Warning: This article contains spoilers forCobra Kaiseason 6, part 1.
Miyagi-Do just got hit with a double whammy.
But in the final moments of the episode, their job gets exponentially harder.
Ralph Macchio and William Zabka in ‘Cobra Kai’.Netflix
Can Daniel and Johnny put aside their differences to lead Miyagi-Do to victory at the Sekai Taikai?
Is it over for Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) and Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita)?
And how did Kreese travel to Korea and back while being a fugitive from the law?
Tanner Buchanan, Ralph Macchio, and Xolo Maridueña in ‘Cobra Kai’.Netflix
Where do they go from here?
He’s obviously instilled discipline in Kwon and has a formidable captain.
When you look at the Miyagi-Do side, you see a team that has had their confidence shaken.
Oona O’Brien and Dallas Dupree Young in ‘Cobra Kai’.Netflix
You see players who have done some untoward things to get onto that team.
We can expect a rocky road ahead.
You mentioned Miguel being crushed that he lost the fight against Robby for captain.
Jacob Bertrand and Gianni DeCenzo in ‘Cobra Kai’.Netflix
How did you decide that Robby would win?
HAYDEN SCHLOSSBERG:We just tracked the characters and where they’re at in their journey.
By episode five, they both were kind of a little messed up in their heads.
Yuji Okumoto and William Zabka in ‘Cobra Kai’.Netflix
The fight to earn a spot at the Sekai Taikai was equally brutal.
Talk about the decision to have Devon sabotage Kenny.
With Devon, shes somebody who has been all-in with Johnny from the beginning.
Martin Kove and Brandon H. Lee in ‘Cobra Kai’.Netflix
She jumped around to some other dojos, but this was in the absence of Johnny having a dojo.
But the only sensei that she really connected with was Johnny.
And then theres the trauma that it brings in the aftermath.
By the way, can poor Kenny and poor Tory get a break in part II or part III?
[Laughs]
HURWITZ:Maybe.
Youll have to keep watching to find out.
[Laughs]
We must take a moment to acknowledge the brilliant Miyagi-Fang logo.
Will you be selling merch?
HEALD:I hope well be selling merch.
Thats one we love just for the sheer novelty of it.
It was fun in the writers room to discuss the potential names.
That was really the only name that we [considered seriously].
It was never really an idea that enough legs that we wanted to stand behind it in perpetuity.
I dont think we would have felt great about landing the mothership with Miyagi-Fang.
Its just an obvious one thats sitting right out there that feels ridiculous.
We knew it had to be addressed in some way.
Why did you guys decide that was a risk worth taking?
HEALD:Well, it was time for us to dig deeper into Mr. Miyagi.
The idea is that nobody ever gives 100 percent of themselves.
We do that with our children.
You start having all these questions that knot away at your soul and begin to challenge your unflappable opinion.
We felt it was a new and grounded approach to look at Mr. Miyagi.
We talk at length with him about Mr. Miyagi and all his life.
So, he was aware of this storyline?
HURWITZ:Very much so.
How did that storyline come about?
And now, Terry’s gone.
It just all dovetails into each other.
Just because he didn’t get that call back doesn’t mean that he’s necessarily fully over it.
Kwon seems like hes going to be a formidable adversary for the Miyagi-Do team at the Sekai Taikai.
What can you tease about his upcoming story?
This ended up being the absolute perfect opportunity.
He just embodied the cocky strength and attitude and charisma that we had on the page.
Youre going to see a lot of him in the middle five episodes.
He was one of our favorite people to work with and one of our favorite characters to write to.
HURWITZ:It was hard to shake what a sweetheart he was.
We were like, Can he really play this guy?
But when we gave him a little bit of direction, he was off the charts.
I know this is a TV show and some suspension of disbelief is required, but still…
I must ask a plausibility question.
That secret black ops military that we saw in Vietnam, he was doing things off the grid.
Its been established that this guy has interesting connections in the military world.
There may also be boats involved.
HURWITZ:I’ll just say he has a special set of skills.
It’s as simple as that.
SCHLOSSBERG:Let’s talk about the boats!
There’s steamers and stuff like that.
HURWITZ:It’ll be addressed at some point in the season as to what’s going on.
It was great to see Mike Barnes again.
Where do you all stand with the spinoff discussions, and is Barnes someone you might explore that with?
HURWITZ:With spinoffs, were definitely in active conversations about what’s next.
It was important to us to end this Cobra Kai story the way that we do.
We always had the goal of ending the series purposefully.
We’d certainly be interested in seeing more from any character in the show.
Its always possible that Barnes shows up in a future spinoff.
We loved working with him, a hundred percent.
He was game in every way.
He’s a badass fighter and he’s just a great guy on set.
So, working with Sean again would be amazing.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Cobra Kaiseason 6, part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
