Cobra Kai Gave Fans The Ali & Johnny Date Karate Kid Never Did

Warning: SPOILERS for Cobra Kai season 3.

Cobra Kai season 3 not only brought back Elisabeth Shue as Ali Mills Schwarber but it also gave fans a date with Ali and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) that The Karate Kid never did. Both characters were introduced in the original 1984 film that kickstarted The Karate Kid/Cobra Kai franchise; Ali was the girlfriend of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) while Johnny was Daniel’s arch-enemy. But Ali was Johnny’s girlfriend before Daniel, which is what sparked their rivalry that still continues today.

When The Karate Kid began, Ali and Johnny were already broken up and she wanted nothing to do with him, although Lawrence was still hoping to patch things up with her. But his dreams of reuniting with Ali were ruined when Daniel came along; in Johnny’s mind, LaRusso stole his girl, purposely antagonized him during senior year, and beat him for the All Valley Under 18 Karate Championship with an illegal kick. In Cobra Kai season 1, Johnny gave his protégé Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) his point of view about the events of The Karate Kid, painting LaRusso as the villain and himself as the hero and victim. But Johnny also bared his heart about Ali because he has never gotten over her, despite the many other women he’s had failed relationships with. Johnny also revealed that he and Ali met during watching Rocky III in the summer of 1982, they dated for two years and that he felt they were “madly in love“… until “Daniel LaRusso came to town.”

Ali was never very far from Johnny’s thoughts during Cobra Kai‘s first two seasons, and he eventually friend requested her on Facebook. When he found out she accepted in Cobra Kai season 3, Johnny (with Miguel’s help) went to hilariously absurd lengths to impress her, from composing a many-thousand word Facebook message in all caps (which he deleted) to trying to fill his page with staged photos of himself doing things that reflected her interests. However, fans had reason to doubt that Johnny’s fantasies about Ali reciprocated – until Dr. Mills Schwarber finally appeared in Cobra Kai season 3’s 9th episode, “Feel the Night” and they met for lunch. When Ali got Johnny to stop pretending and just be himself, their lunch date went along incredibly well and fans got to see that the chemistry between them is very real, something The Karate Kid couldn’t show since it was set after Johnny and Ali’s relationship was over.

Delightfully, Johnny and Ali decided to recreate their (disastrous) first date at Golf N’ Stuff and, in Cobra Kai‘s trademark fan service of homaging The Karate Kid, the cheesy ’80s Baxter Robinson song “Feel the Night” accompanied them, just like it did when Ali and Daniel went on a similar date in 1984, and when Miguel did the same with Daniel’s daughter, Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser), in Cobra Kai season 1. Not only did Johnny and Ali ride the rides and play the games they did as teenagers, but they also took a selfie together, which is not something anyone did back in the early ’80s. Ali and Johnny also recontextualized all of the other dates at Golf N’ Stuff throughout the franchise because it turns out they did it first, and they also, arguably, did it best.

Later, at the Encino Hills Country Club Christmas party, it turned into a double date when Ali and Johnny ran into Daniel and his wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler). To Amanda’s amusement, Ali recounted what bad boyfriends Johnny and Daniel were, and she gave her side of why both relationships ended. Yet only Ali could have made Johnny and Daniel see the foolishness of their rivalry and she got them to make peace with each other. Although Ali is divorced, she and Johnny didn’t get romantic in Cobra Kai season 3, and Ali wisely sent him back to his current girlfriend, Carmen Diaz (Vanessa Rubio). But there are definite sparks that could re-ignite their relationship if Ali returns in Cobra Kai season 4. And even if that doesn’t happen, Ali and Johnny’s date proves that he wasn’t imagining it or his memories were faulty – Johnny and Ali definitely have magic together and it’s something fans of The Karate Kid have always wanted to see.

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