Cobra Kai is full of hidden details and Easter eggs. In this post, we’re breaking down 75 of them that you might have missed.
Obviously full spoilers ahead here so if you weren’t one of the million people to binge this in one day then I highly recommend you turn away now!
Easter Eggs
- Now the season opens with a news report that talks about the fight at all Valley High from Season 2. In it, we see a character known as Leonard Johnson being interviewed and he says that he thought Karate died out in the 80s. This is, of course, a fourth-wall-breaking comment as Karate Kid was popular during the 80s and it’s seen a revival in recent years because of this show, hence the newfound attention to it.
- Cut to Johnny in a bar and he ends up arguing with two of the guys which make him punch through one of their car windows. Everyone’s favourite nice guy and a staple of society John Kreese actually did something similar in Karate Kid 2 when trying to attack Mr Miyagi.
- The next cool easter egg happens when Daniel goes to the school parent-teacher conference. During it, the parents and panel are slamming karate and when Daniel tries to defend it a voice comes in and says “I heard you were the real bully.” This is actually the voice of Cobra-Kai co-creator Josh Heald.
- I think it’s also playing up the fan theory that’s been online for a while now and many see that as being something that inspired the show to tackle a lot of the themes that it did within the first season.
- Now whether you agree with this or not, Danny was definitely bullied in high school and at one point the Cobra gang wore skeleton costumes. Tory also dons a Skeleton hoody throughout this season, showing thematically that she is very much taking on the position of Johnny whilst Sam takes on Daniels. Huge shoutouts to Super heronexus for sending me that.
- Amanda actually calls Tory Freddy Kreuger and this is because in that final fight she of course had claws.
- After Johnny is arrested he’s taken to a cell where a man shows him his foot and asks if it looks infected. This could be a nod to Sum 41 who made an album of the same name. The band are big Karate Kid fans and even tweeted that Daniel Macchio better return for the reboot.
- Jump to Daniel journeying to the Cobra Kai dojo and we see a sign that says “Fear does not exist in this dojo.” Kreese actually said this to his students in the first film.
- There’s also a cardboard cutout of Kreese which I think is sort of playing on the one that was in the first film.
- Kreese also tries to mess with Daniel’s mind a bit by saying that he doesn’t blame Robby for the fight as there’s no such thing as a bad student. Mr Miyagi used to say that there’s no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher and Daniel has also uttered this throughout the season, showing just how well Kreese knows his enemies.
- Daniel says he’s not gonna fight him but Kreese says it’s inevitable and this could be a play on the fan joke that Kreese is a cross between Thanos and David Hasselhoff. Hey, there are worse people to be.
- Kreese also says he will finish it and though this might be a reach it could be a call back to him telling Johnny to finish Daniel at the end of the first movie. Something which never happened and of course led to this decade-spanning rivalry.
- In the opening of episode two, we catch a bully arriving at a diner with his friends. He says his car is a piece of junk and it looks pretty much exactly the same as Mr Miyagis. I did think that it might be his car but the licence plate is slightly different to the original.
- Now, this Bully is deliberately put in place to make you think that it’s a young John Kreese. To make this even more apparent the bully is actually played by Jesse Kove aka Martin Kove’s son.
- Now this car appears throughout the series and during episode 3, Daniel talks about the car which was a present from Mr Miyagi. This is a good example of art imitating life as the studio actually gave Ralph the car when filming wrapped.
- This bully tells his friends that you can’t show people mercy and it is of course a mantra that Kreese would adopt, making the misdirect that even more misdirection…if that’s even a word.
- When fighting them outside he also sweeps one of the gang’s legs, something that he would tell Johnny to do in Karate Kid 1. Is it Karate Kid 1 or just The Karate Kid…anyway.
- This sweep-the-leg tactic is later used at the church when Johnny goes to see his ol’ buddy ol’ pal.
- Episode 3 is called Now You’re Gonna Pay which is what Johnny said to Daniel during the skeleton Halloween fight that the Tory hoody links back to.
- We catch Robby reading Lord Of The Flies and this book is basically about a gang of kids creating a new society in which they have certain rules and order. The kids are pretty much running amok at all valley so maybe this is a little reference to that.
- Johnny goes to a job interview and has to admit to assaulting minors which is likely a nod to his fight in the first season during which he saved Miguel.
- Jump to episode 4 and we see the Cobra Kai kids trying to kick a Bonsai tree off the top of a post. Though Hawk gets around this Bonsai trees are of course synonymous with Mr. Miyagi so Kreese getting them to do this is further hammering home that Miyagi do and Daniel are the enemy.
- Hawk also does some football tricks which are similar to what Daniel did in the first film.
- This idea of football….and yeah I’m calling it that and not Soccer don’t at me is laced throughout this episode even leading to a big fight on the pitch which further ties back to this easter egg.
- Cobra Kai also shows up on Motorbikes at the fundraiser and this could be a nod to how they arrived on the beach in the first film.
- Now Daniel also reunites with an old flame who says that many tried to marry her but none of them fought to the death which is of course a reference to the fight that we actually see playing out in flashback.
- The pair go for a drink and we actually see an ice cube holder that looks very similar to the ice blocks that Daniel had to break. Really cool little easter egg there.
- Now, this bit kinda Segues across episodes four and five. Kreese visits Robby and calls him Son, he does however tell him about his real dad and how he drew a kid named Vidal in the All Valley.
- Vidal won the 1981 tournament and from that point onwards Cobra Kai dominated.
