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The fourth season of Cobra Kai was announced on October 2nd, 2020. It premiered on December 31, 2021. Filming for the season began on January 20th, 2021 and wrapped on April 30th, 2021.

Cobra Kai season four was the #1 Global show on Netflix, trending #1 in over 80 countries. It earned over 120 million viewing hours.

Synopsis

Season 4 finds the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang dojos joining forces to take down Cobra Kai at the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament... and whoever loses must hang up their gi. As Samantha and Miguel try to maintain the dojo alliance and Robby goes all in at Cobra Kai, the fate of the Valley has never been more precarious. What tricks does Kreese have up his sleeve? Can Daniel and Johnny bury their decades-long hatchet to defeat Kreese? Or will Cobra Kai become the face of karate in the valley?[2]

Cast

Starring

  • Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso: Having made peace with Johnny, Daniel teams up with his former rival to train their students in two styles of karate for an upcoming tournament. The only problem? The common goal of defeating Cobra Kai doesn’t stop Daniel and Johnny from butting heads.[3]
  • William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence: Struggling to earn Daniel’s respect, Johnny searches for a way to establish his aggressive style of karate as legitimate. Meanwhile, he’s still sorting out his personal struggles with his history of dysfunctional relationships.[3]
  • Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso: Still rattled by a recent home invasion and attack on her daughter Samantha by Cobra Kai students, Amanda hopes her husband Daniel can put Kreese out of business and end the threats to her family. At the same time, she takes on more work running the car dealership as Daniel focuses on the dojo.[3]
  • Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz: As Johnny’s favorite pupil, Miguel is caught in the middle of his sensei’s long-standing rivalry with Daniel. As Miguel grows closer to Daniel, his relationship with his second sensei’s daughter Samantha faces its own challenges.[3]
  • Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene: Having cut ties with his absentee father Johnny and former sensei Daniel, Robby finds support from Kreese at the Cobra Kai dojo. Establishing himself as Kreese’s top student, Robby learns to lead — and to be ruthless.[3]
  • Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso: After training with Johnny, Samantha feels newly liberated from the restrictions of her father’s karate style — and his parenting. Unable to let go of an old grudge against former high school classmate Tory, Samantha clashes with her parents and her boyfriend Miguel.[3]
  • Jacob Bertrand as Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz: Now a member of Johnny’s Eagle Fang dojo and training alongside Daniel’s Miyagi-Do students, Hawk tries to make amends for his past transgressions against them while at Cobra Kai. Meanwhile, he faces retribution from his former comrades.[3]
  • Gianni Decenzo as Demetri Alexopoulos
  • Peyton List as Tory Nichols[4]
  • Vanessa Rubio as Carmen Diaz[4]
  • Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver
  • Martin Kove as John Kreese: With his rivals teaming up, Kreese seeks out his old Army friend Terry Silver to help Cobra Kai prepare for the All Valley Karate Tournament. As hostilities continue to flare between the rival dojos, Kreese plays the angles to get into his opponents’ heads.[3]

Guest Starring

Special Guest Cast

Co-Starring

See also: Season 4 Minor Characters

Episode List

  1. Let's Begin[5]
  2. First Learn Stand[5]
  3. Then Learn Fly[5]
  4. Bicephaly[5]
  5. Match Point[5]
  6. Kicks Get Chicks[5]
  7. Minefields[5]
  8. Party Time[5]
  9. The Fall[5]
  10. The Rise[5]

Awards and Nominations

All awards are from 2022.
Award Category Recipient(s) Result
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series Cobra Kai Nominated
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Family TV Show Cobra Kai Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Sound Editing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation The Rise Nominated
Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Comedy Series Or Variety Program Cobra Kai/Ken Barefield

Gallery

Posters

Promotional

First Look

The following images were released prior to the season premiere, and are not in episodic order.

Videos

Viewing

Three days after the season premiere, the first batch of viewing data for the season was released.

The Karate Kid sequel, which was originally a YouTube original before moving to Netflix with season three, launched its fourth season on December 31 and clocked up over 120M hours watched during its first three days. It also helped the first season score another 13.5M hours on the streamer.[6] It was the #1 show in 83 countries and counting.[7]

