Cobra Kai – Season 5 Episode 4 “Downward Spiral” Recap & Review

Downward Spiral

Episode 4 of Cobra Kai Season 5 starts with Carmen returning home and finding the tap broken. There’s a hilarious Top Gun-esque montage here, as Johnny heads over, plays volleyball and acts like the perfect father. Of course, this was all one big dream but a hilarious one all the same.

When Robby’s mum arrives, she immediately susses out that Johnny is expecting a child. She also offers up a job opportunity as a rideshare. In order to get the lowdown on how it works, Dmitri is there to offer some guidance. Unfortunately, Johnny gets nothing but 1 star reviews the whole day.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Chozen try to work out what Silver’s next move will be after burning down Barnes’ furniture store. For now, Daniel and Amanda head off to their charity auction. It’s taking place in one of their donors’ houses… which of course happens to be Silver. He gushes over Amanda’s dress, while Daniel is convinced that he’s going to sabotage her day.

Silver is a master manipulator and speaks to Amanda about how he’s turned a new leaf. He also throws shade at Daniel for sending Chozen to “rough up” his hires. He also buys Daniel’s bonsais too, turning the whole affair into a PR stint.

Daniel confronts him, sending Silver crashing into the bonsai. It’s all a ploy to make Daniel out to be a villain.

As for Sam, she hangs with the girls and they all end up chilling by the pool. When Miguel shows up as well, things are inevitably awkward between the pair. Robby is obviously there too with Tory too, and he asks her to take a break from Cobra Kai.

Of course, there’s unresolved drama involving Anthony and Kenny too. It escalates when Hawk appears, so the group decide to race down the water slides to settle this. Yay?

Before that though, Robby tries to convince Kenny to quit Cobra Kai. He refuses, pointing out that he’s stronger now than he’s ever been before. However, Kenny is also a cheater and ends up putting a hole in the rubber ring, inevitably leading to a quick skirmish between Hawk and Kenny. Unfortunately, it’s ended too quickly by the lifeguard. Boo!

As the episode closes out, Amanda decides to leave Daniel, taking the kids and having space from her karate-obsessed husband. As for LaRusso, he remains determined to take Silver down no matter what.

The Episode Review

So this fifth season continues to meander through soapy drama with a distinct lack of karate action. What made season 4 so good stems from the action and the build-up for that big karate tournament, with a lot of fighting for good measure. So far, we’re four episodes in and there’s no fighting and instead, we’re doubling down on teen drama.

I know that’s always been a part of Cobra Kai but this season hasn’t quite got the balance right, unfortunately. Hopefully the second half can kick into high gear and double down on the fighting, but we’ll have to wait and see.