Cobra Kai

Season 1

Ace Degenerate

1. The introduction scene utilizes unused footage from The Karate Kid (1984). The close-up shots of Johnny getting kicked in the face and falling to the ground are part of alternate footage not utilized in the original film.
2. Johnny confirms the long standing argument that Daniel beat him in the All Valley tournament with an illegal kick to the face.
3. When Johnny is fighting the punks outside the convenience store, he says to the last guy he grabs by the throat "What's the matter? Having trouble breathing?". Mike Barnes said this same line to Daniel in their All Valley match in The Karate Kid Part III (1989).
4. Johnny watches on the television a clip of the movie Iron Eagle (1986) in which actor Larry B. Scott had a role. Larry B. Scott was also in the original The Karate Kid (1984) as Cobra Kai member, Jerry.
5. Johnny exits LaRusso's dealership parking lot, dropping the bonsai tree, then offers to teach Miguel karate. The instrumental song "Sirius" by Alan Parsons Project plays on the soundtrack connecting the two scenes. Miguel Diaz is played by Xolo Mariduena , whose first name in Nahuatl (Aztec) language means "Dog Star", a nickname for the star Sirius.
6. The film Johnny is watching while drinking in his apartment is Iron Eagle (1986).
7. When Johnny is fighting the guys outside the convenience store, Kyler gets Johnny in a chokehold, the same way Kreese did.
8. After the health inspector shuts down the dojo, Johnny forces Miguel to fix all the code violations. The first chore we see him doing is cleaning with a sponge. Although he isn't using Miyagi-Do methods, (wax on/off) Johnny tells him to 'get back to training' after their conversation. It's unclear if this is intentional.

Strike First

1. Johnny says to Miguel, "We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, on the street, in competition, a man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy. Is there a problem, Mr. Diaz?" In Karate Kid, Kreese gives this same speech except at the end he says to Johnny, "Is there a problem, Mr. Lawrence?"
2. Miguel wears a blue LA Dodgers jersey while training with Johnny. In the original Karate Kid film (1984), Daniel Larusso wears a blue San Diego Chargers jersey under his costume at the Halloween dance where he is ultimately confronted and defeated by Johnny and the Cobra Kai gang and then saved by Mr. Miyagi. Ironically, the Chargers relocated to LA in 2017, and Johnny is now in the role of Mr. Miyagi from the original film.
3. This marks the first appearance of Amanda, Robby, Eli, Demetri, Aisha, and Anthony

Esqueleto

1. 'Esqueleto' is Spanish for 'skeleton', which is Miguel's Halloween costume and a nod to the costumes worn by the Cobra Kai gang in the first film.
2. This is the shortest running episode in the entire series at a running time of 23 minutes
3. This marks the first appearance of Carmen, Rosa, and Counselor Blatt.

Cobra Kai Never Dies

1. Daniel makes "Bananarama Chocolate Chip Pancakes" for the family. This is likely a reference to the band "Bananarama" who had a song on the "Karate Kid" soundtrack titled "Cruel Summer".
2. This marks the first appearance of Shannon, Trey, and Cruz.
3. In the 2010 film, Hot Tub Time Machine, Diora Baird plays the character, Rick's Wife. In that film, Rick is played by William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence). In this episode, Diora plays Johnny's ex-wife, Shannon.

Counterbalance

1. The bandana used in the final scene of this episode by Daniel is the same one from the original movie back in 1984.
2. When the Yoga ladies take over the dojo, the very first pose they all do together is called The Cobra.
3. On Mr. Miyagi's gravestone, the "born" and "died" months are the same as Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, the actor who played him. Morita was 7 years younger than Miyagi and died 6 years earlier.
4. Mr. Miyagi's gravestone shows that he died in 2011 at the age of 86. Pat Morita would have turned 86 in 2018.

Quiver

1. This marks the episode where Eli transitions to Hawk and gets his mohawk
2. This marks the first time where we see flashbacks of young Johnny Lawrence and the first time we see flashbacks in the series.

All Valley

1. The song playing while Miguel and Sam are having their first date at Golf 'n Stuff - "Young Hearts" - is the same one that played when Daniel and Ali made up at Golf 'n Stuff the night before the tournament in the original movie.
2. When arguing for the reinstatement of Cobra Kai, Johnny says that he has no idea who Terry Silver is. This makes sense, as Johnny was not present in the third film.
3. When Daniel's wife teases him about his former bonsai trees business and how it didn't work, there's a good chance the "didn't work" also referred to the infamous reception (and cult legacy) of the third film, which featured this business.
4. The actions of Kreese, Terry Silver and Mike Barnes from the third film are mentioned as being the reason that the Cobra Kai dojo is banned from the All Valley Tournament.

