Every Season Of Cobra Kai Ranked

“Cobra Kai” is a miracle of a TV show. It’s a legacy sequel based on an ’80s franchise that started off strong with one of the best family movies of all time before quickly going the way of many other properties of the time, resulting in increasingly diminishing returns. “Cobra Kai” not only makes for a thrilling reboot by focusing on a new generation of kids learning karate, but it’s also an effective remake of the tropes and formula of the original “Karate Kid” — this time with the twist of Cobra Kai being the good guys (at least at first).

Picking up with Johnny Lawrence over 30 years after the events of the original “Karate Kid” movie, “Cobra Kai” follows the character as he seeks redemption for a lifetime of bad luck and resentment by reopening the Cobra Kai dojo and accepting a scrawny new kid on the block as his pupil, reigniting his rivalry with Daniel LaRusso in the process. From there, the show becomes the best live-action sports anime we could have asked for, with karate gangs, old villains returning meaner than ever, rivalries turning into friendships, enough teenage drama to please soap opera fans, and, of course, plenty of great karate fights.

Indeed, it’s rather astounding to think that a little show that premiered on a now-defunct streaming service would go on to not only become a beloved series, but also one that could redeem even the most maligned of the original “Karate Kid” movies, all while getting over 60 episodes of TV. Not every installment can be a winner, though, so with that in mind, here is every season of “Cobra Kai” (including all three parts of Season 6) ranked.

The fourth season of “Cobra Kai” lands at the very bottom of the list mostly because it’s an awkward season of transition between the more grounded tone of the first three seasons and the jump to blockbuster-sized live-action anime tone of the last two seasons. The drama with the teens is not as effective, and the sudden focus to Daniel’s son, Anthony, being a bully (albeit a fun twist) gets tired after a couple of episodes. On top of that, the pacing is slow, the plot kind of uneventful, and the rivalries start to feel repetitive.

Still, it’s hard to hate on this season when it’s also the one that brought back the franchise’s ultimate bad gay, Terry Silver. Seeing Silver return gives this season a jolt of much-needed chaotic energy and even some tragedy, with Silver having put his villainous past behind him until his old buddy John Kreese drags him back down. The relationship between the two makes for a fun, poignant storyline that improves on “The Karate Kid Part III” and deepens the two antagonists. And, of course, we do get some fantastic fights this season, with the finale providing us with some good action and much-needed catharsis for Johnny and his son Robby Keane.

The first of the Netflix seasons of “Cobra Kai” follows the magnificently dark and shocking end of Season 2 with a season that ups the ante in terms of drama. The storyline of Miguel’s recovery after almost getting paralyzed is riveting, with Johnny facing the consequences of his recklessness as a sensei and Kreese returning to the fold. Both William Zabka and Xolo Maridueña give great dramatic performances as Johnny and Miguel, which also help this season stand out. At the same time, the season finds room for Tory and Hawk to shine as the new stars of Cobra Kai, leading to some compelling drama involving Tory’s home life and Hawk getting some great fight scenes.

And yet, Season 3 marks the start of a huge tonal shift for “Cobra Kai” — one that continued until the end of the show. It’s during this season that the live-action sports anime vibe comes into play, with the show’s kids practically starting a gang war between karate dojos that goes beyond absurdity. The show’s teens even get caught up in a home invasion brawl that somehow goes uninterrupted by any adult in the general area. (You would think at least one of the neighbors might call to check in and see what’s going on.) It’s silly and over the top, but it’s also very fun. And of course, Season 3 ends with a thrilling fight between Daniel, Johnny, and Kreese, and that alone makes it all worth it.

The problem with Season 6 of “Cobra Kai” is that the split into three parts slowed down momentum and the increased number of episodes means that this season has both some of the lowest points of the show and some of the highest too. Now that we’re in the homestretch, Season 6 ditches the unnecessary and repetitive use of misunderstandings and lack of communication as a source of drama. The characters are finally talking and listening, which reveals new layers to their relationships and dynamics. Watching Miguel and Robby finally behave not like friends but as unlikely rivals-turned-step-brothers is fun to watch, while the Daniel, Johnny, and Chozen trio is hilarious and endlessly entertaining. Even when there’s drama like Tory deciding to re-join Cobra Kai, it feels less like a contrived  betrayal and more like the best logical decision for her as an athlete.

