Cobra Kai (season 5)

Cobra Kai
Season 5
Promotional poster
Starring	Ralph Macchio William Zabka Courtney Henggeler Xolo Maridueña Tanner Buchanan Mary Mouser Jacob Bertrand Peyton List Dallas Dupree Young Vanessa Rubio Thomas Ian Griffith Martin Kove
No. of episodes	10
Release
Original network	Netflix
Original release	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 4 Next → Season 6
List of episodes

The fifth season of Cobra Kai, also known as Cobra Kai V, was released to Netflix on September 9, 2022, and consisted of 10 episodes. The series is a direct sequel to the original four films in The Karate Kid franchise, focusing on the characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence over 30 years after the original film.^[1]^[2] This is the third season to be released to Netflix.

After his success at the All-Valley, Terry Silver, now sole owner of Cobra Kai, seeks to expand the dojo across the valley. Thus, Daniel and a new ally in Chozen Toguchi attempt to finally defeat him. Meanwhile, Johnny attempts to repair the rivalry between Robby and Miguel.

The season has twelve starring roles, eleven of which returned from the previous season. Dallas Dupree Young was promoted to main cast after recurring in the previous season, and Gianni DeCenzo was demoted to a recurring cast member, being credited as a "special guest star". The season was met with generally positive reviews from critics.

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Transcription

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Gianni DeCenzo as Demetri Alexopoulos
Yuji Okumoto as Chozen Toguchi
Alicia Hannah-Kim as Kim Da-eun
Joe Seo as Kyler Park
Oona O'Brien as Devon Lee
Griffin Santopietro as Anthony LaRusso
Jake Huang as Sensei Hyan-Woo
Tyron Woodley as Sensei Odell^[3]
Stephen Thompson as Sensei Morozov^[3]
Nathaniel Oh as Nathaniel
Aedin Mincks as Mitch
Khalil Everage as Chris
Owen Morgan as Bert
Paul Walter Hauser as Raymond Porter / Stingray

Guest

Luis Roberto Guzmán as Hector Salazar
Elvia Hill as Maria
Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes
Robyn Lively as Jessica Andrews
Bret Ernst as Louie LaRusso Jr.
Dan Ahdoot as Anoush
Hannah Kepple as Moon
Annalisa Cochrane as Yasmine
Rose Bianco as Rosa
Diora Baird as Shannon Keene
Terry Serpico as Captain Turner
Josh Lawson as Owen
Sunny Mabrey as Lizzie-Ann
Julia Macchio as Vanessa LaRusso
EJ Sanchez as Luis
Nick Marini as young Silver
Barrett Carnahan as young Kreese
Sarah Anne as young Kim Da-eun
Don L. Lee as Kim Sun-yung
Daniel Sarcos as Ring Announcer
Jaden Ponce as Zeke

