Avery K. Tingle, The Gamer Author

Netflix’s Cobra Kai is a phenomenal show. Serving as a reboot, sequel, and maturation of the Karate Kid franchise, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is reunited with frenemy Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as the two try to reconcile their philosophies about life and martial arts. The show primarily focuses on Johnny and his redemptive arc. His life completely fell apart after his loss to Daniel thirty-some-odd years ago, and much of the show is about him trying to make good. Daniel, who has found great success in adulthood, comes to terms with his own trauma at the hands of Cobra Kai while managing a struggling car business and raising a family.

The first four seasons revisited the plots of the first three Karate Kid films, which found Daniel journeying to Japan to study under his former rival, Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto). Season four ended giving the Karate Kid III some much-needed context. It also ended with Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) ousting John Kreese (Martin Kove) from the Cobra Kai that Johnny tried to resurrect. Heading into Season Five, the show needs to bring back this character more than anyone else.

Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) was far and away the most brutal antagonist the series ever produced. Hired by Terry Silver to dethrone Daniel in that year’s All-Valley tournament, Mike spent almost the entire film brutalizing Daniel. He had no compunctions about hitting women, and he so completely pulverized Daniel in the film’s climax that he did what no other antagonist, not even Johnny, was able to do: he scared the hell out of Daniel. Daniel was so traumatized at the end of regulation that he had to be coaxed into getting back on the line for sudden-death overtime. It could even be argued that Daniel never truly defeated Barnes. Daniel confused Barnes by going into kata and was able to reverse Barnes’ attack into scoring the winning point. Barnes was left visibly enraged by his mental error, and it not been a tournament setting, would’ve gladly continued the bout.

While Silver may consider Barnes a bad business investment, thirty years have gone by. Mike could very well be running his own series of dojos or made a name for himself as a professional fighter. If Terry wishes to truly break Daniel, and introduce Johnny to the one who replaced him, bringing Barnes back is a logical choice. Besides, a match between Johnny and Barnes could serve as a lesson in humility for the former. While Johnny never really wanted to hurt Daniel and balked at the idea, Barnes was more than willing to beat him into the ground.

Cobra Kai can be streamed on most streaming services but premiers on Netflix. Season Five has wrapped production but has not provided a release date as of this writing.

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