Spoiler alert! The following contains details from Season 3 of "Cobra Kai" streaming now on Netflix.
Let's be honest: "Cobra Kai," with all itsreferences to "Ali with an I" without an actualappearance by actress Elisabeth Shue, has been the equivalent of a cruel, cruel summer. Finally, she resumes her role from "The Karate Kid" film for the last two episodes of the spin-off series' new season (now on Netflix), which has us feeling like we nailed a crane kick on a beach piling.
When we met Ali in the 1984 feature, she'd been broken up with Johnny (William Zabka) for "weeks" before she began dating the movie's protagonist, Daniel (Ralph Macchio).
In the closing shot of "Cobra Kai" Season 2, we saw that one Ali Mills Schwarber (her married name) sent Johnny a Facebook friend request, which he missed because he hurled his phoneinto the sand during a moment of frustration. In the newseason, Johnny and Ali reconnect onlineand in real life. Shue first appears onscreen in Episode 9, "Feel the Night." Ali, now a Coloradan,decides tovisither parents for the holidays.
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While Ali has been on Johnny's mind, her visit coincides with a potential romantic reconciliation forJohnny and Carmen(Vanessa Rubio), the mother of his karate studentMiguel(Xolo Maridueña). Johnny and Carmen decide to have a conversation defining their relationship, butheaccepts Ali's invitation for lunch in the meantime, thefirst reunion for the two since high school. Over cheeseburgers, Ali reveals she and her husband have separated, andJohnny apologizes for taking her for granted and breaking her radio.
The two then venture to Golf N'Stuff–you know, the same place where Daniel's mom drove him and Alion their date in "The Karate Kid" (which set the bar for this author's expectation of dates). Johnny and Ali play air hockey, mini golf and basketball and nearly kiss before Ali gets a text from her mom reminding her to go to a Christmas party. She invites Johnny, and the nostalgia continues in Episode 10, "December 19."
At the party, Ali spots Daniel and meets his wife, Amanda (Courtney Henggeler). The four catch up on the old days and the present, even revealing exactly whyDaniel and Ali broke up (because he was insecure about a male friend of hers).
Off screen, Amanda tells Ali that Johnny's been involved with Carmen, which viewers see Ali encourage him to pursue. As Ali and Johnny part, they hugbut don't kiss. She tells him, "I will always be there for you," which he reciprocates. She tells him to "get out of here" because he has "a future to find." And that future, heartbreakingly so for those who think Ali is "the best around," is Carmen. Johnny reveals he loves her.
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Reps forShue did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment about her "Cobra Kai" appearance, but forZabka, reuniting with Shue was a dream.
"I loved it. I was so excited about the idea of her coming back," he says, mentioning how the show's first two seasons revealed "how much she's still part of Johnny and still a part of the rivalry between Daniel and Johnny and how important she is to the story and to their twolives."
"Cobra Kai" creatorsJosh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg longed for Shue's return since conceiving the series.
"We didn't know if she'd even consider coming back, but our hope was that if people responded to the show how we hoped they would, and if we came up with a present-day version of Ali with an 'I'that she could latch onto, then we'd have a shot," the trio say in a statement. They desired for her part to be meatier than a cameo. "We wanted her to have juicy scenes that would be impactful to both Johnny and Daniel's stories.
"Once we had a plan, we shared those thoughts with Elisabeth and she loved them," the showrunners add. "And it didn't hurt that she had some friends who were fans telling her that she must do the show."
Zabka says though he'd seen Shue "sporadically throughout the years," working together againfelt like "seeing an old friend from high school."
"In between doing these scenes we're talking about our real lives and our real kids," he says, praising Shue as "lovely" and "the best." It turns out she's also "really competitive.When we're playing at GolfN' Stuff and doing the air hockey, andthe basketball, she takes that seriously."
Though the two still have onscreen chemistry,Zabka understands why their characters aren't meant to be. "Johnnyreally loves Carmen, he really loves (her son, Miguel)," he reasons. While Johnny and Ali were momentarily transported to their teenage years during their time together, the reality is "They've grown… You realize that when you bump into somebody later in life– it worked then, we still love each other but we can't move from hereforward.
"At the same time, she's strong and she gets Johnny," he continues, adding that he admires their bond.
"They were great friends, and that'll be there forever," he says. "And I love that she was big enough just to cut Johnny loose and say, 'Somebody else is on your mind,'and for him to say, 'Yeah.'"
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