Trivia

  • Season 4 takes place in a pre-pandemic world, so while characters aren't wearing masks on-screen, precautions were in place for the actors behind the scenes.[8]
  • Peyton List and Vanessa Rubio were upped from their roles as guest stars to series regulars.[4]
  • William Zabka wrapped filming on April 30, 2021.
  • Season 4 revolved around the "51st Annual All-Valley Under-18 Karate Championship". [9]
  • Season 4 marks the return of Terry Silver in The Karate Kid franchise. He was last seen in The Karate Kid Part III.
    • His return was hinted with the slogan, "Have patience. He’s just getting everything rolling. Terry Silver returns to the dojo for Cobra Kai IV."
    • Thomas Ian Griffith spoke about his return to Cobra Kai and his role in The Karate Kid Part III with Entertainment Weekly saying, "I never imagined I'd be stepping back into this role, but what an incredible opportunity to bring Terry Silver full circle. When they say Cobra Kai never dies, they mean it!"[10]
    • Executive producers and writers Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg talked about Terry Silver's return saying, “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.[11]
  • The series original stunt cooridinators Hiro Koda and Jahnel Curfman did not return for the fourth season, citing that the higher-ups chose to "go in a different direction."[12] The decision was a shock to them as they had begun prep for Season 4. Official represenatives for production said it was due to "a scheduling issue with production."[13]
  • Carrie Underwood's cameo appearance in the series wasn't just a dream for fans, but for Carrie too, since it's one of her favorite shows. "I grew up watching 'Daniel' and 'Johnny' and I can’t believe I actually get to be a small part of the legacy that is the Karate Kid."[14]
    • She tweeted about her adoration for the series in 2020, which caught the attention of creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg. They weren't sure it would come together to have her singing in the All Valley, but it was a "match made in heaven".[15]
    • They didn't use the song 'You're The Best' that played during the 1984 film in the All Valley Karate Tournament, as they felt it would be a copycat of the movie. The chose 'The Moment of Truth' because it "still has that same 1980s sports-rock anthem vibe".[15]
  • When asked about the return, or lack thereof, Karate Kid film franchise characters, Hayden Schlossberg explained they want to bring characters in for "important story reasons, not just a fun cameo."[16]
  • Ralph Macchio's real-life daughter Julia Macchio guest starred as Vanessa, the therapist cousin of Daniel LaRusso, in Party Time.
  • This is the first season to include two uses of the word fuck, as previous season only included one.[17]
  • This is currently the only season so far in Cobra Kai where none of its ten episode's names are in Spanish, as season 1 had Esqueleto, season 2 had Pulpo, and season 3 had Obstáculos.
  • Upon its release, the season rocketed to #1 worldwide on the platform.
  • Ralph Macchio still dislikes how The Karate Kid Part III turned out, but is grateful it could pave the way for Season 4 and beyond.[18]
  • Keeping the legacy of both Mr. Miyagi and the late Pat Morita alive was critical to both Ralph and the creators.[18]
  • Jon Hurwitz and Josh Heald discussed Season 4 with TVLine, explaining some of the key plot points and decisions going into them.[19]
    • Jon on Miguel and Johnny in Season 4, "In a way, Miguel’s decision [to leave the valley] is a split-second one, and in a way, it’s something that’s been brewing the whole season. By the time they realize they’re on different pages, it’s too late."
    • Jon on Johnny's jealousy over Daniel and Miguel befriending one another, "Even though the two of them have buried the hatchet, in a sense, and they’re working together, it’s only natural. When Daniel starts making a connection with Miguel — who is one of the most important relationships in Johnny’s life and is a surrogate son, of sorts — Johnny starts feeling like this lifetime rival of his is potentially a new, better role model that Miguel is turning to instead of him.
  • This is the final season where the Cobra Kai Dojo takes place in Reseda before transferring to a different location in the next season.
  • This is the first season in which Xolo Maridueña does not appear in every episode.

References

  1. Netflix Media Center
  2. Released via the Netflix Media Center
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 https://www.netflix.com/tudum/cobra-kai/cast
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/cobra-kai-season-4-vanessa-rubio-peyton-list-1234916341/
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 https://ui.eidr.org/view/content?id=10.5240/47D1-CEA7-C3D4-F3F2-D518-E
  6. [https://deadline.com/2022/01/netflix-top-10-cobra-kai-120m-hours-1234904335/ Deadline: ‘Cobra Kai’ Returns Strong To Lead Netflix’s Top 10 List With 120M Hours Clocked At The Dojo
  7. The Wrap: Season 4 Tops 120 Million In First 3 Days
  8. Twitter: @jonhurwitz
  9. Daily Research Plot: Cobra Kai Season 4 Coming to Netflix
  10. EW: Terry Silver in Cobra Kai Season Confirmed
  11. Deadline: Terry Silver Returns In ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 4
  12. Bleeding Cool: Cobra Kai Stunt Coordinators Interview
  13. Heavy.com: Fights Scenes look a bit different in Season 4
  14. Twitter: @netflix Carrie Underwood's sercet Cobra Kai cameo wasn't just a dream for fans
  15. 15.0 15.1 Hayden Schlossberg talks Carrie Underwoods surprise cameo with EW
  16. Twitter: @McSchlossberg 'Bringing back OG characters'
  17. Twitter: @jonhurwitz 'these season we had two :)'
  18. 18.0 18.1 Hollywood Reporter: Ralph Macchio (Still) Dislikes ‘The Karate Kid Part III’ But Proud ‘Cobra Kai’ Fleshed Out Dynamite Villain
  19. TVLine: Cobra Kai EPs Talk Miguel's Big Finale Decision, Tease Return of SPOILER, Plus 'Fast' and 'Aggressive' Season 5

Navigational

           Cobrakai

Season I
Ace Degenerate | Strike First | Esqueleto | Cobra Kai Never Dies | Counterbalance | Quiver | All Valley | Molting | Different but Same | Mercy

Season II
Mercy Part II | Back in Black | Fire and Ice | The Moment of Truth | All In | Take a Right | Lull | Glory of Love | Pulpo | No Mercy

Season III
Aftermath | Nature Vs. Nurture | Now You're Gonna Pay | The Right Path | Miyagi-Do | King Cobra | Obstáculos | The Good, The Bad, and The Badass | Feel The Night | December 19

Season IV
Let's Begin | First Learn Stand | Then Learn Fly | Bicephaly | Match Point | Kicks Get Chicks | Minefields | Party Time | The Fall | The Rise

Season V
Long, Long Way From Home | Molé | Playing With Fire | Downward Spiral | Extreme Measures | Ouroboros | Bad Eggs | Taikai | Survivors | Head of the Snake

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