Summary

• Cobra Kai season 6 should focus on developing the father-son relationship between Daniel and Anthony LaRusso, which has been largely neglected in previous seasons.
• Anthony’s past and backstory could offer rich story elements and new insights into the dynamics of the LaRusso family.
• Developing Anthony’s character in season 6 could set the stage for an exciting spin-off and make him a more admirable and relatable character.

Cobra Kai season 6 has the perfect opportunity to explore one key LaRusso relationship. During its first five seasons, Cobra Kai has brilliantly split its runtime between its massive roster of characters, allowing each to shine and evolve in their individual narratives and the show’s overarching storyline. While some character beats still have a few unresolved threads, Cobra Kai‘s season 6 is expected to bring a satisfying conclusion to end them all for good.

However, despite effectively dividing its runtime between nearly all primary characters, it seems like Cobra Kai has flossed over one potentially exciting character relationship. Until the recent seasons of the series, this character relationship was not even all that relevant to the overarching storyline. However, after Cobra Kai season 5, it is almost necessary for season 6 to give this character’s relationship some exclusive screen time.

RELATED: What Daniel LaRusso’s Karate Kid Future Confirmation Means For Cobra Kai Season 6

Cobra Kai Season 6 Must Explore Anthony LaRusso’s Backstory

Anthony LaRusso’s backstory remains unexplored in Cobra Kai’s first five seasons

In its first five seasons, Cobra Kai has nearly walked through the backstories, struggles, and day-to-day snags of every primary character. However, Anthony LaRusso remains one of the most underexplored and underutilized characters in the show’s overarching narrative, even though his backstory could take the show in a whole new narrative avenue. In Cobra Kai‘s initial seasons, Anthony was portrayed as a secondary character who would only briefly appear for some comic relief. With what followed, the show started depicting him as a one-dimensional villain, serving as a device to develop Kenny’s characterization.

Recent Cobra Kai seasons have given Anthony a better role and developed him enough to make him more noticeable among its massive roster. However, given how Cobra Kai is ending its run with season 6, it seems like the show has missed the opportunity to delve deeper into all the rich story elements that Anthony’s past could offer. The show’s initial seasons hinted that Anthony might have been neglected as a child, which may have been one of the primary reasons why he bullied Kenny. Focusing on this aspect of his narrative alone could have not only made him more likable as a character but would also have offered audiences new insights into the inner workings and dynamics of the LaRusso family.

Cobra Kai is available on Netflix for streaming.

Season 6 Has The Perfect Opportunity To Develop Daniel & Anthony’s Father-Son Relationship

Developing Daniel and Anthony father-son relationship could benefit Cobra Kai season 6 in more ways than one

Many subtle details in Cobra Kai‘s initial seasons reveal that although Daniel and Amanda LaRusso did a great job at raising Sam and teaching her Mr. Miyagi’s karate lessons at a young age, they failed to do the same with Anthony. Anthony remained unsupervised throughout his early years, eventually leading him to become friends with a group of bullies in high school. While Daniel and Amanda paid little attention to Anthony’s behavior at school, Anthony went around targeting new students like Kenny to fit in with his friends. Although he lacked karate skills, he became the Johnny Lawrence Daniel hated in the first Karate Kid movie.

Toxic father-son relationships have been one of the primary themes in the Karate Kid franchise. For instance, even though Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso were at par with each other in skills, Daniel won the All-Valley in Karate Kid because he was being led by a positive father figure like Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi helped him tame his anger, acquire the discipline to do well at everything in life, and, most of all, maintain a sense of balance. Kreese, on the other hand, looked down on Johnny when he lost, and instead of helping him learn from his losses, betrayed him and made him lose his self-confidence.

Anthony’s initial lack of empathy towards Kenny was perhaps an outcome of something similar. Even though Mr. Miyagi always emphasized how “whole life have a balance, everything be better,” Daniel seemingly forgot about his family’s well-being along the way. This is evident in Cobra Kai season 5’s early moments, where he gets so fixated on defeating Terry Silver that he almost ends up losing everything. However, since Daniel took one step towards finding more balance and improving his relationship with his family in Cobra Kai season 5, season 6 can now focus on his relationship with his son by showing how he does not repeat Kreese’s mistakes.

Anthony’s Season 6 Development Could Set The Stage For An Exciting Cobra Kai Spin-Off

Anthony Cobra Kai season 6 development is essential for the franchise’s future

By giving audiences a glimpse of Anthony’s past and offering more insight into why he behaved the way he did, Cobra Kai season 6 can make him more admirable. This, in turn, would benefit the franchise in the long run because Anthony LaRusso and Kenny Payne have the potential to become the next Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. With the new Karate Kid movie’s announcement, it is evident that the franchise is far from over. Since Daniel LaRusso is reprising his role in the new Karate Kid movie, Anthony could also return as one of the main characters in the film after Cobra Kai season 6 makes his characterization more relatable.