Category Archives: Uncategorized
126. Interview with Christopher Ryan Lewis and Shane Donovan Lewis “Big Red & Little Red”
125. Interview with Elvia Hill “Maria”
124. Interview with Vanessa Rubio Part V “Carmen Diaz”
123. Interview with E.J. Sanchez “Luis”
122. Interview with Gianni DeCenzo Part V “Demetri Alexopolous”
121. Interview with Julia Macchio Part II “Vanessa”
120. Interview with A.J. Hicks II “Edwin”
119. Interview with Owen Harn “Gabriel”
118. Interview with Alicia Hannah-Kim “Kim Da-Eun”
117. Interview with Sean Kanan Part II “Mike Barnes”
Cobra Kai Season 5 is the Best Karate Kid Sequel!

By Peter Veunnasack
Where do I begin? How about starting with April 8, 2022 when I asked Ralph Macchio and William Zabka if they could describe Season 5 in one word? Ralph says “Awesome!” followed by William’s “Mind-blowing!” in the same cadence Johnny saying “..smartphone” in episode 2×08 “Glory of Love”. He goes on to continue giving me more words! One comment he makes that completely agree with is that every season of Cobra Kai has been “it’s own thing”. Back in June I was a guest on “Kicking It With The Koves”, a podcast hosted by Martin Kove and his twins Jesse and Rachel Kove. The one-word description came up again and Martin describes Season 5 as “Mayhem!”. Kudos to the three of them for being able to give an answer while being put on the spot. I couldn’t think of just one! I thought of a plethora of words! “Intense!” “Chaos!” and the phrase “I need a cigarette!” all come to mind. And I don’t even smoke cigarettes! But after my initial watch, I processed as much as I could while on a family vacation and I thought about all of the moments that made me smile, or that made me happy. I would describe Season 5 as “Maturation”.
Season 5 starts off by showing a different side of Chozen we’ve never seen before. And I think it sets a tone. Immediately I thought to myself that they have my full attention. Some of our characters matured, and some start to learn things from one another. This is definitely me piggy-backing on my one-word description of Season 4, “Growth”. One of the things I often do when I watch an episode of Cobra Kai, I try to see who wrote the teleplay and who directed the episode. To my surprise, creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald and Hayden Schlossberg, took a backseat in both departments! Based off of memory, all of the directors have worked on previous seasons, with the addition of a new name on the writing team! But make no mistake, “The Guys” as other writers refer to them as, have their fingerprints all over this. The comedy continues with many “Peak Johnny” moments, a term as my friend Sensei Pi’ilani coined, but also some heaviness. What the show also continues to do is give us these moments of levity when it’s really needed. And within those moments of levity, we also see the maturation of our characters where you’d expect some dialogue action to go one way, but it goes another. They continue to use our expectations against us.
By the fifth season, you would think you’ve pegged what’s become a Karate Kid or a Cobra Kai staple. Wondering what episode a fan favorite background character might show up in, how a certain home electronic breaks, which, if any, of the legacy characters return? Some people watched the two trailers and saw the first look photos and thought too much was revealed. You guys have no idea! “The Guys” have a good pulse on our fandom. You know the epression “fan service”? ‘That’ is not a bad thing in our fandom. Jon, Josh and Hayden are the hugest fans of the Miyagiverse! Hayden once said Season 5 is the “What if Cobra Kai won in The Karate Kid Part III?”. Jon Hurwitz had this to say about the second trailer:

