Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1: A Stagnant Dojo

Cobra Kai’s (2018–2025) theme of underdogs parallels the show’s journey from humble beginnings to global success. Cobra Kai originally premiered on YouTube, but as its fan base grew, Netflix acquired the show and turned it into a worldwide phenomenon. Set as a legacy sequel decades after the original The Karate Kid (1984), it provides both quality nostalgia for older fans and relatable characters for younger audiences. The tension in Cobra Kai has reached a boiling point, as Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) qualified Cobra Kai for the “Sekai Taikai” (Season 5), the largest Karate tournament in the world; Cobra Kai can now spread their teachings globally. To avoid this, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), and Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto) unite under the singular dojo of Miyagi-Do to stop Cobra Kai. However, the road to the tournament is filled with all the expected challenges that come from Daniel and Johnny’s cohesiveness as newfound teammates. 

Since the duo’s rivalry had become stale after so many drawn-out seasons, Daniel and Johnny’s decision to team up seemed like a healthy change to Cobra Kai’s dynamics. While prepping for the tournament, Johnny and Daniel, aware of their biases, enlist the help of Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) to choose the six students going to the Sekai Taikai. Meanwhile, with Silver being defeated at the end of the season and the former Cobra Kai disbanded, prison escapee John Kreese (Martin Kove) travels to Korea to meet with Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) and train her students for the tournament. Although the first part of season 6 has issues, such as slow pacing and questionable character choices, it still offers five decent episodes that give hope for the rest of the season.
Though superficially entertaining, the show’s writing completely missed the mark: several of the character decisions felt out of place and reversed previous character development. For instance, Devon’s (Oona O’Brien) cheating to get to the Sekai Taikai completely erased her character growth in season 5. She was “the underdog” in the first few episodes of this season, but trying to remove her competitive nature to win made her a genuinely hateable character. Similarly, Tory’s (Peyton List) decision to fight in the Sekai Taikai but join Cobra Kai, the dojo she was tortured in, felt completely unrealistic. Hawk’s (Jacob Bertrand) appearance continued the ridiculous trend of him losing to much weaker opponents. There was also the jarring reveal of Mr. Miyagi’s past thievery, which makes the constant praise he receives even more annoying. Although this has happened in previous seasons, they take it to a new extreme, with someone even calling him “the greatest man to ever live.” It’s an unfortunate aspect of the season that brings the quality down, with the characters’ revelations becoming antithetical to what we know of them.

The sixth season continues the show’s trend of unforgettable action sequences, with great fights throughout just these five episodes. From the unhinged frat party to the creative batting cage fight, the quality action in Cobra Kai never falters. The standout action sequence was easily the fight for the spot as male captain, with its phenomenal choreography and heart-pounding emotional stakes. Both fighters, Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and Robby (Tanner Buchanan), deserved to win for how far they’ve come. Although Miguel takes the lead, Robby gains just enough motivation to win the match; his first against a main character of the show. 

Unfortunately, the nature of this season’s release causes the entire show to trip over itself. Typically, Cobra Kai releases the entirety of its seasons all at once, but Netflix’s money-hungry strategy of releasing seasons in multiple parts to keep subscriptions kills suspense by making many viewers forget or simply not care. Additionally, since this first release is part one, the pacing became very slow and even uninteresting. However, the insane cliffhanger leaves some hope that the rest of the season can redeem it, especially considering the show’s track record with tournaments so far. The All Valley tournaments in seasons 1 and 4 were both incredible in character moments, emotions, and choreography, making the potential for a full (tournament) mini-season very high. While this may be the weakest the show has ever been, what it sets up is still enticing for viewers; those at home can only hope that Netflix delivers on the rest of season 6.