Cobra Kai never dies!
That’s the battle cry of the long-running Netflix series. But as the Karate Kid continuation enters its 6th and final season. I, who’s supported the series since its YouTube Red days, began to wonder if maybe it should.
Just like the underdog story it’s rooted in, Cobra Kai rises from the ashes to top the charts.
By the end of the five episodes that premiere as part of this first tranche of the sixth season, the series delivers one heck of a cliffhanger.
“That’s the sweet, sweet sound of no more karate wars,” Daniel tells his wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) at the top of the episode.
Last season’s villain Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) has been carted off to jail, while Kreese (Martin Kove) has escaped from prison and is on the run.
Of course, no more karate wars would mean no longer show; peacetime in the valley cannot last long.
The crux of this season finds the kids preparing for the Sekai Taikai, the world championship karate competition that “for over a century” has been occurring every two years.
“This is the Olympics plus the gladiator games plus the Kumite from Blood-sport, all combined,” Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) says.
Cobra Kai treats the Sekai Taikai with such gravity that, for a minute, I wonder if it’s a real competition.
Cobra Kai treats the Sekai Taikai with such gravity that, for a minute, I wonder if it’s a real competition. Spoiler alert: it’s not.
Question About Cobra kai:
As the series has carried on, the storylines have become far too familiar and repetitive.
How Many times can Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) face-off?
Many times can Kreese (Martin Kove) return, smoking his trademark cigar with a menacing grimace?
How many times can the young characters grapple with whether they’re Eagle Fang or Miyagi-Do or some variation thereof?
But it’s a great device to take the karate competition global and move the show past the All-Valley Karate Tournament.
The series’ consistent secret weapon has always been its sense of humour, and Season 6 has plenty.
Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) walks around the Larusso house in a robe and eating all the cannolis, while Amanda says “Guy flies in for the weekend to kill Terry Silver and stays for another three months.
That’s normal right?” Paul Walter Hauser, whose fame has risen since the show first premiered with roles in Inside Out 2 and Black Bird, hilariously reprises his role as karate wannabe Raymond.
The world according to Johnny applies the show its biggest oomph.
His versions of what makes a teen girls’ slumber party, how to navigate his new career. How easily the impending birth of his baby will be (“I’m a pro with boys and girls are easy,” he tells Daniel) are highlights.
The show demonstrates a constant, cheeky self-awareness and willingness to be in on the prank.
