Cobra Kai continues its story in its 4th season, which premiered last week on December 31st. The series tells the continuation of the story of the Karate Kid, the classic film that made an epoch in the 80’s. However, this time the story is seen by the antagonist of the original film, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka).
More than 30 years after the events of the first film, the series shows the future of the characters as Johnny tries to take a new direction in life as karate sensei. In addition to Lawrence himself, the series also brings back the protagonist of the classic trilogy, Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio).
Having made its first two seasons on YouTube in a failed attempt to land original productions, Cobra Kai now arrives in its second season distributed and produced by Netflix. But is the fourth season of the series that has been so successful really worth it? We here at AdNews tell you:
Cobra Kai Never Dies
After four years of the series (maybe a little less considering that everyone only started seeing it after it arrived on Netflix) you can already see how much fun the Netflix Karate series is. There’s something magical about seeing teenagers being coached by an adult with a midlife crisis and being set to fight.
Season three had built a perfect hook for the series to continue tracing its history. With the two rival dojos, Eagle Claws (Lawrence) and Miyagi Do (Larusso) together, the expectation was to see the conflicts that this merger would generate and how the villains would take advantage of it.
All interaction between the two teams is one of the two main highlights of the season. Even though the show has that “Wouldn’t this all be resolved with a few therapy sessions?” vibe, it’s impossible not to connect with the characters, each has their own personality and seeing them step out of their comfort zone is amazing.
The most scene-stealing character is still Johnny Lawrence himself. Maybe it’s a bit of a personal pet peeve for not liking Daniel-San since the first movie, but the entire Larusso family seems unbearably boring all the time. Not that it’s a Cobra Kai fault, quite the contrary, it’s much more fun to root for Johnny when his rivals/possible new allies are the way they are.
The union of dojos helps to put the characters’ conflicts on the agenda and get them moving. The last two seasons of Cobra Kai have had their moments of dithering, something that doesn’t happen here. All characters end the season differently from the way they started, there is a development going on in each of them, even the main villain of the saga, John Kreese.
the new characters
The new season of Cobra Kai brings two standout new characters: Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), who returns after the third film in the franchise, and Kenny Payne (Dallas Young), the series’ original. It’s good to say that both work well and add to the series, each in its own way, but the highlight here is certainly Silver.
With his long-awaited return since season 2 of the series, the villain is the co-founder of the Cobra Kai training network. With a very caricatured participation in the third movie, released in 1989, the villain gained more layers in his new appearance, just as the series did with Kreese previously.
The series takes what worked with the villain in the past and adds to what had already been established. A good example of this is when the series makes it clear that the character was addicted to cocaine in the 80s, something that seemed implicit but not talked about because of the taboos at the time. In addition of course, complete the story arc set in the Vietnam War with your longtime partner.
Still, one of the elements that makes Silver the best season 4 character is his development contrary to the others. While everyone is moving toward solving their personal problems, like Tory (Peyton Roi List), Terry Silver does just the opposite.
The character starts the season apparently well and healthy, far from the past when he was almost a psychopath and even worse than Kreese. In the course of the story, as the contact with his previous story grows, Silver gets closer to who he was before, until establishing himself as the villain of the story.
The same goes for Kenny, the other novelty. Although there is practically a repeated story within the series itself, of the boy who is bullied and ends up joining Cobra Kai and becoming the bully himself, Dallas Young’s performance makes the character worth it.
In fact, the show’s young cast fulfills every role well here. The strong points are still Xolo Maridueña, Miguel, and Jacob Bertrand, the Falcão, but the rest of the actors had a visible evolution. Even Tanner Buchanan, who was normally the least expressive and seemed to just read lines without much emotion, is better off this season, with a spotlight scene in the last episode.
A 5th Season of Cobra Kai
Warning: Spoilers from the end of last season
Still no release date, the show’s fifth season is a certainty. The recordings have already been completed and with the success of the series it was inevitable that it would happen. The hooks at the end of each year of Cobra Kai are almost a certainty, with the series always ending the taste of wanting more.
With Miguel heading to Mexico to look for his real father and a possible improvement in the relationship between Johnny and his son Robby, it is expected that the two characters will cross the border to bring Xolo’s character back to Los Angeles. This is pretty much a certainty, considering that Tanner went to record in Mexico with Zabka.
On the other hand, we will have to wait and see how the dynamics of the Cobra Kai dojo will work under the command of Silver alone. Kreese’s arrest was certainly one of the most unexpected points of the season finale, and it will be curious to see the reaction of the other students when they hear of the latest developments, especially Tory, who already knows that her title of champion of the tournament was bought.
The post Cobra Kai: What do we think of season 4 of the series? appeared first on ADNEWS.
