Starring: Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Courtney Henggeler, Martin Kove, Peyton List, Xolo Mariduena, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, Yuji Okumoto, Sean Kanan
Episodes 6-10 of the final season of the Karate Kid spinoff series takes place mostly in Barcelona, where a worldwide karate tournament with future lawsuit written all over it takes place. Miyagi-do Karate and bitter enemies Cobra Kai are part of the festivities, with John Kreese (supposedly a fugitive) shows up unexpectedly. His presence is briefly explained, "All the charges were dropped," and that closes that plot hole.
These episodes have the dojos competing in exercises in which fighters battle on a tall platform and whomever is knocked off loses. The losers conveniently land harmlessly on the mats below, but if one falls wrong and is paralyzed, the tourney organizers better whip out the checkbook. The tournament isn't based on realism, much like most of Cobra Kai. We've come a long way from the All-Valley Karate Championships circa 1984.
Cobra Kai's second set of final season episodes was entertaining in its own way with subplots involving the mysterious past of Mr. Miyagi, but then just like the finales of seasons ago, Cobra Kai attempts to rectify everything with an all-out brawl during the finals of the tournament. Fighting goes on for several minutes with no police in sight and the cameras keep rolling (I guess there is a worldwide television audience for this). Then, a major character dies after falling on a knife, and the tournament director (who was knocked out earlier sparking the melee) finally yells to cease transmission. This is a lazy resolution to all that has gone before, and I'll bet in the mercifully concluding episodes, we'll find out how all the charges were dismissed. Cobra Kai reeks of a series that has long passed its sell-by date.
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