Cobra Kai season 4 is here, but is it worth your valuable watching time? Find out in our Cobra Kai season 4 review!
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When last we left the karate obsessed populace of the valley in season 3, everything was on the line for the next All Valley Karate tournament. With Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (William Zabka) making a bet with Kreese (Martin Kove) that the loser of the tournament would shut down their dojo for good. Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang merge into one dojo and we’re off to the races as these two radically different styles of karate try to find a way through to the tournament without killing each other.
Cobra Kai doesn’t really break any new ground in season 4, and for once in our lives we’re totally fine with that. This show is just as charming and quirky as it was in its first season. There is still the absurd personality flips of someone switching dojos, and our personal favorite moments, when someone comments on how absurd it is how everyone is obsessed with teenagers doing Karate.
The reintroduction of Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) into the franchise as the partner to Kreese is a welcome addition. Having Kreese out on his own would have made for some slow going, giving him someone to play off of helps immensely. It’s a fun addition, but I also think brings us to the end of characters we needed updates on from the original three films.
Where season 4 falls down ever so slightly is in the middle of the season. With the All Valley Tournament hanging over everyone’s heads, there aren’t any of those crazy school wide fights or home invasions in this season. But, the Tournament stretches across the final two episodes of the season and more than makes up for it. We also get some of the best fight choreography we’ve yet to see one the teens hit the (blue) mats.
Johnny is still charmingly clueless as ever, and Daniel is still a know-it-all on the ways of life. The kids, however, get some much needed attention this year as Samantha (Mary Mouser) and Tory (Peyton List) receive some overdue character growth. The rest of the kids are all present and accounted for, but it felt as though Sam and Tory finally caught up to their peers by the end of the season. Even the highly underused Anthony LaRusso (Griffin Santopietro) gets a story arc this time around.
Cobra Kai season 4 certainly doesn’t break any massive amounts of new ground, and we’re totally fine with that. It delivers exactly what it needs to, and leaves us with a moment that already has us anxious for season 5.
If you’ve enjoyed the first three seasons of Cobra Kai, there is absolutely no reason to come back for another helping.
Disclaimer: Netflix provided us with all ten episode of Cobra Kai season 4 for the purposes of this review. We watched all of the episodes in their entirety before beginning this review.
