REVIEW: Cobra Kai – Season 6, Part 2 (2024)

Television Reviews

The second part of Cobra Kai’s three-part final season arrived on Netflix this weekend, and while the show is still great, it’s becoming clear that it’s ending at the right time. There’s still strong character work, exciting karate matches, and plenty of fun (with the occasional jab at woke modernity), but Cobra Kai feels just a tad desperate in this run, like it’s trying so hard to go out on a high note that it’s bringing back elements and characters that were better left alone and sometimes going for showy “moments” that weren’t necessary.

As the Sekai Taikai tournament begins, Miyagi-Do is splintering from the inside, with grudges and resentments bubbling to the surface among the students while Daniel and Johnny clash over their preferred fighting styles. Meanwhile, Cobra Kai is a steel fist under John Kreese and Kim Da-Eun, while another rival dojo, the Iron Dragons, proves to be an unstoppable force.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 was about putting the pieces in place before the characters entered the Sekai Taikai tournament, so it was mostly about character development. That means it’s action time, and Part 2 doesn’t disappoint in that department, with lots of fights to get wrapped up in. Each episode brings satisfying victories and painful defeats, and the action not only pushes the story (and tournament) along but serves the characters, bringing their anger and hurt to life via punches and kicks. Part 1 was great, too, but Part 2 needed to deliver a healthy dose of action to pay off the talkier early episodes, and it does that very well. Time flies by as the students from each dojo go to war on the mat, and the same energy that fueled all the previous seasons is back. There’s more to go, but you won’t be disappointed with the karate sections in Part 2.

There’s still plenty of time for drama, of course, and Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 explores the perils of growing older for a tight-knit group of teens who, deep down, are afraid of life breaking them apart and take it out on each other. This leads to jealousy, resentment, and blow-ups that threaten friendships and relationships, with the fallout in the tournament threatening to end Miyagi-Do’s shot at glory and worldwide recognition early. And the senseis can’t help them like they should because they’re experiencing their own problems: Daniel’s doubts about Mr. Miyagi’s decency, Johnny’s desire to prove himself now that he’s got a second chance, and Chozen’s heartache at losing the love of his life. Teamwork and camaraderie have been major themes and elements of karate training in Cobra Kai, and Miyagi-Do is losing them when they need them most.

This makes their nemeses all the more powerful. Cobra Kai is a united front ready to claim the glory they crave… except for Tory, who is having doubts about choosing Cobra Kai over Miyagi-Do and wondering if her heart is still in the tournament. And Iron Dragon is more disciplined than either of them, with their fighters unwavering and devoid of emotional attachments. What’s fascinating about Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 is watching them all question whether their methods are best and vacillating between discipline and emotional bursts of action. That conflict is represented by Daniel and Johnny, who have different ideas about which is better, but the results of each style are mixed. And they’re having their own doubts, as Daniel wonders if there was a dark side to Mr. Miyagi he never knew while Johnny is faced with the influence Kreese’s brutal philosophy had on his own every day. As usual, the solutions are not easy, and the heroes are put through the wringer as the Sekai Taikai unfolds.

So, it’s all really good. But there are signs that Cobra Kai is running out of ideas and that season 6 is the right place to end the show. A major storyline that wrapped up perfectly well returns, and it adds little to an already full story. Depending on how Part 3 plays out, it may have even come at the expense of some new characters that could have been further developed. And while I appreciate the tension among the Miyagi-Do students, some of these rivalries feel like they’d already been settled and are resurfacing to add conflict. I’m also starting to get bored by Mr. Miyagi’s dubious past; I doubt it’s going to lead anywhere but back to Daniel’s faith in his old friend, which is what it should do, but it’s tedious getting there. Finally, it feels like Johnny is sidelined a bit too much, which is partly because there are so many characters to deal with. But if someone has to get less screen time, it shouldn’t be the best part of the show.

That being said, there’s still much more to love than not in Cobra Kai. Aside from the appreciated abundance of action, there are some great bits of comedy, particularly from Johnny. Chozen is also terrific in that regard, and he has an entertaining and even sweet subplot. The kids aren’t as much fun as the adults, especially because of all the animosity in this stretch, but they’re still a cast of young characters it’s easy to root for, while the Cobrak Kai students – the ones who aren’t Tory – are hiss-worthy villains, especially their team leader, Kwon, whose mouth you can’t wait to see someone’s fist shut. Kim, the other Cobra Kai sensei, is humanized a lot this time, and I enjoyed seeing her develop further than the all-business she-devil she was (not that she wasn’t cool already). And a new nemesis proves to be more human than he initially appears. Cobra Kai is still one of the best things on TV, and Season 6 Part 2 is an overall great set of episodes. But it’s clear that the show is gearing up for the end, and it’s pulling out all the stops to telegraph a big finish, for better or worse.

Let us know what you thought of Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 in the comments!

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