Here’s The Story Behind That ‘Cobra Kai’ Reunion Episode

From Men's Health

• Cobra Kai brings back three original members of Cobra Kai from the Karate Kid movies in the show's second season.

• Co-creators Josh Heald and Jon Hurwitz explained what was behind the episode.

• Rob Harrison, who played the terminally-ill Tommy, actually died less than a year after filming his Cobra Kai appearance.

For as 'Alpha' as Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) certainly thinks he is in the Karate Kid universe—both in the original films and in both seasons of Cobra Kai—there's still one thing that even the most Alpha of the Alphas need: friends.

And, as Cobra Kai co-creator Josh Heald noted in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the show had made it into episode 16 without any indication that the now-middle aged version of Johnny had any friends. So the creators decided to change that up, bringing back the same actors from The Karate Kid who played Johnny's friends and fellow Cobra Kai members: Bobby (Ron Thomas), Jimmy (Tony O'Dell), and Tommy (Rob Garrison).

The episode, titled "Take a Right," was the 6th episode of the show's second season, and focused Johnny's story on receiving a troubling call: Tommy is terminally ill, and things are getting worse. When he arrives to the hospital to visit, Bobby and Tommy are both there and have a plan: the guys are going for a day trip to really live it up.

"Looking into the past to explore the shared trauma of Kreese’s 1980s Cobra Kai gave us an opportunity to reintroduce some legacy characters from The Karate Kid, while also continuing to peel back the onion for Johnny," Heald told EW.

That shared trauma is explored in more ways than one. While the guys clearly are grateful for the lifelong bond that being part of Cobra Kai has given them—and their karate skills help win a badass bar fight against a bunch of jerks—they reflect on the fact that Sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) taught them all the wrong things, and sent them into the world with those wrong values, leaving them to figure it all out for themselves.

Heald explained that the on-screen Cobra Kai members remained close in real life, making the on-screen reunion that much more special.

"Since the group has stayed close through the years, everyone brought an actual shared history to their performance," he wrote. "As we settled in behind the camera and watched the OG Cobras drink pitchers of beer and reminisce about the past, it was sometimes difficult to distinguish between the dialogue we had written and their actual personal connections."

Perhaps the most tear-jerking bit to come out of the episode is that Rob Garrison, who played the terminally-ill Tommy in the episode, actually died from kidney and liver issues last September, less than a year after filming.

Despite the fact that Tommy dies in the episode, Hurwitz said in a tweet that they had tentative plans to bring Garrison back once again for Season 3.

"He was so thrilled for the chance to inhabit this character once again," Heald said in the interview with EW. In his last email to me, he wrote, 'I’m so grateful and feel alive again.' His performance made us all feel more alive."

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