From all the way to Season 1 to Season 3, Eli Moskowitz, now more commonly known as Hawk,
has gone through some very radical changes, albeit good or bad. He has great potential
to be a valuable asset to any team he fights on, whether it be Cobra Kai or the combined
dojos of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang. Hawk also has this very complex character that so many
people are fascinated about, which begs me to ask the question – why is he so awesome?
This is my theory and response to that very question, including talks about his
transformation, his comparisons to Dutch of The Karate Kid movies, his redemption, and more.
Let's do a quick recap of what we know about Hawk so far. Eli Moskowitz is a quiet and shy teenager
who is best friends with Demitri. Eli is very insecure about his scar which was left from a
surgery that removed the cleft lip he was born with. Both befriend Miguel Diaz, who just moved
from Riverside and attends the high school of West Valley. Eli admires Miguel for standing up
to Kyler on multiple occasions, whether it was at the Halloween party or during the lunchroom brawl.
Despite Demitri's protests, he convinces Demitri to go with him to check out Cobra Kai after
Miguel's fight against Kyler goes viral. Johnny Lawrence, Miguel's sensei, is very hard on the new
recruits, including Eli, but manages to convince Eli to “flip the script,” and thus, Hawk is born.
Hawk starts to be come not only more confident, but also more aggressive as seen in the All-Valley
Tournament, attacking Robby Keene, Johnny's son, in between rounds and injuring his shoulder.
At the start of Season 2, Hawk and Miguel are reprimanded for their behavior at the All-Valley,
and Johnny vows to correct his teachings, as he wants to avoid his students to go down the path
he went down under John Kreese. It is also during this Season that Hawk becomes more of a bully,
whether he is intimidating new students, or attacking his now former best friend Demitri. This
situation comes to a head when he, Chris, Mitch, Doug and Mikey attack Demitri over his Yelp review
of Cobra Kai because of Kreese attacking him. However, Demitri recently joined Miyagi-Do and is
saved by fellow dojo students Robby and Samantha LaRusso, who defeat the Cobra Kai. Moon, Hawk's
girlfriend, is angry that Hawk would go so far as to beat his own friend over a review and breaks up
with him, leading Hawk to vent his anger. Kreese convinces him and his friends to finish the fight,
resulting in them trashing the Miyagi-Do dojo and Hawk stealing Mr. Miyagi's medal of honor.
When Johnny is called away to visit dying friend Tommy, Kreese uses this time to undermine Johnny's
teachings and poison the Cobra Kai, more notably Hawk, who almost exclusively lives by the meaning
of No Mercy. During their training at Coyote Creek in the episode Lull, Miguel deduces that
Hawk trashed the dojo and as they are the last two (at the time) fighters left on each team,
they end up fighting that results in Miguel winning and taking back the medal of honor.
Kreese asks Miguel to finish Hawk which he does, and this ends up in Johnny banning Kreese from
the dojo. Although Kreese is physically gone, his teachings are still with Hawk,
as seen at Moon's party and the school fight. After Miguel is put into a coma by Robby,
Hawk stands by Kreese, blaming Johnny for failing Miguel and the rest of the students.
Season 3 opens up with Hawk being the lead student of Kreese's Cobra Kai, but goes on to question
Kreese's methods when he starts to make drastic changes, whether it's excommunicating those who
have been loyal to Hawk and Cobra Kai or letting Hawk's old bullies Kyler and Brucks back in to
try out for Cobra Kai. Hawk is still vicious during this season, as evident in his beat
down on Brucks and breaking Demitri's arm. What starts to become the turning point for Hawk is
when Kreese allows Robby to become part of Cobra Kai, and his peers start to approve of Robby. When
Cobra Kai invades the LaRusso household, Hawk begins to realize that he is on the wrong team,
reconciles with Demitri, and goes on to train under Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso.
Before we can fully dive into what caused him to change his ways, we need to look at
what were some of the negative effects of his transformation from Eli to Hawk, and how that
plays into the comparisons of his predecessor, Dutch from the original Karate Kid film.