Episodes

*Cobra Kai* season 5 episodes
No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
41	1	"Long, Long Way from Home"	Joel Novoa & Steven Tsuchida	Michael Jonathan Smith	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
Silver begins his planned expansion of Cobra Kai, opening up a flagship dojo in Encino and acquires local dojos across the San Fernando Valley. Johnny and Robby travel to Mexico in search of Miguel, who is looking for his biological father, Hector Salazar. Robby is initially displeased with the aim of their trip and wishes to return home, but relents after helping his father take a group of Australian scammers who were attempting to pickpocket them. Miguel eventually finds Hector, who is now remarried with a woman, Maria and has a young son named Luis. After saving Luis from the path of an oncoming vehicle, Miguel is invited by Maria and Hector to stay with his family as a reward. As part of his deal with Cobra Kai, Daniel decides to shut down Miyagi-Do Karate. While spying on Silver with Daniel, Chozen recognizes Silver's moves and deduces that his sensei was Kim Sun-Yung, a martial artist and master of Tang Soo Do whose teaching style was based on deception. Daniel and Chozen concoct a plan to expose Silver's maniacal nature to the Valley, which involves Chozen posing as a local sensei auditioning alongside other Senseis that Silver is looking to hire.
42	2	"Molé"	Steven Tsuchida	Joe Piarulli & Luan Thomas	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
In 1972, a young Chozen trains under his uncle Sato. Johnny and Robby get their van towed, forcing them to participate in a spicy pepper challenge to get it back. Robby wins the competition by eating the spiciest pepper available, although he reveals he cheated and ate candy Johnny gave to him earlier in the trip. Miguel discovers that Hector doesn't know he exists and confronts his mother, who warns that he is a very dangerous man. Miguel accompanies Hector to an underground fight ring, where it is implied that Hector is a wanted man due to his shady history in Ecuador. Miguel realizes his mother was right and flees right before being found by Johnny and tearfully reuniting with him. Meanwhile, Silver introduces his new lineup of Senseis to his students. Tory meets Chozen, who senses her immense guilt. Silver is confronted by Tory about paying off the referee to ensure Cobra Kai's victory at the All-Valley Tournament. When Silver invites Chosen over to dinner later that day, he discovers Chozen's true identity due to a toast the two shared during dinner and has the other Senseis attack him, but Chozen easily defeats them and tells Silver to stay away from the LaRussos.
43	3	"Playing with Fire"	Marielle Woods	Mattea Greene	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
Upon Johnny's return from Mexico, Carmen tells him that she thinks she might be pregnant. Not wanting to fail the baby like he failed Robby, Johnny gets advice off a YouTube tutorial on the internet on how to prepare and cleans up his apartment, later learning that Carmen is actually pregnant. Meanwhile, Miguel thinks Sam wants to break up with him, so Eli and Demetri give him various ways to win her over, including buying an octopus necklace. Meanwhile, Sam, Yasmine, and Moon go on a spa day to help Sam figure out who she really is, during which she confronts her past, including an evil version of herself. Miguel and Sam meet up at Miyagi-Do, where Sam tells him she needs a break to figure out who she is. Daniel and Chozen track down Silver's old associate, Mike Barnes, after deducing that Silver will call upon old friends for help, only to discover that he is a changed man and has cut ties with Silver. Mike apologizes to Daniel for how harshly he treated him during the 1985 All-Valley Tournament and gives him the number of Silver's former attorney. Upon discovering that Daniel used Barnes for help, Silver burns his furniture store in retaliation. The episode ends with Barnes being horrified at his furniture store being burned by Silver.
44	4	"Downward Spiral"	Steve Pink	Ashley Darnall	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
Johnny receives a visit from Shannon, who has come to pick up Robby so he can spend the summer with her parents. Upon learning Carmen is pregnant, Shannon recommends Johnny get a job as a rideshare driver. Johnny's first day does not go as planned, with him getting multiple one star reviews due to his questionable driving, loud music and unsanitary habits. He contemplates quitting, but he gets inspired from a pawn shop owner to continue working to provide for his new family, later asking Shannon for a second chance with Robby. Meanwhile, the teens get into a feud at a local waterpark. Tory and Eli have a race down a waterslide to determine which dojo gets to stay. Tory wins, but the other teens discover that they cheated by giving Eli a tube with a hole in it. They get into a fight and are kicked out. Robby wants Tory to leave Cobra Kai since he knows all the students are getting brainwashed by Silver. Tory reluctantly refuses which leads to Robby breaking up with her. Daniel and Amanda go to a charity auction, which they discover is being hosted by Silver, who starts to aggravate Daniel, causing him to embarrass Amanda in front of the attendees. Furious at Daniel for ruining her chance of getting a spot on the charity board and for refusing to let his rivalry with Silver go for one day, Amanda leaves to her mother's house in Columbus, Ohio and takes her children with her.
45	5	"Extreme Measures"	Jennifer Celotta	Bob Dearden	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
Johnny tries numerous times to get Miguel and Robby to befriend each other, but they refuse due to their history together. After reminiscing with Daniel about their past, Johnny has the two boys fight each other to help them get over their rivalry. They reconcile, during which Johnny accidentally reveals that Carmen is pregnant, much to their joy. Daniel, who has begun drinking heavily due to being depressed over Amanda's departure, receives a newspaper clipping via mail implying that Stingray lied about Kreese assaulting him, which leads to him and Chozen paying him a visit. Stingray now lives a luxurious life, having been bribed by Silver to lie at Kreese's trial. When Daniel returns to apologize to Stingray for berating him earlier, he is ambushed by Silver and beaten to a pulp, leaving him demoralized. In Ohio, Amanda learns from her cousin and Daniel's friend, Jessica Andrews, about how Silver tormented him in 1985. Finally learning how twisted Silver actually is, Amanda and the children return home to care for an injured Daniel. Meanwhile, Tory (who reluctantly gave Daniel the tip) and an imprisoned Kreese scheme to take Silver down.
46	6	"Ouroboros"	Joel Novoa	Michael Jonathan Smith	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
