The past 15 years or so have been dominated by legacy sequels, movies that bring back beloved franchises with stories that land somewhere between a reboot, a sequel, and a remake. Out of the bunch, “Cobra Kai” is one of the best ones. From the moment the first season premiered on the defunct YouTube Red platform, “Cobra Kai” has managed to excel at being not only a continuation of Johnny Lawrence’s (William Zabka) story on top of a reboot following a new generation of kids but also a rather good pseudo-remake of the original “Karate Kid” movies.
After all, the story of Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) heavily echoed that of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) in the first film, but with a twist. Like Daniel, Miguel is a new kid in town who learns karate to defend himself from bullies and gain self-confidence, enters a tournament, and uses a crane kick to win the hearts of everyone (and a trophy). The difference is Miguel wins the tournament as part of Cobra Kai rather than Miyagi-Do.
Since then, “Cobra Kai” has referenced virtually every main character, event, iconic moment, and even meme from not just the first film but the entire original trilogy. The now-Netflix series has brought back characters as memorable as John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) and as small as Dennis De Guzman (William Christopher Ford) from “The Karate Kid Part III” and Yuna the Bell Ringer (Traci Toguchi)from “The Karate Kid Part II.”
Throughout the six seasons of the show, there was one huge reference that “Cobra Kai” somehow avoided. Despite paying homage to the soundtrack of the 1984 original movie by, for example, by having Carrie Underwood cover “It’s the Moment of Truth” in season 4 or naming an episode after the “Part II” song “Glory of Love,” “Cobra Kai” never touched the most iconic song of the original movie: Joe Esposito’s “You’re the Best” (written by Bill Conti and lyrics by Allee Willis).
It’s the centerpiece of “The Karate Kid,” and it’s the song that plays during a montage showing Daniel’s progress advancing through the All Valley Karate Tournament. It is a fantastic song that the showrunners of “Cobra Kai” have alluded to and talked about for years. In the very last episode of the show, at the moment of truth, that song finally came back around, and it couldn’t have been more perfect.
You’re the best around
The song comes in the final episode of the season as Johnny Lawrence prepares to fight the final round of the seikai taikai — not as part of Miyagi-Do but as the sensei of Cobra Kai. Afraid and without much confidence that he can win, Daniel tells Johnny of his favorite sports movie hero Rocky, who — despite going to ludicrous places in the third and fourth movies — actually lost his big fight in the first film. This motivates Johnny, who goes on a training montage with Daniel teaching him.
That’s right, “You’re the Best Around” plays to a training montage straight out of “Rocky III,” where Johnny is Rocky and Daniel is Apollo Creed, and the two former rivals are now working together. The two engage in shadow boxing on the beach like the two boxers, and they even do the crane kick stands on logs. There’s also a fun moment of Johnny and Daniel running through the streets of Encino surrounded by a bunch of kids like in the training montage of “Rocky II.”
Honestly, this is one of the best references the show has done, specifically because of the history between the two franchises, particularly “The Karate Kid” and “Rocky III.” You see, Bill Conti and Joe Esposito’s “You’re the Best Around” was originally meant to be used in “Rocky III,” which made sense given Conti scored the first three films in that franchise. Ultimately, the song was scrapped in favor of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.”
But beyond just looking cool, the use of the song in this particular scene works because it is the culmination of six seasons (and a movie) worth of shared history between Johnny and Daniel. After seasons of bickering and fighting, the two finally become friends, co-workers, and even partners this season. Not only that, but it’s a moment of sheer respect that comes after Daniel encourages Johnny to take back Cobra Kai and even helps him get back his dojo space. That Daniel is now serving as a teacher to Johnny feels like a passing of the torch, like Apollo training Rocky (if Rocky was actually the world champion before Apollo beat him in the first movie).
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