Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) is now on Netflix. Set 34 years after the events of The Karate Kid, Cobra Kai season 1 sees Johnny resurrecting his dojo to teach a new generation - which Daniel, who re the pain Cobra Kai caused him as a teenager, has to do something about. But Daniel-san finds he needs the guidance of his wise old sensei.
Mr. Miyagi was the co-lead of The Karate Kid movie trilogy along with Daniel, and Pat Morita also starred in a third sequel without Ralph Macchio: 1994's The Next Karate Kid, which co-starred future Oscar winner Hilary Swank. Mr. Miyagi was the handyman at the apartment building where Daniel and his mother Lucille (Randee Heller) lived after they moved to Los Angeles from New Jersey in the summer of 1984. After Miyagi saved Daniel when Johnny and the Cobra Kai beat him up, the Okinawan karate master became LaRusso's sensei. Thanks to Mr. Miyagi's guidance, The Karate Kid Part II, where he learned about his sensei's past and became embroiled in the ancient rivalry Mr. Miyagi had moved to America to escape decades earlier.
Sadly, Mr. Miyagi ed away in 2011 and he has been dead for 7 years by the time Cobra Kai begins. (Pat Morita died in 2005, so the fictional character he portrayed outlived the actor by 6 years). But episode 5 of Cobra Kai season 1, "Counterbalance", contains a touching tribute to Mr. Miyagi. Just as Daniel did as a teenager whenever he felt lost or confused, he turned to Mr. Miyagi for guidance and answers, and Cobra Kai reflected upon what he truly meant to Daniel-san's life. Fittingly, Mr. Miyagi remains a positive influence through Daniel's memories of all of the invaluable lessons his sensei taught him.
In "Counterbalance", Daniel-san visits Mr. Miyagi's grave and confesses that he is once again feeling out of sorts. After learning that Johnny had resurrected the Cobra Kai dojo, Daniel was consumed by a desire to stop the source of his high school torment. When confronting Johnny didn't work, Daniel decided to use underhanded means to try to sabotage Cobra Kai, manipulating the owner of the strip mall to raise the rent in order to drive Johnny's dojo out of business. But Daniel felt guilty, especially when his wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) called him on his dirty tricks.
After he visits with Mr. Miyagi and takes a moment to prune the bonsai tree growing beside Miyagi's monument, Daniel gets the epiphany he was looking for. He re when Mr. Miyagi first taught him about the importance of "balance" back in 1984, when their lifelong friendship was just being forged. This finally spurs Daniel to make changes in the right direction; upon returning home, he reopens the karate dojo he originally built to train in, but had been using as storage space for the last few years. Daniel places a framed photo of Mr. Miyagi in a place of honor, dons his Miyagi-Do gi and the headband Mr. Miyagi gave him, and begins practicing katas once again.
Besides Daniel's humorously honest confession that he's "a bit of a hothead", the most touching part of Daniel reconnecting with Mr. Miyagi's memories is his realization that he's now of comparable age to his sensei when they first met. As a teenager, Daniel thought Mr. Miyagi always had all of the answers. Now that he's an adult, he suspects that Miyagi was just much better at hiding when he, himself, didn't know what to do. Daniel lacks Mr. Miyagi's mystic-like wisdom, but in Cobra Kai he finds himself in the role of sensei, and will still lean on everything Mr. Miyagi taught him as he tries to do what's right.
Cobra Kai seasons 1 & 2 are available on Netflix.