I will go ahead and say straight out of the gate that I did not watch all of this season but that was only because I couldn't bear to.
When the first season came about and it was about Johnny, I was all about it because I feel as though William Zabka (Johnny) got the short end of the stick as far as stardom was concerned back in the 80's when Ralph Macchio, who couldn't then and still can't, act - received a great deal of attention.
Season 1 was great, season 2 kind of went down a terrible path of teenage drama, and season 3 is unwatchable.
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The biggest problem i have with all of this stuff boils down to almost exclusively one person in the cast who was pushed to the forefront and honestly, should have been slowly (or quickly) phased out after it became very clear in season 2 that the guy simply can not act. His name in the show is Jacob Bertrand in real life and in the show he is Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz and his character and the way that Jacob portrays his constantly fuming and absurd mohawk donning persona is beyond irritating.
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Hawk is not the only reason why season 3 is bad although he is a very big part of it. For one thing, I have actually done that to my hair at one point in the past for a Halloween costume and know that it takes absolute ages to make that happen. Friends of mine that were really involved in the punk movement of the 80's and 90's would do this and use super-glue in order to make it happen. I realize that this is a minor point about the unrealistic nature of his hair but that is just the beginning.
The dude is in high school yet is covered in tattoos (which is not legal in the USA) and becomes a karate master in a year. All of this is just as implausible as Daniel LaRussa mastering karate in one year back with the original Karate Kid and I get that but "Hawk"'s over the top portrayal of a high school bad boy is so beyond stupid that any time he is on screen I want to fast-forward to a point where he is not.
Ralph Macchio is well beyond his sell-by date and while I would imagine the 50+ year old is quite happy to have an acting gig again, his acting chops were never good and they haven't improved with time. He is not a believable Sensei, father, or manager of a car lot.
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The theatrics as far as promoting the various karate schools, the fact that anyone would be interested in karate, or that it is even a devastatingly powerful martial art in today's society is all such a joke. What is even worse is that LaRusso is meant to be the best at it yet he appears as though a light breeze would throw him across the Wal Mart parking lot.
Really, the only shining star in this entire season (or the show for that matter, which has run its course) is Johnny
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Out of all the people in this series William Zabka is the only person in the entire lot that appears convincing in his role and also just so happens to be the only person in the entire cast that puts on anything that could even remotely be considered "acting."
Should I watch it?
They can only flashback to the original blockbuster movie so many times before the entire schtick gets old and for me, I was only able to make it through 3.5 episodes before I had to turn it off entirely. This is a real shame because the show had a great opportunity to really focus on Johnny, which is what they were doing in season 1 and 2 but then I guess they ran out of material and instead started to focus moreso on LaRusso, who is just boring and terrible in his delivery of a tired old character that is not convincing as a fighter in even the slightest sense.
This show first started out as a wonderful return to my youth but then basically became a comedy version of Twilight without vampires or glitter. The story is predictable and stupid and it takes WAAAAY too long to get on with it.
I want that 2 hours of my life back. This series is a waste of time
