8 Things We Loved, and 4 We Didn’t, AboutCobra Kai‘s Final Episodes

The last five episodes ofCobra Kaiare now on Netflix , endingan almost seven - class journey deeply intothe public ofThe Karate Kid . It ’s a show we ’ve obtain near and dear to our hearts since the beginning ( show our love letter to it here ) and these episodes are the cherry red on top . The blackened whack around the waistline before your last peer . Are they perfect ? Almost ! We definitely have a few nitpicks but , more than not , watching the news report ofCobra Kai and Miyagi - Do endwas an incredibly rewarding , toy with experience that strike all the good punch . And kicks .

Below you could read about what we loved , and did n’t bonk , in part three of time of year six ofCobra Kai , its concluding episodes . But beware . It ’s full of major , major spoilers .

We loved: Johnny Lawrence

By the end ofCobra Kai , one thing is more than certain — this show was about Johnny Lawrence . It certainly began that way back at the start , but as the tarradiddle fit on , Johnny and Daniel kind of ended up sharing the limelight . Here though , in the final sequence , Johnny came back to the head , and it was glorious .

We see him grow up as he becomes a father again and postulate Carmen to marry him ( the montage of him better himself is thoroughgoing ) . He gets to unload his psychic trauma from Sensai Kreese ( with belike Zabka ’s best acting across the entire series ) , and , of course of instruction , he gain the Sekai Taiki by beat the invincible Sensei Wolf . Plus , he does that by going against his Crane Kick instincts — a perfect piece of character - edifice slash nostalgic payoff . We all retrieve he ’s going to crane kicking . Of of course , he should Grus charge . But his not doing it , and learning from that second , is everything for both Johnny andCobra Kaias a whole .

Also , did you notice the final episode is shout “ Ex - Degenerate ” which mirror the show ’s first episode called “ Ace Degenerate ? ” Those are both from Johnny ’s first lines of dialogue in the very first movie , a full - circle consequence of the bad guy at last becoming the well one he long need to be .

The final episodes of Cobra Kai are now on Netflix.

The final episodes of Cobra Kai are now on Netflix.Netflix

We loved: “You’re the Best”

We ’d been wait years for it . An occasion big enough , a moment grand enough , forCobra Kaito lend backKarate Kid‘s most famed song . And son did the show ascertain it in the finale , as we watch Daniel LaRusso train Johnny Lawerence for the large match of his life history . It ’s one of those moments you have to pinch yourself as you see because you ca n’t believe it ’s happening .

We didn’t love: The yacht

And by “ The Yacht ” we think , the deaths of John Kreese and Terry Silver . Cobra Kaihas always been pretty chintzy — it share that in mutual with the original films — but killing the two baddest guy on the show , in one singular , bombastic , soap opera house moment was just kind of laughable . And it may have been okay had it been acknowledged in any way in the final installment , but it ’s not . Just a throwaway pipeline about Silver ’s localisation . It ’s a odd , ballsy selection , but we wanted something better for such a monumental bit .

We loved: Kreese’s redemption

As the season wore on , you got a sense John Kreese had to eventually atone for everything he ’d done . And he ’d donea spate , going all the style back to the movie where he regularly ruined the lives of actual children . So , it was beyond satisfy that in these concluding episodes , we escort him take responsibility for his activity and apologize to Johnny for severely screwing up his life sentence . He also pays him back by letting Johnny return to Cobra Kai , and then sacrifice himself so that Johnny can at last be the sensation he was born to be . Martin Kove also did some of his fine work in these episode , bringing a fitting end ( minus the explosion ) to one of the most notorious bad guys in movie house story .

We loved: The final fights

Tori ping out Zara ’s tooth . The show flashing back to here and now of Miguel ’s past tense as he uses everything he ’s learned to puzzle Axel . The terminal fights of the Sekai Taiki truly gain their place as the ultimate fights in a show about push . We get to see Tori and Miguel , the two most accomplished warriors — and probably most complex characters — achieve height they never think possible in scenes filled with emotion and excitement . Oh , and Robbie ’s combat with Axel to begin with on was jolly fun and intense too . There was just howling , character - driven legal action in these episodes , some of the best in the serial .

We didn’t love: Sekai Taikai logistics

When the Sekai Taikai was in Barcelona , it felt epic . But in the Valley , as much as it made gumption as a full circle moment , it did not feel that way . If the tournament is as big and important as the show entail , is it really appropriate that it be held in an honest-to-god gym with like 200 people there ? Sure , the show prove to bolster it with the TV coverage feature Kevin Burkhardt ( who literally announced the Super Bowl last workweek ) and Ryan Clark , but that never matched what was actually on screen . It felt right smart too short and small for what it ’s supposed to be .

