This story contains spoilers for the entirety ofCobra Kaiseason 4.
As any fan of karate in the Valley knows, Cobra Kai never dies.
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that the stars ofCobra KaiRalph MacchioandWilliam Zabka almost never rest.
Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver in ‘Cobra Kai’.Courtesy of Netflix
at Atlanta Daylight Studio for EW’s digital cover shoot.
“But I am standing strong.
Nothing some good ibuprofen won’t take care of.
Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver in ‘Cobra Kai’.Courtesy of Netflix
No complaints here!”
“There you go,” says Macchio with a laugh.
“Serve and volley, folks.
Martin Kove as John Kreese in ‘Cobra Kai’.Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix
Serve and volley.”
“It may take a minute for that to work out well.”
It’s not always as easy as you may think."
“Normal people are indebted and are always willing to help those who really help them.
But in this case, Silver’s not well.”
Report back here when you’re done.
‘Cobra Kai’ stars William Ralph Macchio and William Zabka.Ren Adkins for EW
“They would not let me shootKarate Kid III,” recalls Kove.
And thus, the ponytailed menace was born.
“But from that [film] comes this amazing, cherry-picked story [of Terry Silver].
Ralph Macchio and William Zabka in season 4 of ‘Cobra Kai’.Courtesy of Netflix
We bring back characters and redefine them, add layers and allow actors a chance to expand them.”
“Cobra Kaiowns that for better, for worse, for neutral.
“I was so happy for Ralph and William.
I thought they did an amazing job and truthfully never thought Terry Silver fit into this world.”
Even when theCobra Kaibrain trust came calling in 2020, Griffith was skeptical.
“If it was a one-off, I probably wouldn’t do it,” he says.
This is something special.'”
“This franchise is kissed in some way.
There’s some warm, shining light on every move.”
“I don’t like another guy coming in stealing some of the thunder from [my] darkness.
I couldn’t be barking, ‘Let’s get Eagle Fang!
Let’s defeat Miyagi-Do!’
in front of my dojo anymore.
I was doing that season 1, season 2, season 3.
We needed some fresh elements in the show.”
“We know they are opposites, and we take full advantage of that.
We really wanted to explore it.”
The more frustrated the sensei get, the funnier it is for viewers, at least.
Zabka agrees: “For them to work together in harmony from go would’ve been dishonest.
They’re both coming with their baggage, so of course, there’s gonna be landmines.”
The most explosive issue between the duo is which key in of karate to teach their assembled students.
In a rare moment of cooperation, they each agree to learn the other’s style of fighting.
Johnny’s reminded that Miyagi saved him inKarate Kid II.
“It was supposed to be like vodka and eggs,” says Heald.
It was like baby food in real life."
Try as he might, Macchio says he simply could not drink the concoction in one shot.
“I kept thinking of Stallone in the originalRockyfilm, taking the five eggs down,” he remembers.
“But I went for it it just didn’t make it into the episode.”
That gnarly smoothie isn’t the only thing that Daniel finds hard to swallow.
which is why developing the character’s season 4 arc was so rewarding.
It’s too much for one macho man to bear.
“Beef jerky has been his dad!
He cherishes Miguel and he’s afraid of losing that bond.
Shooting the showdown ran from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on the outdoor Miyagi-Do set in 40-degree Atlanta weather.
But then it’s a draw at the end,” says Zabka, laughing.
“We got a kick out of it.”
“That was a pun,” says Macchio.
“Iactually got a kick out of it.”
“Yeah,” Zabka replies.
“He got a kick out of it,Igot a backfist to the face.”
prior to beginning demanding a re-rematch,Cobra Kaifans, let Heald explain what the writers were thinking.
“It was always a draw for us,” he says.
“These characters are so passionate, in terms of whose karate is ‘better,’ in quotation marks.
It goes to that theme over and over again.
A wise manonce said, “Fighting always last answer to problem.”
It may take all season, but Johnny and Daniel finally learn this lesson by the finale.
Of course, both their egos and their students must take a serious beating first.
(Shout-out to Krunch Karate and Xtreme Martial Arts!)
For thinking that Johnny had nothing of value to teach his students.
For worrying that Johnny was a bad influence on Sam.
“What do you say we team up again?”
Daniel even goes so far as to dub their joint operation “Miyagi-Fang” temporarily.
“When he says ‘Miyagi-Fang, just for today’…
I actually went back and forth with Josh about that,” he says.
Daniel’s olive branch comes just when Johnny needs it most.
“I think he’s come to accept that he’s a work in progress.
I love that arc.
I love that moment of surrender and growth in Johnny.”
Unfortunately, the All Valley judges do not hand out trophies for personal growth and Miyagi-Fang loses the tournament.
Like Kreese, Kove did not see Terry’s betrayal coming.
But Terry’s taking it too far,” he says.
Season 5, you say?
Does that mean Johnny Lawrence will be heading south of the border next season?
Initially, it seems that Daniel will head into season 5 without a partner.
“It wasthenwhen we started talking, like, ‘Oh, he’s coming back.’
He’s reformed in life and is certainly not the villain that he was from the movie.
But he still has a skill set that is a next-level thing.
And it’sdefinitelygoing to be a fight.
“The purity of Terry Silver is that he could be this incredible human being.
He has the intelligence to do that,” says Griffith.
But reuniting with Kreese “was the breaking point [for him] to go, ‘Enough’s enough.
I’m going to turn this around.’
I thought that was a great idea [for the show], and risky.
‘Wow, is the bad guy gonna take over the world?’
And it’s like, ‘Yup, I am!'”
“You’ll have to tune in,” says Schlossberg coyly.
“Fans can look at the past movies, but we also fill in extra backstory thatwasn’tin the movies.
People can speculate as to who he’s referring to.
That’s not a good thing if you’re a kid in the Valley.”
Maybe not but it sounds like averygood thing for fans ofCobra Kai.