Season 5 also takes our characters and puts some of them in a different settings, and the blocking and framing of other scenes makes you feel like this is their two part movie sequel to that third film! And it wouldn’t be Cobra Kai without fighting. The kicks, punches and action all deliver as usual. There is a few instances that come to mind where the tension was so thick that I found myself on the edge of my seat. If you are somewhat active on social media, you’d know how we all love our memes and screengrabs. I think content creators will have a field day with the dialogue! So many great quotes, quips and badass one-liners, that it takes you back to the days of the cheesy 80’s and 90’s action films we enjoyed watching! I mean, come on. The Fist has a sensei with hair like Goku and an eye patch. An eye patch! The season is filled with heart, comedy, action but also with sadness, heartaches and pain. You can expect some set ups from previous seasons to be paid off, some great call backs from some of your favorite moments on the show ‘and’ the films. My advice is to go in and expect awesome fights, great dialogue, intricate story telling, and most of all, character integrity.
116. Interview with Michael Jonathan Smith Part IV, writer of “The Fall”
115. Interview with Kari Kimmel, Singer/Songwriter
114. Interview with Joe Piarulli and Luan Thomas Part III, writers of “Party Time”
113. Interview with Mattea Greene, writer of “Kicks Get Chicks”
112. Interview with Bob Dearden, writer of “Match Point”
111. Interview with Jovanni Sy “Mr. Miyagi”
110. Interview with Jake Bentley Young “Johnny Lawrence”
109. Interview with Keone Madrid and Mari Madrid, Choreographers
108. Interview with Alan H Green and Jetta Juriansz “Sensei Kreese and Ali Mills”
107. Interview with Sakura Kokumai, Olympic Karate Athlete
106. Interview with Luis Pablo Garcia “Freddie Fernandez”
105. Interview with Drew Gasparini Part II, Composer/Lyricist
104. Interview with Robert Mark Kamen Part II, Writer
103. Interview with Joel Novoa, director of “Match Point” and “Kicks Get Chicks”
102. Interview with Tanner Buchanan and Jacob Bertrand “Robby Keene and Eli ‘Hawk’ Moskowitz”
101. Interview with Mary Mouser “Samantha LaRusso”
100. Interview with Ralph Macchio and William Zabka Part II “Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence”
99. Interview with Thomas Ian Griffith Part II “Terry Silver”
98. Interview with Peyton List “Tory Nichols”
97. Interview with Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg Part V
96. Interview with Gianni DeCenzo Part IV “Demetri Alexopolous”
95. Interview with Marielle Woods, Director of “Then Learn Fly” and “Bicephaly”
94. Interview with Michael Jonathan Smith Part III, writer of 4×03 “Then Learn Fly”
93. Interview with Brock Duncan “Zack Thompson”
Audio podcast available here.
92. Interview with Aedin Mincks Part III “Mitch”
Audio podcast available here.
91. Interview with Vanessa Rubio Part IV “Carmen Diaz”
Audio podcast available here.
90. Interivew with Frank Helmer Part II, Costume designer
Audio podcast available here.
89. Interview with Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg Part IV, creators of Cobra Kai
Audio podcast available here.
88. Interview with Joe Piarulli and Luan Thomas Part II, writers of 4×02 “First Learn Stand”
Audio podcast available here.
87. Interview with Nathaniel Oh Part III “Nate”
Audio podcast available here.
86. Interview with Owen Morgan Part IV “Bert”
Audio podcast available here.
85. Interview with Gianni DeCenzo Part III “Demetri Alexopolous”
Audio podcast available here.
84. Interview with Julia Macchio “Vanessa LaRusso”
Audio podcast available here.
83. Interview with Milena Rivero “Lia Cabrera”
Audio podcast available here.
82. Interview with Phil McGowan, Score Mixer

Audio podcast available here.
81. Interview with Thomas Ian Griffith “Terry Silver”
Audio podcast available here.
80. Interview with Jon Hurwitz and Josh Heald
Audio podcast available here.
79. Interview with Miki Yamashita “Ren”
Audio podcast available here.
78. Interview with Xander Serrano “Dirk”
Audio podcast available here.
Instagram Live with Amor Owens
Instagram Live with Nate Oh
77. Interview with Marc Canonizado, Stunt Performer/Double
Audio podcast available here.
76. Interview with Nathan Xia, Writer/Dir. of ‘Goodnight America’
Audio podcast available here.
75. Interview with Tony O’Dell “Jimmy”
Audio podcast available here.
74. Interview with Aedin Mincks “Mitch” Part II
Audio podcast available here.
73. Interview with Nathaniel Oh “Nathaniel” Part II
Audio podcast available here.
72. Interview with Owen Morgan “Bert” Part III
Audio podcast available here.
71. Interview with Hiro Koda and Jahnel Curfman Part II, S3 Stunt Coordinators
Audio podcast available here.
70. Interview with Robert Mark Kamen, Writer
Audio podcast available here.
69. Interview with Rose Bianco “Rosa aka Yaya” Part II
68. Interview with Michael Sasaki “Kenji”
67. Interview with Dan Ahdoot “Anoush”
Audio podcast available here.
66. Interview with Yuji Okumoto “Chozen Toguchi” Part II
Audio podcast available here.
65. Interview with Kevin Derek, director of ‘More Than Miyagi”
64. Interview with Oscar Alvarez, producer of ‘More Than Miyagi’
63. Interview with Vanessa Rubio “Carmen Diaz” Part III
Audio podcast available here.
62. Interview with Jesse Kove “David”
Audio podcast available here.
61. Interview with Hannah Kepple “Moon” Part II
Audio podcast available here.
60. Interview with Joe Seo “Kyler” Part II
Audio podcast available here.
59. Interview with Okea Eme-Akwari “Shawn”
Audio podcast available here.
58. Interview with Michael Jonathan Smith Part II, Writer
Audio podcast available here.
57. Interview with Jacob Bertrand “Hawk” Part II
Audio podcast available here.
56. Interview with Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson Part II, Composers
Audio podcast available here.
55. Interview with Stacey Harman, Writer
Audio podcast available here.
54. Interview with Vishesh Chachra “Jack Durocher”

