Cobra Kaiinitially premiered on YouTube as part of their short-lived subscription service, but Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young) did not appear onCobra Kaiuntil after Netflix picked up the series. TheKarate Kidrevival show beat the odds that were initially stacked against it. Fans of theKarate Kidmovies were skeptical that the show would be anything more than a nostalgia grab.
While the series does rely on the nostalgia of the original movies, and specifically, the rivalry between Johnny (William Zabka) and Daniel (Ralph Macchio) in the first movie, it has built an impressive array of young talent with a new generation of martial arts rivalries. When Kenny joins the series, he becomes part of one of those rivalries.
Kenny Joins The Series In Season 4
Kenny Is Bullied In His First Season
When Kenny first joins the series in season 4,he almost immediately establishes a rivalry with Anthony LaRusso. Neither of them is part of the karate dojos when their times in the story begin, so it sets their story apart despite being another rivalry for the series. These are not people fueled by karate competition, but instead, by teenage hormones. They have a crush on the same girl, and they have the peer pressure of others wanting them to engage and prove themselves.
Ultimately,Anthony holds more power at the start of their rivalrybecause he is backed by a group of boys who see themselves as better than Kenny. Anthony constantly feels the need to prove that as true, and he allows his jealousy of their mutual crush showing Kenny attention to get the better of him when he starts bullying him. It’s a teenage story that is familiar, but in a show likeCobra Kai, the stakes are raised because of the added element of karate as Kenny joins Cobra Kai.
While some might argue the number of characters bullied on the show can make for repetitive storylines,Kenny being bullied by Anthony works for the development of both characters very well. Anthony has always been the outsider in his family. He does not have the martial arts connection (at this point in the show) to his father that his sister does. Even his mother is engaged in the discussions of karate, even though she hates what the rivalries do to the family. Anthony’s tension with Kenny, and his decision to bully him, is part of what helps Anthony grow up.
That is not to say that bullying is a typical exercise in growth. For Anthony, he learns that his actions have consequences after having lived a relatively sheltered life. He also learns that if he is going to place himself in potentially violent situations, he also needs to learn how to diffuse them.
The same can be said of Kenny being bullied.Being targeted by Anthony and his friends is terrifying and traumatic for Kenny, but it also means that he is even more motivated to become a better fighter when he joins Cobra Kai.Dallas Dupree Young has said that from the beginning, Kenny was always interested in being the “top student at Cobra Kai” (viaComingSoon.Net), but it’s also clear he is motivated by a desire to stand up to Anthony and his friends. He uses what he learns from Cobra Kai to get the better of Anthony.
Kenny is incredibly isolated when his time on the show begins. His brother is in juvenile detention, his father is deployed in the armed forces, and his mother is busy working. He is largely on his own.Being in Cobra Kai does teach Kenny a discipline and a commitment that he does not get outside of it, despite how it also pushes him to become angrier and bent on revenge. Cobra Kai takes him down a similar path to Hawk, and bythe end ofCobra Kaiseason 4, his and Anthony’s roles are reversed.
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Kenny Becomes A Bully By Season 5
Kenny Targets Those Who Bullied Him
The end of season 4 sees Kenny attempt to get revenge on Anthony for the way he has been treated for the first time. He lures Anthony and his friends to the library, cuts the lights, and systematically incapacitates them all until just he and Anthony are left. It’s a drastic change from the young boy that Anthony could easily embarrass at the start of the show. Though he does not get his full revenge on Anthony, it is the first time that Kenny gets to fully stand up to him and embrace the “no mercy” mentality of Cobra Kai.
At this point in the show, Miguel, Robby, and Eli have all let go of any attempts to bully others or get revenge. They’re all actively working to improve their karate and look to the future. Their antagonists are the sensei that have led them down the wrong paths instead of other kids.It just makes sense for the show to embrace another examination of bullying.We feel for Tory and root for her already, so it’s hard to see her as a bully of Sam when her guilt for her actions is made apparent over and over again.
