“Cobra Kai” is an American martial arts comedy. It is a karate series set 34 years after the original movie, 1984’s “The Karate Kid,” featuring the All Valley Karate Tournament. In it, Johnny Lawrence seeks redemption by reopening the Cobra Kai Dojo and competing with Daniel LaRusso.
Math teacher Mrs. Rabasca shares her thoughts comparing both the original movie, “The Karate Kid,” and its adaptation, “Cobra Kai.”
*spoilers ahead*
Mrs Rabasca stated, “It was already a little bit of an old movie when I saw it. So it was a little campy, like, kind of like,not really realistic, but it’s a very classic 80s movie about, like revenge and, like trying to get the girl, and they have, like, the training montage, which I think is very nostalgic. So I really enjoyed the original Karate Kid, and then when I saw Cobra Kai was coming out, I was nervous.”
“I was like, why are they doing another reboot? We don’t need this. I don’t need to see how Cobra Kai is better, because obviously Miyagi, Mr. Miyagi, is the best. And they really changed my mind, like I started watching Cobra Kai, and I was like, wow, this is actually pretty good. Gives me, like, a side of the characters that I never thought about,” continued by Mrs. Rabasca
Following the demise of the Cobra Kai Dojo, parts one and two of season six of “Cobra Kai” show the students of both Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang preparing for the Sekai Taikai, which is the chance of a lifetime for many students for college, prizes, and opportunities. However, the dojo’s captains, Senseis Johnny and Daniel, disagree over their training styles.
Due to Johnny’s and Daniel’s argument, they decide to bring in former competitor Mike Barnes to select the top six fighters to represent Miyagi-Do at the Sekai Taikai Tournament.
Barnes chooses students based on a process of elimination where Tory, Robby, Sam, and Miguel immediately advance. The next morning, Barnes has Hawk, Demetri, Devon, and Kenny run through the forest and capture two flags to determine the final lineup. These were Mrs. Rabasca’s thoughts:
“I was like, why is Dimitri here? Like, how did Dimitri get good at karate? I don’t remember this happening. Oh my gosh, yeah, why are you here when it could have been Kenny? Like, there is no reason Dimitri should be here. That was my big like, no. Like, they did that just so that he and Hawk could fight about MIT more. Oh, yeah. Like, I don’t need to hear this anymore”
Devon captures the first flag after Kenny suddenly experiences diarrhea while Demetri defeats Hawk to make the team. Kenny accuses Anthony of spiking his water with Mitch’s laxative, when in reality it was Devon, while Daniel suspects Johnny had a part in getting Devon in the lineup.
“I thought it was good that they brought someone impartial, because I had the same thought, like, how can Daniel, like, be impartial when it’s literally his daughter, you know? Like, how can they make these decisions when they are, like, good at karate, but it’s never gonna feel fair. I thought it was good. They brought someone else in from the outside, but also as, like, a watcher like, we knew, come on. We knew who was gonna like, they’re the main characters. We need to see the resolution of their story, and that’s not gonna happen unless we can, unless they’re there. But watching Kenny get eliminated was so hard,” Stated by Mrs. Rabasca.
In the final battle royale to decide who will end up going to Barcelona for the Sekai Taikai Tournament, Daniel and Johnny decide to have Sam, Tory, Miguel, and Robby fight each other to secure their spots as team captains.
In part two of Cobra Kai season six, the senseis, Johnny and Daniel, and the team consisting of Hawk, Demetri, Devon, Sam, Robby, and Miguel arrive in Barcelona to compete.
They are shocked to find out that Kreese, the original sensei of Johnny in the original movie, has recruited Tory to compete against them in “Cobra Kai,” who was originally a part of the Cobra Kai dojo with a vengeful bond towards Kreese, along with Kwon, one of the most aggressive competitors of Cobra Kai.
On the other hand, Mrs. Rabasca appreciates this because “…he’s [there] for Tori, you know that’s the one piece that I respect about him, is like he sees and he’s never given up on her.”
