Cobra Kai season 6 needs to kick the status quo, not bow to it

At the moment, I'd say that Cobra Kai is lingering somewhere in the middle – which in itself is disappointing. The Karate Kid spin-off survived the seldom-used and short-lived streaming service YouTube Red through the sheer strength of its comedy, characters and fight choreography. Ending on an underwhelming note would hardly honour that accomplishment.

And yet, recent seasons on Netflix have relied increasingly heavily on the narrative loops that often occur in later seasons of more forgettable young adult fare. Rather than having genuine forward momentum, it feels like Cobra Kai is circling the melodrama drain and retreading old ground that has been stamped on within an inch of its life.

Sure, Cobra Kai season 6 deals with the "new" element of the Sekai Taikai, but this materialises as only a slightly grander version of the twice-depicted All Valley Tournament. Indeed, eagle-eyed fans have noted that the same studio set appears to have been used to film both competitions, further muting the sense of escalation.

Although there were only five episodes in part 1, the journey to the tournament still felt long as the students of Miyagi-Do first had to fight for a place on the limited roster, which seemed to trigger regression in almost everyone. Settled feuds were fired up once more and, in the case of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), a 50-something-year-old man started acting like a child.

From the very beginning of Cobra Kai, fans have loved the character in spite of his flaws, but equally there has been a wish to see him genuinely grow into a healthier, happier individual. That seemed to be happening as he reconciled with his son Robby (Tanner Buchanan), became a surrogate father to Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and found love with Carmen (Vanessa Rubio).

But the true impact of these supposedly major strides must be questioned when all it takes is one test for Johnny to collapse and spiral into the worst of his old habits. His unhinged behaviour includes cutting Daniel (Ralph Macchio) out of training, abandoning his job at the car dealership, and attempting to drive a wedge between Samantha (Mary Mouser) and Tory (Peyton List).

He also takes a sudden interest in Miyagi-Do student Devon (Oona O'Brien), who has been a fringe character up until this point, with the favouritism he displays being unprofessional at best and a little creepy at worst. You'd think if he would be biased towards anyone in the competition it would be his biological and adoptive sons, but bizarrely they barely register on his radar.

That's a shame, as even the most short-sighted viewer can see storm clouds gathering over Miguel and Robby, whose abrupt reconciliation in season 5 never felt complete and will now be stress tested as one rises to Team Captain over the other. Perhaps this is an opportunity for a more comprehensive clearing of the air, but it too feels like a step back.

Do we really need more scenes of the two squaring up to each other? Another fight ending in stalemate? Their sudden friendship in the previous season may have been a tad implausible but at least it provided the opportunity for new storytelling possibilities. Hitting the 'reset' button, as the writers seem poised to do, feels lazy and boring by comparison.

And we can't talk about resets without mentioning Cobra Kai's resident punching bag: Tory Nichols. Has one character ever had to endure so much misery and trauma in a show often described as a "comedy-drama"? Things appeared to be looking up for her in season 6, where she made peace with Sam (despite Johnny's interventions) and received good news about her mother's health.

That doesn't last long. Her mum suddenly dies in a gut-wrenching twist, made all the more cruel by the recovery fake-out, with the loss prompting Daniel to exclude her from Sekai Taikai consideration in a well-intentioned but tone-deaf measure. Naturally, she ends up returning to the menacing Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) for support.

Having only recently emerged from her villain era, Tory is frustratingly thrown into another, with a brand new Joker-style origin story to boot. This development may masquerade as a shocking twist with help from a ludicrously operatic score, but this isn't pushing the show into uncharted territory. In fact, quite the opposite is true – it's upholding the status quo.

It dictates that Johnny has to play immature man-child to cause friction with Daniel; Robby and Miguel need to be perpetually at loggerheads; Tory must always be the 'bad girl' reflection of Sam; and Kreese should continue to be the show's cackling Emperor Palpatine figure in spite of earlier attempts to humanise him through wartime flashbacks.

It's somewhat understandable when other teen dramas have gone to great lengths to keep their characters in stasis. You can only shake up the formula so much when dealing with teenagers who are still attending school, living with their parent(s) and generally lacking true independence. But Cobra Kai exists in a heightened version of reality, according to co-creator Josh Heald himself.

Discussing the rules (or lack thereof) to the Cobra Kai universe, he told RadioTimes.com: "We can always go as far as is honest to the idea that karate is the most important thing in the whole world... So, anything goes when it comes to believing in the stakes and believing how seriously you're going to fight for a title."

With this in mind, could the writers have considered a direction for their final season beyond simply rehashing the same tired rivalries, romances and patterns of behaviour that have dominated the preceding five chapters? What new avenues could have been explored if our central characters had truly buried the hatchet (or karate chopped the plank, if you will) and pushed forward?

The remaining 10 episodes (to be released as parts 2 and 3) represent the final few hours we're likely to ever spend with most of these characters and I, for one, would like to see some dynamics and scenarios that the show has never depicted before. Here's hoping for some genuine surprises when Cobra Kai returns in November.

Cobra Kai season 6 part 1 is available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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