*Cobra Kai Seasons 1-4 Spoilers*

In 1984 the hit movie The Karate Kid made 91.1 million in the box office creating an enormous impact on the world. Most thought the franchise was done after the 2010 remake starring Will Smith’s son, but in 2018 Karate Kid was revived as a YouTube Original that later morphed into the Netflix Original, Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai featured both Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso) and William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence) with even a guest appearance from Elisabeth Shue (Alli Mills) which gained the approval of all diehard Karate Kid fans. So many viewers were invested in the story line that the show has continued for four seasons with a fifth on the way. The fourth season has just been released on December 31, 2021. 

One of the biggest draws for Cobra Kai has been the ongoing rivalry between Daniel and Johnny and how the show brings to light that neither of them are the ‘good guy’ nor the ‘bad guy’. This theme was ever present in season four as Daniel and Johnny attempted to work together to win the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament but ultimately split due to their drastic teaching approaches. 

The past three seasons have been jam packed with action and rivalry between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai, both on the karate mat and off. After the epic season two finale with a school-wide karate fight and the equally fast-paced house brawl in season three, season four was sort of a let down, karate-wise. The whole season built up to the All Valley Tournament which ended predictably. However, the newest season did not lack in character development nor cliffhangers. The lack of karate left more screen time for the complexities of each character to unfold, especially in the case of Tori (played by Peyton List). In previous seasons, viewers were able to see a glimpse of Tori’s difficult home life, but her struggles were highlighted with Mrs. LaRusso’s guilty conscience and efforts to help Tori in season 4. As expected, the season four finale brought with it several cliffhangers which made up for the lack of karate throughout the season. These cliffhangers increased viewer anticipation for season five, in which the release date has yet to be announced. 

While the newest season of Cobra Kai was different than the past three seasons, in terms of being more character driven than an action packed plot, it continued to build love for the franchise and is definitely worth the watch.