All-in-all, one of the best shows I've watched in a LONG time. Enjoyment levels are through the roof!
However,....
Two great seasons, each with a finale that made some serious mistakes. (Season 1 finale was a lot better, though).
Most of this show is taken up with the John Woo fight scene that goes on long enough to use the bathroom and not miss anything by the time you come back. Over all it was fun, but it did get to feel a little silly for going on so long.
My biggest issue:
Dimitri. What the heck!?!?
This was easily the dumbest thing the show has done so far. I don't mean the corniest or cheesiest, because the show has a lot of those moments that are actually great and a lot of the fun of the show, but the Dimitri moment in the fight was just plain dumb and painful to watch. It would be one thing if his muscle memory/reflexes kicked in and he surprised Hawk with a block and counter...this would have been cool...but for him to take out Hawk, yes, a guy who has trouble standing up straight and confessed his own imbalance issues due to his gangly limbs, takes out one of the best karate practitioners in the Valley. Keep in mind Hawk was in the finals and wasn't defeated, only disqualified. So apparently, according to this episode, Dimitri is now a Finals-level expert. Perhaps in the season 3 premiere we can watch him kick the stuffing out of Xander just for good measure.
And more on Dimitri. It seems he's supposed to be some sort of sympathetic hero that the audience should root for. Maybe the writers don't realize what a piece of sh** they actually created. Right from the beginning all he ever did was offer negativity. He was sort of an emotional bully. Miguel and Hawk wanted to improve themselves and all Dimitri did is discourage them. Then when they actually did improve themselves, he criticized it. He tried to join Cobra Kai and left, continuing to tear down what they were doing. He is not a friend to either of them, he's a leech who hopes that they will do all the work so he can benefit from their success. In this season, yes, he was roughed up by Kreese, but his response was to do what he always does: condescend to everyone and try to posture himself as better than everybody else. I'm sure by the time Hawk confronted Dimitri at the comic shop he was sick and tired of his derision and pompous negativity. I'm not saying that they should have attacked him, but I do feel like he earned an a@@-whupping by that point. The rivalry goes on and culminates with Dimitri proving himself to be one of the best karate students in the valley, in spite of no build up in the show to make this credible in any way shape or form.
As much as I love this show, I feel like someone near the top of the creativity ladder doesn't understand proper behavior. It almost feels like the show creators want to go one way, and then the PC, money conscious producers come in and insist some of these feel good dweebs be made to be the heroes just so they can get Nabisco to do a product placement. If you want to make Dimitri sympathetic, let him admit he hasn't been a supportive friend, (at any point) admit he's scared, apologize for the way he's acted, and then take away his super-powers. Apparently he's the son of Taskmaster from Black Widow.
Daniel and Johnny at his apartment.
Daniel seems like he's just looking for an excuse to be mad at Johnny. He needs to lighten up. His pride is his downfall and he's essentially the reason for all the problems in the show. I am sympathetic to his wanting to get in and see his daughter (that's a tough situation) but it's still just more of Daniel the douche. Plus, he needs to look in a mirror. Daniel let Johnny's son live with him, and after putting thought to it, not just by happenstance, he decided he knew better than anyone else, and CHOSE not to let Johnny know what was going on with his son. So it seems awfully hypocritical to be kicking his way in to Johnny's apartment when Johnny was actually being pretty cool about the whole thing. Maybe not perfect, but at least being cool.
I'll repeat myself here a bit from another review, but I hate the way they introduced and developed this great interesting character, Hawk, only to turn him into a one-dimensional villain. Now that he's going to be with Kreese it seems they're doubling down on it, but I hope they do something to redeem his arch, it's been one of the better ones. He;s a kid who's been picked on and humiliated for a long time, and now he has power in his life. And he's only 16! This would be confusing and difficult for anyone that age. Making him one-dimensional is an unfortunate way to go with him, but it seems he's just going to become a tool for positioning John Kreese throughout season 3. Hopefully I'm wrong.
Overall, season 2 is yet more of a great show, but it does come down a step from season one, and I'd say it's mostly because they aren't using the kids well enough. Season 1 was about this collective of nerds and rejects who were learning to be more. Season 2 is about how those same kids are basically a bunch of partying bullies who make life tough for the poor pretty kids of Miyagi-Do. The characters aren't as complex this season and it brings the show down a notch.
Still. I'm definitely looking forward to watching season 3!
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