Cobra Kai Season 6 Review: Sweeps the Leg to Victory

After a rocky middle section that felt like Cobra Kai season 6 was treading water, the final season sticks the landing with a final flurry of episodes cementing Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as one of TV’s best characters.

Need a refresher? Here’s a look back at season 5 of Cobra Kai.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Overview

Cobra Kai starts on a positive trajectory. Johnny’s Eagle Fang and Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Maccio) Miyagi-Do work together to prepare for the Sekai Taikai tournament, an international karate competition. Old rivalries between Robby (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) are teased as captains are chosen.

For a show with a knack for crazy twists, Cobra Kai seemed to dole out its greatest hits. Tory changes sides, Miguel and Robby disagree on leading the team, and Johnny and Daniel struggle with being co-senseis. There are too many characters like Hawk and Demetri for the show to handle. However, from the 10th episode through the series finale, the Cobra Kai churns out the best string of episodes.

Cobra Kai is available to stream on Netflix.

A Wolf in Barcelona

Before heading to Barcelona for the Sekai Taikai, Johnny and Daniel work together to finalize the roster. Unfortunately, the early parts of the season bring about old issues between Johnny and Daniel. There’s a disagreement over who the captains should be. None of these problems are new. Kreese even swoops in to convince Tory to rejoin Cobra Kai after her Mom dies.

The issues between Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang worsen in Barcelona. Another great villain in Feng Xiao aka Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) enters the fray. He’s the sensei for the Iron Dragons, a dojo from Hong Kong. Wolf represents the bullying antagonist. His aggressive mindset makes for an interesting conflict with Lawrence. Miyagi-Do, particularly Robby, is plagued with distractions and ends near the bottom of the standings. Tory’s sudden defection throws Robby off his game. Robby’s lack of focus causes Miguel a lot of frustration.

Back in California, Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) goes through a pregnancy scare. Johnny and Miguel leave the team to be at Carmen’s side. After she’s safe, Carmen convinces them to return to Barcelona.

In Barcelona, Johnny, Daniel and Chozen discover Terry Silver’s (Thomas Ian Griffith) nefarious actions. A wild brawl commences during the tournament. A Cobra Kai fighter is killed and the tournament is canceled.

Back to the Valley

Terry Silver convinces the tournament organizers to resume the tournament. However, all of the senseis must sign off. Johnny wants to resume. Daniel initially refuses, but after Silver claims he’s dying, he agrees to continue.

Robby takes on the top Iron Dragons fighter, Axel, while Sam is set to fight Tory. After a nasty tip by Wolf, Axel breaks Robby’s leg during the fight. Uncomfortable fighting Tory, Sam pulls out of the battle, eliminating Miyagi-Do.

Kreese and Lawrence run into each other in a parking lot, not just any parking lot. It’s the same parking lot in which Kreese assaulted Lawrence in the first Karate Kid film. Kreese apologizes for how he failed as Lawrence’s sensei. He even admits training Tory was a way to appease his mistakes.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Final Fights

Kreese comes through for his former student, Lawrence, by giving control of Cobra Kai to Lawrence. Tory is set to fight Zara, a social media-obsessed karate fighter, played to perfection by Rayna Vallandingham. Miguel is set to face off against Axel.

Tory and Zara’s rivalry started in Barcelona. After Tory calls off with Robby so they can both focus on the tournament, Zara sets her sights on Robby, throwing Tory and Robby off. Axel and Miguel also have some interactions in Barcelona. Their connection is more civil. Trying to be friendly, Sam and Axel tour Barcelona while Miguel is back in California with his Mom. Axel takes a liking to Sam, but Sam stops it from going anywhere.

Fast forward to these two fights. Tory and Miguel win their battles, but Cobra Kai ties with the Iron Dragons due to the score discrepancy between the teams.

The winner of Sekai Taikai comes down to a fight between Senseis Lawrence and Wolf. Lawrence struggles to keep up with younger Wolf, but an incredible pep talk by Daniel helps Lawrence pull out the victory for Miyagi-Do.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Final Thoughts

Cobra Kai Season 6 isn’t the best season of the series. There are too many characters, and the first half of the season feels like the show is treading water. However, the final five episodes, mainly the last two, are some of the series’ best.

The penultimate and series finale are nearly flawless episodes. The flashbacks during the climactic fighters hit the right nostalgic moments without feeling like a crutch. Season 6’s final moment with Lawrence relaunching the dojo proves Cobra Kai Never Dies.