“Wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off.” When you hear this, your mind automatically thinks of none other than the Karate Kid. A classic tale of how a new kid tries to fit in but somehow cannot. He gets bullied and learns karate, this movie turned out to be one of the best underdog stories ever made. But what happened after Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) grew up? We grew up watching LaRusso’s side. Now we watch Lawrence’s side.

Director Hayden Schlossberg was somehow able to turn the antagonist from the karate kid into the protagonist of Cobra Kai. This comedy/drama shows the growth of Johnny Lawrence in a very realistic way. With many plot-twist and heartfelt moments, this show will have you wanting more.

Cobra Kai, a new series on Netflix, tells about the “rebirth” of Cobra Kai. For those who haven’t watched The Karate Kid, Cobra Kai was the antagonist dojo. They fought unfairly and bullied those who were weak. The dojo ended up getting banished from competing in tournaments after the countless un-sportsmanlike ship.

Years have passed, and Johnny Lawrence grew up not to succeed in life. William Zabka’s character is a man living in the past and cannot move forward. On the other hand, Daniel LaRusso(Ralph Macchio) grew up to be successful by owning a car dealership business. Because Lawrence seems to live in the past, things heat up between the two, causing them to be neck to neck with each other.

Things change one day when new neighbors move in Lawrence complex. At first, Lawrence wanted nothing to do with them, but trouble arose one evening when the new neighbor’s kid, Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena), jumped by a group of kids. Lawrence ends up fighting off the kids, even if it was for selfish reasons. This event leads to Diaz becoming Lawrence’s student.

The first six episodes bring Cobra Kai to life and find students he can train to learn karate. He wanted to teach them the way he was taught growing up, “strike first, strike hard, no mercy.”

Lawrence’s first student was Diaz. Diaz was considered a “loser” he didn’t have many friends and was picked on a lot, but after going to Cobra Kai, he leaned a lot and used it to defend a girl he liked, Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser). After that day, many students came to learn karate at Cobra Kai.

Daniel LaRusso is distraught to hear about the opening of Cobra Kai and the business it had brought in. To calm himself, he goes a practice his karate. He gets caught doing karate by one of his employees, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan). Lawrence’s son.

LaRusso teaches Robby Karate and tells his daughter, Samantha, not to associate with anyone in Cobra Kai. This troubles her because she is dating Diaz. She keeps Diaz a secret from her family. Diaz tried to surprise her at her house and sees Robby having dinner with them. This leads to their apparent breakup.

Lawrence has a drinking problem, and we see that throughout the show, he drinks when he’s upset, he drinks when he’s happy, he likes to drink. One night when he drinks, he ends up defacing a LaRusso’s billboard. When LaRusso’s family finds out, his cousin goes and destroys Lawrence’s car.

This event leads to LaRusso, giving Lawrence a car from his dealership. They end up bonding and go back to LaRusso’s house to do a friendly spare. Lawrence sees his son there practicing karate and loses it. LaRusso feels betrayed and orders Keene to leave.

LaRusso ends up forgiving Keene and couches him in his final rounds in the all valley tournament and has to face Cobra Kai. Lawrence tells his students to fight fairly. Diaz wins, and Lawrence tries to mend his relationship with his son, but Keene wants nothing to do with him.

You see slow character development in Lawrence throughout the first season. The kid who used to bully others is now a teacher-driven to not make the same mistakes his sensei, John Kreese(Martian Kove) made. He wants to mend the relationship he as with his son and change Cobra Kai for the better.

In season two, Lawrence is disappointed in his students for the way they fought. He doesn’t want them to fight dirty anymore, he wants them to fight fairly. When he is doing this, LaRusso opens up his dojo, Miyagi-Do, to teach others “true karate.”

The opening of Miyagi-do causes tension between the students of each dojo. Cobra Kai sabotages Miyagi-do. LaRusso goes to confront Lawrence and gains more students doing so. When Lawrence finds out, he is furious with his students and tries to figure out who did it. Kreese, Lawrence’s sensei, tells the students to keep quiet. You can see Kreese is the cause of most problems.

Diaz has a new girlfriend, Tory Schwarber (Peyton List). Samantha finds out and becomes jealous, although she is dating Keene now. There is a party where all the students ended up going to. It looks like there will finally be peace between the two groups, but that doesn’t happen. Samantha ends up kissing Diaz, Schwarber sees them and is filled with rage.

While the students are growing their hate for each other, Lawrence and LaRusso, end up having an unintentional truce. Keene and Samantha go to Lawrence for help. This brings Lawrence and his son to grow closer together.

The last episode is the climax of the series. The students go back to school and because of an incident that happened the previous night. The students of different dojos end up having a rumble throughout the school. Keene fights Diaz. This fight leads to a shocking twist that will have you sitting at the edge of your seat.

The show that everyone thought wouldn’t end well is now one of the top 10 shows on Netflix. This comedy/drama will have you speechless and wanting more. If you loved the Karate Kid, you’ll love this show.