Although I myself was very proud of his initial transformation, especially after gaining
confidence through karate, Hawk went down the wrong path very early on. In the Season 1 Episode
“Different but Same,” when Johnny found out that Daniel was now training his son, Johnny taught the
lesson “No Mercy” right before the All-Valley Tournament, and was thus not clear on when to
show no mercy, which Hawk took the lesson to heart too seriously. This was very evident not only with
Hawk, who attacked his opponent, but with Miguel as well. What's very interesting is when Hawk goes
to leave the mat after he is disqualified from the tournament, you can see Miguel shoving Hawk and is
angry that Hawk is not fighting with honor, which looking back on it now makes it a very subtle hint
that there are some things even Miguel will not do. Hawk and Miguel are also very confused on why
they are being very reprimanded on this lesson, as noted in the episodes Mercy Part II, Fire and Ice,
and Glory of Love. Hawk also states to Johnny in the episode No Mercy, “Miguel is in the hospital
because of you. He showed mercy to Robby Keene because of you. If he dies... that's on YOU.”
Hawk, as mentioned above, has let this lesson and Kreese's teachings transform him into a bully.
He intimidates and is mean to the new recruits Chris and Mitch as seen in Mercy Part II and Back
in Black. He also begins to turn on his best friend Demitri which is subtly hinted at the
victory dinner, where he tells him “cool it with the nerd shit,” not wanting to associate himself
with who he was in the past. When Demitri tries to confide in Hawk about Kreese assaulting him,
Hawk brushes it off and tells him to toughen up or else. After Mitch shows him Demitri's
Yelp review of Cobra Kai, Hawk takes matters in to his own hands and confronts Demitri at
the mall in the episode All-In, but loses the fight when Sam and Robby intervene. Lastly,
Hawk targets Demitri again after pouring a drink on his head at Moon's party in the episode Pulpo,
and in the following episode No Mercy tries to corner Demitri at school. Also during the school
fight, Hawk knocks down the books of a student who tries to comfort him about his bed wetting issues,
and pushes Nathaniel & Bert out of the way during the school fight. Despite being the one who made
him who he is, Hawk betrays Johnny by siding with Kreese at the end of Season 2. During Season 3, he
is very aggressive and bully-like towards both Sam and Demitri, simply because of their affiliation
with Miyagi-Do and Robby being the former student who injured Miguel during the school fight.
When Miyagi-Do does a fundraiser for Miguel's surgery in the episode Now You're Gonna Pay,
Hawk and Mitch's misguided loyalty to Miguel influences them to not only steal the money,
but to severely beat down Nathaniel as well, in a callback to Daniel's initial encounters
with Cobra Kai in the first movie. Hawk also bullies Demitri out of jealousy as he is showing
his science project to Yasmine and Moon, and also on the soccer field during the episode The Right
Path. Hawk is also notably more aggressive towards his Cobra Kai allies, both on the soccer field
and in the arcade in the Miyagi-Do episode. He is also seen in this same episode not only picking on
kids, but also stealing tickets and merchandise. During the fight where Miyagi-Do seeks revenge
on Cobra Kai in the laser tag arena, Hawk ends up cornering Demitri and reluctantly breaks his arm,
as he is pressured by his peers to do so. When Kreese brings in his former bullies in
the episode King Cobra, Hawk seeks revenge against one of them, Brucks, by severely beating him down,
truly showing no mercy. As Mitch also lost his spot on the Cobra Kai team to Kyler,
in the following episode Obstaculos, Hawk forces him to sit elsewhere with Bert,
who was also kicked out of Cobra Kai in Nature vs Nurture. In this same
episode as Miguel and Johnny both confront him about siding with Kreese, he betrays them by
letting Kreese and others know where Johnny is now training his Eagle Fang students, leading to
a heated confrontation. In the following episode, Feel the Night, he takes verbal jabs at Robby,
expressing his desire for Robby to not join Cobra Kai, and also how he won't take a sip of beer,
almost leading to a confrontation that Tory breaks up. Kreese's teachings also influence him not only
in Season 2 but Season 3 as well. When Kreese becomes the second teacher of Cobra Kai at the
end of the episode The Moment of Truth, Hawk seems to enjoy Kreese's philosophy while Miguel
shows concern that Johnny has agreed to let him in the dojo. Kreese also begins to manipulate
Hawk after his breakup with Moon, telling Hawk that “the fight is only over when you say it
is,” ordering him and others to not only trash Miyagi-Do but as a result of this instruction,
Hawk steals Mr. Miyagi's medal of honor. Kreese is also adamant about Hawk staying silent about
his actions during Take A Right when Johnny punishes the dojo for trashing Miyagi-Do.
