Though he considers himself the good guy, Cobra Kai's Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) wrongs a number of characters throughout the series. The sequel series continues the story from The Karate Kid movies, but instead shifts to the perspective of the bully from the first movie, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and does an excellent job of setting up minor-seeming story beats that have significant ramifications down the road — many of which indicate that maybe LaRusso isn't as virtuous as he supposes he is.
Cobra Kai began as a YouTube Red original series, but in June 2020, Netflix acquired streaming rights to the series. The first two seasons became available on the platform in October 2020, and Cobra Kai season 3 is set to release in January 2021.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Cobra Kai saw a renewed rivalry between Johnny and Daniel. Daniel often makes choice with the self-righteous belief that Cobra Kai, the dojo, is evil and must be stopped — but he's so focused on that belief, Daniel fails to see how his choices are hurting those around him. Throughout the series, Daniel makes negligent decisions (some minor, some major) that negatively affect his boyhood rival, his business friends, his employees, his wife, his daughter, his houseguest, and local business owners.
Daniel Ruined Johnny's Life (Twice)
Season 1 of Cobra Kai opens with a demoralized, underachieving Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) dealing with the aftermath of the 1982 All Valley Tournament, in which LaRusso scores a tournament-winning kick against Lawrence that apparently throws the next 34 years of Lawrence's life off the rails. Worse yet, it out turns that LaRusso's kick was illegal, although it was never ruled as such. On its own, this is evidence enough that LaRusso doesn't always play fair.
When Lawrence resurrects the Cobra Kai dojo in a low-rent strip mall in Reseda, California, LaRusso tries to sabotage Lawrence in order to get the dojo shut down. Daniel takes out Armand Zarkarian (Ken Davitian), the strip's landlord and a fellow businessman, for dinner and pretends he wants to purchase the property, making sure to drop a comment about the rent being way below market value. LaRusso correctly predicts Zarkarian's response: suspicious that the property most be valuable, Zarkarian balks at the deal and then hikes up the strip's rent. Because Lawrence is struggling to make ends meet, he ends up making a casual "handshake deal" with Zarkarian for Cobra Kai's future.
The handshake deal becomes more important in season 2, when Zarkarian uses the informal deal as pretense to demand even more money, which Lawrence refuses to pay. Lawrence's momentary lapse gives his conniving former sensei John Kreese, who ran the dojo in The Karate Kid, an ideal opportunity to swoop in and take control of Cobra Kai. Because Lawrence's rental agreement is only a "handshake deal," Zarkarian has no qualms with allowing Kreese to assume control. Lawrence's loss of dignity and subsequent loss of his dojo all find a direct cause in LaRusso.
Daniel Manipulated Armand Zarkarian
LaRusso's manipulation of Zarkarian ends up proving disastrous for Johnny Lawrence, but it's also worth exploring in terms of LaRusso's willingness to deceive Zarkarian himself. When Zarkarian meets LaRusso for a posh lobster dinner at the Encino Hills Country Club in season 1, he assumes he's partaking in a friendly social outing. The scene establishes that the two are acquaintances, and that both were members of the same club until Zarkarian was kicked out. But Zarkarian — a businessman — quickly realizes LaRusso's intentions aren't social, and quips, "It's not only the lobster that's being buttered up."
This moment is very telling because it reveals LaRusso's willingness to engage in deception. Zarkarian clearly values LaRusso's company, as both men's sons are seated at an adjacent table in an attempt to build rapport between them. LaRusso's obsession with sabotaging Lawrence proves that his grudge means more to him maintaining friendships.
Daniel Caused The Convenience Store's Rent To Increase
LaRusso's manipulation of Zarkarian also causes misfortune for characters who are not otherwise directly connected to LaRusso. For example, when LaRusso succeeds in having Lawrence's rent hiked up, it affects other characters in the strip mall as well, including Nestor (Vas Sanchez), the convenience store owner. Like Lawrence, Nestor is likely struggling just to pay the original rate. Thanks to LaRusso, Nestor will now have face further hardships.