Listen here.
53. Interview with Jacob Bertrand “Eli aka Hawk”
Audio podcast available here.
52. Interview with Xolo Maridueña “Miguel Diaz”
Audio podcast available here.
51. Interview with Michael Jonathan Smith, Writer
Audio podcast available here.
50. Interview with Travis James “College Guy aka Broham”

Listen here.
49. Interview with Joe Piarulli & Luan Thomas, Writers
Listen to the audio podcast here or watch the full interview below.
48. Interview with Amor Owens “Ashley”
Listen here.
47. Interview with Keith Arthur Bolden “Daryl”
Listen here.
46. Video: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg talk Netflix deal and Ralph Macchio and William Zabka talk Cobra Kai
Audio on podcast: “Cobra Kai Moves to Netflix”
45. Interview with Khalil Everage “Chris”
Listen here.
44. Interview with Michael Cavalieri “Ned”
Listen here.
43. Interview with Frank Helmer, Costume Designer
Listen here.
42. Interview with Rebecca Kenyon, Season 2 Prop Master
Listen here.
41. Interview with Drew Gasparini, Composer/Lyricist of “The Karate Kid: The Musical”
Listen here.
40. Interview with Ryan Berg, Production Designer
Listen here.
39. Interview with Gena Shaw “Melissa”
Listen here.
38. Interview with Caroline Granger “Mrs. Moskowitz/Eli’s Mom”
Listen here.
37. Interview with Nate Oh “Nathaniel”
Listen here.
36. Interview with William Christopher Ford “Dennis”
Listen here.
35. Interview with Owen Morgan “Bert Part II”
Listen here.
34. Interview with Natasha Tina Liu
Listen here.
33. Interview with Aedin Mincks “Mitch”
Listen here
32. Interview with Hiro Koda and Jahnel Curfman
Listen here
31. Interview with Vanessa Rubio “Carmen Part II”
Listen here
30. Interview with Gianni DeCenzo “Demetri Part II”
Listen here
29. Interview with Sensei Ron Thomas “Bobby Brown Part II”
Listen here
28. Interview with Paul Walter Hauser “Raymond aka Stingray”
Listen here
27. Josh Heald Talks Cobra Kai and Hot Tub Time Machine
Listen here
26. Interview with Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson
Listen here
25. Interview with Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg
Listen here
24. Interview with Bret Ernst “Louie LaRusso Jr.”
Listen here
23. Interview with Yuji Okumoto “Chozen Toguchi”
Listen here
22. Interview with Ken Davitian “Armand Zakarian”
Listen here
21. Interview with Grandmaster Darryl Vidal and The Crane Kick
Listen here
20. Interview with Jeff Kaplan “Cruz”
Listen here
19. Interview with Sensei Ron Thomas “Bobby Brown”
Listen here
18. Interview with Israel Juarbe “Freddy Fernandez”
Listen here
17. Interview with Cara AnnMarie “Sue”
Listen here
16. Interview with Sean Kanan “Mike Barnes”
Listen here
15. Interview with Kylie Delre “Judy”
Listen here
14. Interview with Matt Lewis “Ron”
Listen here
13. Interview with Bo Mitchell “Brucks”
Listen here
12. Interview with Rose Bianco “Rosa aka Yaya”
Listen here
11. Interview with Vanessa Rubio “Carmen”
Listen here
10. Interview with Vas Sanchez “Nestor”
Listen here
9. Interview with Owen Morgan “Bert”
Listen here
8. Interview with Erin Bradley Dangar “Counselor Blatt”
Listen here
7. Interview with Martin Kove “Sensei Kreese”
Listen here
6. Interview with Susan Gallagher “Lynn”
Listen here
5. Interview with Nichole Brown “Aisha”
Listen here
4. Interview with Annalisa Cochrane “Yasmine”
Listen here
3. Interview with Gianni DeCenzo “Demetri”
Listen here
2. Interview with Hannah Kepple “Moon”
Listen here
1. Interview with Joe Seo “Kyler”
Listen here