Few TV revivals have crane-kicked their way back into the spotlight quite like Cobra Kai. What started out as a nostalgic YouTube experiment quickly became a full-fledged pop culture phenomenon, proving that the Karate Kid legacy still has plenty of fight left in it.
Back in 2018, when Cobra Kai first launched on YouTube Red (remember that?), expectations weren’t high. Sure, it had the original stars — like Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence — but could a decades-old rivalry really carry an entire show? The answer, of course, was a resounding yes. Fans were immediately hooked by the show’s perfect blend of humor, heartfelt storytelling, and nostalgia. Johnny’s redemption arc, Daniel’s new struggles, and a fresh crop of young fighters gave Cobra Kai new life.
But just as the show was hitting its stride, YouTube decided to get out of the scripted series game, throwing the future of Cobra Kai up in the air.
Enter Netflix. In 2020, the streaming giant swooped in and gave Cobra Kai a new home and a new shot — and that’s when things really took off. Suddenly, a whole new audience discovered the show, binge-watching their way through the first two seasons faster than Johnny can shotgun a Coors Banquet. The hype exploded, and with Netflix’s backing, Cobra Kai became a global sensation. More seasons followed, bringing back even more familiar faces from the Karate Kid movies and escalating the action to new heights.
Now, after years of epic fights, shocking betrayals, and some truly next-level training montages, Cobra Kai is finally reaching its grand finale. The series has given fans everything from all-out dojo wars to heartfelt moments of redemption, and it’s safe to say it’s cemented itself as one of the greatest revivals in streaming TV history. On Thursday, the final episodes of Cobra Kai‘s sixth and final season will arrive on the streamer — part of a chopped-up season that should tell you just how much both fans and Netflix didn’t want to let this one go (Season 6 was split into an unprecedented three chunks, instead of the normal two for Netflix’s biggest shows).
“After a startling result in the Sekai Taikai,” Netflix says about the final episodes, “Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai must reckon with their pasts while facing an uncertain future both on and off the mat. Almost 40 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, it’s all been leading to this.”
In a Netflix promotional interview, Hayden Schlossberg (who co-created the show with Jon Hurwitz and Josh Heald) adds: “All the big bads are still in play. You still have Kreese, Silver, Sensei Wolf, Master Kim Da-Eun. Everyone is still on the board. Nothing’s been resolved. We have a lot of fun in store with all the characters left in tatters at the end of Episode 10.”
At this point, all that there’s left to say is hats off to the creators and to everyone who’s been involved with this heartfelt show’s epic run. If anything, the arc of Cobra Kai should serve as a reminder that all fights great and small eventually come down to the same thing: Their final round. What a journey this one has enjoyed.
