Cobra Kai Season 4 Early Review: Ralph Macchio & William Zabka's frenemyship takes backseat for bigger twists

Cobra Kai

Cobra Kai Cast: Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove 

Cobra Kai Creators: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg 

Streaming Platform: Netflix 

It seems unbelievable, the growing success of Cobra Kai which started off as a YouTube original and then went on to become one of Netflix's biggest shows after it was picked up by the streaming platform. One of the biggest selling points for Cobra Kai has been its ability to play on nostalgia as it gives enough attention and time to reintroduce old characters from the film franchise. The good thing is, not all of them have to be redeemable and while William Zabka's Johnny Lawrence may be trying hard to become a better person to gain the respect of his son, the same cannot be said about his Sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove). 

With every season, showrunners Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg seem to be working hard to maintain a balance between leaning on the film franchise's past while also trying to develop a steady future for it by introducing new characters to continue its legacy. Even as the first two seasons focussed more on Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny's (William Zabka) frenemyship. With season three and now the fourth one, it looks like the makers are trying to develop other characters with equal importance. 

After Season 3 finale saw Daniel and Johnny join hands to train their students together to fight in the upcoming All Valley Karate Tournament against Kreese's Cobra Kai students, the fourth season picks up right from it left off. Daniel and Johnny's offence vs defence training ways leaves their students divided and confused. It's as much a training exercise for the two Karate teachers as their students who are learning to co-exist and make the best of each other's learnings. After the Johnny-Daniel alliance, Kreese moves on to find himself a partner as well and who better than his old pal Terry Silver ( Thomas Ian Griffith) would be fit to bring back Cobra Kai to its former glory. Amid this, Johnny's son Robbie (Tanner Buchanan) takes over the job teaching his Miyagi-do moves to his new gang at Cobra Kai. Much of the initial episodes of Cobra Kai's fourth season form as the buildup for the epic finale that will host the Karate tournament. 

Even as The Karate Kid: Part III may not have been one of the most successful films in the film franchise, there's no denying that Thomas Ian Griffith's Terry Silver was a character that was difficult to shake off. He's probably one of the meanest villains of the franchise and if it seemed like the film didn't do enough justice to explore his story more, Cobra Kai has the chance to give Silver a richer narrative than before. It's evident in one of the exchanges that Griffith's character has with Kreese early on in the season where the former speaks about moving on from his "coke head" phase when he terrorised teenagers. 

In an interesting plot choice in Season 4, the show also finds itself mirroring the OG film's storyline more related to one of the characters who will come into focus this season. When it comes to going all meta on its own content, Cobra Kai has ample of such moments. The fourth season also has a vibe that seems to be testing the waters for the Senseis more than their students. Amid Kreese's extreme want for scoring a win at any cost to Daniel and Johnny's opposite ways of handling conflicts, there is a constant challenge being thrown at the teachers than their students. 

Another observation that I made about Cobra Kai after starting off with its fourth season is that the show unabashedly continues to follow its classic format that remains true to the vibe of the OG films as well. The cheesy dialogues continue, the setups for every action scene can be predicted from a mile afar yet none of it ever becomes unenjoyable. The series much like the films thrives on the element of drama that has a corny element to it. Subconsciously, the series also continues to make subtle commentary on teen issues, perceptions of masculinity and other stuff without ever getting preachy. 

ALSO READ: Cobra Kai Season 4: A look at Ralph Macchio and William Zabka onscreen rivalry and offscreen friendship

In terms of performances, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka continue to bring their best to the show with their funny banter. The new season takes off with the duo trying to co-exist and along the way they finally crack open a beer and hang out together, something that a Karate Kid film fan will certainly enjoy seeing. Among the younger cast, Xolo Maridueña, Mary Mouser and Tanner Buchanan with Peyton List bring in the essential teen drama elements. Though it's Martin Kove and Thomas Ian Griffith who seem to be the show-stealers for the season. 

Consisting of ten episodes, the fourth season of Cobra Kai takes a promising start and is a crucial season for the series given that it gears up for an exciting finale with the All Valley karate championship game saved as a delicious piece of dessert to savour at the end. Stay tuned for our full series review to check out the star rating for Cobra Kai Season 4.