It’s time to get back in the dojo one last time as “Cobra Kai” preps to launch its final season.
Before diving into Season 6, it’s always a good idea to rehash how we got where we are. Season 5 saw a lot of turmoil in the Valley karate scene thanks to Terry Silver’s (Thomas Ian Griffith) return to the Cobra Kai dojo. Daniel (Ralph Macchio) became obsessed with taking down the rival who terrorized a period of his life.
Daniel’s obsession led Johnny (William Zabka) to be a voice of reason throughout the season as the former bully continued to show his growth. He helped his two sons sort out their differences and learned he and Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) were expecting a child.
Here’s everything you should remember before jumping into “Cobra Kai” Season 6: Part 1 when it airs Thursday.
Much of the fifth season wraps up a story started way back in “The Karate Kid Part III.” Terry Silver and John Kreese have taken over the Cobra Kai dojo and are expanding their influence across the Valley. Silver and his students begin to represent a very real danger to Daniel, Johnny and their students.
Daniel loses himself a bit in the season with his obsessive desire to take Silver down. He sends Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) to infiltrate the dojo, which nearly ends with him being beaten by Silver and his people. Johnny’s former student Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser) does end up being assaulted pretty severely by Silver himself.
Daniel shuts down Miyagi-do but grows so increasingly obsessed with Silver that his wife Amanda (Courtney Henggler) takes some time away from him. It’s only after suffering an initial defeat to Silver and an unexpected talking to from Johnny that Daniel is finally able to return to his Mr. Miyagi teachings and finds his center.
The season ends with Daniel and Johnny exposing Silver as a liar and convincing Stingray to come forward about the assault which ruins Cobra Kai’s chances to go global and compete in the international Sekai Taikai tournament. Cobra Kai dojos are banned from the Valley but Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang are preparing their respective students to compete in the major tourney.
Season 5 put a real spotlight on Daniel, but the heart of the show has always been about Johnny’s arc from deadbeat dad to standup guy. Season 5 saw him being an unlikely voice of reason for Daniel in a way that really highlighted how far the former bully has come.
Johnny wasn’t exactly father of the year to Robby, and much of Season 5 deals with the fact that his son feels Miguel gets more of his dad’s attention. Eventually, though – and after Miguel has a bad visit with his biological father – Robby comes to see that Johnny is Miguel’s best father figure too and that particular story thread is put to bed.
One of the big shocks of the season is that Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) tells Johnny she’s pregnant. While he’s certainly cleaned up his act and stepped up for Robby and Miguel, his excitement for his new child is a joy to see.
Finally, FINALLY, Miguel, Sam, Robby and Tory have figured out their omni-directional will they/won’t they. Miguel and Robby had their own issues to deal with this season regarding Johnny’s attention. They’re finally able to bury that hatchet after Johnny makes the two fight it out to resolve their differences.
Sam and Tory also had their own issues to work through in Season 5. Tory ends up leaving Cobra Kai after Silver’s methods get too extreme for her. The pair might never be the closest of friends, but they close out the season being instrumental in taking down Silver and even show their chemistry fighting together.
The big news is that Miguel and Sam finally get together while Robby and Tory do the same. While it might make practicing in the same dojo a bit uncomfortable for a while, the couples make sense together and it’ll be nice to move beyond that particular storyline in the final season.
Kreese was imprisoned for assaulting Stingray in Season 5, but tried to stay out of trouble in hopes of getting a parole hearing. After the hearing is denied, he lashes out at a gang that was pestering him.
Eventually, he decides to fake his own death with the help of another inmate and manages to escape prison right as Silver is revealed to be charged with Stingray’s assault. Now Kreese is on the lamb and looking for a way to get some control back at the start of Season 6.
Although Cobra Kai won’t be allowed into the tournament, the merged Miyagi-do/Eagle Fang dojo is all set to compete in the tournament. The show is going international for the final season as Daniel and Johnny need to figure out how their coaching styles can possibly mesh to get their students ready to fight a whole new echelon of karate challengers.
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