SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI S4 E10

“The Rise”

Everything is set up for our big time conclusion. Thankfully, Miguel did not re-break his back as they implied in episode 9. But he had a half hour to return to the match or forfeit, flashing back to how Daniel had the same situation in The Karate Kid. However, Miguel figured out that Johnny was encouraging him to get back out there and was more concerned with the match than with him. (That may not be the case, but that is what Miguel thought).

Miguel failed to answer the time limit and forfeited, sending Eli into the finals against Robby.

Of course, the girls final was Sam vs. Tory. The problem with the set up was that the boys went first and the show spoiled the outcome because they stated that Cobra Kai would win the overall dojo championship by winning just one of the two remaining matches and that Miyagi-do had to win both. Clearly, Miyagi-do was going to win the first one to keep the tension up. Still, Eli won in sudden death, a major upset, but completing his redemption arc of the season.

Kenny completed his turn to Cobra Kai as he viciously attacked Anthony, who had come to the locker room to apologize for his actions during the series. Kenny is now a villain, unlike the first couple of episodes of the season.

Of course, everything was going to be determined by Tory vs. Sam. In order to do what was best for her, Daniel approached Johnny and asked for his help. In a wonderful scene between the two senseis, Johnny and Daniel agreed to work together to stop Kreese and Silver.

The battle between Sam and Tory has been building since Tory arrived in season 2. As Sam was blending the two style of karate, the battle raged. And since we know that there is to be a final 5th season of this show, Tory got the win, giving Cobra Kai the final victory of the dojos and making it so that Daniel and Johnny had to give up their own dojos.

We discover some interesting tidbits at the end of the season, all setting up for season 5.

• Silver had bought off the ref. That was why the ref made a controversial call about Tory being out of bounds instead of taking a winning point.
• Tory heard Silver thank the ref so she knows that the fix was in.
• Miguel took off to find his real father. Johnny promised Carmine he would find him.
• We saw a flashback to when Silver was beating Raymond and he said that he would stop beating him and let him into Cobra Kai, but he had to do something for him.
• What Silver wanted Raymond to do was to tell the police that Kreese was the one who attacked him.
• This led to Kreese being arrested for assault and attempted murder, leaving Silver in charge of Cobra Kai.
• Daniel was at Miyagi’s grave, promising to stop Cobra Kai… as long as he had the help of Chozen, who was in the graveyard with Daniel.

This was a great season, and it sets up some real drama in season 5. I still think we see some pay off for Silver being sick and our heroes are heading in different directions. They will eventually come together in the end.

Can’t wait for season 5!

SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI S4 E9

“The Fall”

The All-Valley Tournament is underway!

With special guest star, Carrie Underwood to live sing a montage.

The All-Valley added skills competitions this year just so they could add some cool shots with weapons and break some wood. It really did not feel as if it were anything more than that.

Then there was a bunch of early round matches. We narrowed the numbers down knocking out the rd shirts and the secondary characters. Eli was doing well. So was Dmitri. Kenny took one to the face from Robby. And so on.

And in the battle between Miguel and Eli, something went wrong.

To be concluded.

SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI S4 E8

“Party Time”

I was both thrilled and horrified at the return of Paul Walter Hauser as Raymond, aka Stingray to Cobra Kai. Thrilled because he was a funny and engaging character that won me over when he was on the last time.

Horrified because Terry Silver kicked the living crap out of him.

That good guy Terry Silver who apologized to Daniel and tried to get the Cobra Kai kids to focus on the tournament only seems to be gone new. In his place is this complete psycho. I just hope he leaves poor Raymond alive, because I am not sure about that.

While Silver is freaking out, Sam continues to show what a disrespectful brat she is. She takes Miguel to prom and then she gets mad when Robbie and Tory show up together. Yes, they showed up to throw Miguel and Sam off balance, but Sam started a fight and played right into the hands of Tory.

By the way, there were some ultra cool fight moves blended into the dance choreography.

I’m not sure the message that the show is sending when Anthony started to straight up his act but only after Daniel broke his iPad in half. That response in anger was what apparently worked for the boy.

Oh, and there was a remarkable scene with Johnny and Miguel. After Johnny got the crap beaten out of him by Silver (who was incredibly busy this episode), he got drunk and Miguel found him on his apartment floor in a puddle of his own … whatever. Miguel took him to his room and Johnny told him that he wanted to be a father to him but he was failing. Miguel said he was doing fine and that he loved him. Johnny responded that he loved him too, Robbie. Oh, right to the heart. That was a crushing moment for poor Miguel.

SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI S4 E7

“Minefields”

We finally got back to Anthony and maybe, finally, Daniel and Amanda can open their eyes to what a punk their son has been. Kenny sets him and his group of bully friends up to get them isolated in the library. They get caught just as Kenny is about to deliver some justice to Anthony.

This whole thing happened after Anthony let his father believe that he was being bullied by a kid from Cobra Kai. This was exactly the opposite of course as Anthony had just stolen Kenny’s clothes during PE and lured him into the hall for everyone to laugh at him. One wonders where the teachers are in this school. Maybe they are just all hiding out to avoid the karate fights.

