Netflix’s Original Series Cobra Kai episode five “Extreme Measures” starts with the viewer seeing Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso depressed following the departure of his wife and kids. This is due to him having a fight with his wife which was caused by Thomas Griffith’s Terry Silver. In his mind, his feels that he is all alone and to make matters worse he himself is the cause of his family leaving him as a result of his inability to let his rivalry with Terry Silver go. Also, his mental state has worsened as made apparent by the look of stubble on Daniel’s face when he is normally cleanly shaved. Luckily, Yuji Okumoto’s Chozen Toguchi stays by Daniel’s side through all of the turmoil as a result of his sense of duty to help Daniel no matter what. This shows just much their relationship has progressed from enemies to friends and now to family.
A couple minutes into the episode, and the viewer also sees that William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence tries to get Xolo Mariduena’s Miguel Diaz and his son Tanner Buchanan’s Robby Keene to solve their problems. This is a result of Johnny having a baby on the way with Miguel’s mom signifying that they all will be a family. Obviously, they are not in the mood to talk to each other as seen by the viewer. However, Johnny ends having the boys fight it out, leading to great character development for both Miguel and Robby. At the peak of the fight the viewer sees small flash backs to season two when Miguel got hurt due to Robby kicking him off a rail in school. Ironically, now Miguel is in the position to kick Robby off the stair rail near their apartments to get him back for what he did. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t do anything and chooses to spare Robby instead. This leads to the boys both apologizing to each other with the end result of them finally burying the hatchet much to Johnny’s enjoyment.
Additionally, the viewer soon sees Daniel show up to Johnny’s apartment to get his help in fighting Terry Silver. The interesting thing is Johnny refuses to join in Daniel’s crusade due to him wanting to focus on his family. The way the scene plays out is a type of mirror reflection on both of the characters. Daniel has become Johnny in the sense that he is a mess of a person with no thought of anything except fighting as a result of Terry Silver putting a wedge between him and his family. Meanwhile, Johnny has become Daniel in the sense that he is done with cobra kai and wants to focus on his family due to him finally having his life on track. Daniel wanting the old Johnny back goes as far as to bait Johnny into fighting him by calling him a coward. This leads to the best character development moment in the entire series with Johnny choosing to not let the name-calling get to him. This demonstrates just how much he has changed throughout the series from a childish guy into a mature man with his priorities straightened out.
Rating 8.5/10