Decided to binge the rest of the season tonight. That was loads of fun! I'd say this was their best season yet, and the acting and writing continue to be top notch. As I mentioned earlier, this show does a wonderful job of being both laugh-out-loud funny and also dramatic and quite touching.
The actors are all great, but William Zabka still owns the show as Johnny.
Demitri is my favorite of the younger characters. The kid is hilarious.
Spoiler!
Daniel's Okinawa trip was my favorite part. Some really nice moments during that episode with Kumiko, Chozen, and even the bell tower girl that he saved in KK2. So great that they managed to get all the original actors back for these roles.
Seeing Kreese's back story was interesting, and almost made him more sympathetic...almost. Dude is still a total psychopath, but at least we now know what made him that way. Anthony Michael Hall was terrific as Kreese's Vietnam army commander.
The scenes between Ali, Johnny, and Daniel were well done, and my 80s crush on Elisabeth Shue has now been rekindled. She's still a stunner.
Loved watching Johnny open up a can o' whupass on Kreese.
Dee Snider!
After three seasons, I love that they still haven't run out of fun easter eggs and references to the original movies. Just a few that I noticed on first viewing:
"I thought karate died out in the 80s."
The soccer game fight was right out of the original film when Daniel got into it with the Cobra Kais at school in '84.
The slabs of ice at the bar when Daniel is having a drink with Kumiko.
All the "Golf N' Stuff" scenes.
The hand drum from KK2 in the Larusso's dojo.
"Daniel with an L."
During the city council meeting when Daniel says "I was bullied in high school" and the dude yells out "bull####, I heard you were the bully!"
Also, I'm pretty sure that Ali's mother's house was the exact same one from '84. Either that or they re-used the original exterior shot.
And was that the same country club from the original film as well?
I had a huge grin on my face at the end when Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do joined together, and Johnny and Daniel came walking out to the soundtrack of "In the Air Tonight". I guess they couldn't get clearance for the original Phil Collins version, but that's a minor complaint. It's a cool cover nonetheless, and it worked beautifully in that scene.
I have to admit, I got pretty misty-eyed when Kumiko read Miyagi's final letter to Daniel.