Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 Review: A Team Is Formed As Secrets Are Revealed In The Final Season

Potential spoilers follow.

After six years and two streaming platforms, "Cobra Kai" is entering its final round. We have seen Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka's Johnny Lawrence beat John Kreese and Terry Silver, but now they're going global, with the first part of season 6 being all about the preparations for the Sekai Taikai (literally, world tournament), including picking the fighters that will represent the newly formed Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang Karate joint dojo, and also figuring out if they can actually work as a single dojo despite all the bad history between both sides. Though the season stumbles in its middle section with an underwhelming reveal, there's enough to entertain and intrigue while teasing the big tournament clashes to come.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first. The return of Kreese, who is trying to team up with Kim Dae-eun and enter the tournament, is a big let down. Given we have to wait until part 2 for the tournament, Kreese doesn't actually get to do that much, and what he does get to do is essentially just a repeat of his role from back in season 2.

There's also some revelations about Mr. Miyagi's past that shake Daniel to his core. After spending five seasons building Miyagi up as a saint (one who beat up and terrorized kids in the first film, but sure), "Cobra Kai" aims to remind us that he was also just a man capable of making mistakes. Except the reveal is left vague enough (in order to fully explore it in future episodes) that it comes across as not that big of a deal, and instead as just a contrived way of making Daniel lose his cool yet again and go straight into conflict with his allies.

"Cobra Kai" is a bit formulaic, and every season follows the same beats — Danny and Johnny try to work together, and seem to be getting along until a disagreement explodes out of proportion and they fight. The kids do the same, with a disagreement causing at least one of them to suddenly switch sides so we have someone we know on every team. Season 6 is no exception, and many of the plot-required disagreements and fights are a tad too contrived. Without seeing the big picture of the entire season it feels like conflict for the sake of conflict.

What saves the formula is that, after six years, the characters are finally grown up (yes, even our middle-aged characters) and even the most forced disagreements feel less petty. The show has always been at its best when focusing on the characters, and the same applies in this season. Particularly great is the arc of Tory and Sam, and how their dynamic and relationship changes now that they are forced to be in the same team. After years of deep hatred and hurt, Peyton List and Mary Mouser give their characters some surprising maturity, resisting the easy bait and evolving as people. 

The same can be said about Johnny and Daniel. It's good to see "Cobra Kai" offer a different side to their bickering relationship in season 6. I noted in my season 5 review that the biggest sign that the show was evolving and moving to its endgame was that we were finally starting to see a light on the other side of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament tunnel, and the five episodes that make up the first of three parts for season 6 double down on that.

Even when Daniel and Johnny go back to petty differences and bicker in the new episodes, it feels different than before. Their disagreements are removed from their 40-year-old rivalry and old fights. They no longer seem fixated on what happened in the past or what their teachers taught them. Instead, they are focused on the present and their current situation, as well as the future. Teaming up to fight Silver is one thing, but reconciling the philosophical differences between Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang proves to be as hard as you'd imagine. What's more, they are also starting to think about a future beyond karate, which is exciting to see.

What the tournament holds and whether any character will make it out only after being put in a body bag remains to be seen, but it's clear that "Cobra Kai" is heading toward a big finish that will leave no character unscarred. Even with some stumbles along the way, this show is still a blast.

/Film Rating: 8 out of 10

"Cobra Kai" season 6 part 1 premieres July 18, 2024 with the first five episodes.