Cobra Kai follows the further adventures of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), whose rivalry from the Karate Kid days is still going strong. While Daniel teaches his students the more defensive Miyagi-Do method of karate, Johnny teamed with his former sensei, the ruthless John Kreese (Martin Kove), to teach his Cobra Kai students a more offensive, no mercy style of karate. As for the teens in the Valley, former best friends soon found themselves enemies, students in opposite dojos. As the second season came to a close, things between the two dojos reached a boiling point, resulting in an all out brawl at West Valley High School. The Cobra Kai were out for blood, even donning weapons, and in the end, several students were expelled or suspended, and Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) was left in critical condition after Johnny’s son Robby (Tanner Buchanan) kicked him off the second floor railing.

The third season opens two weeks later, with Miguel still in a coma and Robby on the run. Kreese has taken control of Cobra Kai and intends to make it more powerful than ever, while Daniel’s wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) has demanded that he dismantle Miyagi-Do. However, their daughter Samantha (Mary Mouser) is still traumatized by her brawl with Tory (Peyton List), eagerly wants payback against the Cobra Kai, and is determined to keep Miyagi-Do going. Meanwhile, Johnny blames himself for what happened to Miguel, and wants to make things right, helping Miguel heal and get back to karate, but this may come at the expense of his relationship with his own son Robby. Also, the fact that Robby was one of Daniel’s students has severely impacted the LaRusso car dealership sales numbers, and Daniel’s competition is using this to his advantage. But the solution to Daniel’s financial issues may lie in his past, as his trip to Japan to meet with a vehicle manufacturer ties into the events of The Karate Kid Part II, and finds Daniel reconnecting with familiar faces such as Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) and Yuna (Traci Toguchi).

Cobra Kai is a thoroughly entertaining and engaging series, finding the perfect blend of drama, humor and nostalgia. The characters, while sometimes humorous, never feel like caricatures, but rather fully-developed, complex and interesting people. The writing on this show is so clever and witty, particularly when it comes to the character of Johnny. He is so ridiculously stupid and naïve at times, especially when it comes to technology, but this makes him so endearing. While in the films you likely rooted for Daniel, in this series, it is Johnny who’s the hero, and his bumbling journey to be a better person is the real heart of the story. One of the highlights of the season/series is Johnny and Daniel attempting to work together. As much as they both want the same thing, their long-standing rivalry won’t let either admit it, and they often revert to childish bickering and fighting when they are around one another. The series does such an excellent job of tying in events and characters from the films, making the series feels like a natural progression of the franchise, and one that had been planned all along. This season there are some excellent tie-ins to the second film, providing more closure to those storylines and characters. There are also lots of other really great subtle nods to the movies for the die hard fans. For example, at the end of the second season an unseen Facebook friend request on Johnny’s phone hinted that Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue)—Daniel’s girlfriend from the first Karate Kid film—would return this season, and this forecasted reunion is even more fun than I ever imagined it would be. There is a wonderful montage between Johnny and Ali that almost identically mirrors a scene from the first film involving Daniel and Ali.

But the series is not just about Daniel and Johnny. There is also some excellent character drama and growth involving the teens. Over the course of this third season, tensions between the Cobra Kai and the Miyagi-Do continue to build, leading to some interesting drama, intense moments, and an explosive blow-out at the end of the season that makes the second season’s school brawl look like child’s play. The series leaves things in a really exciting place for the show’s fourth season.

While the DVD release looks and sounds quite good, and is better than just “watchable” quality, it’s a shame that this amazing series doesn’t at least get a Blu-ray release, especially since the series airs in 4K on Netflix. The picture is generally clean, with nice colors, and a decent level of detail. However, it lacks some of that extra clarity and pop of the show’s original 4K presentation on Netflix. The audio track provides clear dialogue (which primarily comes from the center channel), and makes use of the stereo and surround channels to sparingly add some immersive feeling to the presentation. The surround channel is also widely used to enhance the show’s excellent soundtrack, which sometimes includes some fun callbacks to the 80s music from the films.

The season’s ten episodes are evenly split across 2 DVD discs. The bonus material resides on the second disc, and consists of 8 minutes of deleted/extended scenes, and a 5-minute gag reel. The discs are placed in a standard DVD keepcase, with one disc on a swinging tray in the middle, and the other placed on the right side of the case. The case also includes an insert offering a discount on official Cobra Kai merchandise, and is wrapped by a glossy cardboard slipcover.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (5:25:53)

DVD:
• All 10 episodes of the third season
  Disc 1: “Aftermath”, “Nature Vs. Nurture”, “Now You’re Gonna Pay”, “The Right Path”, “Miyagi-Do”
  Disc 2: “King Cobra”, “Obstáculos”, “The Good, The Bad, and the Badass”, “Feel The Night”, “December 19”
• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English, English SDH

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (8:04)
  Collection of 7 deleted scenes. Play All, or select from:
  • Back To Normal (1:22)
    Daniel worries about Robby at family breakfast.
  • Start Your Engines (:30)
    Daniel and Johnny go for a ride.
  • Summer’s Over (:49)
    Sam doesn’t like that the rest of Miyagi-Do aren’t taking things seriously.
  • Face Off (1:09)
    Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai make threats to each other in the school lobby.
  • Karate Paradise (:29)
    Daniel and Chozen walk by a koi pond.
  • Until Next Time (2:22)
    Daniel and Kumiko share a dance before saying goodbye.
  • Focus (1:58)
    Kreese tells Robby not to let his emotions allow him to lose focus.
• Blooper Reel (4:53)
  Laugh with the cast as they flub and forget their lines, deal with misbehaving props, dance, and have fun on set.

Final Thoughts:

I absolutely love Cobra Kai—it just keeps getting better each season. I enjoyed this third season just as much watching it again for the second time around on this DVD release. While I certainly recommend picking this up based on the quality of the show itself, I really wish Sony would release the series on Blu-ray rather than only offering it on disc in SD format. The picture quality is still quite good and didn’t detract from any enjoyment of the series, but the video lacks that extra level of clarity and pop seen with the original 4K release on Netflix. The discs contain a small but entertaining assortment of bonus material. No digital copy is included. This is an easy recommendation for any fan of the franchise.