#and being inextricably tied to the kid who almost killed you? thats also hard | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

robbyykeene · 2 years

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My distaste with season 5, and this show as a whole, boils down to the fact that the writers have gone all in on the idea that the only true Character that is allowed to exist in this story is Johnny, and nearly all the others are just malleable dolls for the writers to move around and play with as they see fit to advance the story in a direction that will make Johnny the Ultimate Winner Of Everything.

And I hear the criticisms already of “but Johnny’s the protagonist! Obviously every other character is ultimately going to serve his story.” But Walter White is the protagonist of Breaking Bad and Jimmy McGill is the protagonist of Better Call Saul and Kendall Roy is arguably the protagonist of Succession. And obviously it’s unfair to compare shows of that caliber to Cobra Kai, but do you see my point? In all of the above, the characters that orbit the protagonist are fully fleshed out people, equally complex and just as motivated by their own desires and history and traumas as the protagonist is. And yet still, ultimately, their characters do end up serving the protagonist’s arc, and the story as a whole. Because that’s what good writing is.

But increasingly, all the other characters in Cobra Kai have stopped behaving like actual people—especially the ones that pose any challenge for Johnny. Their feelings get stamped down in favor of removing Johnny’s obstacles towards happiness, which only winds up reducing Johnny’s own character in complexity and likability.

I watch Cobra Kai now and I don’t find any of these characters believable, maybe Johnny most of all, because the writers steadfastly refuse to let him face any real serious consequence for his actions. Instead, they have everyone falling over themselves to forgive him, repeatedly giving him a do over—a chance to right his wrongs without ever ever fully acknowledging the hurt and pain he’s caused. This season, quite literally in the form of a new baby. And if that’s the story they want to tell, well fine. It’s their story to tell. But they can’t keep pretending like this is a redemption story, that there’s anything deeper beneath the surface of this show than just being about a guy who does karate and kicks ass and gets the girl and defeats the Big Bad of the week. This is not a story about trauma, Johnny’s or anyone else’s. It’s really not about anything at all anymore.

#cobra kai season 5 #s5 spoilers #throwing in a baby is maybe the cheapest trick in the book when it comes to writing #its so so so so so so so so so stupid #and the fact that robby AND miguel aren’t allowed to have conflicted enotions about this—theyre happy for him and were supposed to see that #signals character growth #thats just so beyond #your deadbeat dad suddenly having a new kid is hard. youre allowed to FEEL thing about that #and being inextricably tied to the kid who almost killed you? thats also hard #they threw in a baby as a cheap and easy way to get all these characters on the same page #and its lazy and boring not to mention spits in the face of everything this show originally claimed to be about #not to mention the idea that carmen would WANT to have a baby with a chronic alcoholic who shes been dating for less than a year #who she’s barely even KNOWN for a year #but what are women if not baby factories right? :)#but whatever!#and the thing is. daniel this season was the kost believable character of them all. because his actions DO have consequences. again and #again and again he is challenged with the consequences of his actions #and forced to examine whether hes making the right choices #but johnny NEVER is #and in the process theyre trying to retcon and reframe the mistakes he HAS made over the past 4 seasons #as trying to be something less severe than they were #you don’t have to water down the deoth of johnnys flaws to make him a likable character!#in fact doing that just literally makes him unlikeable #and it doesnt evade me that daniels writing being at its best happens to coincide with thebseason where he poses zero challenge to johnny #but whatever!!! its fine its fine its fine #ck negativity

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