Kreese is also more than willing to let Hawk get his revenge on Brucks, as he is satisfied that
Hawk is leading this students by example. It is also under Kreese's orders that Cobra Kai invades
the LaRusso household and begin to attack both the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students.
What is also significant about Kreese's teachings is how it almost leads to Hawk becoming a modern
day version of a previous student and what could considered to be his predecessor, Dutch, one of
Johnny's friends back in the 80s. Both are noted to be very aggressive towards people they dislike,
as Dutch was almost vicious as, if not, more than Johnny. Hawk's tendency to be a bully is
a clear callback to how much a bully Dutch was and who also had no problems with Johnny picking
on others, as seen during the beach fight and Halloween fight, either chanting no mercy or not
caring that Johnny's opponent could not stand. When Johnny tells Miguel about how Dutch threw
popcorn when they met Ali, Hawk goes on to do this in the same episode Molting, only the last
piece hits somebody else and when confronted, Hawk quickly stops and avoids the confrontation.
Both are very confident on the surface and more than willing to provoke their opponents
in a fight, whether it be Dutch in the locker room or Hawk at school. A nice call back is
that when Dutch tries to confront Daniel in the locker room before the tournament starts, the
referee Pat Johnson says “save it for the ring,” similar to how Miguel is practicing his punches
before the tournament in the episode Mercy, Hawk tells Miguel to save it for the tournament. Both
also greet their opponents in a cool and confident manner before their fight begins.
What's interesting to note is that while Dutch had the upper hand and scored the first kick
against Daniel, the opposite is what happens to Hawk in that while he scores the first point,
Robby is the one who kicks him in the face, to where Hawk checks if he is bleeding like Daniel.
A notable difference between the two characters is that Dutch only cared about being a bully and
how his karate justified him in that sense, even smiling when Kreese tells Bobby to take Daniel
out and cared about his own agenda – more on that later. Hawk on the other hand despite
being a bully did not intend to use Cobra Kai to become one, and was very loyal to his friends,
such as telling Miguel that they were only enemies for a day after Coyote Creek.
During the mall scene, it is very notable that there is a musical cue shared from the original
Karate Kid scene where Cobra Kai corners Daniel much how Cobra Kai is now cornering Demitri.
Before cornering him, Chris tells Hawk that Demitri has learned his lesson and Hawk responds,
“who told you to think?!,” much like Bobby telling Johnny to stop and that Dutch responds that just
because he can stand “doesn't mean squat.” Hawk also shoves Demitri in the comic book store,
much like Dutch shoving Daniel in the locker room before the tournament.
Lastly, the key difference between Hawk and Dutch is that Hawk was redeemable,
but Dutch was not. When Kreese began to choke Johnny at the start of The Karate Kid Part II,
everybody in Johnny's circle intervened but Dutch, who simply turned his back and did
nothing to help his friend. When Demitri is put into a lock by Doug and another Cobra Kai member,
this is the very thing that sends Hawk back to the right path, and allows him to save his friend.
Speaking of redemption, let's talk about how Hawk was able to redeem himself in Season 3 and why it
happened. Now if you were like me, watching that scene the first time may have hit you
out of nowhere and almost seemed illogical. But believe it or not, the signs were in front of us
the whole time. The first one was very evident in Nature vs Nurture, when Bert and others are
kicked out of Cobra Kai because of their sympathy towards Clarence. He asks Kreese about this in a
roundabout way, with the question “Is this the right time to be making cuts?,' as Bert joined
the dojo around the same time Hawk did in Season 1. Despite his loyalty to Kreese, Hawk still cares
about Miguel as he visits him in the hospital in “Now You're Gonna Pay,” and as mentioned above,
his loyalty is somewhat in the right place to Miguel as he has an issue with Miyagi-Do's
fundraiser, but also very misguided as beating up Nathaniel and taking the money to donate in
the name of Cobra Kai was not ever needed. Leading up to, during, and after breaking Demitri's arm,
you can see that Hawk has regret and doubts about doing so, wondering if it was the right
thing to do, especially when Tory asks him “I didn't think you were really going to do it.”
