How ‘Cobra Kai’ Got Elizabeth Berkley for That Quirky Cameo

The final five episodes of Cobra Kai are here, and they’re packed with surprises. There are some explosive (literally speaking) character clashes, a few jaw-dropping decisions by our heroes, and, of course, a few new key cameos.

In addition to bringing back another Karate Kid alum — this time, Darryl Vidal to emcee the rebooted Sekai Taikai — the trio of co-creators can also be spotted in key scenes, and, well, ’90s legend Elizabeth Berkley joins in on the fun as well.

That’s right, the Saved By the Bell alum makes a surprise debut in the series for the second episode of Season 6, Part 3, “Rattled,” appearing as Winnie, the mother of Moon (Hannah Kepple). She’s an earthy spiritual wanderer type who has a fascination with Japanese culture, so Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Amanda LaRusso (Courtney Henggeler) decide to set her up with a very reluctant Chozen (Yuji Okumoto).

Chozen is decidedly not interested in Winnie’s conversation about reiki treatments and tarot readings, but things warm up between them once the subject of trashy reality television comes up. Turns out, they’re both huge fans of Storage Wars, which isn’t enough to create a true romantic spark, but at least it dials down the awkwardness.

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So how did the producers manage to nab Berkley, who didn’t have a history with Karate Kid before?

Cobra Kai co-creator Jon Hurwitz told TV Insider of her secret casting, “The idea of Chozen being on a double date with the La Russos was fun for us, and we’ve alluded to Moon’s mom several times over the course of the seasons. So this was finally our opportunity to bring her to life. And when we were putting together our list, Elizabeth Berkeley was right at the top of the list. She was somebody that we were all fans of growing up. And we showed Billy [Zabka], who was directing that episode, our list, and immediately, he zeroed in on Elizabeth Berkeley as well.”

“We were lucky that she happened to be a fan of the series,” Hurwitz continued. “So when we reached out, she was on board right away.”

The scene, which takes place at a lush outdoor garden, was apparently shot on the final day of production for both Macchio and Henggeler in Atlanta.

“We’re at this beautiful winery, beautiful day out, Billy Zabka directing, a lot of the cast and crew just sort of stopping by and hanging out because it was just a big moment. And Elizabeth Berkeley’s right there in the middle of all of it, delivering with great chemistry with Yuji and just having a complete blast.”

As for why the subject of Storage Wars is what brings Winnie and Chozen to a friendship level, well, you can thank the creators for that, too.

Josh Heald explained, “Jon and I used to watch Storage Wars, and we wrote the most deep-cut line for her as if she’s so familiar with Storage Wars that she can just name-check Darrell Sheets like it’s nobody’s business. And we’re just excited for Darrell Sheets to see this show. We want him to stumble upon this and be like, ‘Wait, what just happened that Elizabeth Berkeley just said my name?!”

Cobra Kai, Streaming Now, Netflix