No Surrender Cinema: Cobra Kai (Season 6 – Part 2)
“Because, Danny Boy…what would life be without a few surprises?”
We are now two-thirds of the way to the end of Cobra Kai, as episodes 6-10 of the Final 15 premiered on Netflix this past Friday. By this point I think everyone knows what to expect from the iconic senseis and their students, and it’s just a matter of how it’s all going to play out. While I won’t be touching upon every little thing here in No Surrender Cinema, there will be some spoilers included in this column. I’ll do my best to refrain from ruining any major moments, but consider this your warning if you don’t want to know anything about the latest developments in the beloved karate saga!
When we last left our misfit crew of martial artists, they were reeling from the revelation that bad girl Tori was now back with Cobra Kai. John Kreese had put together a formidable crew of new opponents for Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso’s proteges, but when Tori walked out like Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach ’96, it left Miyagi-Do rattled. While Kreese saw this as a strategic move as much as a “gotcha”, we learn more from Tori as her boyfriend Robby tries to understand her decision that it was done more out of desperation than vengeance. After the loss of her mother earlier in the season, Tori felt like she was bound to be slighted by Sam and the senseis, and sought solace in Kreese as a father figure. This creates a rift between Tori and her boyfriend and former friends, one wide enough that it would soon include other people like her teammate Kwon (who loves trolling Robby, much to her chagrin) and Iron Dragons captain Zara, a “mean girl” and influencer who has her eyes on Robby.
The return of Kreese and the fact that he’s now leading a new generation of karate punks against our heroes is a big obstacle for the protagonists, but it’s far from the only problem they’re facing. Though it’s no fun finding out that they’ll be standing across the mat from their arch-rival and his new class of students, the other dojos appear to be just as impressive and as formidable. In true Johnny Lawrence fashion, an earlier encounter with a fellow sensei did not go well, and Sensei Wolf (played by Lewis Tan, star of the 2021 Mortal Kombat film and its upcoming sequel) is shown to be just as cunning and sadistic as previous Karate Kid franchise villains can be. This, combined with the aforementioned Zara’s tensions with Tori sets up Wolf’s Iron Dragons dojo to be instant rivals with both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai, though a bond seems to blossom between Samantha LaRusso and the Dragons’ tower of power, Axel.
While the Sekai Taikai itself has everyone stressed, both Johnny and Daniel are having issues keeping their emotions in check thanks to incidents in their personal lives. Daniel is still reeling from the revelation that Mr. Miyagi may not belong on the pedestal he’s had him on all these years. The premise of Daniel being so obsessed with Miyagi’s past that it’s inducing nightmares led to an amazing opening scene in the final episode where modern technology was utilized to actually bring Daniel and his mentor face to face once again! Meanwhile, in a storyline that didn’t require special effects but did have a hell of a lot of impact, a phone call from back home has both Johnny and Miguel thinking about anything other than karate. It’s an emergency that creates a shift in plans that could hurt Miaygi-Do’s chances of victory in the tournament. Both adults and kids alike are all in danger of falling apart, but the challenges cause everybody to do what they do best; rally and overcome…or so they hope.
What can’t be overcome are the surprises, and there are several sprinkled throughout episodes 6-10. We get an unexpected, humorous “love connection” between two consenting adults who don’t typically see eye to eye. Friendships are tested, and some new allegiances are formed. The most obvious twist of this latest run of episodes is still one that caused this reviewer to react with sheer joy (f you know, you know). Perhaps the biggest surprises is a callback to earlier in the Karate Kid franchise that would likely fly over the heads of 96% of the viewers heads. It’s a deep cut, maybe the deepest cut Cobra Kai has made while building its own universe on top of the one established by the previous feature films, but since I’m a superfan who happens to be a sucker for obscure references, I ate up every second of it.
Naturally, since we’re in the world of Cobra Kai, most of the problems that pop up are solved with karate. Sometimes the personal struggles spill over into the Sekai Taikai competition, while there are some fights that start due to the slightest grievance (to quote Amanda LaRusso, “Ugh, karate.”). There have been a lot of memorable fights over the past 6 years (I can’t even begin to count the number of times my son and I watched the epic high school showdown from Season 2), but dare I saw that the one that takes place in Episode 10 may be the most epic of all. Let’s just say that things don’t go as planned for anyone at the Sekai Taikai, and the various plot points boil over into a melee that will have resounding consequences for many of our main characters, complete with a cliffhanger that “goes there” in a way that has yet to be seen ever since Cobra Kai debuted on what used to be known as YouTube Red back in 2018.
Usually when a show has entered its final season, things start wrapping up bit by bit, until you reach the inevitable conclusion. Maybe you get one or two last minute twists to keep viewers guessing, or maybe I’m just desensitized thanks to years of being such a TV buff. I say that to say, after watching these last 5 episodes, I’m not quite sure what the endgame for Cobra Kai is going to be. It does feel like a lot of storyline closure was given to certain relationships, leaving room for the major stories to get their resolution when the show returns in January. The flip side to that is that so many more doors have been opened now, between the new characters like Sensei Wolf, surprise appearances (IYKYK), and of course…THAT ENDING. It feels like they’ve still got a lot of ground to cover with only five more episodes, and I’m eager to see how they do it, especially since Episodes 6-10 are what I’d consider five of the best episodes in the entire franchise.
All episodes of Cobra Kai are currently streaming on Netflix. For physical media fans like myself, you can also buy previous seasons on DVD.
