GamesRadar+ Verdict
Cobra Kai emerges for a final year of fights, feuds, and karate wars – but shorn of the sense of peril that turned the show into an unlikely hit. What remains is a predictable, frictionless third of a season that may turn viewers off before it hits the finale.
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Cobra Kai already had the perfect farewell. Having defeated Terry Silver’s dojo at the end of the fifth season, the combined forces of long-time rivals Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (William Zabka) brought peace to the valley and balance to their warring karate philosophies. Everyone made up. The end.
Except it isn’t. The first five episodes of Cobra Kai season 6, then, immediately feel more like an epilogue than a brand new season.
With the Sekai Taikai world championship looming and the futures and college prospects of its younger cast at a crossroads, Daniel and Johnny enter into a long stretch of training to help prepare the kids for the biggest fight of their lives. Battles are fought, tensions rise, and tempers flare as each student struggles to become one of the lucky few picked to head abroad and represent their dojo in the prestigious tournament.
Unfortunately, as you might expect from the plodding premise, it’s pretty slow going. Usually, Cobra Kai seasons gradually build towards a thrilling crescendo, with the All Valley tournaments in seasons one and four, season two’s school showdown, and season three’s LaRusso house war all capping off their respective years with a bang. These five episodes, structurally, are just the build – and amount to nothing more than a part-season with most of the exciting parts (presumably) held back for part two in November and the final part in 2025.
The fights that do happen are almost exclusively products of the writers contorting the characters into laughable reasons to throw down. And, yes, Johnny and Daniel feud and bicker yet again. At least Kreese’s moustache twirling machinations on the flip side of the narrative inject some much-needed peril into proceedings, but this is by some distance the weakest batch of episodes in the show’s run to date because of how toothless and repetitive it all is.
This is best shown by an interminable second episode, one which slows whatever flagging momentum the show builds up in a decent return episode down to a screeching halt. Kreese’s expedition to find a lost knife, Johnny searching for a rental property, and the boys exploring their college options would all make fine B-plots in seasons prior. Smash them all together, and it paints the picture of a series killing time before the Sekai Taikai rolls around – even if a handful of familiar faces show up to sprinkle in some fun, frenetic action sequences throughout this first part.
Kick! Punch! It's all in the mind
One intriguing narrative wrinkle holds plenty of intrigue, however. While we’re forbidden from going into too much detail, Daniel and Chozen discover a hidden stash belonging to Miyagi, one that shines a light on his pre-Karate Kid history.
The revelations within may prove divisive for a portion of the fanbase, insomuch as it pokes and prods at a figure considered sacrosanct by the Karate Kid franchise. Still, it’s a risk and an attempt to wrongfoot its audience in an otherwise predictable and safe opening five episodes.
Cobra Kai season 6, part 1 does have its moments elsewhere. There are crumbs of quality, not least maintaining the successful blend of cheese and charm that transformed Cobra Kai from YouTube Red underdog to Netflix champion. The scenes where the likes of Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) and Demetri (Gianni Decenzo) get to hang out gives, oddly enough, a breezy sense of nostalgia for Cobra Kai’s early years away from the mundane charge towards the Sekai Taikai.
Peyton List, too, gets to show off more of her dramatic chops as Tory, while Xolo Mariduena remains a winning, charismatic figure as Miguel throughout, with screen presence more noticeable here after his quick DCEU stint as Blue Beetle last summer.
The first part of Cobra Kai season 6 though is, ultimately, a black belt at going round in circles. A final twist – which sets up much of the main tension and conflict of what’s to come in the Sekai Taikai – is eye-rollingly bad and will do little to shake the feeling that this is one season too many.
Maybe the decision to chop the final season into three parts is out of the creators’ hands. If that’s the case, you can have some sympathy. Yet, Cobra Kai season 6 is off to a sluggish start – one that will need to unleash a LaRusso-style comeback to claw back the sort of fist-pumping sequel-craft that made the Karate Kid spin-off such a winner in the first place.
Cobra Kai season 6, part 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Part 2 launches on November 15 with part 3 to follow in 2025.
For more, check out the best shows on Netflix.
