Cobra Kai season 3: Ralph Macchio reveals the backup plan for this big spoiler

So now that Cobra Kai Season 3 is streaming on YouTube, we can talk about it this scene, isn’t it? If we give it a big spoiler warning first.

[Ed. note: This post contains major spoilers for Cobra Kai season 3.]

We’ll even add the original, silly image of John Kreese in his Special Forces outfit (it was hanging from the front of the original dojo in the 1984 film) to make sure your eyes don’t accidentally fly over a keyword. or two. .

Actor Martin Kove tweeted this in May 2018, ahead of the season one premiere.

Okay, are we all good?

Cobra KaiThe big payoff of season 3 is, yes, Elisabeth Shue, as Ali Mills, returns to the valley. The openings that the show’s writers and Shue’s original co-stars made to bring her back provided fans with a delicious meta-cliffhanger in the first two seasons. Season 2 ended with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) throwing his cell phone into the waves, unaware that Ali (now Dr Ali Mills Schwarber) had accepted his friend request on Facebook and reconnected with him.

Yet at the time, there was no public commitment on Shue’s part to re-enter the world of The Karate Kid. During a media roundtable in early December, Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso) said he didn’t know his former co-star would be returning until he got the scripts for Season 3.

“There was another plan if she wasn’t available,” Macchio said. “When did we find out? I guess that happened throughout the shooting of Season 3, it was, you know, on the logistical side, at least from my perspective. I think I found out when I got the scripts, actually, how it was going to play out.

Photo by Leon Bennett / Getty Images

The alternate scenario, Macchio said, would have been that Ali’s husband in the world was the one answering Johnny. “That was the alternative, the ‘how are we going to vacuum ourselves out of the room’ from what we wrote,” Macchio said, “which would be her husband doing the going- back and forth with Facebook with Johnny. ”

Much to the relief of actors and writers, however, this became unnecessary. Shue / Ali returns to her childhood home for the holidays, recently (but amicably) separated from her husband in Colorado. She reconnects with Johnny (just like he rekindled things with Carmen, Miguel’s mom, no less) like old friends from high school do over the holidays. Then she invites him to the holiday party at Encino Oaks Country Club, where it turns out Daniel is also a member. The two rivals sit down for a peaceful dinner (their third together in this series) filled with memories.

And that’s it, really. The story doesn’t give Shue a central role, and his appearance doesn’t really change the story. Besides fan service, she has a more subtle influence on Cobra Kaidialogue of. She represents the view that Johnny and Daniel, both, are good guys and bullies; both can be thoughtful and altruistic, and both are their own worst enemies. In other words, she speaks for the fans.

The first two seasons of Cobra Kai tried, with varying degrees of success, to present this idea, but it really took Ali’s feedback to make it work. For Johnny and Daniel, being her boyfriend was the only good thing they had in common.

I was worried that by establishing Ali’s post-Valley life as a pediatric surgeon throughout Season 1, the writers would try something over the top, like making Ali the doctor who helps Miguel to walk again. It would have been a mistake; connecting Daniel and Johnny in a third charm relaxation was just the right touch. In the end, that’s what the fans wanted, for these two to stop fighting, and finally break up and be friends.

Cobra Kai season 3 is streaming on Netflix now.