The Major Karate Kid Homage You Missed In Cobra Kai Season 4 Episode 1

Contains spoilers for "Cobra Kai" Season 4

When "Cobra Kai" premiered in 2018, the series picked up the story kicked off in the first "Karate Kid" film for the first time since "The Next Karate Kid" in 1994. That said, "The Next Karate Kid" did not feature longtime series lead Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). "Cobra Kai" stars both Macchio and William Zabka reprising his role as Daniel's bully Johnny Lawrence, seen last at the start of "The Karate Kid Part II." In short, then, "Cobra Kai" gave fans their first look at these two beloved characters in a really long time.

However, while the series could easily rest on its laurels, "Cobra Kai" attempts to strike a balance between nostalgia and progress. As much as Daniel and Johnny are at its center, a new generation of teens, like Daniel's daughter Sam (Mary Mouser) and Johnny's son Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan), are just as important to its ongoing story, now spanning four seasons and counting.

While the first episode of "Cobra Kai" Season 4 gives its young stars plenty of time to shine, a moment near its conclusion calls back to the franchise's origins in a subtle manner plenty of viewers may have missed.

In the final sequence of the "Cobra Kai" Season 4 premiere, John Kreese (Martin Kove) tracks down Cobra Kai co-founder Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), hoping to convince him to join his reopened Cobra Kai dojo. While Kreese leverages their shared history in hopes of convincing Terry to return, Terry reveals that he began seeing a therapist and found a new lease on life since the last time they saw one another. Despite turning him down, it's clear the manipulative Kreese got to Terry on some level when, at the episode's end, Terry impulsively kicks an expensive bottle of wine against a wall, revealing a lingering attachment to his karate days of yesteryear.

Before the bottle of wine is destroyed, its label identifies it as being from the Kamen Vineyard. This is a reference to Robert Mark Kamen, who wrote the screenplay for the original "Karate Kid" and has remained credited in some capacity in all subsequent franchise entries (via IMDb). On "Cobra Kai," Kamen is simply credited for creating some of its characters, suggesting he no longer actively contributes to the franchise in its current state. Nevertheless, the creators of "Cobra Kai" seems to have felt it was apt to acknowledge Kamen's role in coming up with the very basis for the series' continued existence by prominently displaying his name on an expensive bottle of wine in Terry's cellar.