If there is one big downside to this season, it’s the unnecessary focus on Miyagi’s secret past. This storyline ends up feeling more like a distraction from the other plot threads and merely the setup for a potential spin-off series, as opposed to a story that needed to be told here.

What really makes this a great season is Part 3, aka the last five episodes of the season. These episodes not only have some truly thrilling fights, but are also filled with all the fan service you’d want while still servicing the story and the protagonists. Sure, certain players get left behind, but all the main characters get a satisfying conclusion to their arcs, complete with some truly stunning callbacks and references to the original “The Karate Kid.”

The first season of “Cobra Kai” is a miracle. It’s a legacy sequel series based on an ’80s franchise with three increasingly less popular sequels, as well as a remake that made money but was creatively bankrupt. Yet somehow, “Cobra Kai” Season 1 ended up being a charming, compelling sports drama with great characters, proving the property still had room for more stories. Before the show became about anime shenanigans, cameos, and international tournaments, the first season of “Cobra Kai” was an inversion of “The Karate Kid,” only with the sensei being an insensitive jerk and the student starting out as a nice kid with a heart of gold who ends up winning the big tournament by playing dirty.

Miguel’s journey from a kid who is bullied to the hero of the story before going over to the dark side is very effective and compelling, but it’s Johnny who steals the show. Zabka does a great job of playing Johnny as a washed-up loser trying to find a new purpose in life after spending decades just drifting around aimlessly ever since he came in second place in a single karate tournament back in high school.

Before the show moved to Netflix and became a live-action cartoon, Season 2 was the high point of “Cobra Kai,” the installment where every element came together masterfully to make a great season of television. This is the chapter with the biggest and most effective contrast between Coba Kai and Miyagi-Do as two sides of one coin, a yin-yang of dojos, revealing how one’s methods work for some students better than others. The arrival of John Kreese also makes for some delightful drama, serving to deepen Johnny’s story as he tries to redeem his own sensei.

The main focus of the season is the drama involving Robby and Miguel, each fighting for the approval of their father figure, with Daniel and Johnny each raising a surrogate son and the philosophies of their dueling dojos making for some good character development. Then there’s the Season 2 finale, which is easily the darkest, most shocking, and otherwise brutal finale of the show at large. The epsidoe’s school brawl is one ugly yet very impressive action sequence exquisitely choreographed, setting a high standard for the rest of the series.

Season 5 of “Cobra Kai” is both the series’ “Empire Strikes Back” and its “Infinity War,” a season that fires on all cylinders, complete with the villains at their most powerful and the heroes at their most hopeless. It’s also a season where the show’s grounded sports drama and the cartoonish work together the best.

This is the villains’ time to shine, with Kreese going through his own prison arc that’s as riveting as it is entertaining, all while Silver devours every scene he is in. It’s here that he becomes a proper anime villain, complete with an evil lair. It’s particularly fun to see how quickly Silver tortures Daniel and gets inside his head, bringing LaRusso to his lowest point and giving him a better crisis of faith than the one caused by Miyagi’s secret past in season 6. In a redemption arc for “The Karate Kid Part III,” LaRusso faces his own darkness and decides his personal vendetta against Silver is more important than anything else, fighting dirty and sabotaging both his rivals and his allies in the process.

Still, it’s not all about the bad guys. There’s Johnny and Robby’s road trip through Mexico to find Miguel, which is both compelling in how Johnny tries to fix his relationship with both boys, and also rather funny to see Johnny make a fool of himself in another country. Meanwhile, Samantha proves to both Johnny and her dad that the skills they teach aren’t polar opposites; they actually complement each other very well. And of course, there’s the MVP of the season — Chozen. The former villain of “The Karate Kid Part II” is now an ally, a hilarious cartoon character who acts like a bloodthirsty Yakuza member always ready to fight to the death — and constantly suggesting they just chop Silver into little pieces. His climactic sword fight with Silver is similarly one of the coolest things in the entire show.

More than anything, Season 5 is a dream come true for fans of the “Karate Kid” franchise. It’s the season where the hero of the first film team up with the villains of the first two movies (as well as a villain from the third “Karate Kid” film) in order to fight Terry Silver. This is basically the Avengers of karate assembling to fight the big bad guy, and something only “Cobra Kai” could have achieved.

“Cobra Kai” is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.