Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 6 Part 1 of Cobra Kai.
Beginning its three-part sixth and final season, it looks likeCobra Kaiis hoping to go out with a massive bang. How everything will come together in the end is still up in the air, but if we’ve learned anything from just the first five episodes of Season 6, it’s that anything can happen before this story comes to a close. But one thing that’s become increasingly frustrating for viewers of theKarate Kidcontinuation is the serious regression in character development between Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). These two were bitter rivals back in the 1980s, but today, they’ve grown into friends, colleagues, and partners in the Miyagi-Do form of karate. At least, we thought they were…
Thirty-four years after events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, a down-and-out Johnny Lawrence seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai dojo, reigniting his rivalry with a now successful Daniel LaRusso.
Isn’t “Enough” Enough Between These Two?
WhenCobra Kaifirst started, Johnny was a bitter middle-aged man with a substance abuse problem and a serious chip on his shoulder after losing at the All-Valley back in 1984. It seems silly to think about now. After all, that was 40 years ago (though, less when you consider thatCobra Kaitakes place between 2017 and 2020). But for Johnny Lawrence, that loss was the catalyst for the rest of his life going to hell. That is, until he decided to restart Cobra Kai and reclaim his life. In the years that followed,Johnny and Daniel found themselves going from enemies to alliesin the battle, first against John Kreese (Martin Kove) and later Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), and making peace after their warring factions of karate students beat each other into submission at the local high school.
Since then, Johnny and Daniel have made peace and even become friends. Combining Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang (which in Season 6 just became Miyagi-Do), these two fought all through Season 4 andresumed some minor tension in Season 5before acknowledging their respective need for the other. This is exactly what the show had been working toward since Season 3 when the idea to unite against Kreese first entered into their minds.It was only in working together that Daniel and Johnny could overcome the demons of their past, and reconcile after so many years of bitterness and animosity. From their example, their children and students were able to learn to do the same, even after Sam (Mary Mouser) was stabbed and Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) paralyzed. So why is Season 6 drumming up all that karate-fueled drama again? Haven’t we been here before? Haven’t we done this already? Yes, yes we have.
There’s no denying thatthe Johnny/Daniel relationship is foundational toCobra Kai. The entire basis of the series stemmed from the idea of Johnny Lawrence redeeming himself asthe “hero” ofTheKarate Kid, and while that notion is highly debatable, what isn’t is that the character has come such a long way from when we were first reintroduced to him in Season 1. Frankly, Daniel has come a long way too. No longer is he simply the sleazy car salesman who “kicks the competition” while they’re down, but he’s learned to embrace the fullness of Mr. Miyagi’s (Pat Morita) teachings and commit to the forgiveness that they ultimately require. Not only did Daniel mentor the son of his former enemy, but he has since welcomed that “enemy” into his home on more than one occasion, including to celebrate the birth of Johnny and Carmen’s (Vanessa Rubio) upcoming child. Time and again, this pair has buried the hatchet, aided even by their old flame, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue).
Honestly, I Think ‘Cobra Kai’ Is Right, a Lot of Issues Can Be Solved With Karate
We’re not saying start swinging legs and throwing punches whenever you have a disagreement… or are we?
But the hurt from their teenage years has continued to cling to both of these men as Daniel and Johnny once again attempt to do things their own way. While this made sense in Seasons 4 and 5, when the pair were still relatively new to working together, by Season 6 the conflict feels a bit too contrived. Given how much Johnny has grown as a man, a father, and a karate instructor, combined with Daniel’s similar personal revelations (especially after last season), their frustrations over their respective teaching methods and dates of training feels, well, petty. We might expect this sort of drama from characters like Miguel, Sam, Robby (Tanner Buchanan), or Tory (Peyton List). In fact, we even see some of the teenage karate students bicker this way throughout the season. Butcoming from grown adults, it makes us wonder if maybe the kids should just be in charge.
There’s no denying that Johnny and Daniel’s conflicting styles of karate don’t mix naturally. It took a lot of work and effort on behalf of both students and sensei to find a balance between them in the previous two seasons. This clearly makes training a bit more hands-on and difficult, as the two masters have to juggle around each other to find time to traintheir six chosen students for the Seikai Taikai tournamentin Spain. But this isn’t new to either of the twoCobra Kaileads.We’ve already gone through this exact conflict when the pair were training their students to tackle Kreese’s Cobra Kai, and again when going on the offensive against Terry Silver. We get it,Cobra Kai.Johnny and Daniel have had their issues, butthose issues (at this point in the series) are much better off left in the past.