When asking Kreese about letting Kyler and Brucks into Cobra Kai, he protests this decision,
almost stating they were his former bullies, but Kreese cuts him off and says that they will have
to prove they are worthy to join the ranks. When Mitch loses to Kyler and loses his spot from the
team, Hawk protests this, noting that Mitch (or Assface) has been loyal to the dojo, as he joined
right after their victory at the All-Valley. Kreese simply responds with “I'm afraid he's not
Cobra Kai material; I told you only the strong will survive.” Hawk is also glad to see Miguel
back in the episode Obstaculos, and it is after Miguel confronting Hawk that he partly starts to
get through to him, telling him that Kreese has got into Hawk's head and Hawk is shocked to hear
Johnny has a new dojo. After Miguel sees Kyler wearing a Cobra Kai shirt and picking on Demitri,
Miguel is disappointed in Hawk hanging around these friends, which you can see there is more
doubt or shame on Hawk's face after Miguel walks away. When Johnny apologizes and tries
to recruit some of the members of Cobra Kai, Hawk states that he “got soft and we paid the
price for it.” Johnny stands up to Hawk who makes him almost back down and look away,
stating “When you came into my dojo, you were softer than a baby's ass. I made you who you
are – not Kreese!” As Johnny leaves, this is another small but strong turning point for Hawk,
as he starts to doubt Cobra Kai even more. Hawk's loyalty to Miguel despite him siding with Johnny
is shown again, as he is angry that Kreese is teaching Robby in the episode Feel the Night.
He goes to talk to Kreese in the office stating that Robby is the enemy and is the reason Miguel
was in the hospital. Kreese tells him that what he learned in the military is that “the enemy
(in this case Robby) of your enemy (Miguel) is your friend (Robby).” When they meet up before
going into the zoo, he is angry that Tory invited Robby, still not accepting him into Cobra Kai.
There are also hints of jealousy when Robby is able to retrieve the snake without a snake pole,
and when Kreese congratulates Robby, stating “he is exactly what Cobra Kai is looking for.”
One interesting detail to note is that during the brawl in December 19th, Hawk does not ONCE attack
any of his former Cobra Kai friends Miguel (who just relearned to walk), Bert, Mitch,
and Demitri. He in fact spends his time fighting a Miyagi-Do student and may have attempted to rush
Demitri in the beginning but still spends most of his time attacking that same student. When
he notices that Kyler attacks Miguel, he takes a look around and realizes all of his friends are
being attacked by Cobra Kai, and finally sees he is on the wrong side. And that the quote,
"The enemy (which is Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang), of your enemy (Cobra Kai), is your friend (which is
now Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang)," putting a very nice double meaning towards this quote. After
saving Demitri, he apologizes and Demitri forgives him, and they team up to take down the rest of
Cobra Kai. When he, Miguel, and Demitri find Sam and Tory fighting in Daniel's personal dojo,
he asks Tory to stand down because the fight is over, and she notes that Hawk and
Miguel are traitors, and to “watch his back.” Demitri however says that he doesn't have to,
because he now has friends watching it for him. And of course last but not least,
at the end of the episode, he stands next to Demitri as Johnny and Daniel teach class together.
That being said, what kind of asset will be to Johnny and Daniel's dojo going forward?
The first characteristic that makes Hawk valuable is his loyalty. Miguel is the one who inspired
him to join Cobra Kai and Miguel has not once ever made fun of him or treated him differently,
and always has treated him as a friend. He also admires Miguel for standing up to Kyler multiple
times, as he was there when Miguel destroyed Kyler and his gang. Even after Miguel defeated
him in a duel at Coyote Creek, Hawk says “we were enemies for a day, but Cobra Kai for life.”
