Now in its third season, Cobra Kai is set 34 years after the events of the original Karate Kid film. The show retells the story from Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka)’s point of view. The down-on-his-luck character, in fact, decided to reopen the Cobra Kai karate dojo leading to the rekindling of his old rivalry with Daniel La Russo, played by Ralph Macchio.
Both Zabka and Macchio reprised their roles for the web television series. They also serve as executive producers for the show created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg.
‘Cobra Kai’ Stars Discuss Ali’s Return To The Series
The third season of Cobra Kai sees the return of an important character.
Johnny’s and Daniel’s ex-girlfriend Ali Mills, played by Elisabeth Shue, is in town for the holidays. This gives her and Johnny the time to reconnect.
In the season finale “December 19,” Ali bumps into Daniel at a Christmas party and things get awkward. In the series, Daniel is married to Amanda and has two kids, Samantha and Anthony.
“This is post-Ali and Johnny’s sort of date at Golf N' Stuff and Ali has invited Johnny to the winter ball at the country club,” Zabka said in the Netflix video.
“For Johnny, this is the one episode and the previous one where, you know, he was somewhat happy for once,” the actor continued.
“He had the love of his youth came back and kind of sparked him up a little bit,” he added.
The Easter Eggs In 'Cobra Kai' Third Season Finale
The episode features several Easter eggs for the fans of the franchise.
When Johnny enters the festive ballroom, he is wearing a white suit and a waiter passes by him holding a tray of pasta with red sauce. This is a direct reference to the original movie, where Daniel sneaks around the country club during a party in a white outfit and collides with a waiter, ending up doused in spaghetti sauce.
“You’re seeing a white garment and spaghetti sauce and it’s just the perfect thing for the OG fans,” Macchio said.
The episode title is also a reference to the movie.
"December 19 was the name of this episode and December 19 was the date of the All Valley tournament in the original Karate Kid film,” Macchio added.
Cobra Kai is streaming on Netflix