“There’s no drama,” laments one character in part one of the final season of Cobra Kai, the Karate Kid sequel dropping on Netflix in a five-episode batch on July 18, with parts two and three to follow.
Such is the problem of TV shows when the source of conflict has been eliminated. Think Prison Break after they, you know, broke out of prison, The O.C. after Marissa died, or Dexter after Rita was murdered. While no one dies in Cobra Kai (at least, not yet…), much of the tension has dissipated with the resolute conclusion of last season.
Because it’s been two years since the events of Season 5, here’s a little refresher: Silver Fox Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) returned as the karate overlord of the San Fernando Valley, commandeering the titular dojo Cobra Kai from a newly imprisoned John Kreese (Martin Kove) and paying off the referees of the All-Valley and Sekai Taikai tournaments to rule in Cobra Kai’s favor.
Original karate kid Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and multi-time nemesis Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) have buried the hatchet and merged their respective dojos, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang, to create one super-dojo, Miyagi-Fang (yes, it physically hurts to type those words, and not just because I have the early symptoms of carpal tunnel), that ultimately takes down Cobra Kai and Silver.
Jonny’s son Robbie (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguel (Xolo Maridueña), former sworn enemies, bond when they get the news that they’re going to be half-brothers, as Miguel’s mom Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) is pregnant with Jonny’s baby. Even Tory (Peyton List) and Daniel’s daughter Sam (Mary Mouser) are learning to trust each other after their vicious feud, which remains one of the only examples of characters displaying plausible human emotions and actions in this show. Kreese faked his own death to escape a prison riot, because of course he did.
This is where we find the two dojos in Season 6, thankfully abolishing Miyagi-Fang as Daniel and Johnny search for a new, hopefully less offensive (in more ways than one) name for their combined school as they work toward qualifying for this year’s Sekai Taikai in Spain. Instead of turning their energies outward to fight other dojos and their evil senseis, much of the relative turmoil is internal, both within the dojo as the students vie to place in the tournament and as they wrestle with their own feelings of worth, competition, and belonging. Past rivalries get callbacks, but instead of breaking out into a karate war, these issues are resolved by examining feelings and talking about them. *Insert Natasha Rothwell in Insecure growth gif here*
I’m all for characters sitting around and shooting the shit, but after the cartoonish high jinks that this show has managed to survive on for seven years, diehard fans of the Karate Kid universe will be none too happy with the comparative calm of part one.
Part two, arriving on Thanksgiving, looks to ramp things up by employing one of its most believable and empathetic characters, Tory, and the surprisingly multifaceted Kreese, who has been stalking Tory while on the run, apparently unconcerned that he’s supposed to be dead. There’s the drama, I guess.
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