A Satisfying Finish
Summary
Cobra Kai finally comes to an end with an emotional and satisfying payoff wrapping things up nicely, but still leaving things open where we could maybe return to some characters in the future. It is at times a little too soap opera-ish and there were some overly ridiculous moments where it lost me, but generally I couldn’t have asked for for a better finale.
Plot: Following the demise of Cobra Kai, the students of both Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang prepare for the Sekai Taikai.
Review: I go into some spoilers here so if you haven’t finished Cobra Kai yet then please read no further.
And so at least we come to the final season of Cobra Kai which despite its flaws is one of my favourite television shows of recent times. I hate that Netflix broke this season into 3 parts which was so frustrating dragging things out far longer than they needed to.
This season started off a little slow and there were maybe a few episodes or storylines that could have been removed just to speed things up. However, the final 5 episodes are what really elevated this season above the 3-star rating I was initially going to give it.
The fight scenes are as impressive as always and there is some real talent in the cast too. We get some great new characters with my favourite being Zara (Rayna Vallandingham) who deserves to be the next Cynthia Rothrock. She is incredibly talented while also making Zara one of the most hateful characters of the entire show. Brandon H. Lee also shines as the psychotic Kwon who was a great antagonist. Then we have the legendary Lewis Tan as Sensei Wolf; he is so good at playing a villain that I think I’d be scared of him in real life.
I kind of hated how they turned Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) into goofy comic relief early in this season but thankfully that is sorted by the end and like everything else wraps up his storyline.
Terry Silver and John Kreese finally get what they deserve with a nice redemption story for Kreese. His emotional scene with Johnny is one of the best pieces of acting of the series with William Zabka at his absolute finest. Karate Kid III was always my favourite of the original movies as I loved Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) but as Jay-Man mentioned to me he hated how Terry never got his comeuppance… well now he certainly does.
The show ends profoundly satisfyingly, tying up everything nicely while keeping things open for potential future spin-offs. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a series about Samantha LaRusso and Miguel Diaz and their adventures in Japan but hopefully, they just leave it as is.
The show occasionally would go into more of a soap opera at times, but I realized at the end just how much I had grown to truly care about these characters. Johnny had fantastic character growth and seeing how he has changed since the first season shows how strong the writing and performances have been. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up a couple of times in the last few episodes especially when Johnny visits his mother’s grave.
Cobra Kai never loses its heart even when things get ridiculous and that’s why I stuck with it for 6 seasons. Should it have ended sooner? Sure, you probably could have tied it all up last season, but now I’m glad we got this 6th one as nothing felt rushed and it let us say goodbye to our favourite characters, some of whom have been with us most of our lives. I hope we haven’t heard the last of Johnny Lawrence, but for now bring on Karate Kid Legends so we can see what’s next for Daniel LaRusso.
Overall, Season 6 of Cobra Kai finishes on a high note wrapping all the story threads up nicely and it reminds us that this show was always Johnny’s story and that no matter what you’ve done there is always hope from redemption. I will miss a lot of the characters as I feel like I really got to know them over the years, but this has been a wonderful gift of a series with plenty of fight scenes, nostalgia, awesome music and memorable moments that I will likely return to it in future years. Remember, Cobra Kai Never Dies.