Because of this, Miyagi-Do lost most of its points throughout the competition due to negligence, particularly Robby’s distraction and distraught over Tory’s relationship break. Mrs. Rabasca personally believes that the team was not “locked in.”
“Robbie clearly did not have his head in the game at all, I think, like, they were physically prepared, but I don’t think mentally they were at all ready. Yeah, they were not jolly. They seemed very confident in themselves for no reason. Like, you know, you’re going to this tournament, and you know it’s gonna be hard, like, you should not come in with the attitude that, like, this is gonna be easy, you need to come in, locked in, and we’re not at all.”
This kept on going for 5 rounds with teams like Iron Dragons, Tiger Strike, Redentores, Dublin Thunder, Los Seperinios, and 9 other teams.
Daniel struggles with revelations about Mr. Miyagi’s past, which distracts him until his team and friends help refocus him. Meanwhile, Robby, Miguel, and more of the Miyagi-Do members deal with mounting pressure both on and off the mat.
Due to Miguel and Johnny leaving to visit Carmen because of her complicated pregnancy, Johnny asks Amanda to call and replace Miguel with Kenny. Kenny refuses because he believes Anthony poured laxatives into his drink.
“It really just made me angry at … I was so mad. I was like, this is not how you are going to finish your story,” Mrs. Rabasca pointed out.
Later on in part 2, the three teams competing (Iron Fist, Cobra Kai, and Miyagi-Do) go to a popular bar to relax from the Sekai Taikai Tournament. Zara, the team captain in the Iron Fists, becomes jealous of the attention Tory receives and sleeps with Robby after he gets drunk at the bar.
Mrs. Rabasca on the other hand, believes this was a dumb play on Zara’s part, “You’re [a] very confusing character girl, because now you’re going after Robbie just because of Tori. I guess Robbie hasn’t won anything. He’s doing a terrible job. So why would you ever pursue him? I clearly just vindictive.”
Robby only agreed to join because he believed Tory was going to sleep with Kwon. This belief was based on Kwon’s actions, which included teasing Robby and showing affection towards Tory through gestures like hugging.
Yasmine dumps Demetri after Hawk calls Moon and inadvertently shows Demetri dancing with a Spanish girl at the bar which leaves Mrs. Rabasca shocked, “I hate Dimitri as a character, so much so I was like, I’m not surprised at all, but that was very frustrating. And then Hawk, that was very slick, calling her a FaceTime. And then, like, showing in the background, I don’t think it was an accident at all.”
The next morning, Tory witnesses the kiss Zara and Robby share in front of her hotel room where later on Zara brags about her sponsors and livestreams in front of Tory.
“She needs an attitude adjustment. Is so full of herself, that same attitude of like that, like you said, we didn’t want Cobra Kai going in feeling like they were gonna, like, own it, like they need to go and write headspace. Zara thinks that she was queen of the world, and the fact that she was so rude, like, oh, I don’t introduce losers to my sponsor, was like, No, thank you.”
“I was glad [her sponsors] were dropping her at the end,” Mrs. Rabasca proclaimed.
To get rid of her guilt, Devon calls Kenny and confesses that she was the one who spiked his drink with laxatives recently. Kenny reconciles with Anthony and accepts the trip to Barcelona
Mrs. Rabasca’s perspective was, “Yeah, I was glad that she apologized. But I also feel like I don’t really, I don’t feel like she’s, like, owned it enough either. I don’t know, maybe they go back to it.”
Three months prior, Silver is freed of all his charges and meets Wolf in Thailand, promising to pay his debts in exchange for buying Iron Dragons and humiliating Miyagi-Do during the Sekai Taikai.
As a result, when Kenny arrives most of the Miyagi-Do team members, especially Hawk and Demetri believe that Kenny is a spy for Silver and wants to ruin the team’s chances to victory. They refuse to tag Kenny in one of the elimination matches.
Silver offers Kenny a spot in his dojo, but he refuses and shows him a middle finger after he helps Miyagi-Do win after Robby had tagged him in.
