Sam and Robby share one of the most turbulent relationships in the Cobra Kai saga. As the rather privileged daughter of Daniel LaRusso, Sam was brought up to appreciate her father’s teachings, passed down by the venerable Mr. Miyagi. By contrast, Robby essentially grew up without his father Johnny Lawrence in the picture. As such, the two are polar opposites from a life experience perspective.
Yet, they came together when Robby abandoned his bad-boy ways and sought guidance and mentorship from Daniel. Their affection led to a romance that sparked a bitter rivalry between Robby, and Sam’s previous love interest Miguel. Though they seemed to be close, there were many problems lurking under the surface of their friendship.
Ways Sam & Robby Aren’t Real Friends
Sam And Robby Don’t Keep In Contact
Robby spends the better part of Seasons 3 and 4 separated from Sam. Though Sam messages him when he runs away, and then when he ends up in a juvenile detention center, Robby never responds to her. Sam doesn’t push for more communication and the two grow even further apart.
In the digital age, there are so many ways for Sam and Robby to maintain contact if they truly want to maintain a friendship. Texting and social media accounts are readily available to both of them, but they slowly drop the effort to keep in touch, indicating they might not be as close as they once were.
Sam Still Has Feelings For Miguel
This has been a major stumbling block for Sam ever since she got involved with Robby. Though her breakup with Miguel was largely due to Cobra Kai’s hyper-aggressive training, mixed with his own inner anger, the feelings never fully went away. Robby came into her life at a time when she felt particularly alone, and their pairing inside Miyagi-Do allowed them to get close.
When Robby kicked Miguel off a railing and paralyzed him in the fall, it shattered their relationship and ended up landing him in prison. As Miguel struggled to get better, so too did he reconnect with Sam, and it was obvious that the spark was still very much alive.
Robby Might Have Been A Rebound
Sam is caught in one particularly turbulent love triangle, and that’s putting it mildly. After Miguel fell victim to his own dark impulses, he changed as a person, and that ended up turning her off. In that moment, the sudden appearance of Robby might have represented a convenient rebound.
It’s unclear whether Sam really believes Robby is the one, or if she’s simply lying to herself at that point. Teenagers have a real hard time with relationships due to lack of life experience and emotional growth, so it’s quite possible that Robby was nothing more than a pleasant distraction from her pain.
Robby Lied To Sam
When Robby and Sam were first getting to know each other, the romantic attraction was already present, and both knew it. Robby initially thought it was a bad idea to get involved with Sam, but the two eventually couldn’t hold back any longer. This solidified their relationship while leaving Miguel out in the cold.
Miguel, for his part, tried to do the right thing by returning Mr. Miyagi’s Medal of Honor to the LaRusso household after Cobra Kai members stole it. Robby answered the door and took the Medal, but purposely refused to tell Sam that it was Miguel who had returned it. This was one of Robby’s most villainous and selfish moves, and not indicative of how a true friend should act.
Sam Never Visited Robby
It may have seemed like a task too hard to bear, but Sam didn’t bother visiting Robby while he spent time in jail. Instead, she wrote to him, which must have felt like the connection he needed. Unfortunately, Robby had problems within the jail system that prevented him from nurturing their connection.
It’s important to note that several people went to visit Robby while he was in prison, including, of all people, John Kreese. To Robby, that must have seriously distorted his way of thinking, especially since his girlfriend never bothered to extend him the same courtesy.
Sam Made Things Worse
When Robby got out of jail, he was full of anger, but also possessed a will to stick to Daniel’s teachings, even if he was upset with him. He went to Miyagi-Do and sought out Sam, hoping to rekindle their relationship once more. Unfortunately, he walked in on Sam and Miguel practicing a few moves after becoming friends again throughout Season 3.
Robby flew into a rage, undoubtedly due to the conflict that had already arisen. Sam ended up making things worse by getting in the middle of a potential fight. She could have explained herself right there, but for some reason, she held back after defending Miguel.
Ways Sam & Robby Are Real Friends
Sam And Robby Pick Right Back Up After Time Apart
Though Sam and Robby don’t appear to keep in touch when they spend a significant amount of time away from one another, they don’t miss a beat once they’re right in front of each other again.
In Season 5, when Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang are a united front, Robby decides to help them take Cobra Kai down. Robby and Sam are able to be around one another, laugh, and joke, as if they haven’t been apart at all. It’s nothing like the awkward reunions Sam has with Miguel when the two of them are separated for an extended amount of time.
Robby Is A Better Fit For Sam
Despite Robby’s broken family unit, his fatherless upbringing, and his notoriously delinquent past, he’s still a good kid deep down. This inner benevolence rises to the forefront when he allows Daniel LaRusso to train him in the ways of Miyagi-Do karate and when he mentors Kenny. At his best, Robby is more tranquil, centered, and attentive than Miguel is.
At his worst, however, he’s a stray bullet waiting to strike someone. If Robby can banish the anger from his soul, he’ll be one step closer to being the best fit for Sam. It was this harmonious balance that allowed them to not only fall in love but work as a seamless team when it came to karate.
Robby Respected Daniel
When Daniel LaRusso took Robby under his wing, it must have felt like a real father figure, as opposed to the irresponsible and unwittingly hilarious Johnny Lawrence. After all, Daniel wasn’t only successful, but he was also balanced, kind, and generous. He even gave Robby a roof over his head, a job, and a foundation by which to achieve his own personal balance in life.
Through the entire time he was involved with Sam, Robby saw fit to do right by Daniel. Yes, he kept their relationship a secret, but the two had intended on telling her parents. Despite that, he remained loyal to the LaRusso’s and didn’t put Sam in any compromising positions, which would have been deeply disrespectful.
They Fight Well Together
Even without the romance, Sam and Robby still have a solid basis to build a friendship on. Deep down, they’re both cut from the same cloth, and Daniel recognized this early on when he forced the two to learn a valuable lesson about balance, both physical as well as mental.
The two set aside the feels for a moment and worked together to figure out an intelligent solution to a problem. In the end, they became an excellent team that acted as extensions of one another in a fight. Together, they are practically unstoppable, as long as both of them remain in tune with one another.
Robby Tried To Protect Sam
Sam ended up getting in way over her head during a party in Moon’s house in season two, where she decided to out-drink her bitter Cobra Kai rival Tory. Unbeknownst to Robby, a drunken Sam shared a kiss with Miguel behind his back. This made things worse, given the fact that Robby still played the white knight role.
Rather than get her in trouble with her parents, Robby brought Sam to Johnny’s house to spend the night, while concocting a lie to protect her. Though this was the wrong course of action, it showed just how deeply Robby cared for Sam, and the lengths he’d go to in order to protect her.
Sam Defended Robby In Public
After the fateful fight in the high school at the end of season 2, Miguel was left paralyzed after Robby used a sneak attack that sent him flying over a railing. Though initially horrified by the act, Sam later realized that Robby’s anger got the best of him, and he simply took it too far.
While writing letters to him in prison, Sam publicly went on record saying that she believed Robby never meant to harm Miguel in such a way. Despite her mixed feelings for both him and Miguel, Sam still saw fit to see the better part of who Robby was, when everyone else was busy seeing him at his worst.
