‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5: Tory and Devon’s Fight Scenes Were Made up on the Spot

Early photos for Cobra Kai Season 5 showed Devon (Oona O’Brien) training at Cobra Kai with Tory (Peyton List). Even if you haven’t seen their fight scenes together, it may be surprising to learn that much of their choreography happened at the last minute. 

Showbiz Cheat Sheet participated in roundtable interviews with the cast on Aug. 26. O’Brien and List were among the cast members who spoke about their Cobra Kai Season 5 choreography. Whether you’ve already binged the season on Netflix or are saving it up to watch later, here’s how they improvised their fight scenes. 

‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5 threw fight scenes at Oona O’Brien and Peyton List 

Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) comes into Cobra Kai and puts Devon and Tory to the test. They have some awesome fight scenes together, but it turns out a lot of them were improvised very quickly before filming. 

“We really were just thrown into the choreography,” O’Brien said. “We didn’t do too much training so much but a lot of my fights being with Peyton, we did practice together. Most of the stuff were just thrown at us on set. It was just being able to adapt and pick it up as possible.”

Now, Cobra Kai fight choreographers do plan out their fight sequences in advance. It’s a testament to the cast and their training over the many seasons that they are able to adapt when the choreographers get new ideas. 

Last minute ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5 fights suited Tory

Kim’s test was equally of Tory’s teaching abilities as it was Devon’s karate skills. The spur-of-the-moment choreography also paralleled Tory feeling thrown into the teaching role. 

“I find it kind of ironic that when Tory has the most pressure on her ever and is being pulled in every different direction it’s when she is the most grounded and she is the most sure,” List said. “I guess she does well under pressure but it is nice to see that and I hope that the writers do continue Tory down that path of being a leader for Devon and for other kids.”

Meanwhile, having List by her side helped O’Brien keep up with the choreography. 

“We all worked together,” O’Brien said. “They’re so supportive that it makes it so easy to just jump into it and they’re both really good at it too. So the whole experience was great because everyone was just there for you. The whole stunt team is there to support you. It felt like a nice learning environment but I also got to learn a lot of new skills and techniques.”

Tory and Devon after season 5

Cobra Kai Season 5 doesn’t wrap everything up in a tight bow. There’s plenty of room to move forward after the season finale. Tory taught Devon more than just karate so it would be nice to see them remain friends outside of Cobra Kai. Tory certainly needs more supportive friends. 

“This season you get to see Tory kind of teach her not only lessons in karate but lessons in life,” O’Brien said. “I think she really takes those to heart and you’ll see her in the future going forward using those. Also now I think she’s found a friend in that dojo. She doesn’t feel as alone and I think it’s great that she has another female leader to look up to.”