No Surrender Cinema: Cobra Kai (Season 6 – Part 1)
Just as The Boys wrapped up their next-to-last season, another hit show that’s near and dear to my heart kicked off their last season with five episodes for me to binge! No Surrender Cinema is covering all the new content this month, because now it’s time to chat about the start of Cobra Kai’s sixth and final season!
SPOILER ALERT: Yes, this article does go into detail about events that take place in the new season of Cobra Kai. If you haven’t watched all five episodes yet, come back and kick it with us once you have!
Believe it or not, it’s been nearly two whole years in real time since we last saw Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso take down Terry Silver with a whole lot of help from their students and allies like Chozen and Mike Barnes. Going so long without a heaping helping of high school karate warfare only to bring it back by saying “you’re not getting any more Cobra Kai after this!” is about as fun as an illegal crane kick to the face (I’ve got your back, Johnny!), but the delayed release of Season 6 due to the Writer’s Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes actually ended up directly tying into a milestone for the franchise. For those who didn’t realize it, June 22nd marked 40 years since the original Karate Kid film was released, so to begin the final chapter in these characters’ stories while simultaneously celebrating our introduction into a world filled with All Valley Karate Tournaments, waxing on, waxing off, and leg-sweeping feels rather poetic, but also somewhat bittersweet.
As we return to the Silver-less world of Cobra Kai, we see that things are going well for our favorite karate masters and their kids. Johnny seems to have fatherhood figured out just in time for Carmen to be having his baby; not only does he have former rivals Miguel and Robby living under one roof, but the two arch-enemies from earlier in Cobra Kai‘s run are now bros, figuratively and somewhat literally. Daniel is proud of what his kids have done, especially Anthony, who has taken a liking to his Miyagi-Do training. He’s also very relieved to see Cobra Kai literally being trashed, as he watches the signage from the dojo get tossed in a dumpster in a scene that calls back to the first time he saw that Johnny was bringing Cobra Kai back in Season 1. Speaking of relieved, that’s how the high school administration must feel now that all of these kids have not only been allowed back into the building for the new school year, but they’re all getting along! As the early part of the season progresses, we see the traitor known as Penis Breath get welcomed into the Miyagi-Do fold in a very “the past is the past” manner, while Anthony is at least nodding in the direction of Kenny, his former bully. Sure, it may not be all sunshine and roses, but for the most part everything’s all good in the hood for these kids at school and in Mr. Miyagi’s backyard where they continue their training.
Speaking of Kenny, it’s not just Anthony that notices that Kenny is putting up a wall and is being distant. Robby mentions he hasn’t spoken to Kenny since the encounter with Silver that got him arrested and Cobra Kai shut down, and his first few attempts are rebuffed. During one of these attempts Robby finds out that Kenny’s brother, Shawn, who was in juvie with Robby and was the one who pointed Kenny in Robby’s direction in the first place, is now out. Shawn isn’t too happy about seeing his little brother become so jaded from his experiences in the “karate cult”, and warns Robby to back off. Of course, that doesn’t happen, but when the fight doesn’t turn into the all out brawl that it could have, Shawn realizes that maybe Kenny really needs to reconnect with Robby and see what Miyagi-Do is all about.
While Robby and Kenny attempt to get their friendship back on track, two characters who have never had one at all find themselves confused as to how to carry on a friendship; Sam and Tory. Despite encouragement from their respective boyfriends Miguel and Robby, Sam and Tory just don’t seem to click. More than that, now that they don’t outright despise each other, they both seem to have lost a step during sparring sessions at the dojo. In fact, it’s not until Johnny tries to manufacture some drama between them (the scene where he throws them a slumber party with the help of Devon and uses Robby and Miguel’s phones to stir up some jealousy is a highlight of these first five eps) that the girls realize exactly what they’ve been feeling and why. Once they get over that hump, sparring practice goes a lot better, although there will be another obstacle for one of these young ladies to overcome before these first five episodes are over.
