Ralph Macchio says the Cobra Kai series finale feels like a warm embrace – and us diehard Karate Kid fans are inclined to agree.
Warning: Massive spoilers for Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 below!
"I think what I love about the end of the series is it really feels like a big '80s Karate Kid movie, like a really good Karate Kid movie with all the feels, cheers, tears, the 'F yeah!' moments." Macchio tells GamesRadar+. "I remember seeing [the first film] for the first time in a theater, and people came out of their seats and were high-fiving their neighbors, and people they never met before. And at the end of the show, you kind of still feel that, albeit through a Cobra Kai lens."
"It has the signature that the Cobra Kai series has created, but it never leaves the themes of what the Karate Kid was," Macchio continues. "And I'm really glad it landed that way. And these guys did a beautiful job. John, Josh, and Hayden really did."
You might remember that The Karate Kid, which first hit theaters in 1984, sees Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) go up against misguided bully Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) in an intense karate tournament under the sensei-ship of a one Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita).
Cobra Kai, which takes place some 40 years after the first movie, instead sees Daniel and Lawrence open up dueling karate dojos – though it doesn't take long for the two to put decades-old differences aside and become best friends.
At the end of the first movie, Daniel gets his big moment: defeating Johnny in the tournament. At the end of Cobra Kai, Johnny gets his – and defeats Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) in the tie-breaking final round of the Sekai Taikai (I promise you will cry your eyes out).
"I think, when you're wrapping up a giant karate soap opera that we've been on a six-season journey with, there's so many characters that you want to tie up, and from the very beginning, we would take some episodes and highlight certain characters and others," showrunner John Hurwitz tells GR+. "We took the approach of, in the final five episodes, not trying to tie everything up all at once in one episode, but spread it throughout, give everyone their big, climactic moment."
Every character does, indeed, get their big climactic moment throughout the final five episodes – with even Chozen from The Karate Kid 2 getting his own happy ending. Franchise villains Terry Silver and John Kreese definitely get an ending... but we wouldn't call it happy. Luckily, Johnny gets his well-deserved moment with Kreese, some 30 years in the making, as well as one final, beautiful moment with Daniel that echoes back to the first movie.
Continues Hurwitz: "That's one of the reasons why we wanted to do 15 episodes in our final season, so that we had the real estate to spend a little bit of time, and we definitely wanted to finish where we started with Daniel and Johnny as the two main characters that we spent the most time on in the early couple of episodes."
"That's been the gift that keeps on giving with this, being involved in this film franchise and this series and everything else. To have 8-year-old kids and 80-year-old grandparents all enjoying a piece of this, of this story over these years and gaining different things from it, whether it be nostalgia or new relevant stories going forward, it's always been positive," Macchio adds. "It's always about overcoming obstacles, wish fulfillment, aspirations, storytelling, mentorship. It's a genuine, big, fat, warm embrace and in a world that isn't always warm and embracing. So I really feel blessed, privileged, and, and honored to be, you know, carrying a piece of that torch. It's really quite unique."
Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 is streaming now on Netflix. The adventure continues with Karate Kid: Legends, which hits theaters in May. For more, check out our Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 review.