Making Kenny the bully shows how easy it is for someone’s emotions to lead them down a bad path.Making Kenny the bully allows Kenny to have a more fully-formed character arc than simply the bullied kid getting stronger. It makes Kenny a more complex character as his power and leadership within Cobra Kai’s ranks grows alongside his torturing of Anthony.
Getting to play Kenny as both a victim of bullying and the perpetrator was also fun for the actor. Young toldComic Book Resourcesthat he sees the role as “an honor” to play:
You get a full-fledged character arc that I feel like they did such a great job with, and being able to play that role with all the different sides has made it really dynamic, really fun, really exciting for me.
We get to seeKenny as a villain for the season, but we also get to see that Kenny is just trying to be the best. He embraces Cobra Kai wholeheartedly, thinking it will make up for the treatment he has suffered from Anthony, the absence of his father and his brother, and the feeling like he has no one in his life looking out for him.The more deeply he is entrenched in the ways of Cobra Kai, the more lost he becomes.
That’s why the dissolution of Cobra Kai as he knows it hits him so hard at the end of the season and his character gets to make another turn in the final season of the show.
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Kenny Is Redeemed In Season 6
Kenny’s Cobra Kai Arc Reaches A Satisfying End
Young credits Kenny’s conversation with his big brother for helping to convince Kenny to give the other students at Miyagi-do a chance (viaPermanent Rain Press). Young calls him Kenny’s “father figure” and points out that Shawn is the person he can turn to when he has no one since he does not even know who his real friends are anymore between all of the bullying and rivalries. It makes sense that Kenny would take his big brother’s advice to heart, especially since he has found a love for karate, despite all of the bad influences of Cobra Kai.
Young also points out that Miyagi-do helped Kenny on his redemption arc because it helped him to find balance:
I think that was the biggest thing for Kenny, to learn how to find balance. Not only with just karate and his natural ability, but he was able to find balance within his own life, and that’s why he was able to be a little more at peace and just be a competitor.
From his start training at Cobra Kai and his arc targeting Anthony in season 5, Kenny was all about being on the offense, striking first in the Cobra Kai way before someone else could hurt him. It’s that same mentality that turned Eli into Hawke and made Daniel and Johnny more aggressive as teenagers.Kenny, much like Hawke, and even Anthony, gets the chance to see the error of his ways while he is still a teenager because he has the chance to see that there is a different way.
It’s that chance that gives Kenny a satisfying arc in the first two parts ofCobra Kaiseason 6. He is able to have a heart-to-heart with Amanda LaRusso about joining the teamat the Sekai Taikai. He is able to return despite still believing that Anthony sabotaged him. He is even able to forgive Devon for lacing his water with laxatives because he recognizes her desperation and ambition.
Kenny is also able to see how much Demetri and Hawk might not trust him because of his past, and press on in spite of their doubts. Kenny being face-to-face with fighters like Robby, Sam, and Miguel who have embraced the balance and the training from both dojos helps him on that arc.
He might not have a huge role in part 3 of the finalseason ofCobra Kai, but his ending point for the show is one of the most satisfying.Kenny is fully redeemed in our eye and the eyes of his teammates as he commits to being part of the team and turning his life around.
Why Cobra Kai Season 7 Isn’t Happening
Cobra Kai season 6 has ended the Netflix series' long run on a high note, but many viewers may still be curious why season 7 is not in the cards.
Could Kenny Appear In A Potential Cobra Kai Spin Off?
Kenny, Devon, And Anthony Are The Next Generation
The final montage atthe end ofCobra Kaiseason 6does provide the audience with a glimpse into the future as Sam heads to Japan, Eli and Demetri head to college, and the younger students are shown still training in karate. Anthony, Kenny, and Devon are all right next to one another in training while new students are around them. They’re poised to be the next generation of both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-do, which does lead the audience to wonder if there could be a spin off featuring the characters.
All three characters, but Kenny especially, are left in a good place at the end of the series. It seems unlikely that the creators would have a reason to revisitthem unless they can manufacture a new threat for them to face or give them another shot at the Sekai Taikai in a few years. It’s possible that Kenny could return ina futureCobra Kaispin off project, but he does not need to.
