Cobra Kai has returned to Netflix, but its charm has faded.

Cobra Kai has returned to Netflix, but its charm has faded.

Part one of the last season of Cobra Kai, the Karate Kid sequel, complains, “There’s no drama.” Parts two and three of the five-episode season will air on Netflix on July 18.

TV shows face this issue when the conflicting element has been removed. Think of Dexter following Rita’s murder, The O.C. following Marissa’s death, or Prison Break following their, you know, jail break. Even though Cobra Kai doesn’t have any deaths—at least not yet—the determined ending of the previous season has relieved a lot of the stress.

Given that the events of Season 5 occurred two years ago, let’s recap: Silver Fox Returning as the karate tyrant of the San Fernando Valley, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) bought the dojo Cobra Kai from the recently jailed John Kreese (Martin Kove) and bought off the referees of the All-Valley and Sekai Taikai competitions to rule in Cobra Kai’s favor.

Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang, the original karate kid played by Ralph Macchio and his longtime adversary Johnny Lawrence played by William Zabka, have buried their differences and united to form Miyagi-Fang, a super-dojo that defeats Cobra Kai and Silver. Yes, typing those words hurts, and not simply because I have carpal tunnel syndrome.

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Former rivals and now half-brothers Robbie (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) become closer after learning that Jonny’s baby’s mother, Carmen (Vanessa Rubio), is expecting a child. After their nasty feud, Tory (Peyton List) and Daniel’s daughter Sam (Mary Mouser), who continue to be one of the only characters in this show exhibiting believable human feelings and behaviors, are even coming to trust one another. Naturally, Kreese staged his own demise in order to escape a jail riot.

Here is where we find the two dojos in Season 6, which has mercifully done away with Miyagi-Fang. Daniel and Johnny are trying to qualify for this year’s Sekai Taikai in Spain, therefore they are looking for a new name for their merged school that is hopefully less objectionable in multiple ways.

Much of the relative turmoil occurs internally, as students compete to place in the tournament and struggle with their own sense of worth, competition, and belonging, rather than focusing their energy outward to fight other dojos and their bad senseis. Rivals from the past resurface, but instead of turning into a karate brawl, these conflicts are handled by looking into the feelings involved and having a conversation about them.

Although I don’t mind characters hanging around and having fun, devoted viewers of the Karate Kid world won’t be too thrilled with part one’s relative serenity following the cartoonish shenanigans that have kept the program going for seven years.

Thanksgiving marks the start of Part Two, which aims to pick things up even more with the return of one of its most sympathetic and convincing characters, Tory, and the unexpectedly complex Kreese, who has been following Tory while he’s been missing, seemingly unaffected by the fact that he should be dead. I suppose there is the drama.

While all of the young actors portraying the show’s characters are excellent, Peyton List’s Tory emerges as the standout performer during this initial series of episodes. List has defied expectations and transcended the clichés, just like Zabka did with the bad-girl archetype. This season, her plot has greater dramatic tension, and List is more than capable of handling it. Showrunners and writers Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg deserve praise for their ability to consistently challenge our assumptions and steer their characters away from cliched plotlines.

Cobra Kai isn’t ready to die just yet.