Complete ‘Cobra Kai’ Recap of Seasons 1-4 Ahead of the Season 5 Premiere
Cobra Kai Season 5 is about to drop on Netflix. And we think the hours leading up to the highly-anticipated premiere is the perfect time to do a quick recap of the first four seasons. How did Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio), Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), John Kreese (Martin Kove) and their respective Dojos get to where they are now? Here’s a quick refresher of the sequel series to The Karate Kid movie franchise.
‘Cobra Kai’ Season 1 gave fans Johnny Lawrence’s point-of-view
More than 30 years after the first two Karate Kid films — when Johnny lost to Daniel in the All-Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament and then got abused and threatened by his sensei — fans met Johnny once again in the Cobra Kai pilot.
Instead of being painted as the villain, the story is told from Johnny’s point-of-view as a down-on-his-luck single man in his 50s who drinks too much, lives alone, and is constantly haunted by his past actions. But when he meets his new neighbor Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), Johnny finds a new purpose in life.
He re-opens the Cobra Kai Dojo once owned by Kreese and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), and Miguel becomes his first student. The motto, of course, is “Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy.” Daniel immediately notices that his old nemesis is back, and the drama officially begins.
The first season builds up to the All-Valley Karate Tournament
Meanwhile, Daniel meets Johnny’s delinquent son Robbie (Tanner Buchanan) and gives him the chance to stay out of trouble by offering him a job at his dealership. Daniel has no idea that Robbie is Johnny’s son, and he starts training him in the art of Miyagi-Do Karate.
So, the story is set up with Johnny and Miguel at Cobra Kai — with Miguel dating Daniel’s daughter Samantha (Mary Mouser). On the other side is Daniel and Johnny’s son Robbie learning Miyagi-Do.
Season 1 builds up to the All-Valley tournament, with the final match between Miguel and Robbie. Ultimately, Miguel comes out on top and ignores Johnny’s desire for a clean fight. He targets Robbie’s injured shoulder, and follows the Cobra Kai motto.
The first season ends with Johnny back at Cobra Kai, and the surprise return of his old mentor John Kreese.
Johnny and Kreese reunite in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 2
Season 2 picks up where the first left off, and Johnny immediately confronts his old sensei. Even though he is fully aware of Kreese’s questionable methods — and is on his own path to redemption — Johnny ultimately decides to let Kreese be an assistant at the Dojo.
At the same time, Daniel has set up a new Miyagi-Do karate club to teach his students defense tactics and inner peace. He only has two pupils — Samantha and Robbie — while Cobra Kai continues to grow.
Newcomer Tory (Peyton List) joins Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) and Miguel at Cobra Kai, while their friend Demitri (Gianni DeCenzo) decides Miyagi-Do is a better fit. This is because there is tension brewing at Cobra Kai. Kreese is turning Johnny’s students against him, manipulating them to connect with his style of karate. The only one who stays loyal to Johnny is Miguel.
In addition to the karate drama, the teen romance drama is also causing tension. Tory is now dating Miguel, while Sam is with Robbie. However, things escalate at a big party when Sam kisses Miguel. Then, Tory calls Sam out over the PA system at school.
The season ends with a street fight in the school hallways between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do. Robbie ultimately sends Miguel over the balcony and he violently lands on a banister before falling to the floor.
Kreese takes advantage of the chaos and uncertainty by turning all of Johnny’s students against him to blame him for what happened to Miguel. Kreese is now in charge of Cobra Kai.
Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso team up in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 3
Season 3 begins with Miguel in the hospital — paralyzed from the waist down — and Robbie on the run from police. Daniel ends up turning Robbie in and sending him to juvie, which the teen feels is a betrayal.
Meanwhile, things are escalating among the teens and a massive fight breaks out during a game of laser tag. Hawk breaks Demitri’s arm, completing his turn to the dark side, and tensions are higher than ever before.
Kreese visits Robbie in jail and attempts to recruit him to Cobra Kai after Daniel’s betrayal — and it works. But many of the teens in Cobra Kai are feeling lost and no longer want to follow Kreese. After Johnny helps Miguel start walking again, he starts another Dojo – Eagle Fang – for Miguel and the other Cobra Kai lost souls to join.
Another trip down memory lane
Now, there are three Dojos in the story — Kreese and Cobra Kai, Johnny and Eagle Fang, and Daniel and Miyagi-Do. This is the point where viewers get to see the origin of Cobra Kai after Kreese and Terry Silver fought together in Vietnam.
The younger Kreese learned his fight to the death style after being captured by the enemy, as well as the method of striking first and fighting without mercy.
While viewers learn more about Kreese, they also get to see Daniel return to Okinawa and revisit old friends from Karate Kid 2. He learns more about the art of Miyagi-Do karate from his former rival Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), which will help him in his war against Kreese and Cobra Kai.
Season 3 also saw the return of Ali (Elisabeth Shue), who convinces Johnny and Daniel that it’s time to bury the hatchet and work together to stop Kreese. The season ends with a long-awaited sequence of Johnny and Daniel joining forces and bringing their respective Dojos together. At the same time, Kreese makes a phone call to his old war buddy, Terry Silver.
‘Cobra Kai’ Season 4 ends with a new All-Valley Tournament
Daniel and Johnny attempt to work together in season 4, but it doesn’t last long. The two still can’t manage to let go of their history, or their differences in fighting style. Their students attempt to get them to work together, but it just doesn’t happen. The good thing, though, is that Daniel and Johnny’s students are all being taught both methods.
Meanwhile, Terry Silver is making his mark at Cobra Kai and begins his stealth takeover of the Dojo. At first, the plan was to work together. But Terry realizes Kreese is his weakness, and he must take him out.
The season builds up to another All-Valley Karate Tournament, but this time there are separate girls and boys divisions, plus a skills competition. All three Dojos are there to compete. But in order to take out Cobra Kai, Daniel and Johnny realize they are going to have to get along and let their students fight in a way that’s best for them.
Hawk manages to beat Robbie in the boys’ final. But, Cobra Kai ends up winning the big trophy after winning the skills competition and Tory beating Sam in the girl’s final. However, Tory finds out that Silver paid the referees for the victory. And, to top it all off, Silver sets up Kreese for assault and attempted murder, bribing Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser) to point the finger at the wrong man.
Season 4 ends with Kreese going to jail, Silver in charge of Cobra Kai (with big plans to expand), and Johnny and Daniel realizing they have to bring Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do together to bring all of this down. Daniel also enlists the help of Chozen to get the job done.
Cobra Kai Season 5 premieres September 9 on Netflix.
