Netflix’s Original Series Cobra Kai episode three “Playing With Fire” starts with William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence finding out he is possibly going to be a dad once again. As a result of him being intimate with Vanessa Rubio’s Carmen he freaks out at the thought of messing up again as a father. In his mind, he does not want to fail in his responsibilities as father like he did with his first child such as not being there during his formative years. He has seen firsthand what that can do to a child with an absent father. This can be seen by the viewer as a great character development from the mess he was at the beginning of the series. A great demonstration of this is how he cleans up his home by spraying for bugs, getting healthy food, and taking down any inappropriate pictures. He even goes as far to watch some preparation baby videos that way, he knows how to handle the baby properly. This is something that he wouldn’t do in the earlier seasons when he barely had his life together.
Additionally, another character that has had great character development is Jacob Bertrand’s Eli Moskowitz. He has gone from a sacred bullied kid to someone who became what he feared the most. In his eyes, he that he no longer has to fear anyone due to being a part of cobra kai. Thanks to cobra kai he now can inflict pain on those who bullied him for having a birth defective lip. The interesting thing is he takes it too far as he targeted his friend going as far as to break his arm. That for him was the breaking point to stop being the bully he had become and chose a different path. Now he has chosen to let go of all the anger he has to become a better person. A clear example of this is how he now uses the colors blue and purple. This a result of him feeling as a new person who is free from the sins of his past. This is a fantastic way showing how far his character has grown and matured as a whole.
Furthermore, Mary Mouser’s Samantha LaRusso is also undergoing a character change as well this season. During a trip to an isolation tank, she dives deep into her mind to find herself. The interesting part is there are multiple aspects that make up her mind. This is due to her being torn in multiple directions in her life. There is the next LaRusso who is meant to carry the torch in karate while there’s the teenager who just wants to have with her friends. The viewer then sees the combination of all of those aspects come together to form a dark version of herself. It becomes a literal battle between the dark and the light side of a person. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get to finish her battle due to her friend wanting to see how she is doing. Thanks to this short battle she now knows she needs time to figure out who she is and more importantly what she wants.
Rating 8.5/10