Cobra Kai really does never die. Sadly, however, the show that bears the name has come to an end. Netflix has streamed the last five episodes in the three-part sixth and final season of Cobra Kai, and everything was wrapped up with a neat little bow. The season was all about making amends and redemption. Plenty of tears were shed, some from the people you’d least expect. Wars were won in many different senses of the word. And in some way, everyone got a happy ending.
NOTE: Spoilers about the series finale of Cobra Kai.
The Adult Redemption Arcs Are Crucial
The second part of the sixth season marked the darkest storyline of them all. When an all-out brawl breaks out at the Sekai-Taikai tournament, it results in the tragic death of Yoon (Daniel Kim) after he grabbed a knife that John Kreese (Martin Kove) had illegally brought into the tournament.
The final episodes set out to bring closure to this tragic end. The Cobra Kai dojo mourns Yoon’s loss, no one more so than Kreese. In fact, it’s a moment that finally puts everything in perspective for him. After decades of hurt over his own trauma, he is finally starting to realize that he projected his terrible life circumstances on everyone around him, and it has led him and anyone he has come into contact with down a dark path.
He begins his journey of amends by sending Kwon (Brandon H. Lee) and the others home, effectively shutting down the Cobra Kai dojo when he doesn’t like what he sees Kim Sun-Yung (C.S. Lee) is making them, especially Kwon, do. He confides in Kim (Alicia Hannah-Kim), influencing her decision to kill her grandfather instead of him and run the dojo the way she wants to.
Kreese’s repentance tour continues with Tory (Peyton List) who he visits to apologize for the way he treated her. He tells her that he entered Cobra Kai into the tournament solely so Tory could compete and get the win she deserves.
But his biggest moves comes when he has a genuine heart-to-heart with Johnny (William Zabka), delivering the heartfelt apology that has been more than 30 years in the making. Tears are shed on both sides, Johnny finally unloads all the hurt he has been carrying for more than three decades, and they make amends. It’s enough to get any 40+ year old who watched The Karate Kid as a child get a little misty-eyed, too.
It’s when Kreese takes down Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), however, to prevent him from causing any more harm to Johnny that the character finally redeems himself in the eyes of viewers. While he’ll always be a villain in The Karate Kid world, the man who set Johnny on a misguided path, there’s a sense that he finally set Johnny free.
Fans have waited 30+ years to see Johnny finally get the redemption he deserves. At the heart of Cobra Kai since its beginning has been the exploration of if Johnny really was the villain he was made out to be. Fun fact: that storyline perspective was first brought up on screen in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother when Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) expresses his deep support of the character (and in which Zabka makes a cameo appearance). Cobra Kai finally sheds light on the other side of the story that isn’t from the angle of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) as the protagonist. Indeed, the journey of Johnny and Daniel from rivals to two men who try to tolerate one another to actual friends is one of the best parts of the entire series.
But there’s no denying it was satisfying to see Johnny on the mat again, fighting for a second time in a big tournament. For a man who has felt like a loser all his life, who messed up for decades because he didn’t have the right role models, Johnny’s story is one of hope, resilience, and determination. You’ll no doubt be pumping your fists in the air by the end. Johnny didn’t need to change. He just needed to change his mindset about himself. Plus, there’s an epic ‘80s montage training segment that will get Gen-Xers giddier than a mixed cassette tape with rockin’ tunes playing on a boombox.
Finding Balance For Those Loose Ends
Overall, part three of the final sixth season was about wrapping up storylines. All the kids got their happy endings, from getting into the schools they wanted or getting lucrative job offers, to repairing relationships, continuing studies, and saying goodbyes. The story started with Miguel (Xolo Mariduena) as the Daniel-type character and it similarly ended in the same way. But really, fans, at least those of a certain age, were most interested in what was going on with the parents.
Daniel came to terms with the fact that karate and being a sensei will always be a big part of his life, something we’ll see play out in the upcoming movie Karate Kid: Legends. His biggest growth was in finally accepting that there’s more than one way to learn and perform karate. Seeing Daniel in a black Cobra Kai gi in one particularly exciting scene will give you chills. In season one of Cobra Kai, never mind The Karate Kid, that’s something no one could fathom. But it fit with the story, in more ways than one.
It was lovely to see others get happy endings, too, along with a resolution to the Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) mystery that plagued much of the second part of season six. The story was sweeter than fans could have imagined and ensured not to sully the reputation of one of the franchise’s most enduring characters. We could have, however, done without the corny AI generated Miyagi cameo.
A Resolution That Strikes Hard
All in all, the ending is satisfying in so many ways. You might be left wondering if there’s any hope for a spin-off – perhaps Samantha (Mary Mouser) in Okinawa, Johnny and Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser) running the Cobra Kai dojo, maybe even a 16 years later look at Laura Lawrence following in her father’s footsteps and donning a gi. No such thing has been announced, but the door is left open for at least most characters to come back, including Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) as a new 21st Century villain whose just as heinous, if not more so, than Kreese and Silver put together.
Sadly, at least for now, the story is over. But you’ll happily deliver an audible clap by the end. The writing is beautiful, if overly sentimental at times. The throwbacks and tie-ins to the original movies will have you feeling nostalgic. The fight scenes are incredible, albeit wince-inducing when you hear those bones cracking and punches landing (kudos to the sound effects department).
Most importantly, however, the characters have always been ones you want to get behind and never more so than by the end. You may even feel bad for Kreese. You might want to give Johnny a hug, be ready to invest in whatever crazy technology Eli (Jacob Bertrand) and Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo) are planning to develop in the future, and root for Miguel and Sam to continue a long-distance relationship.
Fans have felt like they’ve known these characters through the duration of the show, many since they were kids themselves watching The Karate Kid movies 30 years ago. The story wraps up in a beautifully sentimental, sweetly redeeming, full circle way that’s impossible not to love. You will be sad that Cobra Kai has come to an end, but not at how.