The fast-paced Netflix Original Show “Cobra Kai” just released its fifth season and it’s a must-see for anyone who enjoyed the 1984 action film “Karate Kid”. The show follows Daniel LaRusso, Johnny Lawrence, and John Kreese as older men trying to gain control of the Valley.

An old enemy of LaRusso’s, Terry Silver, made his return in season four and now he has thrown his old friend Kreese in jail to have Cobra Kai to himself for his own benefit. LaRusso and Lawrence now have to team up to take Silver down.

The fifth season brought more intensity, encouragement, and setbacks for both sides that the ending for the season was unpredictable. This season was divided up into 10 episodes which made the ability to slow down the plot and give more details more feasible, but the chance of some scenes being boring and unnecessary would rise with more episodes. With “Cobra Kai” however, none of the scenes really felt unnecessary. They all felt needed for the plot in general which made the season more enjoyable for fans. 

 The chemistry between the actors was shown throughout this season and it brought some scenes from boring to exciting and thrilling. Peyton List and Mary Mouser (Tory Nichols and Samantha LaRusso) showed the greatest chemistry between each other and it seemed as though their chemistry encouraged the others to improve the scenes they were in.

The show’s characters always make each new season better than the last, with Thomas Griffith portrayal of Silver really making the show more unpredictable and terrifying to watch. He encapsulates Silver’s need to think bigger than just the Valley and to broaden his dojo’s reach with everyone in the world.  Other standouts this season were Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso, Yuji Okumoto as Chozen Toguchi and Martin Kove as Kreese.

The cinematography for “Cobra Kai” season five was just as great as the other seasons, if not better. The shots in the scenes make the show that much more enjoyable to watch, especially the fight club scene with Miguel and his father. It showed how intense and disturbing his father really is. The cinematography for the fight scene between Lawrence, Toguchi, Silver and his dojo’s sensei was amazing. It was nighttime during the fight, but the shots were incredible. 

This season showed the versatility and toughness needed by the characters to get an edge on the opposing side. Throughout the season, Silver was one step ahead of LaRusso and the students at Miyagi-Fang. He thought of everything that would be thrown at him and made measures of ruining any chance they had in defeating him. This made the show more captivating to watch as the end was unforeseeable. 

I highly recommend watching “Cobra Kai” due to its intensity, exciting fight scenes and the fascinating cinematography throughout the show. If the next season continues in the direction that this season took, I can only presume that season six of “Cobra Kai” will be better than the current season that was released Sept. 9.