9/10
In the fourth season, Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) join forces in order to beat Cobra Kai in an upcoming tournament.
Four seasons in and this show still manages to deliver what everyone likes about it: karate soap opera dramedy. Though the ten episode length does make the show feel dragged out at moments, overall this season is pretty tight. A lot of character stuff happens. Yeah, the Johnny and Daniel arguing with each other routine has been done to death and there's a lot of this here. However, it's fun to see them actually try to work together. Plus, Zabka and Macchio both do a great job of both being frustratingly stubborn while also making you see where they're coming from. (Yeah, Daniel does get a little high and mighty in this at times, but everyone in this is ready to step in and disagree with him.) Zabka continues to do an excellent job of making you feel for him during the emotional moments.
The big tournament finale is worth the wait. This may be the most satisfactory of Cobra Kai finales as a lot happens and things get pretty interesting. The karate fighting is really on point this season.
I'm happy to say that Robby's switch to Cobra Kai doesn't just have him replay Hawk's shift to the dark side in previous seasons. Robby (Tanner Buchanan) hasn't completely drunk the punch like some of the other students of antagonist John Kreese (Martin Kover) and it's interesting seeing him be more interested in winning rather than being completely enveloped in the whole karate rivalry situation. It's also nice to see Cobra Kai member Tory Nichols' storyline matured. She has a sympathetic lousy situation, taking care of her dying mother, that explains her angry behavior. But, there's been a lot, lot more focus on her poor decisions and borderline psychoticness in the show. A lot more focus is put on the human side of her character here.
After feeling like an afterthought in the first three seasons (I don't think he was even in season 2), the writers actually do something with Daniel's son Anthony (Griffin Santopietro). He's still a totally unlikable, spoiled kid (even more so now), but they do do something interesting with him. There's a new kid Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young), and you might say there are already too many cast members already, but he does have an interesting story line.
Of course, the biggest thing about this season is the return of villain Terry Silver (Michael Ian Griffin, who was kind enough to come out of a fourteen-year acting retirement). Karate Kid 3 is generally considered the weakest of the first three films, but the one element most people generally liked was Terry, the over-the-top, crazed rich guy and sensei. Since he was a co-founder of Cobra Kai, for years fans of the show have speculated on whether he'd make an appearance, and finally we get him. And he's here all season, no guest appearance for this guy. It's no longer the eighties, so they had to tone him down (plus Griffin may not be able to copy quite the energy he had decades ago.) However, the writers and the actor understand the assignment. He's still got the charisma and is able to see the bigger picture and understand the ways of the world far more than Kreese, who's stuck in his ways. Yet, you get flashes of Silver's trademark sinister smile, the old Terry peeking from beneath the surface, bringing chills down your spine. The show does a surprisingly good job of explaining his previously cartoonish behavior and where he is at now in his life. They make him a truly tragic character in this, looking at him as more than a guy who's psychotic, but as a man who was deeply mentally damaged by the war. Not to say that original baddie Kreese is overshadowed, the character gets some of his best material here.
Highly recommended. This is the best season since the first one.
