Johnny Lawrence’s flaws make him a fascinating character, but the former Cobra Kai sensei went too far a few times. Here are Johnny’s worst moments.
Johnny Lawrence went too far a few times in Cobra Kai, whether as a sensei or a father figure. Part of what made Cobra Kai so interesting is that it shifted the Karate Kid saga’s perspective from Daniel LaRusso to Johnny Lawrence. Whereas Ralph Macchio played Daniel LaRusso in three Karate Kid movies, William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence only appeared in The Karate Kid and briefly in The Karate Kid Part II. Therefore, Cobra Kai had a clean slate to imagine what Johnny’s life had turned out to be after the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament.
Instead of going the easy route of making Daniel the new Mr. Miyagi, Cobra Kai cleverly made Johnny the mentor figure to the new “karate kid.” Miguel and Johnny’s relationship resembled Daniel and Mr. Miyagi’s in many ways, except that Johnny was radically different from Miyagi. Impatient and out of touch with the current world, Johnny was never a perfect role model for Miguel or any Cobra Kai student. Here are the eight worst Johnny Lawrence moments in Cobra Kai.It did not take long for Miguel to understand what his karate training with Johnny Lawrence would be like. After learning that Miguel had asthma, Johnny simply threw Miguel’s inhaler against the wall, followed by a “not anymore.” Johnny only knew the “way of the fist” as a karate philosophy up until that point, and he seriously believed Miguel could ignore the fact he had asthma if he acted tough enough. As positive as Johnny’s Cobra Kai training was in Miguel’s life, sensei Lawrence still had a lot to learn before becoming a teacher to Miguel and the other kids.
Throwing Miguel’s asthma inhaler against the wall was not the worst Johnny Lawrence moment in Cobra Kai season 1, as Miguel’s training would only get tougher. While Diaz proved himself to be a quick learner, Johnny’s Cobra Kai training was as unpredictable as it was risky. To complete the kick training, Johnny tied Miguel’s hands and threw his student into a pool, putting Miguel in a life-or-death situation in which he would have to swim using only his legs. Johnny would never let his student drown, but throwing a tied-up Miguel into a pool was by far his most irresponsible moment in the entire series.
Before Johnny and Daniel’s rivalry became a complex clash of karate philosophies, they had an immature banter driven by Johnny’s resentment over Daniel. Lawrence blamed LaRusso’s victory at the All Valley for how different their lives had turned out. Whereas Johnny was jobless and lived away from his family, Daniel was running a successful company alongside his wife, Amanda. A drunk Johnny Lawrence vandalized a LaRusso Auto billboard, drawing a quite explicit image in front of Daniel LaRusso’s face. The war between Daniel and Johnny would only escalate after that, and it only ended during Cobra Kai season 4's finale.
0 Comments