Netflix is starting 2021 out right. The streaming service just announced that it's moved up the premier date for Season 3 of Cobra Kai from Jan. 8, 2021, to Jan. 1.
In other words, you get Cobra Kai a week early, and on a day on which most of us will be home from work. That's a good thing.
The gist, if you've somehow missed the hit show, is that the series picks up with the characters of Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso. The former lost to the latter in the first film in the Karate Kit saga (thanks to the Crane Kick), and that redirected the course of the rest of his life. Dead-end jobs, too much beer, that sort of thing. LaRusso, meanwhile, became a successful car dealer with a family.
Here's how Netflix puts things:
Cobra Kai takes place 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, where a now successful Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) struggles to maintain balance in his life without the guidance of Mr. Miyagi, and must face his previous adversary, down-and-out Johnny Lawrence (Zabka), who seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo.
The Cobra Kai series has become a bit of a surprise hit, first on YouTube, which commissioned the series, and later by Netflix, which picked it up for the most recent Season.
Is it part of the resurgence of 1980s shows in a time in which we're screaming out for new content and not just warmed-over nostalgia? Yes. Yes it is. But Cobra Kai also has proven to be the exception to the rule. It's possible to revisit old favorites, and it's possible to build something new.
