He was seriously underutilized. We got a taste of the "Bad Boy of Karate", but only a taste. They could have had this guy really kick ass. Based on the original Karate Kid history, he should be more skilled than either Johnny or Daniel (but not Chozen or Silver).
I hope we see a ton more Barnes in season 6.
I suppose it would be boring though if every character continued on with Karate life past their youth. Life doesn't really work out that way. People move on to other things even if they are boring.
shareSure, but I'm not saying make him a series regular. It was great to see him not be a bad guy, but as soon as he gets into a fight, he's knocked unconscious and isn't seen again until the last few seconds of the fight. I would have liked to have seen the "Bad Boy of Karate" in action. He seemed to still have the moves, and he sure looked like a big guy on top of that. They could have had some fun with his attitude and badassery. But nope. Let's let him sleep through the fight. lol
shareI thought he would have worked better as an antagonist. With him being yet another former bully-turned friend, there's nothing to his character that isn't already been explored with Chozen and Johnny. Having one of Daniel's rivals gone to be evil would have been an interesting take.
shareTrue, none of them turned evil, but Johnny obviously never got over it like the other two and was living a pretty crappy life when the show started. He never apologized to Daniel...he just had to concede that both he and Daniel had different sides to the same story and that the truth was somewhere in-between (Daniel had to concede this too).
But yeah, you're right that Barnes' arc felt just like Chozen's.
Slightly off topic, I hate the idea of “two sides to the same story” for this show. Going back and rewatching Karate Kid, Johnny was the cause if about 99% of the conflict. Daniel sprayed him water once but that was more if an unwise decision as opposed to one that was unprovoked. It goes back to the silly “Daniel was the real bully” meme that some people took seriously. I mean, there’s a surprisingly large number of people who think Daniel moved in Johnny’s girlfriend which absolutely never happened.
shareDaniel pulled the water spraying stunt when tensions had cooled and Johnny and his gang weren't bothering him.
When they fought for the very first time at the beach, they were BOTH acting out of line but it was clear Johnny was actually holding back and trying to let Daniel off easy.
I don't think Daniel was the bully, but he was far from innocent.
Tensions hadn’t cooled at the Halloween party. Johnny and his goons drove him down a hill and wrecked his bike a few days before that and started a fight on the soccer field before then. Danny had the shower costume specifically to hide from them (as opposed to a more typical costume where he might be more noticeable).
At the beach, Johnny was 100% out of line. If your girl breaks up with you, you have to let it go and you should never demand someone come with you to talk if they made it clear they don’t want to. Then he stole her radio and tried to smash it. Daniel was right to tell him to leave since he and Ali were having a good time together before that. Also, Johnny laid hands on Daniel first because he was bigger and knew karate. That’s a pussy move and absolutely makes him the bully.
Daniel was absolutely innocent.
Daniel pulled the water spraying stunt when tensions had cooled and Johnny and his gang weren't bothering him.
Oh, that's alright then. Daniel should have moved on instead of shitting himself every time he seen them.
When they fought for the very first time at the beach, they were BOTH acting out of line but it was clear Johnny was actually holding back and trying to let Daniel off easy.
No, he was simply making him look foolish. when Daniel finally landed his sucker punch Johnny gave him a right hiding. Not exactly holding back.
I don't think Daniel was the bully, but he was far from innocent.
Not far from innocent but didn't help himself at times either.
Sean Kanan is currently on the Bold and the beautiful so I wonder if it was a schedule conflict that made it hard to have more of Mike Barnes.
shareThat very well could be it. He was a fun, if brief, character in the show. Maybe we'll get to see a little more of him next season. Plus, just a personal thing for me--I like to see a formerly bad guy redeem himself. It feels good to see that Barnes can grow up and be a normal person.
share