Netflix has been killing it with this latest (and final) season of Cobra Kai. Splitting the narrative across three installments, the sixth season of the karate drama is better than ever, with everything leading up to what’s to come at the Sekai Taikai on November 15th. But before we head over to Barcelona for the big tournament, it may behoove us to reflect on the first third of Cobra Kai Season 6. As Miyagi-Do faces off against Cobra Kai for a world-class championship title, we can only hope that Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and the rest will be able to set their differences aside to stop John Kreese (Martin Kove) once and for all.
Johnny Lawrence Fights To Be a Better Father
Back in Season 5, Johnny and his girlfriend Carmen Diaz (Vanessa Rubio) were revealed to be expecting their first child together. So, naturally, when Season 6 came around, Johnny did everything in his power to give the new baby a home. Last season, Johnny spent a lot of time trying to reconcile things between his son Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) and his apprentice/surrogate son Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña). But now that Miguel and Robby are friends and even brothers, he’s free to focus on actually building a home for the new baby girl on the way. Unfortunately, his non-paying position at Miyagi-Do isn’t going to cut it.
Taking Daniel’s advice about finding a real job seriously, Johnny starts selling cars at the LaRusso Auto Group and isn’t half bad at it. Though an argument with Daniel (more on that in a minute) causes him to nearly quit his job entirely, Daniel’s wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) encourages him to stick with it for his family. In all of this, Johnny continues to show his own growth and development as a man, a father, and a teacher, especially after leaving his self-built Eagle Fang name behind to embrace the legacy of Miyagi-Do. That is, until things between him and Daniel turn sour…
The Johnny/Daniel Rivalry Continues into the Sekai Taikai
At the start of Season 6, it seems as if Johnny and Daniel are once again at odds over both teaching methods and the name of their combined dojo. But it isn’t long before Johnny comes around on the idea of taking up the Miyagi-Do name. If only that were the end of it. Over the next few episodes, Daniel and Johnny continue to butt heads over their teaching styles and their picks of which students should qualify to go to the Sekai Taikai. One such student is Devon Lee (Oona O’Brien), who Johnny believes deserves to go to the tournament. Daniel, however, doesn’t see the same potential.
To settle their differences, Daniel brings in an impartial third party: Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan). But as Barnes harshly challenges each member of Miyagi-Do, neither Daniel nor Johnny is terribly happy with his methods. Still, they allow Barnes to make the final call until Devon is ultimately cut. After confronting Barnes about his decision, Johnny gets Devon one more shot at being included in the final lineup, which frustrates Daniel. But things really get heated between the pair when Johnny seemingly insults Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). After Daniel assaults Johnny for the offense, the former Cobra Kai champion decides that the Sekai Taikai will be the last time he and Daniel ever work together again, noting that they are no longer friends.
Related
‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6 Part 2 Trailer Is All About Sekai Taikai
Part 2 debuts on Netflix on November 15.
Miguel Struggles With His Future — and He’s Not the Only One
Although things between Miguel and Robby have never been better, and he and Sam (Mary Mouser) are back on the right track, Miguel spent much of Season 6 Part 1 struggling with what’s next after high school. Though his mind has been set on going to Standford for quite some time, he’s shown to be seriously conflicted. But things get even more confusing for the teen after he’s deferred by the institution, leading to him exploring other possibilities closer to home. Though Miguel believes that being the male captain for Miyagi-Do might aid him in getting into Stanford, he’s defeated by Robby, who captains the team alongside Sam.
But Miguel isn’t the only one wrestling with their next steps. Though Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo) and Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) had always said that they were going to go to M.I.T. together, things got heated between these longtime best friends when Hawk began having second thoughts. Instead of telling Demetri, he let his friend believe that they were still on the same page, so when the truth finally came out, it was a massive blow to their friendship. To make matters worse, Demetri beat Hawk in the contest Mike Barnes devised to see who might go to the Sekai Taikai in Spain, expanding the growing rift between them.
Grief Sends Tory Back Into the Arms of John Kreese — and Cobra Kai
But out of everyone who had a rough first third of Cobra Kai‘s final season, Tory takes the cake. After Season 5, Tory and Robby rekindled their romance, and in the early part of Season 6, she and Sam made amends after years of animosity towards one another. But all of that went out the window when Tory’s mom dies suddenly of a blood clot. Grief-stricken, Tory pours all her anger and rage into her battle with Sam to be the female captain for Miyagi-Do at the Sekai Taikai but is stopped by Daniel from taking the final blow after her mother’s death is revealed. Though Johnny believes that Tory needs the outlet, Daniel doesn’t want Sam to get hurt again by her.
Hurt and feeling betrayed by the Miyagi-Do clan, Tory returns to John Kreese, who had previously tried to sway her back to his side. As the only person in her life who she believes will let her compete the way she needs to, Tory returns to the new Cobra Kai with Kreese and Kim Da-eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) now in charge. Ironically, for someone who felt so betrayed, Tory is the one who seemingly stabs the Miyagi-Dos, and now even Robby, in the back by leaving them behind. The next time they see her, she’s wearing all black, facing her former friends, allies, and senseis on the opposing side.
It Turns Out, Mr. Miyagi May Have a Dark Secret
But perhaps the most interesting plotline to sprout in Cobra Kai‘s sixth and final season is the idea that Mr. Miyagi may not be the saint that Daniel sees him as. Of course, anyone who has seen the original Karate Kid knows that Miyagi had a complicated past and a wartime history he’d sooner forget, but after Daniel, Amanda, and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) discover a hidden box in Mr. Miyagi’s dojo, it turns out there’s a lot more to the story. From what they can tell, Miyagi once co-owned a boxing gym and was forced to flee the country to China after getting in trouble with the law in 1947. Apparently, he assaulted and robbed someone, though we don’t yet know the particulars.
Fans continue to speculate about what the rest of this “dark secret” could entail. It’s possible (and very probable given the show’s title) that Mr. Miyagi has some sort of connection to the Cobra Kai style of karate in the first place and may even be tied to Master Kim Sun-Yung (C. S. Lee), the man behind the martial art form. It’s also possible that this story could lead into the events of the upcoming Karate Kid: Legends feature film in 2025, where Daniel will work alongside Mr. Chan (Jackie Chan) from the loose 2010 Karate Kid remake. While there’s still a lot left of Cobra Kai‘s sixth and final season, we can’t wait to see how the Sekai Taikai and the rest of the story will play out in the show’s remaining episodes.
Thirty-four years after events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, a down-and-out Johnny Lawrence seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai dojo, reigniting his rivalry with a now successful Daniel LaRusso.
- Release Date
- Rating
- Seasons
- 6
Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 premieres on Netflix on November 16.
Watch on Netflix
