The doubters were lining up before Cobra Kai’s debut episode even aired in May 2018. A 1984 karate movie sequel series, starring two actors whose biggest credits were both decades old, was created for a streaming service that most people hardly used. Just the idea sounded like a sentimental gamble that would flare up for a week and then subtly fade away. It is important to focus on what actually transpired. The first episode of the show received over 50 million views when it debuted on YouTube Red, a subscription service that was having trouble differentiating itself from Netflix and…
Author: Sierra Foster
Sierra Foster
Born in Kansas City, Sierra Foster writes about politics and serves as Senior Editor at kbsd6.com. She was raised paying attention to this city, not just living in it. Sierra has a strong, deep connection to Kansas City, from the neighborhoods east of Troost to the discussions that take place in the city hall halls. Sierra, who is presently enrolled at the University of Kansas to pursue a degree in Political Science, applies the rigor of academic study to her journalism. She writes about politics in Missouri and Kansas as someone who genuinely cares about what happens to the people in these communities—the policies that impact them, the leaders who represent them, and the civic forces influencing their futures—rather than as an outsider watching from a distance. Her editorial coverage encompasses state-level policy, local government, and the national political currents that permeate bi-state regional life. Whether it's a city council vote or a Senate race, she has a special gift for turning complex policy language into writing that feels urgent, relatable, and worthwhile. Sierra seldom sits still off the page. She claims that playing soccer on a regular basis has sharpened her instincts for political reporting because of the sport's teamwork, strategy, and requirement to read a changing game in real time. She's probably somewhere in Kansas City with her friends when she's not writing or on the pitch, discovering new reasons to adore a city she already knows so well.
With its TV-14 rating, Cobra Kai is theoretically accessible to the majority of early teens. However, if you watch the show for a long time, you’ll see that the rating doesn’t tell the whole story. Seldom does it. Decades after the first Karate Kid, the show finds Daniel LaRusso as a prosperous car dealer in California and Johnny Lawrence in a much darker place, unemployed, estranged from his son, and surrounded by more beer bottles than furniture. For older viewers, what starts out as a nostalgic reunion eventually develops into something far more complex and, depending on who is watching,…
Information Table FieldDetailActor who passed away (1)Rob GarrisonCharacter playedTommyFranchise appearanceThe Karate Kid (1984), Cobra Kai Season 2Date of deathSeptember 27, 2019Age at death59 years oldCause of deathKidney and liver failureLocation of deathHospital in West VirginiaFinal on-screen appearanceCobra Kai Season 2, Episode “Take a Right”Character’s fate on the showTommy dies during a camping trip with his old Cobra Kai friendsActor who passed away (2)Chad McQueenCharacter playedDutchDate of deathSeptember 11, 2024Notable backgroundSon of actor Steve McQueenShow co-creator tributeJon Hurwitz (Instagram post honoring Garrison, September 2020)Original filmThe Karate Kid (1984)SeriesCobra Kai (Netflix) Rob Garrison is the name that most people think of when…
There aren’t many arguments in the Cobra Kai fandom that have lasted as long or been as intense as this one. Robby or Miguel. El Serpiente or the Karate King, Diaz or Keene. It’s the kind of debate that dominates late-night comment sections and most likely never ends, which speaks to how skillfully the show handled both of them. One version of this argument ought to be straightforward. More victories go to one fighter. One fighter appears to be more skilled. One has hardware for a tournament. However, if one takes the show seriously, it becomes evident that framing it…
Every fan of Cobra Kai has at least one argument like this. Perhaps in a Reddit thread that managed to receive sixty responses, or perhaps in a group chat following a season finale. Who is the strongest fighter in the Cobra Kai universe? That seems like a straightforward question. However, the layers quickly accumulate once you begin to take it seriously. The concept of “strongest” has always been complicated in the show. Cobra Kai does a better job than most martial arts dramas at demonstrating that technical prowess isn’t always the deciding factor. A number of factors come into play,…
Just the disparity in size ought to have put an end to the discussion before it began. Axl Kovaňvić is about six feet three inches tall. Robby Keene is more like a five-six. There was only one possible conclusion to this Sekai Taikai semifinal matchup on paper, and Robby didn’t emerge victorious. However, that isn’t exactly what transpired, and the more intriguing tale resides in the space between expectations and reality. Few opponents in the Cobra Kai universe have been as physically dominant as Axel. He is a former Sekai Taikai champion with the kind of icy efficiency that comes…
For forty years, Johnny Lawrence has been losing. Not only on karate mats, but also in relationships, fatherhood, and self-esteem. You could sense the weight of all those years bearing down on the moment when Cobra Kai’s series finale finally set him up for one final battle, against Iron Dragons’ Sensei Wolf at the Sekai Taikai World Championship. To be clear, Johnny prevailed. However, the question of how and what it truly meant is more intriguing than who won. By most standards, Wolf was the best fighter. Even Johnny acknowledged it. Wolf was not a villain in the conventional Cobra…
In the last season of Cobra Kai, the strict, no-nonsense German host of an international karate tournament, Gunther, knocks out an organizer named Daryl with a single front kick. He then looks around the room calmly and asks if anyone else has any problems. Not a single person does. The player plays it with a straight face, and it’s one of the funniest and most satisfying beats in the whole series. Gunther Braun is the name for you. He showed up without much of a fuss. In Season 5, he was introduced as the German representative of the Sekai Taikai.…
Oona O’Brien was born in Evanston, Illinois, on September 15, 2006, so when she debuted on Cobra Kai in Season 4, she was still in her early teens. She is currently a 19-year-old student at Brown University with over 580,000 Instagram followers and three seasons of one of Netflix’s most popular shows under her belt. For someone who had virtually no on-screen credits prior to landing a recurring role on a show with an established, vocal fan base, that is a fairly condensed timeline. Prior to Cobra Kai, O’Brien’s acting career was primarily in theater, including a virtual production during…
When Jacob Bertrand first auditioned for Cobra Kai, he thought he was playing a standard bullied teenager. Someone to feel sorry for. A background presence to make the main characters look more heroic. He had no idea that Eli Moskowitz was going to become Hawk — the mohawked, tattooed, occasionally terrifying fighter who would spend two full seasons making life miserable for people who used to be his friends. The writers hadn’t even told him. That detail, small as it sounds, says something about how organically this character was built. Getting Hawk’s look ready for filming is more involved than…