Anthony was not the only one who was facing the music. Miguel discovered Johnny’s bandanna in his mom’s room and they finally had to tell him that they were “dating” ( or as Johnny said, hooked up). Johnny is remarkably awkward during this scene, which was very funny.

Eagle Fang Karate still needed a female competitor for the upcoming tournament and they have apparently found one in Devon, who watched all the karate fighting movies, which seemed to impress Johnny and he took this opportunity to build up immunity to the dirty tricks that Cobra Kai may pull at the tournament and so he had Devon kick all the other boys in their balls.

She enjoyed that too much.

Then, it appeared that Kreese felt the need to reestablish his power over Terry Silver, as he had an unbelievably awkward conversation with Terry to remind him who was boss. Are these cracks that are beginning to show among the Cobra Kai crew?

SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI S4 E6

“Kicks Get Chicks”

Yup, they have successfully made me dislike Sam LaRusso. I did not think that was possible, but she has turned herself into a spiteful and mean-spirited person.

The confrontation at the end of the episode as Tory returned to school for the first time since the fight, thanks to the LaRusso family’s help, as Sam laid down the law in no uncertain terns by saying, “I’m coming for you, bitch” showed how Sam has become the worst type of person.

I can understand why she feels this way, but you would think that being raised by Daniel and Amanda would have had some of those lessons passed on to her. Or maybe not since we also saw her bully brother earlier in the season. Maybe the LaRussos need to work on their parenting skills.

Then we have Hawk… or should I call him Eli now? This feels like his own personal journey has reached its apex. When he turned to join Miyagi-do last year at the end of the season, that did not feel earned. It felt too quick. Now, he has spent most of the season paying for his choices to the point that he was ready to give up karate completely (which might be a sound decision in the long run). He was convinced to remain by his friend, Demetri, and he showed up at Miyagi-do to complete his path back.

This show is really about there not being any specific villain. They are al in shades of gray. Daniel sure felt like the bad guy when Silver confronted him at the store. Daniel is allowing his past experiences to prevent moving forward, something he wanted Sam to do. He does not really lead by example, sadly. Maybe Silver is the real bad guy, but he does not seem as if he is. Also, maybe I misread the clues from earlier because there is not implications that Silver is sick.

Surprise return: Aisha

Not sure the purpose behind this since she did not really do anything and Sam seemed to toss her advice aside.

The show is building toward the tournament with the new rules that will make things more inclusive. Johnny can explain it to you…

SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI S4 E5

“Match Point”

This episode was fire.

Terry Silver showed up at Miyagi-do to apologize to Daniel for his behavior during Karate Kid 3. Daniel was having nothing of it, despite the fact that it truly did feel sincere. This show continues to paint Terry Silver as a repentant man who realized his past mistakes. He has been a voice of reason among the Cobra Kai and with Kreese. I’m not sure where this is going, but he did not appreciate Daniel’s dismissal of his apology.

Silver’s arrival spooked the heck out of Daniel and he immediately wanted to take full control of the training of the students. Of course, Johnny wanted no part of that and, after a lot of alcohol, they wound up with a rematch from the All-Valley Tournament set for the next day.

Although Silver placed a no fighting restriction on the Cobra Kai students, they found a way around it. They caught Hawk, held him down and shaved off his mohawk. That was a vicious shot at Hawk, since that hairstyle had become such a symbol of who he was.

Meanwhile, Daniel was recovering from his hangover, we got a Johnny Lawrence training montage. Johnny slipped right back into his bully persona as he was shoving people out of his way and causing destruction such as karate kicking a mailbox. The montage was in tune with Survivor’s Burning Heart from the Rocky movies.

Despite the understanding of what it might do to the uneasy alliance that has been in place this season, the match between Johnny and Daniel proceeded with Sam and Miguel in position as judges.

Johnny scored first. Daniel got the next two points. Johnny tied it up despite Daniel pulling out the old arm numbing trick he learned last season. Then, it a beautifully choreographed point, Daniel and Johnny struck the final blow at the same time.

This of course was when Hawk arrived and showed off his new hairdo and the alliance fell apart. Eagle Fang and Miyagi-do Karate split apart. Perhaps this is what Terry Silver was trying to do in the first place.

This was my favorite episode so far in season 4. Not sure where they go from here.

SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI EP 4

“Bicephaly”

I think the show is going out of its way to make me dislike all of the students in Miyagi-do karate. Not only Hawk and his little minions, but even Sam LaRusso was acting like a bully this episode. For no reason. Sam went out of her way to try and humiliate Tory while Tory was just trying to do her job. And Hawk went out of his way to try and bully Kenny at the drive in.

I think the show has to be careful that they aren’t creating a bunch of characters that I do not want to root for. I am all for creating three-dimensional characters who are not just good or bad, but there has to be some redeeming qualities or else I am not going to care who wins or loses.

Johnny continues his jealousy over how much time Miguel is spending with the LaRussos and it is threatening to rip apart the tentative treaty between Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang. Johnny also is nervous about telling Miguel about him and his mom, Carmen…so much so that it is causing performance issues. Sorry Carmen.

