It’s only been a scant four months since Season 3 ofCobra Kaidropped on Netflix and promptly crane kicked our faces off, but the hype is already building for the next batch of episodes. StarsWilliam ZabkaandMartin Koverecently confirmed thatfilming on Season 4 has wrapped, and Netflix is telling investors that it will debut on the streaming service later this year. So even though you may still be basking in the glow ofElizabeth Shue’s grand return to the franchise, it’s already time to start asking what comes next. Of course, the answer to that question isn’t immediately obvious. The creators ofCobra Kai—Josh Heald,Jon Hurwitz, andHayden Schlossberg —are always careful to play their cards close to the vest, and a trailer likely isn’t coming for quite a while. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have our own hopes about what season four might bring to theKarate Kidspinoff.
Just for starters, this better be the year when Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence andRalph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso get to share a bunch of screen time together. During the first three seasons, it was somewhat of a rare occurrence to find those two actually sharing a scene, but when it did happen — whether they were rocking out to REO Speedwagon in the car or bumping into each other at the local taco house — it always ended up being a season highlight. The year-three finale, however, which finally saw Johnny and Daniel-san teaming up to combine their dojos into one karate powerhouse, seemed to promise that these two would be paired up for the foreseeable future. Keep that promise. Watching these teenaged rivals grow into frenemies (and maybe, one day, actual friends!) has been one ofCobra Kai’s great joys. We just need more of it. A lot more. Now is the time to deliver.
Speaking of delivering,Cobra Kaicame through big time when they brought back Shue, along withThe Karate Kid Part IIstarsYuji OkumotoandTamlyn Tomita, last season. For superfans of the franchise, there’s only one “big get” remaining –Thomas Ian Griffith’s scenery-chewing Terry Silver, the wild-eyed, ponytailed villain (and, let’s be honest, sole saving grace) ofThe Karate Kid Part III.Cobra Kaialready started teasing his arrival last year when a younger actor played Silver during flashbacks to John Kreese’s tour of duty in the Vietnam War. And a call Kreese makes at the end of the finale to an unseen recipient asking for help has to be Silver, right?! Well … maybe.
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Prior to the events of last season, Griffith may have seemed like a longshot to return to theKarate Kiduniverse. Griffith hasn’t acted in over a decade and has more recently focused on his behind-the-scenes work as a TV producer and writer. However, he did join otherKarate Kidfamily members during an online reunion staged byJosh Gadfor hisReunited ApartYouTube series late last year, indicating that he still gets along well with everyone and is happy to be associated with the franchise. You might assume there’s no way the showrunners would tease Silver’s arrival unless the ink was already dry on Griffith’s contract, but the fact is that’s exactly what they did with Shue back in Season 2. Though they set up Ali with an “I”’s return to the show by having her accept Johnny’s Facebook friend request, a deal for Shue’s services hadn’t been reached. They even had a back-up plan ready in case things didn’t work out. Let me be clear: I hope no such chances were taken with Griffith. If you tease the one and only Terry Silver, you need to deliver Terry Silver. Don’t let us down,Cobra Kai.
Assuming Terry Silver does indeed return, that will essentially complete the set of original trilogy stars old-school fans have been hoping to see. Sure, Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan), “Karate’s Bad Boy” fromPart III, could also return, but, if he does, it’s likely he’d just get packaged with Silver. And I guessThe Next Karate Kid’sHilary Swankalso could show up, but her Oscar-winner pedigree may make her too hard to get for a web-series-turned-Netflix-show about karate. Meanwhile,Cobra Kai’s new generation of teen characters aren’t getting any younger. It feels like they’ve all swapped dojos at least twice already, and the big tournament that serves as the franchise’s centerpiece is called the All Valley Under 18 Karate Championship for a reason – no old folks are allowed. With all of the kids about to age out of qualifying, this might be the last chance for the All Valley to play a major part in the show.
Which is all a long way to say: It’s time to start setting up the show’s end game.Cobra Kaiwas an unexpected delight when it premiered on YouTube and became a legitimate sensation when it jumped over to Netflix. Its mix of unabashed fan service, clever tweaks to the existing formula, and an inspired infusion of new blood have served as proof positive that this type of sequel/reboot hybrid, which Hollywood is so fond of these days, can be a hugely successful creative endeavor. But the good times can’t last forever. The writers have said they’ve got a story outline that would extend the show several more seasons, and, while they’ve yet to let me down, I will say there’s only so many times we can see Kreese threaten Johnny or all the kids engage in a giant season-ending throwdown before the series starts to feel repetitive.
So let’s hope Season 4 starts laying the groundwork for a fitting and satisfying ending that will wrap the series up as strongly as it started. Maybe that’ll happen with Season 5, or maybe they really do have several more seasons of worthwhile stories left to tell. But it seems appropriate to start charting that course, potentially by using season four to launch storylines that could carry on through toCobra Kai’s series finale. Even Mr. Miyagi once said, “You trust the quality of what you know, not quantity.” Sometimes less really is more.
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