The Deleted Karate Kid Scene The Characters Reference In Cobra Kai
Since arriving on Netflix, the former YouTube Red series Cobra Kai's already devout fanbase has only grown thanks to the increased exposure. Its popularity is the highest it's ever been, resulting in the fourth season receiving the green light ahead of season 3's January 2021 release (via Variety).
One of the things fans enjoy so much about Cobra Kai is the dramedy's reverence for its source material. The series frequently refers to events from the Karate Kid films both big and small, making the universe feel as cohesive as possible, while still blazing a trail as its own entity.
The general trend has been for Cobra Kai to keep within the confines of the Karate Kid films' story, excluding ancillary media such as the 2010 Jayden Smith reboot as well as the short-lived Karate Kid cartoon, which bear no real weight on the present-day plot. However, this apparently doesn't exclude material for the main-sequence movies that was filmed and left on the cutting room floor back in the day. This is evidenced by a particular moment that Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (William Zabka) refer back to on Cobra Kai, a famous deleted scene that only super-fans now remember.
Cobra Kai recalls the blueberry pie incident
As the story goes, early on in The Karate Kid, there was supposed to be a scene involving Ali Mills (Elizabeth Shue) and Daniel meeting up at the school cafeteria to grab some lunch. They do so, carrying their conversation to a nearby table, where Johnny planted a slice of blueberry pie on Daniel's seat as a prank. Mr. Miyagi's (Pat Morita) star pupil sits in it and lets his rage get the best of him, leading the two boys into a physical confrontation on the spot.
As of this writing, the closest thing to finished footage of this scene is a part of a rehearsal reel put together by the late Karate Kid director John Avildsen on YouTube, and it has never appeared in any kind of home video release. Despite its status as a rare piece of media, that didn't stop the minds behind Cobra Kai from alluding to the scene in the season 2 episode "Pulpo."
Reddit user u/thewalkingwhit mentioned this in a recent thread about the show, explaining why exactly Daniel and Johnny were laughing blueberry pie in Cobra Kai, for those who were unaware of the deleted scene's existence. All in all, this is a prime example of what the show is all about — continuing the legacy of the Karate Kid franchise by bringing new, obscure details to the forefront.