This is a spoiler-free review of Cobra Kai Season 4, which hits Netflix Dec 31. You can check out our Season 3 review here.
The battle for the soul of the Valley continues, but this time stakes are higher than ever. While Cobra Kai has been on Netflix for some time, Season 4 marks the first one produced by the streamer since its purchase from YouTube TV. Though the creative team remains the same, there are a couple of growing pains that are pretty evident in this new era. But, all the same, it’s still one hell of a ride.
Now that Sam (Mary Mouser) and Miguel (Xolo Marideuña) have managed to convince their respective senseis to work together, Eagle Fang Karate and Miyago-Do have one final hurdle to conquer on the way to the All Valley Tournament: getting Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) to grow up. Despite agreeing that they’ll have to work together to take down Cobra Kai — now run by the wicked John Kreese (Martin Kove) — Johnny and Daniel spend a whole lot of time trying to get past the whole “mortal enemies” thing. This will take up a good hunk of the season to varying degrees of success (and varying degrees of viewer frustration).
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Feuds don’t end in a day. But, the problem here is that Johnny and Daniel have already spent three seasons gradually learning that maybe there are some grey areas in their whole yin and yang relationship. Seeing it remain such a plot point after we’ve spent three years with their “on again off again” frenemyship is a little frustrating.
Part of the weirdness of Season 4 comes from a kind of hokeyness that wasn’t expected, and it’s not because they’ve brought younger characters into the fold. Cobra Kai has always been cheesy, but that cheese has worked more often than not because the series does nostalgia so well. Whether some of that magic was gone because the story focused more on Daniel and Johnny or because Netflix added some strong “why is this happening?” moments is anyone’s guess. There’s a needle drop (it’s not a proper needle drop, but we’re calling it that for a lack of better term) in the penultimate episode that will either leave you hooting and hollering with joy or turn you into a proverbial anime character with little question marks floating above your head. It is an extremely Netflix move, and that is not a compliment in this case.
Still, that hokeyness is met in kind by a more emotionally challenging season. Tory’s (Peyton List) story most certainly wins MVP this year, with Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) coming in at a close second. Each of them find their dynamics challenged in completely different ways, continuing Cobra Kai’s strong success with its large ensemble.
Perhaps the most complex ride is that of Terry Silver, though. Thomas Ian Griffith’s return to the franchise just hits different. Kreese’s evil is an easier kind. The Cobra Kai leader is manipulative, to be sure, and he knows how to play the game better than anyone out there. Except, maybe, one Terrance Silver. No one was more successful at breaking Daniel LaRusso than Silver and his mindgames. The thing is, the Terry we meet is well-adjusted and happy to live his life as a (seemingly) retired entrepreneur with a hot vegan girlfriend. But with Johnny and Daniel’s tumultuous team-up, Kreese needs his second back in the dojo and has no concerns over ruining his war buddy’s life if it gets him back in Cobra Kai. Which sensei will break first? That’s a “tune into Season 4” question!
So far as team-ups go, the most exciting pairing by far comes from a completely unexpected source. Amanda LaRusso is mad as hell that this karate nonsense resulted in a bunch of hooligans breaking into her home and threatening her kids’ lives, but we see a surprising amount of empathy from her once she learns the story of one of the offending Cobra Kai. The growth we see from both her and this character is perhaps what leaves me most excited for Season 5.
What’s most compelling about this recent chapter is that nothing really goes the way you’d expect it to. Johnny and Daniel are unable to break their patterns, but that doesn’t mean the kids who look up to them have to get stuck in their respective sensei’s ways. The partnership between the dojos may be rocky, but the results of the pairing are undeniable. No “hooligan” can’t be reached and no goody-two-shoes is above becoming a bratty little bully, regardless of who’s teaching who. The complicated relationship dynamics will also both strengthen and stretch the connection between Johnny and Miguel in ways that will make you both cheer and cry.
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