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Cobra Kai 4x08 Party Time: My Observations

Here are my thoughts on the Cobra Kai season 4 episode Party Time, which is about the West Valley High Junior Prom, and also brings back the character of Raymond "Stingray" Porter (portrayed by Paul Walter Hauser), who first appeared in Season 2 and was last seen in the Season 2 finale No Mercy. 

As a result of participating in the school brawl by fighting against the Miyagi-Do students (which didn't appeal to Principal Lopez), Stingray lost his chance to work as a security guard at West Valley High when he was arrested, placed on probation and proverbially hit with a restraining order saying he was not to come within 500 feet of minors. 

Also, besides being arrested, put on probation and hit with the restraining order, Raymond had to relinquish his Cobra Kai membership. This was the last straw for his mother, who kicked him out of her house after finally being fed up with his antics.

(In real life, Paul was unable to make an appearance in Season 3 of Cobra Kai, as he was busy working on the 2021 Disney film Cruella, where he played Horace Badun; so, the writers of Cobra Kai explained Stingray's absence by saying Stingray was on probation.)

Now, when Stingray appears, he's shown to be staying at his sister's house while she is out of town (although it's not revealed how long she's gone for), while also having to deal with his neighbor Greg Hughes, who is shown to clearly dislike Stingray; at one point, Greg tells him his sister doesn't want him crashing at her house and says she only took pity on Stingray, while calling him an "unemployed man baby on probation." Stingray corrects him, saying he's actually a free man now, as his restraining order has expired and his probation has been served, evidently not doing anything to violate either.

Irony: Had Stingray been thinking clearly, he would've realized Kreese's demeaning him and forcibly telling him to leave Cobra Kai was actually a much-needed blessing in disguise instead of the secret test of character he thought it was. Also, Stingray would likely be welcomed with open arms into Eagle Fang, as it was Johnny who originally let Stingray into Cobra Kai because the dojo was in need of his money.

Today, Johnny's Eagle Fang remains the dojo most in need of money, while Miyagi-Do has Daniel as a benefactor, and Cobra Kai has since gained Terry Silver as a financier; also, most of the fighters Stingray knew in Season 2's Cobra Kai have jumped ship to Eagle Fang.

Locked Out of the Loop: Because of his probation and the restraining order, Stingray showed he was out of the loop on everything that happened since the school brawl, and didn't know his now former teammates — namely, Aisha Robinson, Miguel Diaz and Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, respectively — had since left Cobra Kai (but in different ways, however).

Aisha's parents moved her to a private school (although Aisha told Sam it was partly because of the school fight, and mostly because her father got a job offer at UCSB he couldn't turn down), and Miguel transferred to Johnny's Eagle Fang Karate after waking from his coma, spending some time in a wheelchair and learning to walk again. 

Finally, after switching sides during the fight at Casa de LaRusso by saving Demetri from getting his arm re-broken (since he still felt guilty over being pressured by the other Cobras into breaking Demetri's arm the first time) and reconciling with Demetri before fighting alongside him in taking down the other Cobras, Hawk initially joined Eagle Fang, but later transferred to Miyagi-Do (thanks to inspiration from Demetri helping him realize being done with karate really wasn't such a good idea after being jumped at the tattoo parlor and getting his Mohawk shaved off by Robby, Tory, Kyler, and a few other Cobras for mostly turning traitor on Cobra Kai by pulling a Heel-Face Turn (a la TV Tropes and Idioms) during the house fight).