When Cobra Kai first came out, its viewers probably didn’t expect it to last for four whole seasons. Although the first season was a sleeper hit, it didn’t seem to have enough legs to last it beyond another season. The writers have tried to keep the show fresh by dipping into the original trilogy’s well of characters and creating new factions for the cast to flip-flop between. The balancing act gets noticeably more strained in the fourth season, which is also the first season to be produced under Netflix’s banner.
Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) have agreed to put their differences aside and train their students together to take on the new Cobra Kai in the All-Valley karate tournament. Soon, they realize they haven’t quite come to terms with the stark differences in their methods and philosophies, and the students find themselves torn as the two senseis each try to prove they are better than the other. Meanwhile, Kreese (Martin Kove) is trying to recruit an old friend, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) to help train his students in the ‘war’ against the Miyagi Do and Eagle Fang dojos.
Cobra Kai takes a risk by introducing a handful of new characters to its already sizable cast, with the most notable addition being Terry Silver. Griffith dives into his role and sells the transformation from recovering addict back to a gleeful psychopath. Another new character, Kenny Payne (Dallas Dupree Young) is inspired to join the Cobra Kai dojo after being bullied by Daniel’s younger child, Anthony (Griffin Santopietro).
Closely tied to Kenny is Robby’s (Tanner Buchanan) path, as he tries to straddle the line between some of the values left over from his training with Daniel and the aggressive approach of the Cobra Kai dojo. Other returning characters, like Tory (Peyton List) and Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) also get significant character development that humanizes them even more and gives them the bandwidth to grapple with emotions we didn’t see them dealing with before. However, some characters, like Miguel (Xolo Marideuña) are sidestepped to compensate for the focus on a more expanded cast.
Cobra Kai has always been a cheesy show, but it has taken on a weird aspect now that Netflix has taken over. Some of the conflicts, like the one between Daniel and Johnny almost feel contrived. The show turns up the drama to the max for the last two episodes, but they are too predicated on plot beats that may leave you with lingering questions even as the season draws to a close.
Nevertheless, Cobra Kai remains as enjoyable as ever, though one does wonder how long the showrunners can stretch out the series for.
Netflix, of course, has a habit of curtailing TV shows very early in their shelf lives, but this might be one of the few shows where the opposite seems to be true. Let’s hope the show can remain engaging and fresh in future seasons and not devolve into trite blandness.