So now this Cobra Kai Season 3 is streamed on YouTube, which we can talk about The Scene, can’t we? If we make it big Spoiler warning first.
[Ed. note: This post contains major spoilers for Cobra Kai season 3.]
We’re even going to throw in the original, ridiculous picture of John Kreese in his Special Forces getup (that hung outside the original dojo in the 1984 film) to make sure your eyes don’t accidentally flicker over a keyword or two.
Actor Martin Kove tweeted this in May 2018, before the first season premiered.
Everyone asked me about it … Yeah, it’s the original. Kreese’s beginnings in the military. Who knows exactly where that was? pic.twitter.com/yeYZN6Wwkq
– Martin Kove (@MartinKove) May 9, 2018
Okay are we all good?
Cobra KaiThe big payoff for season three is that Elisabeth Shue returns to the valley as Ali Mills. The show’s writers’ overtures and Shue’s original co-stars who were supposed to bring them back provided fans with an adorable meta cliffhanger for the first two seasons. Season two ended with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) throwing his cell phone into the surf, unaware that Ali (now Dr. Ali Mills Schwarber) had accepted his Facebook friend request and got back in touch.
At the time, however, there was no public commitment from Shue to return to the world of The karate kid. At a media roundtable in early December, Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso) said he didn’t know his old co-star would be back until he received the scripts for season three.
“There was an alternative plan if it wasn’t available,” Macchio said. “When did we find out? I think it continued throughout the filming of the third season, it was about the logistical side, at least from my point of view. I think I figured out when I got the scripts, how they would play. “
The alternate plot, Macchio said, would have been for Ali’s husband in the world to be the one who responded to Johnny. “That was the fallback, the ‘how are we going to vacuum ourselves out of the room’ of what we wrote,” said Macchio, “what if her husband was doing Facebook back and forth with Johnny.”
However, much to the relief of actors and writers, this became unnecessary. Shue / Ali returns to their parents’ house for the holidays, newly (but amicably) separated from their husband in Colorado. She reconnects with Johnny (just as he rekindled things no less with Carmen, Miguel’s mother) as old high school friends do over the holidays. Then she invites him to the Christmas party at Encino Oaks Country Club, where it turns out that Daniel is also a member. The two rivals sit down for a peaceful dinner (their third together in this series) that is full of memories.
And that’s really it. The story doesn’t give Shue a central role, nor does the way she look really change the story. Aside from fan service, she has a more subtle influence on Cobra KaiDialog. She takes the position that Johnny and Daniel are both good guys and bullies; both can be thoughtful and selfless, and both are their own worst enemies. In other words, she speaks for fans.
The first two seasons of Cobra Kai tried to come up with this idea with varying degrees of success, but it really required Ali return to do this work. For Johnny and Daniel, the only good thing was being their friend.
I was worried that when the writers established Ali’s Life After the Valley as a pediatric surgeon back in season 1, they would try something over the top, like making Ali the doctor to help Miguel walk again. That would have been a mistake; Joining Daniel and Johnny for the third time in a chill was spot on. In the end, that’s what the fans wanted to make these two stop fighting and eventually roar and be friends.
Cobra Kai Season 3 is now streamed on Netflix.