The best part of this episode was the arrival and reveal of Kreese and Terry Silver to Daniel. That was a great cliffhanger and sets up episode 5 extremely well. Nothing more about any possible illness Silver may have that I thought they were alluding to last episode. Silver is clearly healthy enough to kick Robbie’s butt as we saw here.

It is really odd that they show seems to be trying to pull a double turn and make the Cobra Kai guys the heroes, at least Robby, Tory and Kenny.

SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI S4 E3

“Then Learn Fly”

I really love what they are doing with Terry Silver. He is not just jumping into the fray with his old war buddy. He is weighing options and remembering what Kreese did for him.

But there is more.

When I heard the line said by his aid/servant/chef early in the episode, I perked up. When Terry was having flashbacks to Vietnam, he said he was going to skip breakfast and his valet said “Should I call the doctor?” Wait…what? That is not a normal response to someone deciding to skip breakfast. Then later we see Terry with medication just before he does his cool ponytail thing. There is something wrong with Terry and we are diving into it.

I love how this is different than what we have seen before.

Unlike the Johnny stuff. I was disappointed at the end of the episode when it was clear that Johnny was starting to feel jealous over Daniel’s burgeoning connection to Miguel. Didn’t we already go through this storyline with Robby earlier in the series? I hope I am wrong, but this feels like a retread of a conflict that they feel like they need to throw in the path of the senseis.

Especially since I enjoyed the bonding that Daniel and Johnny were doing. The dinner they had with each other was great, and had a funny interaction with Johnny and “the Boy” aka Anthony. Growth spurt? Ha ha.

Kenny returned to find his place in Cobra Kai, thanks to a little coaching by Robbie. He is a interesting character that I am intrigued with seeing where exactly this season takes him. He is certainly worth rooting for and the fact that he is now in the villains hands, who knows where this will go. No matter what, the show is definitely pointing at Anthony LaRusso as the reason Kenny is where he is.

SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI SEASON 4

“First Learn Stand”

Episode two brought us an important thing… somebody new for Cobra Kai. Inside the dojo led by John Kreese, we have basically two main characters, Robby and Tory, but the rest are no name red shirts. They needed some more interesting characters to fill out the ranks of the opposition or nobody is going to believe that Cobra Kai has a chance against our heroes.

So we get the introduction of the new kid at school, Kenny. And what sends him to the dark side? Why it is Anthony LaRusso, Daniel’s own little bully of a son. Placing Anthony squarely in the Johnny Lawrence role of tormenting bully is some awesome storytelling that I hope carries out throughout the season. The show sets up Kenny as being extremely likable and relatable and then ties him to the prisoner that Robby fought with in season 3.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Johnny are teaching each other their respective brand of karate in hopes of creating a better understanding of the other’s philosophy. Daniel makes Johnny do the iconic “wax-on, wax-of” and “paint the fence” routines while Johnny takes Daniel to a warehouse and eventually a hockey game.

Johnny manipulates one of the hockey players into attacking Daniel so Daniel could learn to be more aggressive. It was funny cause all I was thinking about when that hockey player was taunting Daniel, was that Daniel was going to kick his ass.

Season 4 is setting up conflicts that I assume will be paying off in the future. The one between Tory and Amanda, Daniel’s wife, is fascinating and I hope it bears fruit. Maybe honeycrisp.

SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI SEASON 4

“Let It Begin“

It’s New Years Eve Day and Netflix has dropped the long awaited season 4 of Cobra Kai. We’ll be binging it today and, maybe tomorrow depending on how things go, and doing a write up for each episode.

I watched season 1 back when this was on YouTube Red. It was a main reason why I purchased that streaming version of YouTube. I enjoyed season 1 but I did not return for season 2. When it came to Netflix, I still did not watch. When season 3 came out and everyone was talking about it, I decided to binge these two seasons at once. I was very pleased that I decided to so that. I really enjoyed those two seasons and I am looking forward to season 4.

At the end of season 3, having Johnny and Daniel come together with a common enemy was an epic way to leave off the season. However, I guess the idea that the long-standing rivalry would just go away was a pipe dream as Johnny and Daniel immediately clash over the differing styles. Maybe this was necessary, but it felt as if this was what the first three seasons were building towards and that it might have been a step back. It makes sense that we should see this conflict.

I did like how Hawk had to take some punishment. The biggest issue I had last year was that his face turn came out of nowhere and did not feel earned. The resentment from some of the other students and the senseis is real and was a nice addition to the story.

I also enjoyed the fact that Terry Silver did not just come running back when John Kreese called. They gave us a scene where Silver reflected on his past from Karate Kid 3 and was not happy about it. It immediately made him more of a real character than he ever was in the movie. In fact, they actually did too good a job, because I now am not sure why he makes the choice to return to Cobra Kai.

The end of the episode with the students working together to “build a bridge” was a great moment and showed Daniel and Johnny, who were about to give in to their baser instincts about each other, that this could work even if it was not easy.

Good start, laying the groundwork for what is to come.