Cobra Kai (Season Four Review)

Cobra Kai
2022 Netflix
Season Four
The Nicsperiment Score: 8/10

It's all out war and the sides have been drawn! Bitter childhood enemies, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, have decided to put differences aside to take on Cobra Kai and Johnny's former sensei, John Kreese. These old codgers weapons of choice? Their California valley's teenagers! LaRusso's prized student is no other than his daughter, Samantha, while Johnny's is his surrogate son, Miguel Diaz. Miguel is still recovering from a brutal Season Two-inflicted back injury, and while he's back on his feet and kicking, he's still not 100%. Just to complicate matters, Miguel is not only dating Samantha, but dealing with the new developing romantic relationship between Johnny and his mom. Just to complicate matters even more, Johnny's biological son, Robby, is a prized student too...but for Cobra Kai's Kreese! As great a fighter as Robby is, though, Kreese needs more firepower. Who better to turn to than his psychotic former fellow soldier and dojo master, Terry Silver?

Silver terrorized poor teenaged Daniel LaRusso even more than Kreese and Johnny did, but now he's a wealthy business man, living a zenne-out life in a beachside mansion--but the darkside beckons! Can Daniel and Johnny act civil long enough to successfully join forces against Kreese and Silver? And what about the other kids in the valley? Will poor Hawk, who has been a member of every single show dojo at some point, finally find a path? Will poor, hard-knock lifer, Tori, be able to afford her next meal, let alone kick her sworn enemy, rich kid Samantha LaRusso's ass? Will Robby be able to teach new kid, Kenny, how to defend himself without creating a monster? 

EVERYTHING WILL BE SETTLED IN THE ALL-VALLEY TOURNAMENT!!!
It's all so stressful! It's all so melodramatic! It's all so fun! I love this ridiculous show!!!

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Do I even need to review Cobra Kai Season Four beyond that description? At this point, you are either in with what this show is laying down, or you're out. 

Cobra Kai fully realizes just how ridiculous and melodramatic it is, and yet, how can anyone say that it doesn't pull off its major dramatic moments with aplomb? Ralph Macchio's Daniel finally accepting that Mary Mouser's Samantha has to be her own person and walk her own path? The show nails it! The seemingly heartless Kreese growing paternal toward Peyton List's Tori? Absolutely believable! William Zabka's Johnny trying his hardest and still failing to be the father that his surrogate and biological son both need? Has Zabka been taking acting lessons? That's not a dig, Zabka has always been fun in this role, but has he ever shown himself capable of what he does in a late season scene here where he is drunkenly sobbing as Miguel has to carry him and get him safely to his bed?
Yes, this show is ridiculous. Cobra Kai is ridiculous. But its heightened reality, where old grudges never, ever seem to die, is so cohesive, and the writing so thoughtful to a point that it feels like the writer's room has memorized not only every second of their show, but every second of every Karate Kid film, Cobra Kai works. What could be better? And are 50 words too many for one sentence? 

Cobra Kai's big moments are powerful and the moral lessons are successfully conveyed. Perhaps that's because the melodrama is offset by the show's incredible sense of humor: Johnny showing how cultured he is by proudly serving Miguel's Ecuadorian family store-brand salsa; the stupid hawk sound effect getting played absolutely every time Jacob Bertrand's Hawk does something cool. Cobra Kai works best when it perfectly balances its dojo-loads of melodrama with humor. The first season nailed that equilibrium, and this fourth season joins it as the show's best. The laughs keep coming just as frequently as the twists. And so do the fights!
At the end of the day, no matter the moral lessons or warm/cold-hearted conversations, this is a show about people who settle their disagreements with martial arts. These actors have now been training in martial arts for four years, and it shows. Special mention has to go to Bertrand, Mouser, List, and Taylor Buchanan, as Robby. While the show has to employ stunt fighters for some of the most technical shots, the actors themselves are clearly doing the majority of the fighting this go round, and they do a great job in some of the show's longest, best, and certainly most technical one-on-one fights yet. 

Overall, with Cobra Kai's melodramatic life lessons, humor, and fighting all in perfect harmony, I found this fourth season to be incredibly addictive, and I couldn't wait to start a new episode once the previous had finished. I don't think the show can believably keep this story going forever, but if the end is near, Season Four effectively puts the show-runners in perfect position to stick the landing.