The final season of Cobra Kai begins its long farewell
The final season of Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai may start with everyone feeling united in their recent victory against common enemy Terry Silver, but even as San Fernando Valley dojos Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do find themselves under one roof, are they prepared for the ultimate test of their friendships?
“The Sekai Taikai is the biggest tournament yet in the Karate Kid franchise,” says series co-creator Hayden Schlossberg. “The entire series up until this point has been the internal conflicts with the characters — from Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and Robby (Tanner Buchanan) to Sam (Mary Mouser) and Tory (Peyton List) — and, finally, everyone is together. But they’re going to need to be really together in order to take on the best fighters in the world.”
Indeed, it doesn’t take long for the group led by Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) to find cracks in their united front. “Daniel and Johnny have had the most tenuous love/hate relationship on our series, obviously starting from their rivalry in the original movie,” says fellow co-creator Josh Heald. “The first five episodes [of the season] are trying to be honest with that idea of an adult friendship that has a history of rivalry and pride. They have a lot of hurdles to get over if they’re going to be united.”
Their biggest challenge, in terms of the Sekai Taikai, is deciding which teaching style is going to achieve victory. “[Daniel and Johnny] are going to have to learn to fully respect one another,” adds Heald. “That’s something that they’ve dipped into from time to time, learning to understand that there are moments where each style has its benefits. But as they become one dojo, there are hurdles in terms of which style might be more appropriate. It starts to raise questions about what the future of this dojo looks like.”
Daniel and Johnny aren’t the only ones butting heads this season. As they head into the tournament, friendships will once again be put at risk. “With Miguel and Robby being new brothers, in a sense, with a new baby on the way, them trying to be part of this merged family, they’ve seemingly put their problems in the past,” explains third co-creator Jon Hurwitz. “But there’s going to be competition to see who’s representing the dojo and jealousy can arise. For Sam and Tory, it’s the same thing. These are characters who hated each other for so long and are just now starting to form a relationship with one another. Trying to coexist in a dojo together, how’s that going to work?”
The conflict within the dojo might seem like enough adversity to deal with, but there is also an external enemy looming. “There always is a need for a Big Bad that knows karate when you’re entering a new Cobra Kai season,” says Schlossberg. “There’s a big theme in this season of looking out for the enemy that’s right in front of you.” This season’s external threat is, of course, Sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove), whom we saw escape prison last season. “He’s teamed up with Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) in Korea with a whole new dojo of Cobra Kai students,” says Hurwitz. “As they move into this world tournament, there’s all sorts of big bads to come.”
The final season’s first batch of episodes (a second group arrives in November, with the concluding episodes coming next year) marks the beginning of the end for the series. For the three filmmakers, who took the series from surprise YouTube sensation to Netflix hit, the arc of the show was always clear. “We knew where we wanted to take the characters,” says Schlossberg. “We knew that we wanted a world tournament. We knew that we would be revisiting the former Karate Kid sequels along the way. When we got to season five, it felt like, ‘OK, this is shaping up the way that we were thinking, and it feels like we’re getting into end-game territory.’ ”
With six seasons under their collective belts, the creators feel like, fueled by their love for the franchise, they have brought the story of the original films full circle. “We started with Miguel, a new kid entering a school just like Daniel LaRusso, and finding the unlikely mentor in Johnny Lawrence,” says Hurwitz. “It’s funny when you look back at the original Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi was not that different from Johnny Lawrence. Johnny is maybe a little bit more rough around the edges, but they were both loner handymen in a building, who maybe drank a little bit too much and were a little bit grumpy, and weren’t exactly looking to find a karate student. But once they found one, a new spark was found in their lives. Cobra Kai took the ingredients from the original, modernizing it, and not abandoning why we all love The Karate Kid in the first place. We’re just giant fans.”
Cobra Kai, streaming on Netflix