Analyzing Failure - Why Cobra Kai Doesn't Match The Originals

By Ephraim Belnap

Created by: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg

Starring: Ralph Maccio, Billy Zabka, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan

I'm not trying to ruin anyone's fun here. I've been following it since it came out. But now that it's on Netflix and in the public eye more than ever, all I can see is that the Cobra Kai series - for reasons unbeknownst - has failed to really capture the magic of the originals and settled for an average magic instead. 

Let me explain. The series is built around an Internet hot take of the 2000's - that Johnny from the original wasn't that bad of a guy and that Daniel LaRusso was kind of wrong to hate him how he did. This is supported by the original, since Johnny gets enough foibles and makes enough concessions that he comes across as misguided instead of irredeemable, and someone who's ultimately overshadowed by his bully teacher. This has fueled a bunch of TV jokes and YouTube videos and has been acknowledged by the actors themselves in official venues. That's the crux upon which the new series rests. And it's honestly pretty cool. The idea that Johnny was actually pretty nice and that Daniel was a little mean is a great take to ponder, and it's an insight that brings wisdom when you think about it in retrospect. 

But here's the thing - the heart of the originals was never about that. The heart of the originals is about the father-son relationship between Miyagi and Daniel. And I mean father-son. Daniel doesn't have a dad. Miyagi is the one who teaches him how to paint a fence and wax a car and build a shed. He's the one who turns these chores into life lessons. He's the one that takes him to tournaments and smiles when he wins. That's fatherly mentorship. That's why the originals are so powerful. They're not about getting the girl; they're about the experience of having a father figure who truly empowers you. That's why the "regret to inform you" scene hits so hard. It's that growing-up moment when you realize your dad is also a friend who could use your support. You don't have that closeness with regular mentors. But you have that with dads. 

The premise of Cobra Kai is fun. But it fundamentally discards the Miyagi angle for the "Johnny not bad" angle. And here's the thing, folks. Johnny kind of was bad. It doesn't matter that we see his humanity, he was still totally callous and willing to beat up this kid who was annoying him. He really put the hurt on him multiple times and enjoyed it. His empathy only came at the very end, and presumably would've continued from there. So, although we like doing it for fun, we can't fundamentally go back and say Daniel was the bad guy and Johnny was the good guy. He wasn't. He was a total bully. Daniel was right to beat him up. And it doesn't matter if that was kick was illegal or unsanctioned or didn't make sense or whatever. That was movie license making that moment as cool as possible. It doesn't matter how it looked. So we can't go back and literally change it. 

What we can do is continue that thread of empathy. In the last ten minutes you realize Johnny really is a person, and he shows enough grace in abdicating that you think he's gonna chill out a bit. The starting point of Cobra Kai is that Johnny basically is a good person now, and restarts Cobra Kai 'cause he likes the empowerment martial arts brings. But from there it turns into feuding. He's pretty "eh" on Daniel LaRusso. LaRusso doesn't really like him. And when their kids and people get involved, all sorts of feelings come out. But here's the thing.

Daniel should know better. 

I'm not saying this like a mom shaming you, he really should here. He's like fifty-five now! Miyagi in the show died in 2011. He was hanging out with Miyagi regularly for another thirty years after the movies! And what was Miyagi always, always, ALWAYS saying!? 

It's not worth getting into a fight. Don't get into a fight. "Karate for defense only." "Fighting not good." "Fight for life, not for points." "Fighting last resort for problem." Don't fight, don't fight, don't fight. And Miyagi showed this by example, too. He really went to the depths of suffering to avoid fighting people. He really believed that stuff. And Daniel ought to believe that too, by this point. He's in his fifties! He had a good father figure! And he saw the end of Karate Kid too, so he knows that there's more to Johnny as a person and that he's probably chilled out. There's nothing about this situation that can't be solved by a civil discussion and the right questions. He'd probably end up supporting Johnny, because even if he did all that crap before, it really was a long time ago, and was definitely spurred on by that teacher, and Johnny's not a winner now so it's not like he can bully him again! Daniel was a hothead as a teenager, but surely he's got the perspective at this point that'll let him forgive and forget and move on. He won this one!

There's an interesting story with Johnny here, 'cause we see that he's more of a loser now than Daniel ever was as a kid, 'cause he's faced worse obstacles like alcoholism and a dead mother and ... bad father figures! I'd love to watch a series about Johnny getting his power back the way Daniel did once. It'd be a great exploration of adulthood and responsibility and the values martial arts imparts, that people don't appreciate enough. But feuding with Daniel and turning it into a low-key martial arts war is not what Miyagi stood for, and not what Miyagi would've wanted. He'd be grabbing Daniel by the ear if he saw the way he was behaving. And a Daniel fathered by Miyagi would never act the way he does here! Not once do you ever see Miyagi angry. Not once do you ever see him jump in stupidly. His reaction to getting provoked by teenagers is to ignore them. His reaction to getting robbed is to just beat them up and tell them to buzz off. He's the epitome of "don't start nothing, won't be nothing." He was always teaching Daniel why he ought to calm down a bit and how mastering his emotions would make him better. Like every coach ever will tell you, the real value of training young people isn't teaching physical skills, it's imparting value lessons on the players! And that's what Daniel ought to be by series' start. Someone who has those values! And yet he doesn't. He's still kind of hot-headed, impulsive, and ready to fly off at a moment's notice. As if no further teaching happened in that twenty-something year interval. 

I suppose this isn't a huge deal. Reboots with timeskips force delayed character development on the leads all the time. It's a way to ease people in and lets the creators show all development onscreen. Over the course of the series they ARE undoubtedly getting this development. But as the Marvel universe shows excellently, you can have characters develop offscreen and still have an arc for them in the story proper. A lot of its appeal comes from the fact that characters undergo changes between movies, and so feel fresh in the next one. Vision and Wanda are suddenly dating in Infinity War? The New Avengers are doing missions in Civil War? Thor isn't looking for the Stones anymore in Ragnarok? These all just make the movies better. 

We're getting the reboot we got, and it's not terrible. But it'd be nice to see future reboots and franchises avoid that pitfall and instead work towards something more torn from the franchise core instead of off a side flank with less value. Now you know. *crane kick*