Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 Review: A Sleepy Step To The Chaotic Karate Finale

To be honest, it feels a little strange to be writing a review of "Cobra Kai" Season 6 Part 1. By this point, you've either accepted "Cobra Kai" into your heart — silly shenanigans and endless flashback sequences and all — or not. As the show heads into its final season, it feels ready to end with dignity (or what passes for dignity in the "Cobra Kai" world.) Everyone whose inner child needed healing has been healed, the kids are on the verge of adulthood, and it seems like it's at the right place to end. But while Season 6 has some satisfying character arc closure, the fact that almost everyone seems emotionally healthy makes it less chaotic — and a little bit less fun — than some of its earlier seasons.

Miyagi-Do Karate and Eagle Fang (or Miyagi Fang, or Eagle-Do, or whatever portmanteau they end up going with) have managed a major coup in the karate world by securing an invitation to the prestigious Sekai Taikai tournament. Once there, they'll do battle against the best that the international karate community can throw at them. But they have to get there first (what happens when they arrive is a matter for Season 6 Part 2.) In the meantime, they still have a host of minor issues to wade through on the home front.

First of all, there's the little issue of how Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny's (William Zabka) new dojo is going to be run, now that their respective karate styles have been Frankensteined together. Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and his friends are on the cusp of applying for college, Johnny's embarking on a new life with Miguel's mother and their unborn child, and Daniel has convinced his wife that after this tournament, he's going to retire from the karate game. So it seems like everything's coming to a natural conclusion. Of course, there's still the matter of the Sekai Taikai and selecting which members of the dojo are going to compete, a decision that is bound to ruffle a few feathers. And it wouldn't be "Cobra Kai" if there weren't several ghosts from the past floating around to create some added chaos.

Although there's still conflict in Season 6 Part 1 of "Cobra Kai," it's weirdly light on drama. Daniel and Johnny have found a way to actually be adults and work together for a change. Miguel and Robby (Tanner Buchanan) are essentially brothers now, their old rivalry a thing of the past. Everyone's mostly stopped buying into Kenny's (Dallas Dupree Young) persecution complex, thankfully, since he's the most frustrating character on the entire show. Even Sam (Mary Mouser) and Tory (Peyton List) seem to be taking baby steps toward not trying to murder each other every minute of every day. Is this the calm before the storm of Part 2, or just the natural effect of character growth and inevitable plot resolution? Either way, it makes for a front half of a season that feels almost sleepy in comparison to the frenetic energy of the seasons that came before.

It's also surprisingly light on ridiculous action set pieces. Again, maybe they're saving it all up for Part 2 when the actual tournament takes place, but in terms of sheer karate chaos (you know, the main draw of the show for most audience members) there's not a whole lot going on. We get a nice little dust-up at a frat party — which once again begs the question why anyone invites these kids anywhere when all they do is leave wreckage in their path — and a silly karate-themed capture the flag game that is somehow supposed to determine which fighters are most qualified to go to the Sekai Taikai. It's almost like the better the lives of the characters get, the less messy and interesting they are.

And in case you were worried that "Cobra Kai" was going to pump the brakes on the constant mining of classic "Karate Kid" material, that train is still going full steam ahead. While there's a limited number of actual flashbacks, we get a (probably unnecessary) deep-dive into Mr. Miyagi's (Pat Morita) mysterious past. It kind of feels like they're trying to make Daniel confront his hero worship of Miyagi, but the idea of trying to mine such a warm-hearted character for salacious drama — even if the storyline's ultimate resolution in Part 2 shows Miyagi in a sympathetic light — isn't particularly appealing.

Quibbles aside, "Cobra Kai" Season 6 Part 1 brings more of what fans enjoy about the series, even if it does occasionally feel like it's running on autopilot, burning time until they can get to the Sekai Taikai. It's pretty obvious that this is a back-loaded season, with all the fun stuff happening in the last handful of episodes, which makes the decision to split it down the middle a little bit perplexing. It's certainly not going to win over any new audiences who weren't convinced by the previous seasons, but it's got just enough energy to keep fans on board for its finale half-season.

"Cobra Kai" Season 6 Part 1 premieres on Netflix on July 18.