#I hate it when the writers project their own hatred and weakness unto him

[msfbgraves]

I still can't bear how Cobra Kai writers make Daniel treat his own son

(This gif below is what Daniel actually would do, of course. And they cut it.)

I have a tic that makes it difficult to enjoy franchises. I may be very aware why some writing choices are made that are in no way internally consistent, but I have this internal need to make it make sense, damn it. (And I'm not even in them, imagine how some of the actors must feel.)

And I know Cobra Kai is writing fanon versions of characters. They're very happy to ignore the franchise they're playing off of to suit their own narrative. I know that, I can see it, their bias is so clear it could be flashing on the screen in neon letters and yet.

Why did they make Daniel, a boy who had hangups about fatherhood, sure, but has been canonically shown to be diligent, compassionate, and extremely loving if he could be bratty to those who'd wronged him

A boy who was raised on the mantra "no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher"

into a man who shows these traits to every child he interacts with

But not his own son?

At first sight, he raised a brat. Anthony is disengaged, blunt, dismissive of his father and prone to lying and cheating rather than showing any real effort.

Does Daniel try to correct any of these behaviours? No.

Does he spend any time with the kid one on one?

No.

He spends hours training Robby and Samantha, but Anthony? Nope.

Twice, on the show, the blatant favouritism Anthony perceives when it comes to how he feels less loved than Samantha is called out to Daniel's face. Does Daniel do anything at all to correct this? No!

It struck me how Anthony adores his grandmother and spends a whole dinner curled up in a side hug by her side. I really loved both my grandmothers too but could it be that the kid feels a tad neglected? Hm.

Then, Anthony acts out twice again. First, in the dojo, I'm not saying it isn't hugely annoying to pay someone to do his work with his father's credit card, but here Anthony is, trying to spend some time with his father doing something he has no interest in, just to please him, and Daniel immediately leaves him alone to clean bird shit off cars. Yes I know it is a callback. No, Daniel did not have a history of persistent neglect with Mr. Miyagi at that point.

So Anthony gives up again. What's the point? And if this does come with negative attention, well, that is better than none at all.

And then there is the bullying.

Daniel, and I get this, looks about ready to eviscerate him.

Anthony is suspended and has his screens taken away, though what that's supposed to do to address the root of the issue, God knows. And Daniel does come in to - talk at him. In true Daniel fashion, he takes some of the blame, but does anyone ask Anthony what drove him to do this? No. Daniel here might think there is no point because there is no excuse for bullying, but after his lecture, does he ask anything else? No. He was about to leave and congratulate himself on a good talk and then...

Before I say anything else, no, no, I don't think Daniel would ever strike his kids. Ever. Not. Ever. He'll murder anyone who touches them.

But.

Violently breaking things is a major relationship red flag. Anyone who breaks your things, at this point, is telling you they could break you if they chose to, so watch out.

Would Daniel stop himself before he got that far? Sure. Even this weirdly written one. The OOC one that had one of these other strange outbursts at Robby that Ralph disagreed with.

But does Anthony know that? No.

You know what he does know? That his Dad has a black belt in karate, on top of being naturally stronger than him.

And he's terrified into submission. Which he should have been before, many viewers say, because he was a brat acting out to get some attention. Yes he had to escalate that because nothing worked. No, he shouldn't have involved Kenny. But guys. Daniel's reaction only tells him that neglect can turn into physical harm.

In Anthony's next show of deference, he asks to again spend some time with Daniel at the dealership if need be.

Do we see that...?

In season 5, he comes to no one with his severe bullying problems. The only one who seems to be connecting some dots is Sam. He tells her 'I need comfort food', and later she finally presses him to tell her what is wrong.

Wow that only took five seasons!

And the Doylist reason for all of this is that they wanted Daniel to be a bit of an asshole and they only know to write shitty fathers but, God.

The Watsonian reasons for this are...

Daniel, in his own franchise, is not like this. He is a very considerate son, he is devoted to Mr. Miyagi, he was there for his own father, and when they leave Ralph alone to play Daniel, he is patient and inventive in connecting with children, both his and others... except with Anthony.

What makes Anthony different?

Again I feel that, just as Ralph would have seen Daniel marry Kumiko, he would give his son all the time he never got to have with his own father. Just as he gave him everything he didn't have money wise.

But this, what we get, I can only justify...

If Daniel is envious of his son.

His son looks remarkably like him. But he has everything Daniel never got to have. Two parents. No money troubles, all his (LaRusso) family close by, safety, no responsibility, an unstrained relationship with Lucille. He doesn't need to work hard or fight to not be thrown off his bike. Maybe school is even easier for him than it was for Daniel. And Anthony is perceptive, o boy. He's seen the Cobra Kai in his father.

And he likes it.

So here Daniel has this mini me, who has everything that Daniel would have loved to have himself, thank you very much, who doesn't appreciate it, or him (doesn't he?) and he sees the things that scare Daniel most about himself... sees all his worst traits, things he fought not to indulge in, projected, reflected at himself... A son he didn't plan to have but forces himself to raise, because he is too Catholic to consider abortion...

And he shuts him out. Buys him off. Stops looking.

Wow.

That is a level of misdirected anger and self-hatred that would shock Miyagi. Should shock Lucille. Actually does shock his child psychologist cousin Vanessa.

And I am really, really sorry for the writers' collective Daddy issues, but there was no reason to do this. None. Maybe they cannot imagine anything else but... they could simply not have written Anthony into existence. The character assassination of giving us the emotionally worst possible Daniel who lacks any and all will to deal with his pain... most parents would be happy to give their child what they didn't have. Not envious. It's possible but painful, OK?

Does Sam not have enough going on without having to be a surrogate parent for her brother? Isn't it awful that it is Tory who takes one look at Anthony and says "Go. Protect your brother!" where his own parents will not?

Why did they do that? It really hurts to watch. Turn teenage Daniel, with his heart the size of Sydney Harbour, into this terrible Dad? Teenage Daniel would kick this Daniel in the shins and rightly so.