With the kids finally united under the Miyagi-Do banner, they can finally work towards their goal of entering the Sekai Taikai. Knowing that this is going to be harder than the All Valley tournaments they’ve competed in, Daniel, Johnny, and Chozen all have ideas for how to prepare the students for it, but the unification of the senseis is a little tougher to come by. Daniel still wants to base everything about the principles taught to him by Mr. Miyagi, while Johnny wants to proceed with more of his unorthodox ways to build the kids into karate badasses. Chozen tends to lean more towards Daniel’s side, which frustrates Johnny to the point that the antagonists of The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid, Part II actually agree to face off to settle things (even if it ends up being somewhat of a bait and switch moment).
Speaking of Karate Kid antagonist, “Karate’s Bad Boy” Mike Barnes is back after showing up last season to aid our heroes in their war against Terry Silver. Barnes is brought in by Daniel and Johnny to be an impartial observer while the kids train for the Sekai Taikai, but his thoughts on who is ready and who isn’t put him in direct conflict with Johnny. This sets up what longtime fans like myself have waited for all these years, where two franchise players from the Cobra Kai dojo finally get into it! In the end, it’s a scuffle that both regret, but one that Barnes seems to think will make him a better man since it helped him purge the anger he’s felt since the events of Season 5 where Silver burned his furniture store down and specifically targeted him solely for trying to help Daniel out.
If everyone is successful at working through their problems this time out, then who’s left to be the big bad? Naturally it’s John Kreese, who successfully crafted a master plan to escape prison, and has fled the United States. We find out that Kreese has gone to seek out Kim Da Eun, the ruthless sensei who previously aided Silver, but who has retreated back to South Korea. Being that Kreese is on the run from the authorities, hiding out of the forest of a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty seems like the perfect place to set up shop. Kreese has flashbacks of his teachings there, and we learn more about Kim’s past as well. The respect the two have for each other leads to Kreese taking over her students, promising her that he will create the most formidable team that the Sekai Taikai has ever seen. Oh, and while he’s at it, he does risk capture to make an appearance back stateside, one that will have huge ramifications by the time the credits roll on the fifth episode!
Things can’t be happy in the valley for long, so while these first five episodes set the stage for the walls to come crumbling down around Miyagi-Do, it gives us a lot to look forward to. There’s at least one what I’d call major event that could be seen coming from a mile away, but it didn’t make it any less impactful. A few old rivalries start brewing between the students, but it may not be who you think. There’s also one person who seemed to have a little bit of the Cobra Kai mentality left in them, and their actions may create a ripple effect that could tear the dojo apart. Besides the main storylines, a few familiar faces from previous seasons show up, mostly to serve as inspiration to a main character (and if you’ve been watching since Season 1, one of those cameos leads to a team-up you probably thought you’d never see)!
The worst part about Cobra Kai Season 6 is having to wait 4 more months for the next 5 episodes! It’s no secret that I’ve adored this show from day one, and although I’m sad it will be coming to an end, these episodes made me enthusiastic for the final ten. Although he wasn’t seen at all here, save for Kreese’s flashback to their younger selves, I think it’s all but guaranteed we’re going to see Terry Silver again before the clock runs out. There’s also the little matter of Daniel coming to terms with pieces of Mr. Miyagi’s past that he never knew about, and one has to wonder if we’ll ever get Hilary Swank to show up to tie-in The Next Karate Kid. Given that Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan have the new Karate Kid film that unifies the world of the original with that of the 2010 reboot, one would think that the showrunners would be pulling out all stops to get that last piece of the puzzle put into place before Cobra Kai ends its run.
The first five episodes of Season 6 are a breeze to binge, there’s plenty of storyline progression, a few new twists, and a brawl between Johnny Lawrence and Mike Barnes that everybody who loves this franchise has wanted to see for the past 35 years. Time might be running out on Cobra Kai, but the effort from all involved is still apparent. This series isn’t just a love letter to the fans, riding on 40 years of goodwill. This is a show made with love from the originals on down to the actors and actresses who broke out because of it, and they’re making every last minute count.
The first five episodes of Cobra Kai Season 6 are now streaming on Netflix. The next five episodes will air in November, with the final five getting released in January 2025.
