Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
The sixth season of Cobra Kai begins in ways that feel simultaneously satisfying and stifled. In the first of the three, five-episode batches that make up the final bow for this Karate Kid follow-up, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) have vanquished childhood villains and ended Cobra Kai’s reign of terror in the San Fernando Valley, where teen karate wars run rampant (and make front page news). Now they set the sights of their combined dojos on the international Sekai Taikai tournament.
The final episodes of Season 6 won’t stream until 2025 (a greater span of time than Netflix has attempted for split seasons of Stranger Things or The Witcher); when viewed as both one-third of a larger story and its own standalone arc, Part 1 is fun and familiar, giving us the longest period of calm Cobra Kai has ever known. But with the villains far off on the horizon, and with no immediate challenge beyond prepping for a global karate showcase, the show has to manufacture strife and discord by leaning more heavily into the petulant stubbornness of its characters. The message here is almost “if these adults and kids don’t have a larger evil to focus on, they’ll just self-destruct in their own silly ways.”
Cobra Kai has often relied on knee-jerk reactions and 180 degree emotional spins to bring about bad blood between characters but, on the flip side, the show’s strength is also providing end results that are filled with vulnerability and cathartic change. The heart of this show is letting anger go and squashing past bitterness. The conflict in The Karate Kid wasn’t necessarily Daniel going up against Cobra Kai, it was the fact that Daniel and Johnny both saw their stories differently and never came together to reconcile their animosity before things got out of hand.
The vibe at the start of Season 6 is clear: The premiere episode is called “Peacetime in the Valley,” after all. Of course, things go wrong eventually (and in big ways), but for the bulk of these five episodes, it’s sunny with a chance of showers. Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are still aligned, though incorporating Terry Silver’s shamed, ex-Cobra Kai pupils remains a challenge. Tory (Peyton List), Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young), Devon (Oona O’Brien), and others still have some smoothing out to do. And while Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and Robby (Tanner Buchanan) are mostly cool at this point, Sam (Mary Mouser) and Tory still have unfinished business to address.
And then there’s still Daniel and Johnny. Yes, even after all they’ve been through. Their ideologies and personalities are just different, and when it comes to the Sekai Taikai, there will be bumps and bruises when it comes to which teens represent the squad, with each sensei having their favorites. This gang will never want for drama. When none exists, they’ll make their own, whether it’s Johnny panicking over finding his new family a better place to live, or Daniel’s eternal, childlike reverence for Mr. Miyagi (and the ways it makes him act like an obstinate ass). Their dojo, despite its guiding principles of peace and harmony, can be a powder keg – especially when Daniel feels betrayed after uncovering secrets about his former sensei.
At the end of the day, though, we love these fools and Season 6, Part 1 take us deeper into their lives than any past season. Miguel, Hawk (Jacob Bertrand), and Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo) have college admissions on their mind while Robby looks to make things right with Kenny and Devon looks to prove herself amidst the three-dojo merger. And, bless their hearts, they all make room for a random, consequence-free karate brawl each episode. Be it in a batting cages or during a frat-house parties, karate skirmishes still thrive in Cobra Kai’s almost fairytale-like depiction of The Valley, and we love it for that.
It’s not all benign disputes though. By the fifth episode, the machinations of the now even more merciless John Kreese (Martin Kove) have crept their way into the shaky foundations of the Sekai Taikai training. Peyton List gets some some dynamite material to work with as Tory is put through a harrowing emotional wringer. It sets us up nicely for the next batch of five episodes (in freakin’ November!) planting seeds for how things will most certainly go awry for our heroes.
Cobra Kai is still a wonderful dramedy, and while it might seem like a complaint to bring up how witless these characters can be sometimes, it’s not. Not fully. The show is bubbling over with heart and it’s taken an ’80s franchise with a very black and white look at right and wrong and painted it with a multicolored brush, allowing for true personal growth from everyone, no matter how despicable their actions. And there’s also comedy to mine from the goofy behavior of Daniel, Johnny, Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), “Bad Boy of Karate” Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan), and the younglings under their tutelage. Cobra Kai’s paintbrush is effective, but it’s also broad.