Molting

1. The movie Iron Eagle (1986) is seen as a source of inspiration for William Zabka's character, Johnny Lawrence. Zabka's father, Stan Zabka, served as the second assistant director for that movie.
2. Randee Heller reprises her role from The Karate Kid movies as Lucille Larusso.
3. In "How I Met Your Mother", Barney Stinson details the events of The Karate Kid the perspective from Johnny Lawrence's point of view. This is the same perspective that Johnny recounts to Miguel in this episode.
4. The episode title is a term for animals - especially snakes - shedding their old skin, which is what Johnny and his students metaphorically do throughout the series.
5. Johnny says to Daniel, "You couldn't leave well enough alone". In Karate Kid after the Halloween dance scene when Johnny catches up to Daniel outside the apartment building, he also tells him "You couldn't leave well enough alone".
6. While training Robby in the woods, Daniel walks away from home to find better cell service to he can catch the Islanders versus Devils hockey game. The teams were chosen as Ralph Macchio, a native of Long Island is a fan of the New York Islanders in real life, while his character, Daniel hails from Newark, New Jersey where the New Jersey Devils play.
7. When Robby has finished practicing his kicks on the fallen tree, he goes looking for Daniel elsewhere in the woods - he comes upon Daniel doing a very tricky one-armed handstand. This handstand pose looks identical to the one that Luke Skywalker does in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) during his Jedi training with Yoda - and like Luke, Daniel also falls over clumsily when distracted.
8. While training, Robbie says that he feels like Jackie Chan, who starred in The Karate Kid (2010).
9. When Daniel takes Robby out to the woods for further training, he wears a similar old-fashioned catcher's mask and chest protector to what Mr. Miyagi wore during (teenage) Daniel's punch technique practice in the original The Karate Kid (1984) movie.
10. When Robby has finished practicing his kicks on the fallen tree, he goes looking for Daniel elsewhere in the woods - he comes upon Daniel doing a very tricky one-armed handstand. This handstand pose looks identical to the one that Luke Skywalker does in TV Eye: Empire Strikes Back (1980) during his Jedi training with Yoda - and like Luke, Daniel also falls over clumsily when distracted.
11. The song "We're not gonna take it" by Twisted Sister is playing while the Cobra Kai begins training for the tournament. This song is also featured in a prominent scene in Iron Eagle, the movie Johnny was watching in episode 1 of the series.

Different but Same

1. In the original movie, Mr. Miyagi says "Different but same" while looking at a picture of Daniel and Ali. The episode's title is an obvious nod to that line.
2. The confrontation between Miguel and Robbie over Sam is very similar (and most likely a homage) to the first confrontation between Daniel and Johnny over Ali in the first "Karate Kid" movie. Both the conflicts happen because the boyfriend is jealous at seeing his girlfriend with another boy. Both conflicts take place at night, on the beach during a get-together, and a bonfire is burning in both instances.
3. When Danny offers a Subaru to Johnny, he retorts "What do I look like, a lesbo?". This is a reference to Subaru's daring marketing campaign from the 1990s targeting lesbian drivers in the US, when most other brands stayed away, in fear of alienating their user base. This marketing strategy paid off - sales increased multi-folds and the brand became strongly associated with the demographic.
4. Johnny tells Daniel, "You couldn't leave well enough alone." This echoes the scene in Karate Kid after the Halloween Dance when Johnny catches up to Daniel and tells him "... but you couldn't leave well enough alone."

Mercy

1. Apparently, the All Valley Tournament rule where the defending champion only fights in the finals (as seen in The Karate Kid Part III (1989) has been abandoned, because Xander, the defending champion, had to work his way through the tournament.
2. Rocky III (1982) is mentioned. Rocky (1976) and The Karate Kid (1984) had the same director, John G. Avildsen.
3. Robby's slicked back hair with the small ponytail looks very much like the villain from The Karate Kid Part III (1989), Terry Silver.
4. During the City Council meeting in episode 7 Cobra Kai: All Valley (2018), one of the council members suggests it's time to "shake things up" at the All Valley tournament by changing the traditional red mats with a white fist to blue mats with a gold fist. As the opening tournament prep montage in this episode shows, he gets his wish.
5. The actual house that was used as Mr. Miyagi's in the movies was demolished. Therefore, they built an exact replica of the house, car yard and yard on a studio lot.
6. Twice presumed dead (a hoax in The Karate Kid Part III (1989) and mentioned by Johnny Lawrence in Cobra Kai: All Valley (2018)), John Kreese appears alive and menacing at the end of the episode.
7. Martin Kove reprises his role as John Kreese.