This text accommodates spoilers for “Cobra Kai” Season 6 Half 3.
What higher option to finish “Cobra Kai” than to carry issues again to the San Fernando Valley for one final match? As Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) convinces the Sekai Taikai to proceed after Kwon’s (Brandon H. Lee) demise in “Cobra Kai” season 6 half 2 introduced it to a halt, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) will get to select the brand new venue. He makes use of the chance to carry the motion from Barcelona to his place of energy from the 1985 All Valley Karate Event — the All Valley Sports activities Area.
With this important change, we get to see a complete bunch of “Cobra Kai” characters collectively for one final time, as an alternative of nearly all of the solid having to look at the handful of Sekai Taikai contributors on TV as is commonly the case in Season 6 Half 2. It additionally permits the present to carry again a very stunning character: Darryl Vidal (performed by … Darryl Vidal), a former All Valley Event notable who acts because the visitor referee.
Darryl Vidal introduced acrobatics to the Karate Child franchise many years earlier than Cobra Kai
A very deep-cut character, Darryl Vidal of Locust Valley Karate is the 1983 All Valley Event champion. As such, he holds loads of sway within the “Cobra Kai” universe and a number of other characters bear in mind him effectively. That is straightforward to know if you see his preventing fashion in “The Karate Child.” He is the one main combatant within the 1984 film who makes use of the type of acrobatic leaps and spin-kicks that “Cobra Kai” characters like Hawk (Jacob Bertrand), Kwon, and Zara Malik (Rayna Vallandingham) depend on many years later.
Whereas Season 6 Half 3 marks Darryl’s first non-flashback look within the collection, “Cobra Kai” has made positive to say him each on occasion. Within the All Valley match from 1984’s “The Karate Child,” the Locust Valley workforce’s celebrity is soundly overwhelmed by Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), who receives a modicum of redemption from his 1983 loss to Darryl. Johnny nonetheless remembers the match fondly, and briefly discusses it with Tommy (Rob Garrison) in season 2. Additionally, throughout his discuss with Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) in Season 3, Episode 5, titled “Miyagi-Do,” the villainous John Kreese (Martin Kove) himself commends Darryl’s karate prowess and divulges that his household’s black belt-level expertise return generations.
In different phrases, Darryl is exactly the form of karate superstar referee {that a} Valley-based match would wish to recruit. After all, it does not harm that he is just about the one notable former All Valley winner out there, seeing as Johnny, Daniel, and all youthful champions are far too linked to Cobra Kai to impartially referee the finals.
The actual-life Darryl Vidal helped create the enduring Crane Kick
Behind the scenes of “The Karate Child,” Darryl Vidal the actor was a surprisingly instrumental presence. Not solely did he painting the younger martial artist of the identical title, however he additionally stepped in to assist when the well-known Crane Kick from “The Karate Child” grew to become such a headache that nobody else might make it work. After quite a few martial artists and stuntmen failed of their makes an attempt to execute the complicated maneuver easily, Vidal took the reins and confirmed all of them the way it’s carried out.
Daniel’s iconic Crane Kick as we all know it’s the results of a collaboration between Vidal, Ralph Macchio, and choreographer Pat Johnson. Vidal truly received to carry out the transfer within the movie, too. Once we see Mr. Miyagi observe the Crane method on the seashore in “The Karate Child,” it isn’t truly Pat Morita however Vidal enjoying the character.
The Crane Kick’s creator workforce can be linked to Vidal’s “Cobra Kai” cameo in a heartwarming approach. Very like Vidal, Johnson — who handed away in 2023 — received his on-screen flowers with an element in “The Karate Child.” He performed the match’s referee within the movie, which is the very position Vidal takes over in “Cobra Kai” Season 6 Half 3.
“Cobra Kai” is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.