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In an age of reboots and legacy sequels that often fall short of expectations, one series stands tall as a shining example of how to do it right: Cobra Kai. Taking what could easily have been just another nostalgic cash grab, the cast and crew have instead crafted an exceptional show that has been praised by critics and audiences alike. After five seasons of teen and middle-aged drama, sprinkled with a lot of kicks to the face, it was announced that the show’s sixth season would be its last. With delays caused by the 2023 strikes, the crash mats were finally laid out for a release in three parts (or rounds?), with the five episodes of part one dropping on Netflix on Thursday, 18 July.
To refresh your memory of where we are, the fifth season ended on a mostly positive note, with Karate Kid III antagonist Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffin) being arrested and his Cobra Kai franchise disbanded. Lifelong rivals Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) both also looked to have finally buried the hatchet (hopefully for good this time), merging their dojos and working together to take Silver down. There was also a big international karate tournament on the horizon, the Sekai Takai, with the newly amalgamated Miyagi-Do dojo securing an invitation to compete. It wasn’t all good news though, with the cigar-chomping Cobra Kai founder, John Kreese (Martin Kove), escaping from prison.
Cobra Kai. (L to R) Gianni DeCenzo as Demetri, Jacob Bertrand as Eli ‘Hawk’ Moskowitz, Joe Seo as Kyler, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz in Cobra Kai. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024
When Season Six kicks off, our ragtag group of martial artists are enjoying the good times in a happy montage, signposting if we’ve ever seen it, that the smiles won’t last long… Just to be sure though, Daniel decides to jinx things by happily declaring that the ‘karate wars’ are over and that he intends to put his sensei days behind him after the tournament. Oh, Daniel-san. Have you learned nothing? It doesn’t take long for the holiday to be over though, with it being pretty clear that there’s still tension between Johnny and Daniel over their different teaching styles, as they attempt to prepare their students for the Sekai Takai. Added to the mix is Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), Daniel’s one-time Karate Kid II rival and current house guest, who’s also acting as a Miyagi-Do sensei, for free, apparently (Come on Daniel, you’re a successful business owner, you can’t pay the man a living wage?). Chozen is the loveable third wheel of Johnny and Daniel’s frenemyship, offering comic relief and sage advice in equal measure. The dynamic between all three men is always fun to watch.
On the teen front, things seem to be stable between the two key power couples – Robbie (Tanner Buchannon) and Tori (Peyton List), and Miguel (Xolo Maridueňa) and Sam (Mary Mouser) – but there’s still the usual tension bubbling under the surface. One teen relationship that’s less stable however is the recently rekindled friendship between Demitri (Gianni DeCenzo) and former teen felon, Hawk (Jacob Bertrand). The start of the series sees them in a good place, just like the rest of the gang, but as they stare down the barrel of life after high school, things start to look shaky. Demitri’s determined to stick to their childhood plan of attending MIT together, but things are a lot less certain for Hawk, who’s gone through a lot of changes over the past five seasons.
Cobra Kai. (L to R) Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene, Peyton List as Tory Nichols, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz, Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso in Cobra Kai. Cr. Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix © 2024
For Johnny’s part, he seems to at least be trying to embrace the teachings of Miyagi-Do more wholeheartedly. He receives guidance from Chozen, after initially challenging him to a fight, who tries to teach him the importance of Miyagi-Do teachings outside the dojo. With a baby on the way, the pressure is also on for Johnny to find a suitable home for his family, leading to some fun house hunting accompanied by Chozen. Along the way Johnny finally gets the chance to demonstrate some of that Miyagi-Do restraint, as he tries to swallow his anger in service of trying to provide for his family. It also leads to him landing a job at the last place you’d expect – something he would never have done even a season ago. Of course, Johnny’s character development (and regression on occasion) has been the core focus of the series from the beginning, so it’s really nice to see him stepping up to take responsibility for the sake of his new family, especially given that he didn’t handle his first go at fatherhood particularly well. Don’t worry though, he’s still the Johnny Lawrence we all know and love, the walking disaster who wreaks havoc with the best of intentions.
Miguel is also feeling the pressure of his oncoming sibling. Like the rest of the students, he has his eyes set on college, but he quickly accepts that his dream school is just too unrealistic under his current circumstances. This just makes him more determined to shine in the Sekai Takai though, knowing that being on the international stage could make new opportunities available to him, especially when the tournament throws a wrinkle into the works, revealing that each dojo can only take six students, and must select a male and female captain. Since the captains will effectively be the dojo’s representatives, they’ll be the ones in the spotlight, so Miguel becomes driven to earn that privilege for the sake of making a better life for his family. He’s not the only one though, as Robbie also has his eye on the captaincy to help quell his own growing insecurities.
Cobra Kai. (L to R) Courtney Henggeler as Amanda Larusso, Vanessa Rubio as Carmen in Cobra Kai. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024
As for Kreese, he’s still in the wind and undergoes his own arc, travelling abroad and connecting with some unexpected allies in an attempt to rebuild Cobra Kai. More mysterious than any martial arts teachings though, is how fugitive Kreese is able to travel internationally without being flagged by border security. Maybe he escaped prison on a Friday afternoon and the paperwork doesn’t get filed until Monday? As always, he’s on a quest to become stronger, which means shedding his weaknesses, and if you’ve watched the last season or two then you’ll know what his biggest weakness is. It’ll be interesting to see where his journey will take him as the series progresses.
Cobra Kai has always been adept at squeezing a lot of plot threads into episodes that typically don’t even reach the forty-minute mark, so there are a lot of storylines that we haven’t even touched on here, and we don’t even have the word count to gush over the amazing fights. Suffice to say, Cobra Kai continues to offer some of the best value for run time of any contemporary TV show, while still ensuring that all of its sizable ensemble get satisfying stories.
Overall though, Cobra Kai’s final season is off to a great start and the stage is set for bigger spectacle and higher stakes than ever before. The writing remains tight and the character work continues to be top notch, even if some of the arguments are repetitive and some characters see-saw a bit. But hey, that’s drama for you. With more episodes than any previous season, here’s hoping that the next two parts can continue the momentum established here and lead us to victory.
Let the games begin!
All five episodes of Cobra Kai Season Six, Part One will be available on Netflix from Thursday, 18 July.
Lead Image: Cobra Kai. (L to R) Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, Yuji Okumoto as Chozen in Cobra Kai. Cr. Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix © 2024
