Cobra Kai has captured the nostalgia of a multi-generational franchise.
But the characters aren't the only things viewers find familiar.
Samantha's actress, Mary Mouser, has been working for years.
Here's where you might have seen her before.
Prior to her role as Sam LaRusso on Cobra Kai, actress Mary Mouser played a recurring
role on Hulu's high-school horror series Freakish.
In that show, a bunch of kids show up for detention but find themselves fighting off
killer zombies after a nearby chemical plant explodes.
It's like the John Hughes classic, The Breakfast Club, except the kids in detention aren't
just in trouble -- they're on the menu.
Mouser plays Mary Jones, little sister to Grover, another one of the lead characters.
Those who survive the initial attack must figure out how to make it out alive without
much in the way of supplies or protection.
Mouser only had the role of Mary for one of the show's two seasons, which is a pretty
good run considering the body count of a zombie show.
Mary Mouser played the role of Lacey Fleming on the medical-crime-meets-comedy-drama series
Body of Proof prior to tying her gig as Sam LaRusso.
Before she was Daniel-san's daughter, she was the nearly estranged daughter of medical
examiner Megan Hunt, a former neurosurgeon no longer able to operate after suffering
nerve damage in a car crash.
Mouser's character was considered a recurring role for the show's first season, at which
time Lacey lived with her father.
Mouser was promoted to the main cast for the second and third seasons, as Megan gains joint
custody with her ex-husband, and her relationship with her daughter slowly evolves, while Lacey
is shuttled back and forth between parents.
Body of Proof was canceled by ABC in 2013 after three seasons.
There are characters on a TV show who shape the world of the series with their presence,
and then there are characters who rarely appear, but whose spirit hangs over everything.
Mouser got the opportunity to play one such character on CBS' long running crime drama
NCIS.
As the deceased daughter, Kelly, of Special Agent Gibbs, Mouser may have only appeared
in a few of the series' 400+ episodes, but she's still arguably one of the more important
figures of the whole show.
At the beginning of NCIS' run, fans were left to guess as to why Gibbs has such a tough
exterior and often secretive personality.
That changed in season 3, when the show revealed that he once had a wife and daughter who were
killed by a member of a drug cartel.
Gibbs later killed the man in revenge, and the entire dark episode and the memories of
his past continue to haunt him throughout his life.
Mouser played Kelly in several flashback sequences throughout the series, most notably in the
episodes "Hiatus Parts I & II."
While you might not recognize the significantly younger Mouser right away, NCIS fans may have
sensed Kelly's presence while watching Cobra Kai.
Typically, when you see that somebody had a one-episode guest starring role on Criminal
Minds it's either because they played a terrifying killer, or a terrified victim.
While the series is known for its exceptionally grisly cases, Mouser's character from the
season 10 episode "Amelia Porter" survived with some deep emotional scars, but relatively
minor physical ones.
Rebecca is a teenager who becomes one of the targets of her uncle, Benton Farland, who
has recently been released from prison after serving time for the murder of Rebecca's mother.
While Benton didn't kill Rebecca's mother himself, he manipulated his girlfriend at
the time, the titular Amelia Porter, to do so.
Now that he's a free man, he desperately wants to not only reunite with Amelia, but also
have her recreate the murder he coerced her into committing.
Unfortunately for Rebecca, she looks just like her mother, so Benton kidnaps her in
preparation for his twisted reunion.
"You don't recognize her?
It's Rebecca, Miriam's daughter.
Doesn't she look just like her mother?"
Thankfully, Amelia isn't as interested in playing along this time.
She stalls long enough for the Behavioral Analysis Unit squad to show up and rescue
Rebecca, putting Mouser in the special category of Criminal Minds guest stars whose characters
didn't die a horrific death.
Freeform's groundbreaking show The Fosters centers on Stef and Lena Adams Foster, a married
couple with a large family composed of their biological, adopted, and foster children.
Unsurprisingly, the series featured a sizable cast of characters throughout its five season
run, including Sarah Lewis, played by Mouser.
Sarah only has a three episode-arc on the show, but they make up a pretty memorable
three episodes.
Mouser plays a fellow foster kid who meets Callie, one of Stef and Lena's charges, in
a therapy group.
Unfortunately for Sarah, she is being groomed by one of Callie's former foster brothers,
Liam, who Callie knows to be manipulative and regularly involved with girls who are
far too young for him to be dating.
After getting wrapped up in Liam's criminal activity, it looks like Sarah may be at risk
of getting dragged down with Liam, but with the help of Callie, she's eventually able
to break the spell and turn against him.
Prank calls are all fun and games until the playful charade starts to take on a life of
its own and morph into something unsettling.
In "Prank Call," the season 3 episode of the HBO anthology series Room 104, Mouser stars
as a teenager who stumbles into that lesson in the worst possible way.
Each episode of Room 104 focuses on a new temporary inhabitant of the hotel room that
gives the series its name.
In "Prank Call," that person is Adrienne, whose parents have left her alone for the
night.
To pass the time, Adrienne makes prank calls.
Far from lighthearted jokes, Adrienne's calls see her adopting personas that are more grown-up
than she's ready for.
When she connects with a man named George, she lets her flirtatious older woman persona
get away from her.
Before she can put an end to the disturbing situation, a knock on the hotel room door
escalates the prank to a terrifying degree.
"Prank Call" is a twisted and often disturbing episode of TV, but it provides Mouser with
a multi-layered part to sink her teeth into.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite actors are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.