Spoiler-Free Review: Cobra Kai series 4

This weekend, fan-favourite Cobra Kai returns to Netflix for its fourth series.

In this series, we see Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) pair up with his long-term enemy, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). The duo has put aside their differences and merged their classes, in order of giving their students a chance at winning the tournament against the Cobra Kai dojo, now managed by John Kreese (Martin Kove).
This was never going to be an easy match, especially now that Kreese’s old war buddy, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) has returned. Everyone is on the edge and unsure of what to expect.

This series returns to a more character-driven narrative, that some fans may have felt was missing from series 3. Thomas Ian Griffith is clearly having the time of his life, playing a complete psychopath and he’s exactly what the show needed. Johnny’s estranged son, Robbie (Tanner Buchanan) has joined Cobra Kai and is teaching them everything he learned from Daniel and Miyagi-Do. Samatha (Mary Mouser) has fully embraced Johnny’s “strike-first” attitude.

There are some twists and turns that I won’t spoil here. We also get to see a lot more of Daniel’s son, Anthony LaRusso (Griffin Santopietro). This is nice, as he’s mostly just been in the background for a lot of the show. We’re also introduced to a new character, Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young).

It’s a fantastic set of episodes that move the story forward and set up the future of the franchise. I came away from this extremely excited for series 5. However, the first eight episodes do sometimes feel like they’re just treading water until the tournament in the last two.

Series 5 has already been greenlit, so I can’t wait to see where they take this franchise next.

Cobra Kai returns to Netflix on New Year’s Eve.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Terry Silver confirmed for series 4 of Cobra Kai

After his appearance was teased at the end of series 3, Terry Silver has officially been confirmed for Cobra Kai Season 4.

Netflix made the announcement, with a teaser trailer that gives us a look at the return of the villain, who made his debut in The Karate Kid Part III. Thomas Ian Griffith is returning to the role.

In the teaser below, Griffith stands with his back to the camera as some of Silver’s dialogue plays in a voice-over: “If a man can’t stand, he can’t fight. If a man can’t breathe, he can’t fight. If a man can’t see, he can’t fight.”

Terry Silver is the founder of the Cobra Kai dojo, we even got to see some of his backstory in a series 3 flashback involving John Kreese.

Executive producers Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg said in a statement:

“Since the beginning of the series, we’ve been carefully orchestrating the right moment to unleash Cobra Kai dojo co-founder Terry Silver back into the universe. That moment is now. We can’t wait for the whole world to experience Thomas Ian Griffith’s majestic return to the franchise.”