While celebrating their victory in Miyagi-Do, the Senseis’ and the team want to sabotage Kreese and Cobra Kai by replacing his eunjangdo with a spa ticket in Kreese’s locker which causes Kreese to Punch Silver and demand for his eunjando back.
Miyagi-Do goes against Cobra Kai in the elimination round, and Tory confronts Robby on his hookup with Zara. He learns Kwon messed with him, making him believe there was something between him and Tory. Robby defeats Kwon, making Miyagi-Do advance to the tournament of champions, while Cobra Kai is eliminated.
Silver hands Daniel an envelope, showing that Mr. Miyagi killed his opponent during the Sekai Taikai. Tournament director Gunther Braun confirms to Daniel that Silver’s information about Miyagi is correct.
Tensions run high as “Cobra Kai” prepares to return home after being eliminated, only to receive a second chance when it is revealed that Russian dojo and semifinalist Tiger Strike have been disqualified due to four of its students failing a drug test.
Consisting of duels between only the captains of the top four teams: Cobra Kai, Iron Dragons, Miyagi-Do, and Furia de Pantera. The competition begins with Axel facing Robby and Sam going against Tory. Kwon and Zara win their respective matches, with Kwon’s decisive knockout earning Cobra Kai special points.
During the match between Axel and Robby, Axel pushes Robby into the Cobra Kai students, where Kwon elbows him in the ribs with a cheap shot. As Miguel tries to come to his aid, he is knocked down by Axel, who envies him for being Sam’s boyfriend.
Gunther warns all the competitors to get off the mats, only to be knocked unconscious by an enraged Sensei Ivanov of Tiger Strike. This ignites a brawl with all the tournament competitors, where Johnny and Daniel face off against Wolf.
“I can’t believe they did another brawl,” “Shocked. I was shocked. I was like, there’s not more security at this. People are fighting. Like, what is happening here? I know, like, there’s, there’s like, literal, trained karate kids who, who, yeah, and all the mentors were like, not stopping it, like all the adults in the room were not like, Oh, this is not okay. We can’t have an all out war and Brawl right here. [Nearing the end of the show] especially, but it was no less insane than the brawl that happened at school.”
Mrs. Rabasca is disappointed when she finds out Kreese goes after Silver with his eunjangdo, intending to kill him, but it slips out of his belt during the chaos,
“I was very upset that crease brought the knife into the dojo to try to attack silver. I get where he’s coming from a tiny bit like seeing that silver just keep popping up and up and up over and over again. But I think what’s what he needs to understand is that he’s a mentor to students. He needs to be a role model. He needs to like be the bigger person, and there is no situation in which violence is okay. There are other ways to handle silver.”
Upon discovering this, he fights Silver hand-to-hand. Silver beats Kreese to exhaustion and is ready to kill him until Johnny saves his former sensei.
During the match, Kwon attacks Sam, prompting Axel to stop his fight with Miguel and attacks Kwon. He throws him into a camera but then Kwon notices the fallen eunjangdo, he grabs it intending to kill Axel. However, Axel counters his attacks and kicks him in mid-air, causing Kwon to fall on the knife and fatally impale himself in the chest. As everyone stares in shock, Gunther yells for the feed to be cut.
“I just think it was really sad. I think Kwan was not [he] didn’t show us the best parts of himself in Cobra Kai. We saw him as, like, very hot headed and extremely impulsive and rude and arrogant. But he’s also, like, not done growing, and he didn’t have a chance to, like, become a person and regret his mistakes like he is going to have no opportunity to atone for any of the harm that he did to others.”
“He’s not gonna have a chance to grow up and live a life. And it was a really bad mistake. Him picking up the knife was horrible. Was a horrible choice, but it also was tragic that it ended in his own death, because there’s no way for him to come back from that.”
“I don’t think anyone deserves death.”
After asking if Mrs. Rabasca enjoys the show she replied, “I hope the last part of the season comes out soon. I want to know [more].”
Part 3 screens on Netflix on February 13, 2024
By Marggie R.
