The 3-Ds of life worth fighting for: Defense, diplomacy, decency | MARK HUGHES COBB

In what I laughingly call "summer break," the 40 minutes between landing home and downing half an Ambien, I've been binge-watching "Cobra Kai," in part to catch up with friends Matt Lewis (a smart rock 'n' roll cat who plays earnest Ron, chair of the All Valley Karate Championship; we worked on "The Tempest" in 2011, while Matt starred in virtually everything on the Marian Gallaway Theatre stage, over MFA years at UA) and Erin Bradley Dangar (loads more fun than stern counselor Blatt; we've known each other since our respective bands played The Chukker).

It's the TV equivalent of a wild, lovely summer read. Since its 2018 start, "Cobra Kai" has offered "Karate Kid" (the 1984 original, and '86 and '89 sequels) fan service, of the finest sense. Old villains return, white-haired and creased (puns always intended); former enemies become allies; grown-woman Elisabeth Shue glows more alluring than even sunny young Elisabeth Shue.

It picks up 30-plus years after, with Daniel (Ralph Macchio) a family man with a luxury-car dealership, tied to when Mr. Miyagi (the late great Pat Morita) bestowed on him a classic car; counterpointed against bitter Johnny (William Zabka), whose post-"Sweep the leg" life has gone as poorly as many wished, back when we hated him.

Spoiler: The reason it's "Cobra Kai" and not "Miyaga-Do" is that Johnny slowly becomes our tragic, though never lame (He still drives muscle cars, cranks up hair metal, and kicks much butt) redeemed pal.

Despite what Robert Zemeckis or other CGI-infested creeps would try, they've avoided the trap of "reviving" Morita, who passed in 2005. Instead, they smartly utilize old Mr. Miyagi and Daniel-san footage to urge us back to an age when my 32-waist OP shorts sagged because I could run five miles in the a.m., play an hour or two of racquetball in the afternoon, work however many part-time jobs, write whatever weirdo thing for The Crimson White, and still make time for a social life, which is what I also laughingly call that 40 or so minutes, in 2024.

The finale of "Cobra Kai" year five ― the sixth and final will release this week ― delivered as satisfying a season-ending punch as I've seen since "Schitt's Creek," another sterling comfort-watch. Eugene Levy quietly eviscerates a pair of snobs who abandon the Roses (Levy and real-life son Dan as Johnny and David Rose, with Catherine O'Hara as wife Moira, and Annie Murphy as daughter Alexis) after they're impoverished, forced to live in a motel in Schitt's Creek, a fictional Ontario hamlet. A business manager steals all but the deed to this city, which Johnny had bought for David as a joke. Leaving behind the nouveau-riche lifestyle, they're angling for a comeback, ashamed of their reduced circumstances, when they bump into ex-friends, who relentlessly mock a town they'd passed through.

Then it all turns: "No Don, here's the joke. The joke is that I'm sitting at a half-decent restaurant with my wife ― and our friends ― and all you two have done is complain about the food, and pretend that you didn't leave us high and dry after we lost everything."

O'Hara, Levy's real-life pal and frequent work partner, placating: "Oh, we're past all that now."

Johnny, quietly seething: "I'm not quite past it, Moira."

Dude. Don. You ticked off Eugene Levy. Don whatever armor you possess.

"You wrote us off, Don (Never has a one-syllable name sounded more like a Mamet-level expletive). Not a phone call. Not an email. Not a nickel. Roland and Jocelyn (Chris Elliott and Jennifer Robertson, both adorably awkward) here could not have been more generous, with what little they have. They found us a place to live. They've offered us their truck whenever we needed it. They've invited us to their parties. They even offered to take us out to dinner tonight."

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Roland: "Uh, just to be clear, Johnny, we were always going to split the bill; it's just with a coupon .... " The more socially adept Jocelyn waves him off.

Johnny: "And that town you passed through? It's not called Schittsville. It's called Schitt's Creek.

"And it's where we live."

Now on paper that sch ... that reads funny, and the show truly became brilliant, hilarious, moving. It's sort of a PG version of equally bizarre-Canadian-small-town "Letterkenny." (Editor's note: The latter is NSFW.)

But watch that exchange in Eugene Levy: It's like being slain by an ice dragon. The look he levels on Don, just before taking a long sip of Roland's choice (highest alcohol-content) of wine, inspired legends of Medusa. Acting schools folded. EGOTS threw dustrags over award cases.

Like "Schitt's Creek," "Cobra Kai" will wrap at season six, still on top, still the best. For the first five, they expound on sometimes-narrow lines between good and bad. Daniel can be a jerk; Johnny can be a savior. Kreese (Martin Kove, still terrifically threatening) seems to be building toward a redemptive arc, from a rough youth, and dark days in Vietnam. Daniel ― and his family, his students ― and Johnny, and HIS family and students ― face a viral threat from Terry Silver, the "Karate Kid III" baddie, his slick hair now silver-white, losing hard-won cool to steal Cobra Kai dojo from Kreese, who'd usurped it from Johnny.

At the perfect moment, Daniel revives the crane kick, and even if you see it coming from miles away, you'll still laugh like heck, as I did, falling more than a wee bit nostalgic.

It's refreshing to slip away from often-awful reality, and into a realm where good means something, where an agreed-upon hero can boot evil in its smug face.

Many sense a leg-sweep coming, but we must remember violence only cleanly solves murder mysteries, or myths. World War II, one of the few justified, stole years and millions of lives. If it could have been done differently ....

Life in 3Ds: Diplomacy. Defense. Decency. Or what the hell are we fighting for?

Mark Hughes Cobb is the editor of Tusk. Reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Summer comfort from 'Cobra Kai' to 'Schitt's Creek' | MARK HUGHES COBB