And you have to remember that despite their issues throughout Season 2 and 3,
it was Demitri who stood up to Johnny the first time he made fun of Hawk's deformity,
and also standing up for him again when Tory was telling Hawk to watch his back. Hawk has also been
very loyal to Bert as seen during the tournament in the All-Valley and also when Bert was kicked
out of the dojo, much how he was when Mitch was also kicked out, as Mitch has been by his side
since Season 2. Last but not least, Hawk was also very loyal to Aisha as well, as Miguel and Aisha
were the first two students Johnny had. Hawk's confidence is also what has made him so successful
in the past. Johnny speaks of this during his appeal to the All-Valley conference in Season 1,
and it was him who he inspired to flip the script, noting that Eli should speak up and be
more confident in who he is, and also applauding his transformation when he returns with a mohawk.
His confidence is also what allows him to pull off his fake ID plan in the episode Different but
Same, as Moon takes notice of his confidence in the episode at the party later on. Hawk also tells
Demitri about this advice in a Matthew McConaughey way that he needs to live in the moment and be
confident. This newfound confidence is also shown during the All-Valley in his matches,
especially showing off in front of the crowd and also in front of the new recruits after
the All-Valley Tournament. Another interesting detail is that the more confident Hawk is, his
scar is less visible on his face. There have been times that this confidence is not there, such as
seeing Moon at the party with her new girlfriend and being recognized by Kyler and Brucks during
Season 3 when they join Cobra Kai. Hawk has also noticeably toughened up since joining Cobra Kai,
as he was able to get rid of his flinching issues and losing a tooth thanks to Aisha, being bitten
by a dog in the episode Molting, training in a cement truck with other Cobra Kai members, and
his ability to take punishment during a fight, as noted in No Mercy where he smiles after being hit
in the face and tasting his blood. What could also be very valuable to the team is his intelligence,
which goes outside of winning a coding competition. Hawk is able to convince Demitri
and see the potential in Cobra Kai Karate after Miguel's fight, telling him to give it a chance.
Again, combining his smarts with his confidence, he was able to fool Nestor into allowing him to
buy alcohol. During the episode The Right Path, Hawk was also able to impress Kreese by fighting
smart, noting his agile mind and the ability to strategically find openings in his opponents.
He was also able to fool Counselor Blatt that Sam was invading his “safe space” and in her office
following the soccer match, getting him and Cobra Kai off the hook. When fighting against Brucks,
he was able to catch him off guard and keep a psychological advantage not only over him
who begged him to stop, but also Kyler, as Kyler doubted his abilities initially but then could not
even look Hawk in the face when Hawk would stare Kyler down after leaving Brucks on the mat. This
tactic was also most notably used by Mike Tyson, who would intimidate his opponents with this gaze
and then immediately go on the offensive to knock out his opponents. If Hawk is able to
utilize strategy more often, he could hold his own even against the likes of Robby. That being said,
I would say the biggest weakness that Hawk has is his inexperience compared to the likes of
Robby and Miguel. Although we never got to see the fight between Robby and Hawk finish
due to Hawk being disqualified, he lost the fight to Robby and Sam at the mall,
loses a spar against Miguel in the same episode (granted, that did not indicate if that was the
first round or other rounds that have already been fought), losing to Miguel at Coyote Creek,
and being knocked by Demitri at school. Even in the big fight with Miyagi-Do that takes
place in the laser tag arena, he is mostly on the receiving end of strikes by Sam and
it is not until Sam's PTSD kicks in that he is able to corner Demitri and break his arm.
All in all, I'm very excited to see where the show takes Hawk in the future, and I think it's
safe to say he is the embodiment of what every nerd like myself wanted to transform into in
school – a shy outcast who becomes someone that is admired because of their belief in themselves.
Let me know what you guys think of Hawk down in the comments below – what do you imagine he'd be
like in Season 4 and beyond? Be sure to check out the community tabs to cast your vote in who you'd
like me to talk about next. If you enjoyed the video, consider subscribing, sharing the video
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for watching, as always, stay beautiful, stay awesome, and we'll catch you around next time.