This moment brings together two characters (Lawrence and Nestor) wronged by LaRusso, who never has to reckon with the negative fallout of his actions. It's not yet clear whether LaRusso and Lawrence will find a truce in season 3, or if perhaps characters like Nestor and Lawrence will team up against LaRusso.
Daniel Stands Up (& Loses) Anoush Norrouzi
LaRusso's negligence also ends up costing him a trusted friend and employee in Anoush Norrouzi (Dan Ahdoot). In season 2, LaRusso's obsession with his Miyagi-do dojo puts a strain on the employees of LaRusso Auto Group, including Anoush, who requests a meeting with LaRusso after picking up LaRusso's slack and suffering a beating at the hands of Johnny Lawrence. When LaRusso ditches the meeting, Anoush quits, leaving LaRusso to reflect on his own inability to keep his promises.
Daniel Neglects His Wife Amanda
Like Anoush, LaRusso's wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) ends up picking up LaRusso's slack when he neglects his own car dealership in order to run a not-for-profit karate dojo. Despite his many promises, LaRusso just can't seem to be there for Amanda. As she puts it, "Ever since you opened Miyagi-do, I've been waking up in an empty bed. I've been running this [car dealership] all by myself." LaRusso's dojo could be viewed as a positive enterprise, except that most of LaRusso's motivation stems from a desire to disempower Lawrence and his Cobra Kai dojo.
Daniel Abandons Robby In His Time Of Need
At the end of season 2, LaRusso's daughter Sam drinks too much at a party, but then refuses to go home, fearing how her father will respond. Having nowhere else to go, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) takes her to the house of his father, Johnny Lawrence. The next morning, a concerned LaRusso tracks Sam to Lawrence's apartment in Reseda, where LaRusso lobs harsh accusations at both Lawrence and his son. LaRusso also ends up abandoning Robby, whom he'd taken in as a trusted houseguest and a protégé with whom to share his karate knowledge.
This betrayal produces terrible ramifications for Keene, who later takes part in an extended brawl with Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), Sam's ex-boyfriend. Were he not feeling rejected by LaRusso, perhaps Keene would have had wisdom enough to restrain his attack against Diaz. Unfortunately, Keene ends up kicking Diaz over a staircase railing, leaving the Cobra Kai student with what appears to be some form of paralysis. Sadly, LaRusso might have prevented such a severe outcome by being more supportive of Keene.
Daniel Puts His Rivalry Above Samantha's Friendships
LaRusso's egotism and selfish decisions also wreak havoc on the life of his daughter, Samantha (Mary Mouser). In keeping with his manipulation of Zarkarian, LaRusso poaches students from Lawrence's Cobra Kai under the pretense of teaching them what he sees as Miyagi-do's more legitimate school of karate. Although on the surface this could be read as an altruistic move, it's just as likely that LaRusso's poaching hints at yet another attempt to exact revenge against Lawrence, proving that LaRusso's rivalry is more important to him than the actual wellbeing of Sam's school friends.
Further, because Sam knows that her father will disapprove of Diaz's Cobra Kai affiliations, she never lets him meet her family, which places a strain on their relationship and ultimately plays a significant part in its eventual failure. Were it not for LaRusso's unwavering fixation on the Cobra Kai feud, it's possible that Sam and Miguel would still be a happy couple.
All told, LaRusso's actions create a considerable amount of disharmony for a number of the show's secondary characters, few of whom do anything to deserve it. In the process of trying to depose Johnny Lawrence and the legacy of Cobra Kai, LaRusso ends up alienating himself from family, friends, employees, and local business owners, and rarely does LaRusso himself suffer any ill consequences.
With season 3 of Cobra Kai approaching, it's tempting to speculate about what's in store for LaRusso. Will he finally have to answer for the many ways he has wronged other characters? Will he finally acknowledge Mr. Miyagi's teachings and drop his grudge with Lawrence? There's reason enough to suspect that LaRusso's negligence will catch up to him.