“Cobra Kai” completes its fourth season on Netflix and continues to bring a new generation of “Karate Kid” characters to prominence.
“Cobra Kai” is an action-packed adventure series filled with likable characters and an extremely compelling storyline. Following the story of the original karate kid, Johnny Lawrence, played by William Zabka, and Daniel Larusso, played by Ralph Machiao, “Cobra Kai” continues their characters’ arc as they become middle-aged adults. It is also a story about redemption for the new generation of characters who have played major roles in moving this series forward.
With both of their karate dojos on the line, Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence do the unimaginable. They put their rivalry aside to team up to take down John Kreese and Cobra Kai. They agree to settle it once and for all at the upcoming All-Valley Karate Tournament and whoever loses must surrender their karate dojo. Only this time, Kreese has called upon old friend Terry Silver, played by Thomas Ian Griffth. Terry is a wealthy, arrogant, and intensifying man who played a major role in the “Karate Kid Part III” but gave Larusso a traumatizing memory. Now he’s back and Daniel must not only face his fear but try to make this thing work with Johnny.
Daniel and Johnny are two completely different characters and both believe in different styles of Karate. This is what makes this relationship extremely fun to dive into, especially for those who grew up in the 1980s. I’ve always been most interested in Tanner Bucchans’ character Robby Keene, Johnny’s son. I loved how he was taken in by Daniel to learn Miyagi-Do karate and the Miyagi-esque he formed with Daniel as a mentor. He also fell in love with Daniel’s daughter Sam, played by Mary Mouser.
Now, feeling betrayed by both Daniel, Sam, and his estranged father Johnny, Robby is in a dark place and joins Cobra Kai as Kreese’s new pupil, just as Johnny once was. Throughout the season, you can see he might be turning back to the light. I cannot wait to see where his story goes in season five, and I hope it leads to him being redeemed by going back to Miyagi-Do with Daniel, bettering his relationship with his father, and finally winning the All-Valley Tournament.
The fights were cool. The whole two episodes it took of watching the All-Valley were really exciting to watch and kept me on the edge of my seat. It was suspenseful and electrifying. Sam and Tory’s fight for the finale was the match we all saw coming and it delivered. Both Sam and Tory had some of the best storylines, and the rivalry between the two was always going to come down to this fight. But in the end, Tory wins and Cobra-Kai wins the All-Valley.
Let’s face it, Cobra-Kai wasn’t going to lose, the show is called “Cobra-Kai.” There was never a chance they were going to have them lose the tournament unless they wanted season four to be the last. There is much more in store. From season one to three, the stakes just keep getting bigger and now, in season four, we’ve got our most thrilling yet.
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