Cobra Kai season 5: Who is Jeff Kay? (Dedication explained)

Cobra Kai season 5 is finally here, meaning it’s time to get lost in the drama of the dojos. The new installment consists of 10 episodes, following Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) as he tries to take down Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) and his plan to take control of the valley with new Cobra Kai locations. Of course, fans will remember that the season 4 finale was intense, presenting new problems our central characters will have to solve. But will the bad guys win again this time?

As we already learned in the season 5 trailer, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) doesn’t want to do karate anymore, at least at the start of the new episodes, leaving Daniel to work with Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto) on a game-plan. But they’re going to need all the help they can get if they want to be seen as a threat to Silver. I mean, he put John Kreese (Martin Kove) in jail! He has so much power.

Without giving away spoilers for Cobra Kai season 5, a question that might come up while you’re watching is in regards to an “In Memoriam” dedication that’s presented on the screen at the end of episode 3. Who was Jeff Kay and what did he have to do with the Netflix Original?

Cobra Kai season 5: Jeff Kay in memoriam explained

At the end of Cobra Kai season 5 episode 3, there’s a dedication to someone named Jeff Kay, who was born in 1965 and passed away in 2021. According to his IMDb page, Kay was an assistant director and/or second unit director on a variety of different shows and movies, including American Housewife, Rizzoli & Isles, Entourage, and more. He also worked as a production manager, producer, and production assistant on a few titles.

Though Cobra Kai is not currently on Kay’s IMDb list, it’s entirely possible he worked on season 5 and it just hasn’t been credited on his page yet. After all, the fifth season filmed from Sept. 2021 and finished in Dec. 2021, and Kay passed away on Oct. 17, 2021. This means Kay likely worked on the first few episodes of the new season, or at least the third episode which is dedicated to him.

In Oct. 2021, American Housewife actor Diedrich Bader took to Twitter to mourn the death of Kay, writing that the late assistant director was “a beautiful joyful ebullient ray of light and brought nothing but joy to every second.” We could not find any tribute posts to Kay on the Cobra Kai creators’ social media pages.

Because there isn’t a public obituary online for Kay, we do not know the cause of death or any details around his passing.

Let’s take a moment to remember the talented man for his work behind the camera on so many of our favorite TV shows. Rest in peace, Jeff Kay.