ENTERTAINMENT

Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 3 arrives Thursday, February 13 on Netflix. This is a spoiler-free review for all five final episodes.

Cobra Kai closes up shop with a final run of five episodes that made me cheer, cry and howl with (sometimes unintended) laughter. I found myself powerless against both its thrilling tournament action and its heart-tugging resolutions.

This farewell run focuses a bit more on the senseis than it does on the youthful next gen, honing in on what Daniel and Johnny both need from each other and what they want to represent as karate mentors. The main kids do have some big, rousing moments, spanning both defeat and victory, but it’s really the grown ups who shine here at the finish line. William Zabka, in particular, is phenomenal in a handful of heartbreaking scenes that work to key us in on just how miserable and lonely his life was following his epic All-Valley loss in 1984.

And Ralph Macchio’s Daniel, in turn, is able to really honor and heed Miyagi-Do’s teachings and prove why it’s a crucial, critical cog in The Valley’s karate scene. The Karate Kid, and Mr. Miyagi’s belief that karate was for defense only, was kind of revolutionary at the height of 1980s America’s appetite for martial-arts movies. This is what Daniel finds himself ruminating on in the aftermath of Barcelona, along with the overall need, or lack thereof, for tournament glory.

Does some of Daniel’s soul-searching come, once again, with a weird CGI Mr. Miyagi, plunging Cobra Kai in to the uncanny valley? Absolutely. But it’s easy to forgive the de-aging weirdness when you consider where this particular vision takes Daniel emotionally. Remember, Miyagi was humble. Almost to a fault. He didn’t care about titles, belts, levels, rumors, lies, or even Medals of Honor. All of his validation came from within. And this is also a big part of Cobra Kai’s overall impact.

Following the accidental death of Kwon in Part 2’s finale, the characters, and the show, have to regroup and figure out just how lethal the stakes will be heading into the finish. Franchise-wise, this isn’t unprecedented. The movies themselves, between The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid Part II, went from high school bully antics and tournament wins to fights to the death in Okinawa. And Cobra Kai has to wrestle with this in its endgame. Right at the point when it seems like the villainous machinations of Terry Silver are going to take things into (too) dark territory, the show does a hard fix in a rather magnificent way.

For the most part, every character’s story gets wrapped up in fun and fitting fashion, though there are some stragglers in this final act whose best moments, you’ll find, are behind them. Ultimately, Cobra Kai shifts its entire focus back to what brought it to the dance. It almost feels like, in this last stretch, the series remembers what its title is. Post-Barcelona, everything returns to its point of origin: The San Fernando Valley. The region that, between Cobra Kai and the films of Paul Thomas Anderson, feels like something out of myth. An elsewhere. Like Doctor Doom’s Battleworld, but with karate teens ruling the landscape.

It could feel cheap or uninspired, like when sitcoms throw a wedding on their main set. (“We could just get married in Cheers!”) But The Valley is the weird, beating heart of Cobra Kai: Where Johnny needs to better himself, Daniel needs to balance himself, Tory and Robby need to find their path, and much much more. Now the world of international karate comes to them – with all the villains, like Silver and the Iron Dragons, still in play.

I’ve written before about how Cobra Kai is a fantastic blend of tones, mixing sitcom-style comedy with stark, effective drama. Sometimes characters are cartoonishly stubborn and obtuse, but that always usually leads to a brilliant bit of catharsis. These final episodes take from the same playbook, of course. Some elements play out with all the bells, whistles, and sitcom antics intact (botched proposals, baby-delivery zaniness), almost eliciting eye rolls. But others – hoo, boy – they zig instead of zag and I was thrown for a loop. In a great way. It all works.

Very few of the “bad guys” on Cobra Kai escape redemption. And if they don’t get to come full circle, we at least gain insight into their tragic motivation or witness a pivotal moment that feels like a seed planted for future absolution. Now that Cobra Kai actually has a surplus of adversaries, there’s room for one final act of apology and clarity. I won’t give away who it is, but it’s a doozy and it fuels the final two episodes in a magnificent manner.

Here at the end of all-things Cobra Kai, it’s phenomenal how the show’s collected characters: It scooped up strays and made them lovable. It started with the main characters, but over the course of seven years, it’s amassed a small army of beguiling misfits and lost souls in search of purpose. Some of them may not have had the final moments I fully wanted for them but the tapestry of the world is so detailed that you can easily imagine their lives and fates moving forward. And yes, the show still knows how to create exciting tournament showdowns, filled with nail-biting suspense. There’s even a final high-stakes fight that pretty much tips its headband at the entire Karate Kid franchise. Cobra Kai goes out on a very satisfying note, filled with hope and rejuvenation.