Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 Spoilers Ahead
When Netflix announced that the final season of Cobra Kai would be split into three parts, I was initially excited. With the show’s shorter runtime, five episodes per part would essentially equate to three movies, acting as a trilogy of sorts like the original Karate Kid films. Yet, if Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 is any indication of this, then I’m slightly (read, very) nervous. The final season’s first part provides a riveting setup for what’s ahead, but it does so by backpaddling a bit. In a sense, this is understandable, considering it wants to up the stakes, but at the same time, it’s jarring when, time and again, we have proof that the opposing forces of leaders are the problems here.
One of the best parts of Cobra Kai is that nothing is as it seems. You could never truly believe a character is changing because, come tomorrow, everything will look different. There’s also an undeniable message here that focuses on idolizing and looking at situations (and people) through rose-colored glasses.
Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 Reminds Viewers Why Leadership Matters
Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 provides fascinating nuances by making Daniel LaRusso a bigger problem than any other character because it’s more subtle. He needs to compromise, and he’s the only one unwilling to do so because he still has Mr. Miyagi on a pedestal. With this, the team fighting at the Sekai Taikai isn’t at their best or strongest. For once, Johnny is right. They aren’t going to beat teams like Cobra Kai (which we obviously knew would return) if they don’t incorporate all matters of fighting into their strategies.
And this essentially plays into the fact that, in more ways than one, LaRusso has always been immovable. Yes, morals are good. Yes, sticking to one’s roots and honoring people who matter is a good thing, but there comes a point in everyone’s lives where the bigger picture goes beyond our singular beliefs. This is where Season 6, Episode 5, “Best of the Best,” instead focuses on the opposite. The fight isn’t always fair, and the aftermath of Tory being forced out puts Sam at yet another unfair advantage.
Grief isn’t a linear path, and it doesn’t look the same for everybody. What should’ve happened instead of forcing Tory out was that the adults should’ve given her a moment. Even a small, brief instant with everyone’s awareness could’ve allowed her to come to a better headspace because Johnny is right—this could be the very thing she needs. It’s her choice, even while her headspace isn’t in the most straightforward place. With the progress that Sam and Tory make, it’s hard to imagine that she’d ever hurt her like before. There’s no way she would’ve had, but she could’ve ended the fight through her own decisions instead. It would’ve been a far better outcome than ending up back under Kreese’s leadership.
At the same time, Daniel isn’t fully to blame for this because his head is ultimately in the right place, but we see a clear setup of his decision to look beyond Mr. Miyagi’s leadership. He knows that his former sensei wasn’t perfect. He knows he kept secrets. This inherent need to hold on for dear life compromises the future by putting everyone at odds, including him and Johnny. This also isn’t to disregard Johnny’s stubbornness because we all know that’s been his crux from day one.
Still, Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 1 ultimately looks inward. It diverts the audience’s attention toward the leaders to allow us to understand that the kids are merely pawns in their decade-long war. In order to win the Sekai Taikai in Barcelona, the next two parts need to look toward the adults more carefully. It needs them to do the hard work in deconstructing what they know to do better in what they’ve set out to accomplish. Johnny is about to be a father again. The kids are going off to college, and there’s a lot of work to be done here to fix the damages from their past.
There’s a long, somewhat frustrating journey ahead of us, especially since we aren’t sure when part three will even premiere. At the end of the day, if this is the structured battle, then part two could be the downfall, and part three could give us the worthy climax to pick ourselves up. In short, it makes sense entirely, which promises that with the bigger picture, this final season of Cobra Kai could be its best one yet.
Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Netflix