Cobra Kai keeps mining the ultimate rivalry

polygon.com:

In the final round of the All-Valley Karate Tournament, the climax of the seminal classic The Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence’s violent rivalry is all but settled. Daniel is injured, with an illegal hit having left his leg sprained. He hobbles to the mat, determined and a little afraid. Johnny, his rival and bully, looms over him like an animal waiting to strike. Daniel stands in an unblemished white gi while Johnny’s is black. A lesser movie would have left it there. But The Karate Kid uses one of its final moments to introduce nuance to an otherwise black-and-white story in just three words: sweep the leg.

Johnny’s sensei, John Kreese, sees Johnny falling behind and commands him to capitalize on Daniel’s injury. William Zabka’s performance is impeccable. His face screams confusion and anger as he sees his teacher’s ruthless philosophy deployed simultaneously against him and through him. When Kreese tells him “No mercy,” unlike at every other point in the movie, he doesn’t answer. He’s heartbroken and enraged as he follows orders. His attacks go from decisive to frenzied. He yells through his strikes, with eyes wild like he’s near tears. As he capitalizes on LaRusso’s injury, the crowd’s boos more with every move. At the outset of the final point he winds up to finish his grim task, but in mere milliseconds, he’s humiliated with a kick to the face and sent cowering to the ground.

Still, this could be an opportunity to show through defeat that Johnny was as evil as the audience has wanted him to be. The Johnny we expect would be far more likely to throw a cheap shot or a slick insult. Instead, he loses with dignity. Suddenly the villain we’ve been made to hate the whole film ever so briefly reveals