The timing of it all was also confusing . When are these matches taking place ? How much clip cash in one’s chips between them ? When it gets to the sudden destruction final , Silver says to Johnny the fight is tomorrow , but then at least one whole day of training mountain pass in between . It ’s all palm in a slapdash style unbefitting ofCobra Kai .

And do n’t even get us come out onby farthe bad part of these sequence : the fan - made sign in the crew . Oh my god , they are terrible . I almost made them their own category but , alas , I care the show too much to be that mean . But they ’re bad . “ Wax on ! ” “ Do a flip ! ” Yeah , indisputable .

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Johnny and Miguel – Netflix

We loved: The rebirth of Cobra Kai

We loved: Smart, more subtle nostalgia

Cobra Kaihas always been filled with lots of big , obvious winks back to the original series and these episodes are no exception . From “ You ’re the good ” call to bringing back Darryl Vidal as the referee and the chopsticks , there are plenty of large callbacks to go around . But these last episodes wentreally hardon the smaller stuff too . cast off away lines like “ You did well out there young man , ” or the mailman wanting to make for his married woman to Miyagi ’s backyard , are subtle but obvious to superfans . Miguel pelt along to catch Sam on her elbow room to Okinawa is another . There are probably more we ’ll catch watching again . But it was just a perfect balance of nostalgia . ( Oh , and anyone quetch that Hilary Swank ’s Julie Pierce did n’t show up , rewatch that picture show . It ’s so tough that I ’m very beaming she did n’t come back and cue us of it . )

We didn’t love: Episode 11

The last four episodes ofCobra Kai are essentially thoroughgoing . Each one is good than the last . But that first episode back , instalment 11 , call “ Into the Fire , ” really drags by comparability . Daniel is all unbalanced at the franchise . Kim kills her gramps . Johnny and Silver show up to Daniel ’s star sign ( okay , that part was kind of cool ) . All of this is crucial to set up the final four episode but , in comparison , is painfully deficient . gratefully , each of the next four more than create up for the one subpar installment .

We loved: Returning to the Valley

While wreak the Sekai Taikai to the Valley was n’t all that great , theCobra Kaiteam shoot scenes in the Valley were . The collage of Johnny and Daniel drive around in Daniel ’s sensationalistic Mr. Miyagi car past all these Valley landmark , see Daniel ’s old flat , and the two of them move down Ventura Boulevard like something out ofRocky , really helped wed the tale back to the original movies and elevate the drama .

We loved: Where things left off

In the ending , each of our character finish up where they want to be . Robbie and Tori end up together pursuing a remunerative vocation in karate . The Binary Bros. , Hawk and Dimitri , go to college together . Sam and Miguel get the pedagogy of their dream , and a trip in between to forecast out the future , while Johnny and Daniel continue to teach raw students . The show then graduates some of the nifty junior-grade quality like Kenny , Devon , and Anthony , to leadership position . While we ’d get it on to see what ’s next , because of how everyone cease up , we recognise they ’ll all be all right .

We didn’t love: Miyagi’s resolution

The previous 10 episode of time of year six seeded some tantalizing enigma about Mr. Miyagi , mainly that he fled America after stick the turd out of a guy and that he killed another in the Sekai Taikai . Well , the resolution to the former gets shoved in the terminal episode ( he was getting his wife ’s stolen pearls back ) and we never learn any more about Miyagi at the tournament . It ’s a small thing , of path , the show was never about him , but we would ’ve liked a more satisfying closure . Maybe in a prequel …

In conclusion…

Sure , the sign at the tourney were kind of lame . And yes , perhaps Kreese and Silver become flat a flake over - dramatically . Nevertheless , these final episode ofCobra Kaiwere absolutely wonderful . They sour incredibly firmly to pay up off things fans of the originalKarate Kidwanted , while also give every single character a meaningful topographic point to grow . And , in the close , the show lived up to its original idea — what if the defective guy fromThe Karate Kidwasn’t that tough of a hombre ? Johnny Lawrence is n’t a regretful guy rope . He ’s a great bozo . And , now he ’s the possessor of the humans ’s most famous dojo : Cobra Kai . The way it probably always should have been . Even Mr. Miyagi would give that a very enthusiastic smiling and nod .

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