Cobra Kai - Season 6 Part 1

Very entertaining and already fun to watch for the nostalgia, especially if you have seen the Karate Kid movies in the past. You should not watch it for the story, simply because there is none.

When How I Met Your Mother aired, no one would have thought that Barney's (Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother) remark that William Zabka was the real Karate Kid would lead to a sequel to the old Karate Kid films. And no one would have thought that this sequel would last six seasons. So Cobra Kai is about Daniel Larusso's (Ralph Macchio, The Deuce) original arch rival Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka, How I Met Your Mother), who wants to revive the karate school Cobra Kai that he used to be a member of. That was the idea at the start of Cobra Kai. In the sixth season, Daniel and Johnny are no longer rivals and they have defeated the bad guys from the old films who made their comeback in the meantime.

Of course, Johnny and Daniel do not always see eye to eye and that is also a large part of the entertainment in the series. Cobra Kai, just like the Karate Kid, is largely about youth discovering karate and, of course, rivalry. Combine this with music from the 80s, many familiar faces and a recognizable story, we get a huge dose of nostalgia. Especially since the core of the old films is practically copied.



Because Johnny and Daniel are no longer rivals, some of the magic of the series has disappeared, but it is still very entertaining. The bad guys from the old films have all appeared, old locations have been visited and many iconic events from the films are central to Cobra Kai, such as the All Valley Karate Tournament. Sometimes this makes for some absurd situations. For example, is it really credible that John Kreese (Martin Kove, Diagnosis Murder), Johnny's old mentor who is almost 80 years old, is still a fast and strong karate master? That is perhaps the biggest tip when watching Cobra Kai: don't take it too seriously, just enjoy the nostalgia.

The sixth season consists of fifteen episodes, of which only the first five have been released at the moment. The second five episodes will be released in November and the last five episodes will probably be released sometime in 2025. The sixth season is all about the Sekai Taikai tournament, an international karate tournament where the best in the world will compete against each other. It is presented as if this is going to be the biggest challenge ever, with which the series will inevitably end on a high note.

Don't take it too seriously, just enjoy the nostalgia

The first part of season six is ​​mainly about the preparations for the tournament and the selection of the candidates. Candidates for selection are, how could it be otherwise, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan, Designated Survivor), who is the son of Johnny, and Sam LaRusso (Mary Mouser, Body of Proof), who is the daughter of Daniel. There is a lot of training and testing of skills, but not everything is superficial. In the aftermath of the previous explosive season, a lot of easing and reconciliation has to be done, and there is room for some drama.

In short: an entertaining series with a not too serious story, many recognizable plots, familiar faces, and a little bit of drama, but still a series that I will definitely finish watching. Hopefully there will be a guest role for Neil Patrick Harris somewhere in season six to round off the series on a comedic note.

Based on the above, the first part of season six of Cobra Kai gets a well-deserved 7.