People seem to forget that,at the end of the originalKarate Kid, Johnny actually congratulates Daniel for winning the All-Valley. More than that, Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel at the beginning ofThe Karate Kid Part IIthat, “The person with no forgiveness in heart living even worse punishment than death.” This isa lesson his student needs to continually learn, and one that, after so many years of bitterness, Johnny has come to understand. Butthrowing yet another wrench in the Daniel/Johnny dynamic complicates that further, and with already enough emotional stakes heading into the second part ofCobra Kai’s final season, it feels a bit like overkill.
Daniel and Johnny Need To Be United, but Not Just for the Kids
For the sake of their students, Daniel and Johnny have decided to put aside their differences until the Seikai Taikai is over. Admirable as that may be, it’s not enough.These two are always going to be in each other’s lives now, in one way or another. Despite claims that he will leave karate behind following the tournament, we all know that Daniel LaRusso is set to return forthe upcoming 2025Karate Kidfeature film, the first crossover between the traditional Miyagi-based series and the 2010Jackie Chanreboot. More than that, it’s just not in his nature. Likewise, Johnny will always continue to keep up with his karate skills, and will likely continue to train students until he can’t any longer. Karate isn’t going away, and neither are these two.
Of course, there’s also the factor of their kids. Daniel has been something of a mentor to Johnny’s son Robby in the past, and his daughter Sam and Miguel (Johnny’s surrogate son) are romantically involved. Barring that, Amanda LaRusso (Courtney Henggeler) and Johnny’s girlfriend Carmen Diaz have become friends over the years. The truth is, no matter what Johnny claims, these two will never be officially “done.” And how can they be?The Karate Kidmay have immortalized their impressive teenage rivalry, butCobra Kaihas proven Miyagi’s lessons to be true: forgiveness is a necessary part of living. If Johnny and Daniel won’t make amends for the sake of their families and their students, then they need to do so for their own sake.
Before they came back into each other’s lives, both were a bit of a mess. Daniel was a workaholic who had no real time for his kids, and Johnny was an alcoholic who had constantly failed his own.Resuming their commitment to karate and their initial focus on each other helpedthese two become better men and better fathers. As they grew, their rivalry turned into a friendship that showed karate’s power not to just divide, but to unite others together. They learned the most valuable lesson that Miyagi tried to impart to Daniel all those years ago, and it contributed to Daniel’s willingness to forgive and become friends with both Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto) and Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) as well. But if Johnny and Daniel can’t get past their differences, especially after recently becoming friends, thenwhat hope do either of them have at restoring other relationships in the future?
There Are More Important Stories That the Final Season of ‘Cobra Kai’ Should Focus On
There areplenty of other threadsthat need to be highlighted going into the last 10 episodes ofCobra Kai, stories that should take clear precedence over the Daniel and Johnny partnership drama.Tory’s turn to Kreeseis a fascinating look at how alienating oneself can cause you to choose a harmful path. Johnny knows full well what it’s like to trust someone like Kreese, andSeason 6, Part 2 really ought to explore how he (and perhaps he alone) might be able to help Tory to see that for herself. They’ve already set it up by reminding the audience that this is exactly what Johnny went through all those years ago when his own mother passed away.
There’s also the issue of the kids' respective futures. Miguel might not end up at Standford, and he and Sam may have to make some tough decisions about their future. Robby still has no idea where his place post-high school is, nor does he know where he and Tory are after her Cobra Kai turn. And that’s not to mention all that has yet to come out about Devon (Oona O’Brien) sabotaging Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young), Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) and Demetri’s (Gianni DeCenzo) fractured friendship, and Johnny becoming a father yet again. Oh, and let’s not forget thatDaniel discoveredsome potentially dark secret of Mr. Miyagi’s past, which will likely be the backbone of his character arc for the rest of the season.
With so many other compelling plot lines to explore,Cobra Kaishouldn’t be wasting our time on yet another Johnny Lawrence/Daniel LaRusso conflict. We’ve seen them as rivals, we’ve seen them fight, and we’ve since seen them set aside their differences for the sake of their kids and students.Cobra Kaiis so much more fun when these two are working together as friends, and while that doesn’t mean there can’t be small friend-like conflicts here and there (no relationship is perfect), it also doesn’t mean that we need to have such high stakes for these two. After all, it’s just karate.
Cobra Kai: Season 6, Part 1is available for streaming on Netflix.
