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Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 3 left no stone unturned, offering heartfelt closure while opening the door to franchise-expanding possibilities.
Posted in: Netflix, Review, TV | Tagged: cobra kai, netflix
Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3 Sticks The Landing In So Many Ways: Review
Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 3 left no stone unturned, offering heartfelt closure while opening the door to franchise-expanding possibilities.
To say Cobra Kai has been one of the best shows on Netflix would be an understatement because – as rich in depth as the show has been in characters and story, even when it is predictable at times – the overall execution has been second to none. While The Karate Kid franchise series is an ensemble by design, none of the featured cast, young and old, ever feel neglected by the more established talent like Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove, and Thomas Ian Griffith to the younger talent in Xolo Maridueña, Mary Mouser, Tanner Buchanan and Peyton List have full enough stories to lead their own series. The vast supporting cast from Courtney Henggeler, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DiCenzo, Vanessa Rubio, and Dallas Dupree Young have led, respectively, in their own right when needed. With the final five episodes of Cobra Kai, let's see how things wrapped up.
How Cobra Kai Wraps Everything Neatly Within the Chaos
Season six, part three starts with the direct aftermath following the multi-dojo brawl that closed part two and resulted in the death of Cobra Kai's Kwon Jae-Sung (Brandon H. Lee), the dojo's captain. The tournament is suspended, and we see how the surviving dojos in Cobra Kai, Miyagi-do, and Iron Dragons deal with the repercussions as the Sekai Taikai is suspended. Morale at Miyagi-do couldn't be lower as Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) wants nothing to do with karate even to the point of banning bonsai trees at his car dealership, his frenemy Johnny Lawrence (Zabka) is desperate to try to get things restarted when he stumbles upon Iron Dragons co-sensei Terry Silver (Griffith), who reveals how to get the Sekai Taikai started back up again.
Showrunners Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald have a lot they have to fit within the five episodes and not all of them share the same length of time. As consistent as the trio have done all series long, there's a bit of wiggling around, but not implausible things that happen. Six seasons in, the series can't shock the viewer like they did in previous seasons, but the execution remains as strong as ever, pulling in some amazing Emmy-worthy performances by Macchio, Zabka, Kove, and Griffith. Cobra Kai is unapologetic about hearting its heart on its sleeve; it is only a matter of time before we see everyone from their highest and most elated to their lowest and most broken. It's certainly a theme that spreads well to its younger cast from dealing with their share of struggles, especially with the way List carried herself, arguably the series' biggest underdog, Tory.
We've also seen tremendous growth from Buchanan's Robby Keane, who gained the wisdom most would envy in the final episodes. The "Binary Bros" of Bertrand's Hawk and DiCenzo's Demetri in part three provided some fun and a rare moment of levity in a memorable training sequence with Robby, Miguel (Maridueña), and Axel (Patrick Luwis); I hope we see similar sequences in a future spinoff.
There may be some disappointment from some of the fans who expect their favorite character to step up in the finale. For those who are, here are a few things. First, when looking at the complete body of work season six became, the showrunners did all that was necessary to wrap up each storyline as thoroughly as possible, and with the limited amount of time, it was always about the featured main characters factoring into the events of the ending. Netflix would be moronic NOT to feature the other Cobra Kai/Miyagi Do students like Kenny (Young), Anthony (Griffin Santopietro), and Devon (Oona O'Brien) in the next spinoff series. Second, who cares as long as the said favorite character is in a good place?
Final thoughts: I hope Griffith gets back on that acting horse after coming out of it for Cobra Kai because he does such a deliciously wonderful job as Terry Silver beyond anything imaginable from his character's debut in The Karate Kid: Part III. Also, Lewis Tan is about as physically intense and charismatic as Griffith, and the two developed wonderful chemistry together as the final season's antagonists. If there was one minor gripe, I would have liked to have seen something more emerge from Luwis's Axel and Rayna Vallandingham's Zara, at least in the final episode, given how much they were built up, especially given the tournament aftermath of the 1984 original Karate Kid.
Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3
10/10
Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg provided one of the definitively satisfying endings you can ever ask for on television. There was never any need to deviate from the existing formula with top notch fight choreography, stunt work, and series-best Emmy-worthy performances from stars Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove, and Thomas Ian Griffith.
Credits
Creators
Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, Josh Heald.
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