This is a review of Cobra Kai season four as the series continues with the reintroduction of fan favorite Terry Silver from Karate Kid 3, played by returning actor Thomas Ian Griffith. Season four sees Daniel played by Ralph Macchio, and Johnny played by William Zabka teaming up to take down Cobra Kai lead by John Kreese played by Martin Kove as they trained for the All Valley Karate Tournament.
PROS
William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence deserves an Emmy award because this was his best performance yet in season four. Daniel may have been the lead protagonist in the movies, but Johnny Lawrence is the reason why audience love watching Cobra Kai. Watching the character grow and develop as a good influence and trying to help kids not to fall into the spiral he went through is heavily revealed in season four and his smart ass remarks especially towards Tom Cruise’s Top Gun.
The writing of the series continues to be the best thing for the series as the writers flesh out a smart strategic Terry Silver compared to the Karate Kid 3 which Terry admits he was on a lot of coke as audiences has referenced when we look back at the potrayl. Terry is the character from the outside looking in as he is an unknown factor to the other characters beside Daniel. How they built Terry up and bring him into the series was a smart approach.
Another standout performance was Peyton List as Tory Nichols. We see her character fleshed out as sympathetic and relatable to the audience. I think we will be seeing more of the actress in bigger roles after Cobra Kai is officially over after season five done. The actress as well as her co stars Xolo Mariduena, Marry Mouser, and Tanner Buchanan will be big stars one day in Hollywood post Cobra Kai.
Season four explores a lot of the grey areas of the series. The LaRusso family is seen more as a villain in season four. It’s very refreshing to see how their self righteous views makes them seen as villains from Johnny, Tory, and New character Kenny Payne played by Dallas Dupree Young perspective. It was a smart approach with the reverse roles.
Other characters that had great moments was Eli Hawk Moskowitz played by Jacob Bentrand, and Demetri Alexopoulos played by Gianni DeCenzo. These two characters from their start in season one have become my favorite characters of mine as you want to root for the under dog and redemption story for Eli and Demetri. I was happy to see the direction Eli was given in season four.
New actor Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny Payne was another standout performance in a series. With so many lead characters in a series this big. He was another surprise standout. Hopefully Kevin Feige from Marvel Studios and Sony’s Executives from Sony is watching Cobra Kai because I think he should be the right choice to play Miles Morales in a future live action Miles Morales Spiderman movie.
CONS
I thought Robby Keene was one of the weak parts of season four, because it felt like the writers didn’t know where to go with the character. Same with Miguel Diaz as their story arcs was closed after season three. This season did a lot of role reverse with Tory and Sam becoming the central part of season four. I am fine with that but it felt lost at times for Robby and Miguel after three seasons invested in them.
The return of StingRay was one of the down parts of season four. Nothing against the actor but this was character audience wants to forget about after season two. He was back to set up a twist for the finale but there could’ve been a better way to set this twist up.
The rule changes I thought was stupid, because everyone wants a one on one match. Nobody cares for a skill test. The women should’ve fought the men as we’ve seen Tory and Sam kick a lot of ass in past seasons with the men. Felt sexist to split them up for that. The surprise reveal twist didn’t make any sense as there was no controversy at the end of the tournament.
OVERALL 8.5/10
Cobra Kai season four continues to be another good season in the series. We get a lot of surprise role reversal that was excited good. We see a lot more character development and William Zabka needs to win a lot of award recognition for Johnny Lawrence.
My Comic Book Opinion 