As with the second, the end of the third season of Cobra Kai set the stage very obviously for a follow up, made potential alliances clear, and even made the end goal of the series – the venerated all-valley karate tournament – something we knew was coming. Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), again take centre stage as they team up in the fourth series to drive John Kreese (Martin Kove) out of the valley. In a story that seems familiar: can the two work together?
When you have a film series as good as The Karate Kid, viewers are curious to know what happens to certain characters once they grow up. This is especially true given the absence of Johnny Lawrence after the first film, as well as the absence of all previous characters except Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) in the fourth. This is part of the appeal of Cobra Kai, the sequel series to the original films, as a whole. Not only does it play out mainly from Johnny’s perspective, but it shows us where Johnny and Daniel end up over 30 years after the original film. It is perhaps what one would expect. Johnny is a deadbeat father and alcoholic, Daniel owns and runs a successful car dealership. It certainly fuels the stereotype that supposed bullies like Johnny peak in high school. Although, can you really call losing your girlfriend and then getting crane-kicked in the face ‘peaking’? Furthermore, younger viewers who are not automatically drawn in by the nostalgia of the original films will be entertained by the new group of high schoolers, who themselves learn karate from Johnny and Daniel as they learned it from Kreese and Miyagi. Overall, the concept is fresh, intriguing, and executed brilliantly.
The theme of moral ambiguity is a central one to Cobra Kai. Unless you’re Barney Stinson, Johnny Lawrence was one of the bad guys in the original movie. Yet seeing his backstory and viewing events through his perspective in the show, we see a mature, different side to the same character. For example, in the first series Johnny mentors Miguel (Xolo Mariduena) so that Miguel can stand up to his bullies, as Miyagi taught Daniel to in The Karate Kid. This moral ambiguity is continued throughout season 4. Tori (Peyton List), a member of Cobra Kai, is one of the ‘bad guys’, but as the audience learns more of her circumstances and sees her potential to be good, we resent the unforgiving attitude that Daniel’s daughter Sam (Mary Mouser) takes towards her. Eli (Jacob Bertrand), who was bullied in season one and became a Cobra Kai bully himself, continues his own journey back to the light and to his true friends. The intrigue of Cobra Kai is that there are no binary characters; many who do bad are capable of becoming good, given the right support or freed from the wrong influences. Johnny Lawrence shows us that, as do countless others in the show.
The build up to the All Valley tournament, the development of the aforementioned nuanced character arcs, and the return of a certain someone from The Karate Kid 3 (hint: it’s not Mike Barnes) all merit mention for the recent season, but the main aspect worth praising is its contribution to the high standard and brilliant concept of the Cobra Kai project as a whole.
5/5