‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 5 Recap & Review: Road to the Sekai Taikai

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 5 “Best of the Best.”

After waiting over a year and a half for Cobra Kai to return, The Karate Kid legacy series has come and gone with a new batch of episodes. Season 6 Part 1 only features five entries, so fans will have to wait until November 15 to see the follow-up of this exciting installment.

While it was a slower start to the season, Cobra Kai Season 6‘s prior installments have been a great run of consecutive episodes for the series. Creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg are not holding back with delivering quality content, and some of the best work from this franchise. From jaw-dropping moments to potential award-winning performances, Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 5 “Best of the Best” has it all. Make sure to follow along with our recap below.

Kreese Wants To Be Tory’s Sensei Again in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 5

The episode opens with Tory Nichols (Peyton List) talking with Dr. Judith (Deja Dee) about lowering the medication for her mother, Grace Nichols. The doctor assures Tory that she’s been doing a great job of taking care of her mom’s dialysis, so tapering her off the medication is a step in the right direction.

As she heads to her car in the parking garage, John Kreese (Martin Kove) tries to sneak up on her but she attacks him first. She’s upset that he abandoned her while she dealt with Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) and Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) alone in Cobra Kai Season 5. He’s surprised to see a Miyagi-Do uniform in her gym bag and says that she’ll always be seen as a runner-up to Sam LaRusso (Mary Mouser). He appeals to her as his champion, but she declines his offer to be her sensei again.

At Miyagi-Do, Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) tells Sam that he hasn’t heard back from Stanford yet about his acceptance. Demetri Alexopoulos (Gianni Decenzo) tells Miguel, Sam, and Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz (Jacob Bertrand) that he got accepted into MIT. Demetri is still upset that Hawk never applied to MIT since he had a chance of getting in as well.

Tory tells Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) about her conversation with Kreese and asks him to keep it between them because of how Miyagi-Do might react. They discuss how competing in the Sekai Taikai is their chance to make something of themselves while the others worry about college. They make a deal to stick together and win the competition.

Johnny Trains the Sekai Taikai Crew on His Own

Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) tell the students that Miguel, Robby, Tory, and Sam will have matches for the male and female captain spots for the Sekai Taikai. Johnny decides to run a solo teaching session with them, which Daniel doesn’t mind but wishes Johnny had told him beforehand.

While the training starts off to his standards, Daniel is uncomfortable with Johnny’s unorthodox teaching style. At home, he vents to Amanda LaRusso (Courtney Henggeler), but she reminds him that Johnny stepping up to lead Miyagi-Do is the plan once Daniel retires after the Sekai Taikai. Daniel says Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) wouldn’t be happy with Johnny besmirching his name, but Amanda notes that after learning about Mr. Miyagi’s history, anything is possible. Daniel is still shaken up by it and refuses to believe his former sensei was anything but great.

Meanwhile, Johnny tells Carmen Diaz (Vanessa Rubio) about how well training is going at their apartment. Miguel arrives saddened by getting deferred by Stanford, but Johnny and Carmen reassure him that he still has a chance until they officially reject him. As Tory arrives home, she finds her mother collapsed on the floor.

Tory Grieves a Loved One in “Best of the Best”

At West Valley High School, Sam tells Miguel that winning the Sekai Taikai would help his chances of getting into Stanford. He’s worried about beating Robby, who arrives looking for Tory. Robby shares that he and Tory are planning to train together outside of Miyagi-Do so Miguel and Sam don’t see all of their moves before the match. Miguel tells Sam they should do the same.

As Daniel is leaving work at LaRusso Auto Group, Johnny asks him why he put him on driving test duty during Miyagi-Do training. Daniel says he can teach the students on his own, just like how Johnny did the day before. At the hospital, Dr. Judith gives condolences to Tory for her mother’s death, but Tory is upset because she told her that her mom was doing better.

While training in a forest with Daniel and Miguel, Sam tells her dad that she’s hoping to get closure from her match with Tory after all their history together. Meanwhile, Johnny is out doing a test drive with Cody (Kevin Waterman), a potential customer, when he sees Daniel’s car on the side of the road. Johnny accuses Daniel of distracting him with work so he could train with Miguel and Sam. Daniel sees Johnny drag Cody into the forest and orders him to finish his job.

‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 5 Shows Miguel & Robby at Odds Once Again

Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 5 continues at LaRusso Auto Group, Johnny gets everyone’s attention by saying he’s starting his own car dealership and will hire anyone willing to leave Daniel. Amanda confronts Johnny privately about his behavior, but Johnny says Daniel was the one who went behind his back. She opens up and tells Johnny about what Daniel is going through since learning about Mr. Miyagi’s past.

Robby is training outside their apartment as he reflects on always being in second place during the karate tournaments. Miguel shows up and tells Robby that because he has something worth fighting for, he’ll be giving it his all in their match. Robby is offended by this, thinking that just because he isn’t going to college, being captain isn’t as important to him. Going their separate ways, Robby keeps calling Tory.

Tory ignores his calls as she remembers her childhood with her mom (Bethany Dezelle) and how she told her they’re fighters who’ve been dealt a bad hand in life. Back at the LaRusso residence, Amanda tells Daniel that he needs to remember to balance his methods with Johnny if they want to continue their partnership at Miyagi-Do. Daniel admits that he’s worried about learning why Mr. Miyagi hid a dark part of his past from him. Amanda reminds him to focus on the present, especially when it comes to the students.

Peyton List Gives a Gut-Punching Display in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Episode 5

The next day, Daniel apologizes to Johnny for his recent behavior, which Johnny accepts after hearing what he’s been dealing with. They decide that Daniel will referee Miguel and Robby’s fight, while Johnny watches over Tory and Sam’s match so there’s no bias. Tory still isn’t present so Robby and Miguel start their match. Miguel is in the lead, but seeing Tory arrive gives Robby the confidence he needs. Robby wins the match, but he and Miguel have no hard feelings towards each other.

Tory and Sam begin their match, but Tory is still grieving her mom. Sam and Tory are tied, but Tory hits Sam with an extra kick even though Johnny already called the point. Daniel and Amanda are stunned by it, but Sam brushes it off. Amanda receives a call about Tory’s mom since she helped with the medical bills, so Daniel steps in to stop the fight just as Tory is about to land a hit on Sam.

Tory tells the whole dojo about her mother’s death but still wants to continue the match. Robby, Daniel, and Amanda try to convince Tory not to fight, while Johnny thinks otherwise. Remembering what Kreese told her earlier, Tory thinks Daniel and Amanda are just stopping her from fighting their daughter. She walks away saying she’s done with Miyagi-Do.

A Surprising, yet Familiar Face Shows Up at the Sekai Taikai

Johnny is frustrated with Daniel because he relates to Tory using karate to work through her grief. Daniel says fighting with anger isn’t the Miyagi-Do way, upsetting Johnny even more. Johnny calls Mr. Miyagi a liar and thief, which causes Daniel to punch him in the face. Daniel immediately apologizes, but Johnny says he’ll continue working alongside him until the Sekai Taikai for the students’ sake. However, once they win, their partnership and friendship are over.

With Tory leaving Miyagi-Do, Johnny announces that Hawk will take her spot. As Daniel and Johnny bestow Sam and Robby with the Sekai Taikai captain headbands, Daniel recognizes the logo and sees that Mr. Miyagi had a bloody Sekai Taikai captain headband in his secret chest.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Episode 5 ends with all the competitors in Barcelona, Spain, at the Sekai Taikai. When Kreese and Kim Da-Eun arrive with their Cobra Kai team, Tory joins them wearing their gi.

The ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Part 1 Finale Kicks Things Into High Gear

Despite an excellent batch of Cobra Kai episodes, Netflix‘s release strategy is killing the momentum for this final outing. After building up the Sekai Taikai in every episode this season, we only see a glimpse of it at the end of this entry. Having to wait over four months for the continuation is frustrating, to say the least.

But don’t get me wrong, if they had to end the first part somewhere, Cobra Kai Season 6 Episode 5 is a great ending to this chapter as it sees the Miyagi-Do students and senseis shaken up. It’ll be exciting to see how they manage to climb out of this pit and rise to the occasion.

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