Streaming on: Netflix

Episodes viewed: 5 of 5

Since 2018, Cobra Kai has been as tasty as comfort TV gets. Serving up easily digestible bites of nostalgia and new kicks, this sprightly sequel series to the Karate Kid film trilogy fleshed out the OGs while spotlighting an equally compelling band of younglings. As emotional as it is brutal, it has picked at regret, ego, failure, family, abandonment, bullying and betrayal with surprising depth and tenderness. It’s also just an all-out blast, an un-guilty pleasure featuring more than a few heart-stopping moments alongside thrillingly choreographed bone-snapping brawls, all underlined with unashamed operatic (or at least soap-operatic) verve. Now, with its sixth giant season, it is ending. But does it have anything left to say?

Season 5 wrapped things up neatly. By that point, the original movies had been exhaustively mined. Milked dry. Cobra Kai’s final miracle was to turn even The Karate Kid...