WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Cobra Kai season 4
Cobra Kai star Jacob Bertrand explains why his character, Eli 'Hawk' Moskowitz, turned dark back in the series' season 3. Netflix's Top 10 updates logged 120 hours of watch time for Cobra Kai season 4 within just three days of its release. The show is a revival series of the famous The Karate Kid films that were created by Robert Mark Kamen, with the original movies being highly popular in the 1980s. The show's creators, Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, have been widely praised for their ability to handle the iconic movie franchise and turn it into the hit series it is today, becoming one of Netflix's most beloved shows.
What makes Cobra Kai so intriguing is the incredible stories and character developments the show's protagonists and antagonists go through. Bertrand's character, Eli 'Hawk' Moskowitz, is one of those characters, turning from a nerdy victim to a bully, but eventually redeeming himself. Bertrand has minor roles on popular shows such as Parks and Recreation, Community and Nickelodeon's iCarly, before landing the main role in Disney XD's Kirby Buckets. The young actor joined Cobra Kai in season 1, initially being a recurring supporting role, but was upgraded to a main character from the beginning of season 2.
Bertrand recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his character, mentioning Hawk's dark past in season 3. Hawk ended the recent season 4 as the All-Valley Boy's Karate champion, having gone through a difficult season due to the bullish nature of his former Cobra Kai teammates. John Kreese's crew shaved off Hawk's unique mohawk, signalled out to be a "traitor" to Cobra Kai after leaving the karate team. Bertrand talks about Hawk's dark mentality in season 3, and the scene in which Hawk breaks his best friend Demetri's arm, which prompted Demetri to take on karate lessons with Miyagi Do.
“Well, he wasn’t around Miguel (Xolo Marigudeña) and Demetri and Johnny, and I think those three people are people who really have the best intentions for him. Who was around him was Tory (Peyton List), who’s a fricking maniac, and then Kreese (Martin Kove), who is an even bigger maniac. I think being under the influence of Kreese would change anybody – you either run or you buy into it and turn out like Hawk. Also at that time, Hawk was sort of given all this power and his newfound confidence, and he didn’t really know which direction to point it. I just think he was very impressionable at the point and was just very easily influenced. And now that he is back on the good side and back with his binary bro, and Daniel and Johnny, I think they’re definitely going to keep him on the good side."
Bertrand also talks about Hawk's eventual win, with fans hyped to see the character's confidence growing back, this time for the right side. In addition, he mentions that the iconic mohawk worn by his character was actually his real hair, saying that it took "an hour to get up and running." Bertrand talks about how different it felt fighting without the spikes, admitting he "lost a little bit of confidence" without the hair in the Cobra Kai season 4 finale, since it made him much shorter. The actor recently revealed that he was originally against Hawk becoming good again, enjoying his time as the fearful bully that pre-season 4 Hawk was known for being.
Cobra Kai season 5 has already wrapped up production, and Bertrand revealed that there's something different about the yet-to-be-released season. Among other things, the actor teased that some unlikely team-ups are waiting to happen in future episodes. The end of Cobra Kai season 4 had fans both shocked and excited, with Miguel's sudden departure and Daniel LaRusso's unlikely team up with rival Chozen, so Bertrand's tease is already coming to fruition. Given all this, Cobra Kai season 5 looks like yet another exciting installment for the popular Netflix show, with a much more likeable Hawk set to play an important role.
Source: Entertainment Weekly