I think because the writers had a very clear vision of every storyline, and how they tied in together, it is very hard to separate seasons. I think if you take the first five episodes of season 1 as the back-drop into their world, the storylines fit better 10 episodes each after that. Mid-season to Mid-season. For instance, when Miguel talks with Daniel in season 4, and he starts to become another father-figure, and then he hears the love that Johnny has for Robby, you understand why the Mexico storyline needed to happen. I think the last 5 episodes of season 5 and the first 5 episodes of season 6 will have a similar focus, and the last 10 episodes will have another- with hopefully a great conclusion that ties all loose ends. With that said, I'll start with my worst and work my way up. For me, season 3 felt the most over-the-top in how unrealistic it was. I get it, they wanted it to seem like "no matter where you go, you are not safe"- when you compare it to the movies, then it fits right in. But for the show, after season 2, and how consequential the finale was, the fact that nobody suffered any consequences for their actions took me out of it. And when you go from Daniel being prepared to kill Kreese to "let's settle it at the tournament"- it makes me go " okay, that was anticlimatic". Very jarring to go from such a passionate reaction from two fathers to " yeah, a tournament will do." The fact that there was such a big delay for the season made the unresolved ending disappointing. Granted, that wasn't the showrunners' fault- so I have a better reaction to season 3 on re-watch than at first. However, the positives are amazing. Reuniting with the first two ex-girlfriends, Johnny reuniting with Ali, Johnny struggling to find the balance between both Robby and Miguel, Robby feeling hurt by Daniel and Johnny, Sam's PTSD, Chozen returning. Miguel's speech to get the All-Valley back on. They just seem overshadowed by the overall tone of the season. For instance, Kreese's flashbacks were phenomenal, but it actually makes it even harder to see how he went from the upstanding hero to the comic villian in season 3, which is probably the opposite of what the writers wanted to do. I think Kreese flashbacks in season 2 would have felt more in tune with the "everybody has their perspective" message that they went with that season. I think the strengths that are in season 1 are also in the other seasons, but its glaring weakness was how fast they abandoned the Miguel and Sam relationship. They should have started their bond sooner, because their date scene is one of my favorite scenes. Besides that episode, it didn't even feel like they had a relationship. Season 2 did nothing awful, except perhaps Sting Ray's character. But that's just a personal take, I can't stand the scenes he's in. I don't think they made Johnny a bad guy. I think quite the opposite, he recognized his mistake of teaching no mercy from season 1 and corrected it- and even started to bond with Robby in the finale. The main highlight is Johnny's reunion with his old friends. But throughout all the episodes, the character development is off-the-charts incredible. Yes, it is teenage drama, but those are the characters for this new generation. Of course it's going to be teenage drama. It's the adults acting like teenagers that gets me. The fight between Daniel and Johnny in the finale was hughly anticipated, but still off-putting. But Johnny's relationship with Miguel (especially when he tells his regrets about Robby) is very moving. Their relationship is the core of the show. And the regrets Johnny had at the ending never fails to make me cry. I go back and forth between seasons 4 and 5. It's hard to separate them, plot wise, really. They started many storylines that continued onward. However, there were a few uniquenesses. I think Tory and Amanda's relationship is one of the underrated parts of season 4. Seeing Terry Silver reformed, and actually giving solid advice to both Robby and Kenny was a great way to show the type of sensei he was alongside Kreese before Johnny came along. Seeing Johnny train Daniel and vice-versa was maybe my favorite part. I think the absense of Tory and Amanda's relationship is outweighed by the presence of Chozen in season 5. I actually love the Mexico storyline for the reason stated above. The set-up was worth it, and Johnny finally found the balance of bonding with the both of them. That was the pay-off. The struggle of season 3 was resolved. Then, we finally got all the characters we cared about in the first three Karate Kid movies with Mike Barnes and Jessica Andrews. Overall, I think each season was better than the last, with the exception of season 3. Its tone fits the movies better, but not the show. For that reason, I have it as the worst.
