’s dangerous and wholly unnecessary, and Robby managed to ingratiate himself very quickly with the group, something that did not make Hawk happy at all. Forging divisions among the “bad guys” might otherwise be considered a positive step, but in this case, it’s likely to make them even more vengeful and likely to do something violent.