Given that this last part of the final season of Cobra Kai was five episodes just like the other two, there are bound to be spoilers in this review, so just beware.
Firstly, I can’t believe it’s over! I don’t know that it’s quite sunk in yet, but I’m sure a month or two from now when I think about this I will be extremely sad. For someone who’s only ever seen the first Karate Kid movie, yes, some of the more recent season’s guests don’t mean quite as much to me, but that doesn’t mean I was ever less invested in the series. Even so, this show only really piqued my interest once the third season was set to air on Netflix. Although Youtube lost a hot commodity, there is no denying the reach moving to the biggest streamer had for this show and is perhaps one of the few reasons it even got to end how it wanted.
With all of that, let’s get into the final five episodes! We left off during the Sekai Taikai semifinal matches in Barcelona where all literal hell broke loose. Though Kwon was a lunatic, he didn’t deserve to die, and especially not on live television. These five episodes pick up a month after the tragedy where it seems like both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai are ready to hang it up for good. Well, at least almost everyone. Perhaps the most jarring change in character came from Kreese, who seems to have done a complete 180 on his outlook of karate. I think the death of this young kid weighs heavy on his shoulders, and though he doesn’t think his character can be redeemed, he does spend the rest of the season trying to seriously apologize to those he’s ravaged over the years. Those moments were some of the best in my opinion, though his final scene with Silver made me laugh out loud.
Speaking of Silver, if there’s one thing he wants to do with the rest of his life, it’s to win the Sakai Taikai. It takes a lot of convincing to get Daniel and Johnny on board, and of course he throws out a lot of pretty promises that he’ll find loopholes for, but he does at least get momentarily humanized. But what a pure evil schmuck he is at his core. Though everyone is scared to go back and finish the tournament, there is also a lot of excitement and possible futures riding on each individual’s success. Robby trains hard, and Sam convinces Tory to keep fighting, even though no one from Cobra Kai will be there to have her back. It was awesome to see all of our main cast come together to prepare for the final stage and be fully supportive. Miguel finally got over his loss and is there for Robby one hundred percent.
The finale brought some seriously unexpected twists that I’m not sure could realistically happen in real life, but this is a work of fiction, so I’m going with it! For all of the good guys at least, they get their happy endings. And I will say, as a spoiler, Chozen and Kim end up together and I am here for it all day! The bad guys finally got what was coming to them and Daniel finally found answers for Mr. Miyagi’s secretive past. The only thing that bugged me a little bit was how little we saw of all of these other characters added in over the course of the series. Sure, I suppose the final episodes should be dedicated to the core cast, but everyone else seriously felt like an afterthought. Even Hawk and Demetri’s storyline felt reductive! But, overall, I am really pleased with how everything turned out. I don’t know if anyone else has ever managed to do a reboot better, though I’m sure many more will try. Cobra Kai ’til we die!