I think because the writers had a very clear vision of every storyline, and how they tied in together, it is very hard to separate seasons. I think if you take the first five episodes of season 1 as the back-drop into their world, the storylines fit better 10 episodes each after that. Mid-season to Mid-season. For instance, when Miguel talks with Daniel in season 4, and he starts to become another father-figure, and then he hears the love that Johnny has for Robby, you understand why the Mexico storyline needed to happen. I think the last 5 episodes of season 5 and the first 5 episodes of season 6 will have a similar focus, and the last 10 episodes will have another- with hopefully a great conclusion that ties all loose ends.
With that said, I'll start with my worst and work my way up.
For me, season 3 felt the most over-the-top in how unrealistic it was. I get it, they wanted it to seem like "no matter where you go, you are not safe"- when you compare it to the movies, then it fits right in. But for the show, after season 2, and how consequential the finale was, the fact that nobody suffered any consequences for their actions took me out of it. And when you go from Daniel being prepared to kill Kreese to "let's settle it at the tournament"- it makes me go " okay, that was anticlimatic". Very jarring to go from such a passionate reaction from two fathers to " yeah, a tournament will do." The fact that there was such a big delay for the season made the unresolved ending disappointing. Granted, that wasn't the showrunners' fault- so I have a better reaction to season 3 on re-watch than at first.
However, the positives are amazing. Reuniting with the first two ex-girlfriends, Johnny reuniting with Ali, Johnny struggling to find the balance between both Robby and Miguel, Robby feeling hurt by Daniel and Johnny, Sam's PTSD, Chozen returning. Miguel's speech to get the All-Valley back on. They just seem overshadowed by the overall tone of the season.
For instance, Kreese's flashbacks were phenomenal, but it actually makes it even harder to see how he went from the upstanding hero to the comic villian in season 3, which is probably the opposite of what the writers wanted to do. I think Kreese flashbacks in season 2 would have felt more in tune with the "everybody has their perspective" message that they went with that season.
I think the strengths that are in season 1 are also in the other seasons, but its glaring weakness was how fast they abandoned the Miguel and Sam relationship. They should have started their bond sooner, because their date scene is one of my favorite scenes. Besides that episode, it didn't even feel like they had a relationship.
Season 2 did nothing awful, except perhaps Sting Ray's character. But that's just a personal take, I can't stand the scenes he's in. I don't think they made Johnny a bad guy. I think quite the opposite, he recognized his mistake of teaching no mercy from season 1 and corrected it- and even started to bond with Robby in the finale.
The main highlight is Johnny's reunion with his old friends. But throughout all the episodes, the character development is off-the-charts incredible. Yes, it is teenage drama, but those are the characters for this new generation. Of course it's going to be teenage drama. It's the adults acting like teenagers that gets me. The fight between Daniel and Johnny in the finale was hughly anticipated, but still off-putting. But Johnny's relationship with Miguel (especially when he tells his regrets about Robby) is very moving. Their relationship is the core of the show. And the regrets Johnny had at the ending never fails to make me cry.
I go back and forth between seasons 4 and 5. It's hard to separate them, plot wise, really. They started many storylines that continued onward. However, there were a few uniquenesses. I think Tory and Amanda's relationship is one of the underrated parts of season 4.
Seeing Terry Silver reformed, and actually giving solid advice to both Robby and Kenny was a great way to show the type of sensei he was alongside Kreese before Johnny came along.
Seeing Johnny train Daniel and vice-versa was maybe my favorite part.
I think the absense of Tory and Amanda's relationship is outweighed by the presence of Chozen in season 5.
I actually love the Mexico storyline for the reason stated above. The set-up was worth it, and Johnny finally found the balance of bonding with the both of them. That was the pay-off. The struggle of season 3 was resolved.
Then, we finally got all the characters we cared about in the first three Karate Kid movies with Mike Barnes and Jessica Andrews.
Overall, I think each season was better than the last, with the exception of season 3. Its tone fits the movies better, but not the show. For that reason, I have it as the worst.
@@matthewcross7837 I appreciate that very long and lengthy comment