'Cobra Kai' Season 4: Vanessa Rubio says she would like to see her character Carmen 'throw a couple of punches'
The third season of ‘Cobra Kai’ — so far, the most delightful addition to ‘The Karate Kid’ universe — saw Johnny (William Zabka), Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and others ultimately team up to fight Kreese (Martin Kove). The season was fast-paced, entertaining, emotional and ultimately set the stage for the upcoming All Valley Karate Tournament in Season 4.
And while Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) was undoubtedly one of the season’s bigger focuses, his mother Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) was someone who provided much of the heart in this season. In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), Rubio spoke about ‘Cobra Kai’, her thoughts on Season 4, Carmen and Johnny’s relationship and more.
The reason she believes the show has found unprecedented success is because “it doesn't ask too much of its audience” and also because it has “this weird nostalgic '80s universe where you, where you can have these epic karate fights that are kind of fantastical.” On that note, we asked her if she would see herself engage in some fighting in the season to come — just like most of the show’s characters.
Rubio said that while it would be “really awesome if she did”, she would “trust the writers on this one”. She said, “So far, most of her physicality has been in the love sector, which I think is kind of in tune with her character because she is really a character of the heart of the home. And really just the compassion.”
She said, however, that it “would be fascinating to see Carmen really throw a couple of punches — come into her own power as her son really has throughout the series. It would be interesting to see who she would have to defend,” adding that it would likely be for her family -- “She's totally a mama bear”.
“Johnny Lawrence would train her or maybe she'd go behind his back and get training from Daniel Russo,” Rubio said with a laugh. “That'd be too much on Johnny.”
Speaking about Johnny and Carmen’s budding romance on the show, “Her thing with Johnny — it kind of takes on its own route right away from Miguel's life a little bit. It's her branching out to build her own happiness, aside from her family, you know?” She added, “I think it's a relationship that is really well-written and lovely to see blossom and grow. I would just love to see it grow more. And for these two characters to learn, to trust and communicate with each other and in better ways.”
“Most people were rooting for Carmen and Johnny to be together,” said Rubio, “because they see that they support each other in a nice way. She is basically the only character that he really listens to, whether he realizes it or not. So it's interesting to see them influence each other in these ways.”
Talking about what she might want to do more in the show’s future, Rubio said, “I think Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) and Carmen coming together would be amazing and really build on female empowerment, like, ‘Hey, Oh, you're also going through this crazy thing too. With this karate crazy Valley’.” She also said that she would really like for Carmen to meet Robbie. It is a plausible route to go towards, especially given Johnny and Carmen's relationship.
“I think it would be interesting to see a character like Robbie — as we've seen him now after Season 3, kind of in this really defensive street cat mode — meet Carmen, a nurturer. I wonder if she could extend some of that to Robbie, even though he was the one who threw her son off the second floor there in the school. So that would be really interesting,” she said.
Outside of ‘Cobra Kai’, Rubio is excited about another upcoming Netflix project. The second season of ‘Bonding’, a dark comedy series about a psychology grad student in New York City who moonlights as a dominatrix and a young gay man who becomes her assistant, will feature Rubio in a supporting role.
“I can't say too much — her name is Gina," said Rubio. "And she is pretty funny. I mean, she's kind of this character who likes to think she's enlightened, but we will come to see if he is or not. She was really fun to play because she's kind of flighty.”
‘Cobra Kai’ is currently streaming on Netflix. ‘Bonding’ Season 2 is set to release on Netflix on January 27.