Silver recruits a group of Senseis from South Korea led by Kim Da-eun, the granddaughter of Kim Sun-Yung. They take over a local dojo, Topanga Karate, and rebrand it as Cobra Kai, merging it into his new string of dojos. Kim forces the students into a brutal combat tournament as a test, during which former Eagle-Fang student Devon Lee fails to defeat Tory. The next day, Devon joins Cobra Kai, due to her being in Topanga briefly. In prison, Kreese is harassed by a group of inmates but refuses to react, hoping to get a parole hearing so he can be released. Upon discovering that his parole hearing has been denied, Kreese gets into a fight with the group of inmates, earning their respect. Meanwhile, Daniel gives up karate and returns to work at the car dealership, prompting Johnny and Chozen to go confront Silver at the Topanga dojo, only to fight Hyan-woo instead. The duo are forced to flee when Kim Da-eun shows up with the rest of the Senseis. Amanda takes Daniel to the Miyagi-Do dojo, where he visits Mr. Miyagi's old room and reconciles with Robby, who has rejoined Miyagi-Do. Inspired by the combined efforts of the Miyagi-Do & Eagle Fang students, Johnny, and Chozen, Daniel decides to continue fighting.
47	7	"Bad Eggs"	Joel Novoa	Joe Piarulli & Luan Thomas	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
In 1980, Silver and Kreese train in South Korea under Kim Sun-Yung. Daniel and Johnny go to visit Kreese to find out what Silver's motive is, leaving Chozen as the students' sensei for the day. Chozen issues a challenge in which the students must protect an egg they are assigned from being destroyed, but they all fail when Chozen destroys the eggs. On their second attempt, the students win when they work together to protect the eggs, at Anthony's suggestion. At Cobra Kai, Silver and Kim split the students into two groups, the boys and the girls, and have two students from each group work together to combat a respective sensei. Tory and Devon are paired up and fail to defeat Kim, while Kyler and Kenny are paired up and fail to work together when Kyler deems himself superior to Kenny. After a pep talk from Silver, Kenny beats Kyler as a distraction and manages to beat Sensei Odell by himself. During their visit, Daniel and Johnny trick Kreese into revealing Silver's plans to enroll Cobra Kai into the Sekai Taikai, the most elite karate tournament in the world so that Cobra Kai can go worldwide.
48	8	"Taikai"	Marielle Woods	Ashley Darnall	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
A Sekai Taikai selection committee meet with Silver at the Cobra Kai dojo. Daniel, Johnny, Amanda and Chozen intrude and try to convince the judges to let Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang try out for the tournament. They do so and both dojos show them their techniques. Impressed by both dojos, the judges decide to hold a tournament-style presentation to decide which will participate in the Sekai Taikai, with each dojo deciding one male and female fighter. Cobra Kai chooses Kenny and Tory, while Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang choose Eli and Sam. Apparently giving up on his scheme, Kreese tells Tory to just look after herself, which angers her as she worked with him for nothing. Sam finds the discarded octopus necklace Miguel bought for her in the ground at Miyagi-Do. Later, Kenny defeats Eli, using the 'Silver Bullet' strike Silver taught him to knock the wind out of him. Realizing Silver bribed the referee in charge of the presentation, Tory flees before her and Sam's fight, forcing Devon to take her place. In spite of the rigged match, Sam still defeats Devon, and the committee decide to let both dojos join the Sekai Taikai. At a party at Johnny's apartment, a remorseful Tory arrives and admits to Sam that Silver rigged their match at the All-Valley tournament.
49	9	"Survivors"	Steven Tsuchida	Michael Jonathan Smith	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
Sam lashes out at Tory following her confession due to her not doing anything about the tournament being rigged. Later during training, Silver and Kim punish Tory for deserting the fight the previous day by forcing her to punch through a stone dummy, heavily injuring her hand and making it bleed. Robby attempts to persuade the Cobra Kai students to quit, but they ignore him. Miguel, Sam, Hawk, Demetri and Bert approach Stingray at his house, who uses a Dungeons & Dragons scenario to recount the true story of the assault, admitting he is too scared of Silver to confess the truth. Sam gives Tory another chance, discovering her mother's illness, and they hatch a plan with the other students to acquire evidence of Silver's crimes to show to the Cobra Kais. After Silver discovers Carmen's pregnancy in a hospital encounter, she and Johnny inform Daniel, Amanda and Chozen, and the five go clubbing to celebrate. Chozen admits to Johnny and Daniel that he is in love with Kumiko, and he leaves her a voicemail message. The three men continue their night out, only for their limo to be hijacked while on their way to another bar, with Chozen believing that Silver did it.
50	10	"Head of the Snake"	Joel Novoa	Bob Dearden	September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
In prison, Kreese is presumably killed as he tries showing mercy towards a cellmate. A vengeful Barnes, who hijacked the limo, decides to launch an attack on Silver and his Senseis at his mansion, and Johnny and Chozen join him, but Daniel refuses, leaving him behind. Barnes is quickly subdued, while Silver and Chozen engage in a fight to the death, which ends with the latter being wounded. Meanwhile, Johnny, despite being wounded, became motivated after seeing the ultrasound of his unborn baby, manages to defeat the Cobra Kai Senseis with the last-second assistance from Barnes. Simultaneously, Tory helps the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students infiltrate the Cobra Kai dojo and hack the server to procure footage of Silver beating up Stingray, but when they find out the footage was deleted, they decide to upload the video of Tory's confrontation with Silver. Mitch defects to the Cobra Kai students, warning them about the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students' plan. A fight between the 3 dojos ensues, soon joined by Kim. Devon switches sides and helps Tory fight Kim, while Eli and Demetri acquire the footage. As the footage is being uploaded, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang makes their last-stand as Anthony successfully plays the video on the dojo screens via YouTube, which breaks their faith in Silver. Daniel, Amanda, Carmen and a remorseful Stingray arrive at the dojo, as does Silver, who desperately tries to sway back his Cobra Kai students, but they don't respond to him as his maniacal nature is exposed. Silver challenges Daniel to a fight, during which Daniel uses the Quicksilver method against him, eventually finishing him off using a crane kick. Silver is arrested as his students desert him. Tory and Robby reconcile, and Sam and Miguel confess their love for each other. A wounded Chozen arrives, while Barnes steals a painting from Silver to compensate for his furniture store. Daniel, Johnny and their students celebrate their victory over Cobra Kai. However, unknown to everyone, Kreese is revealed to have faked his death by using melted Jell-O as fake blood and escaped from prison.