- This is actually part of the lore that led up to the film and the actor behind Vidal is credited with coming up with the Krane Technique. This martial arts master even doubled for Mr Miyagi at points during the film so it’s great that they’re still giving him little nods here and there.
- Kreese tells Robby that the mumbo jumbo Miyagi teaches might score in the tournament but it’s useless in real life. As we know from the films, Cobra kai were big bullies outside of the ring and used to beat a lot of people up. However, Danny beat them in the tournament which kinda solidifies what Kreese was saying.
- Episodes 4 and 5 also have a return of a big bad and Chozen actually tells Daniel the secrets to a pressure point technique which is something that is laced throughout Karate. I kinda feel like this will be the key to defeating Kreese in Season 4 but we will soon see.
- He also learns about the Crane technique, something that would of course pop up time and time again in the franchise.
- You might notice that in these flashbacks a little one-handed drum is used and Miguel actually picks one of these up at Miyagi Do in Episode 9.
- Chozen gets Danny back for honking his nose in the kill moment and it’s a hilarious little moment even if you haven’t seen the original.
- There’s also the 1988 swimsuit edition which no doubt got Johnny through some lonely nights. Might not wanna read that if the pages are stuck together.
- Now during the fun house fight, Hawk break…he broke the dude’s arm man…and this is actually riffing on the Miguel and Robby fight from Season 2.
- Miguel could’ve done it but instead, he let Robby go which led to him getting clicked over the railing.
- Hawk doesn’t leave anything to chance and breaks Demetri’s arm, showing what could’ve happened to Robby.
- At the end of the episode, we also see a return of the fear that exists in this dojo when Amanda goes to Cobra Kai.
- She calls Kreese Rambo and Kove was actually in Rambo First Blood Part 2 so this is a nice little nod to his prior work.
- Kreese also says “I like that” which he did in the first film.
- In episode 6 we also see Miguel’s rehabilitation a lot in this entry and to me, this is sort of riffing on the real-life story of Bruce Lee.
- In 1969, Bruce injured his back because he didn’t warm up properly. This caused a lot of nerve damage and he was actually told he could never practice martial arts again and would likely never walk again. However, Lee healed and over time went on to have the massive career that we all know him for. This journey is very similar to the one that Miguel travels on.
- We also catch Danny and Sam out fishing and they talk about the time that sam learned to balance. This is a reference to a similar scene in the first film when Mr Miyagi took Danny out on a boat.
- Daniel takes her to where the all valley tournament is and says that this is where he almost lost to fear. This is a big reference to the Karate Kid 3 which this season was clearly paying homage to as well as setting up for the next entry.
- The season is actually littered with an appearance by Terry Silver and for those who are still in doubt about whether it’s him or not, he’s actually name-dropped in the Vietnam scenes.
- I kinda have a theory that Silver actually started to don a ponytail as a tribute to his fallen friends as I think many people did believe that the soldier would end up being the villain.
- Alongside Kreese, Silver was the big bad of The Karate Kid 3 and Mike Barnes was the student which made Danny almost lose to fear. Not to go off too deep on the fan theories but some think Tory will be revealed as being related to Silver or Barnes but that still remains to be seen.
- We see how Kreese learned Martial arts from his techniques are actually repeated in Karate Kid.
- Johnny creates Eagle Fang Karate and even wears a red Jacket at one point which looks very similar to the one that he wore in the first film.
- Now cut to episode 8 and this entry is called “The Good, The Bad, And The Badass” which is of course a play on the film The Good The Bad and The Ugly. Ey, they can’t all be multilayered easter eggs.
- However, Daniel does say that Mr Miyagi used to tell him that if you’re looking for revenge you can start by digging two graves. Not only did the character say this in the first film but this saying dates back to the ancient Chinese Philosopher Confucius.
- The philosopher is credited with saying “Seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for yourself” so it’s clear this idea of doing things to get even is not laced in Miyagi’s teachings at all.
- Jump to episode 9 titled Feel The Night which is a song from the soundtrack of the first film. It could be heard in the background of Daniel and Ali’s first date at Golf N Stuff which is mirrored here when Johnny takes her out.
- You might also remember this location from the first season as it’s the same place that Miguel and Sam went to for their first date.
- Before replying to Ali we can see that in Johnny’s messages are the name Shane Keller and Mallory Yund.
- Shane Keller and Mallory Yund are both producers on Cobra Kai so this is a nice little nod to their work.
- Ali’s parent’s house is also exactly the same as how it was in the first movie but ey, but who wouldn’t wanna live there forever?
- Not long after Sam says It’s not 1984 and this is a reference to the year of the release of the first film.
- Speaking of that movie, Johnny admits that he screwed up and ruined not only Ali’s friendship but also their radio. Johnny actually did this in the first movie and it was one of the reasons that Ali ended up with Danny.
- Ali also jokes about punching him in the face which you may remember from the first movie…ey maybe she was the bully the whole time.
- When Miguel meets Daniel during this entry they also discuss several moments from the first movie.
- The first one is the illegal kick that Danny used on Johnny, something that’s still up for debate and there’s mention of the water hose incident which of course is another one of Danny’s less liked moments. Maybe he was the baddie after all.
- Now Johnny arrives at the country club to find Ali talking to Danny. The position of this is very similar to the first film except in that the roles were reversed with Danny being the one who discovered them…however, unlike Danny, Johnny doesn’t get covered in Spaghetti.
- Uh-oh spaghetti-o.
- Now, this is actually referenced in the next episode in which a waiter almost spills several bowls of spaghetti over Johnny.