Production

Development

In August 2021, ahead of the fourth season premiere, the series was renewed for a fifth season.^[4]

Casting

All main cast members from the previous season returned for the fifth, with Gianni DeCenzo now being credited as a "special guest appearance". Sean Kanan and Robyn Lively guest starred as Mike Barnes and Jessica Andrews respectively, reprising their roles from The Karate Kid Part III.^[5]^[6] In addition to Kanan and Lively returning, Alicia Hannah-Kim joined the cast as Kim Da-eun.^[7] Dallas Dupree Young, who portrays Kenny Payne, was upped to a series regular role after recurring during the fourth season.^[8]

Filming

Filming for the fifth season began in September 2021 and finished in December. Like previous seasons, parts were filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, Marietta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California. The Mexico scenes were filmed in Puerto Rico on a two-day filming block, just like the two-day filming block of Okinawa, Japan and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Tokyo, Japan for the third season.

Marketing and release

The first teaser trailer for the season was released on May 5, 2022, which confirmed a September 9 release date.^[9] The official trailer was released on August 16. The complete fifth season was released on DVD on September 12, 2023.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the season has received a 98% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.9 out of 10 based on 44 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Deftly managing an expanded roster of punchy personalities, Cobra Kai graduates to a black belt proficiency in heartfelt melodrama and sly humor".^[10] On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, it has received a rating of 78 out of 100, based on seven reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[11]

Between September 4 and October 9, 2022, the show was watched for 274.72M hours globally according to the Netflix top 10s.^[12]

References

^ "Cobra Kai Season 5 Release Date, Trailer, Cast, Streaming Platform". theviralbyte.com. May 2, 2022. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
^ Parker, Ryan (May 5, 2022). "'Cobra Kai' Season Five Premiere Date Revealed Along With Action-Packed Teaser". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Nash, Anthony (December 18, 2021). "Cobra Kai Season 5: Stephen Thompson & Tyron Woodley Set to Appear". COMINGSOON.NET. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
^ Cordero, Rosy (August 27, 2021). "'Cobra Kai' Renewed For Season 5 At Netflix Ahead Of Season 4 Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
^ Baldwin, Kristen (August 9, 2022). "It's no joke, LaRusso! Mike Barnes will return for Cobra Kai season 5". EW.com. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
^ Darwish, Meaghan (September 22, 2022). "'Cobra Ki': Robyn Lively on Her Return to the 'Karate Kid' Universe". TVInsider.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
^ Blaine Henry (August 9, 2022). "The Karate Bad Boy Is Back! Mike Barnes To Be Part of Cobra Kai Season 5". doublehammerfist.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
^ Cordero, Rosy (May 24, 2022). "'Cobra Kai': Alicia Hannah-Kim To Star As South Korean Sensei In Season 5; Dallas Dupree Young Upgraded To Series Regular". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
^ Cordero, Rosy (May 5, 2022). "'Cobra Kai' Season 5 Gets Premiere Date; Action-Packed Teaser Trailer Sets New Alliance Ahead Of Epic Showdown". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
^ "Cobra Kai: Season 5 (2022)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
^ "Cobra Kai: Season 5". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 6, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
^ Moore, Jacob Robinson, Kasey (December 6, 2022). "'Cobra Kai' Season 6: Netflix Renewal Status and What We Know So Far". What's on Netflix. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

The Karate Kid

Feature films

Original	The Karate Kid (1984) The Karate Kid Part II (1986) The Karate Kid Part III (1989) The Next Karate Kid (1994)
Reboot	The Karate Kid (2010)