- "There's your side, and your side, and then there is the truth. And the truth is, you guys are more alike than you want to admit. And maybe you recognize parts of yourselves in each other, and maybe you don't always like what you see."
- ―Ali Mills to Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso[src]
Allison/Alison "Ali" Mills, M.D. (formerly Ali Mills Schwarber) is the high school love interest of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence in the 1984 The Karate Kid film. She returns to the San Fernando Valley in Season 3 of Cobra Kai as a soon-to-be divorced adult and reconnects with her old flings.
Biography[]
Ali Mills was possibly born in 1967, most likely between August or September. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mills, were very wealthy, and she grew up in the Encino Hills area of the Valley. Ali seemed to be popular at her high school and was a member of the cheerleading squad.
In 1982, Ali and her friends went to the cinema to see Rocky III. Johnny Lawrence and his friends were also there, sitting behind them. Dutch tried to get the girls' attention by throwing milk duds at them so Ali, sick of his behavior, angrily dumped her popcorn down his shirt and got butter all over him in retaliation. Johnny instantly fell for Ali, and after flirting with her a few times, she agreed to go out with him. They had their first date at Golf N' Stuff, where they shared their first kiss on the Ferris wheel. Ali and Johnny went on to have a relationship for two years. At some point, they likely met each other's parents, with the Millses approving of Johnny since his family was also part of the Encino Oaks Country Club. Ali supported Johnny in his karate, attending his tournaments and even gifting him his bandana.
However, their relationship ended when Johnny completely forgot Ali's birthday after he got drunk from hanging out with his Cobra Kai friends. They got into a big fight the summer before their senior year of high school and broke up as a result. Johnny was left heartbroken at losing one of the few people who truly understood him while Ali clearly no longer wanted to be around him after their breakup.
Film Series[]
The Karate Kid[]
On the day before summer vacation ends, Ali and a group of her friends, including Susan and Barbara, are enjoying the day at a local beach. While there, she notices and takes an instant liking to Daniel LaRusso, sharing some fun moments together. Later, Ali's ex-boyfriend, Johnny Lawrence, arrives with his friends. Johnny tries to fix their relationship, but Ali tells him to leave her alone which angers him and leads Johnny to destroy Ali's radio. She witnesses the fight between Johnny and Daniel, and when Johnny puts Daniel down in the fight, she verbally accosts Johnny "for fighting all the time", suggesting that this is not the first time she has seen Johnny resort to violence to settle disputes.
On the first day of school, Ali finds Daniel, and again pick up where they left off the day before. She thanks Daniel for speaking up for her about her radio, and their relationship continues to grow. When Daniel tries out for soccer, Ali shows him some of her soccer moves before practicing with the cheerleading squad, though watching with concern after Daniel is expelled from tryouts. Ali and Daniel eventually begin dating and attend the Halloween Party at school together. She is ready at one point to directly confront Johnny when she sees some of the damage that Johnny and his allies are inflicting upon Daniel but witnesses the 'truce' that was forged between Daniel and the Cobra Kais for the tournament.
Ali and Daniel would go out on their first date together at Golf 'N Stuff, where they shared a magical evening together. However, Ali's parents did not seem to approve of Daniel, and Ali would decline going out on an outing with some of her friends that were with Johnny at the end of the evening.
Later, Ali and Daniel were supposed to have a second night out together. Daniel went to pick up Ali from the country club, where Ali was dancing with her father. Johnny was also in attendance and was able to procure a dance from Ali. Johnny did offer Ali a truce, but Ali did not seem inclined to believe him, but agreed to finish the dance together. Daniel, wondering what was taking Ali so long, entered into the country club, and witnessed Johnny and Ali dancing. Johnny, seeing this, planted a kiss on Ali, which caused Daniel to try to storm off and into a waiter carrying a load of spaghetti to the laughter of all in attendance, and Ali would slug Johnny for doing what he did.
Ali and Daniel would later patch things up at Golf 'N Stuff and share their first kiss together in front of the water slide. While there, Daniel told Ali about him competing in the karate tournament and Ali agreed to go there to root him on.
Ali would then attend the All Valley tournament to root for Daniel and is allowed on the floor when Daniel claims that she is Mr. Miyagi's translator. Ali also instructs Daniel on many of the rules of the karate tournaments, having doubtlessly attended competitions to support Johnny when they were dating. She is excited when Daniel wins, joining the many whom stormed out onto the mat to congratulate Daniel.
The Karate Kid Part II[]
Following Daniel's victory at the tournament, Ali and Daniel continued their relationship for six months until their high school graduation. According to Daniel, Ali wrecked his car and left him for a football player at UCLA right after the senior prom.
Cobra Kai[]
Season 1[]
Ali appears in a few flashbacks. When Johnny is drunk driving and reminiscing about her and his Cobra Kai friends, he smiles when he thinks about Ali, showing he still remembers her fondly even 30 years after their breakup. Later, Johnny tells Miguel Diaz about his first meeting and relationship with Ali, and how Daniel "stole" her from him. Daniel later informs Johnny that Ali is living in Denver working as a pediatric surgeon and is married to an oncologist she met in medical school named Gregory Schwarber, according to her Facebook profile. He never friend-requested Ali all these decades, but seemed tempted to. It's clear Daniel also has a soft spot for Ali despite being happily married to his wife Amanda, as he and Johnny agree she was "something".
Season 2[]
When Daniel's daughter Sam is upset over her breakup with Miguel, her father tries to make her feel better by talking to her about some of the girls he dated, with Ali being one of them. When Sam asks why that relationship ended, Daniel refuses to disclose why, instead quickly changing the subject to his relationship with Kumiko.
At a bar, Johnny's former Cobra Kai friends talk about the time Dutch broke a dartboard and how Johnny got drunk that night, causing him to miss Ali's birthday, resulting in her dumping him. Tommy, being supportive, tells Johnny that was "her loss", which Johnny does not exactly agree with, considering Ali became a doctor and that she married another doctor, while his own life had gone downhill. He keeps the feeling to himself though, considering Tommy's condition. When Johnny and Tommy are talking in the woods the night before the latter's passing, Tommy reveals that he also had a crush on Ali in his younger days, as they had homeroom together freshman year. Tommy joined Cobra Kai in order to develop the courage to ask her out, but he never got the chance because Johnny "struck first" and was dating Ali. Still, he refused to let a woman come between him and a fellow Cobra. Johnny laughed it off, saying he had a lot of women in his life, but Ali was "the one that got away".
After getting turned off by various women he met via an online dating app, Johnny gets on Facebook and searches for Ali. When he finds her, he contemplates a direct message for her about catching up. Despite ultimately not wanting to send the message, believing it would look desperate, a woman at the bar Johnny is sitting at bumps into him and causes him to accidentally press the send button.
After Miguel's accident and John Kreese taking back Cobra Kai, a distraught Johnny throws away his smartphone at the beach, not noticing that Ali sent him a friend request on Facebook.
Season 3[]
Johnny would, after being shown by Miguel that he still has access to Facebook, see Ali's request. He spent a lot of time going through every post and photo Ali has on her account. Ali messages Johnny back, and they converse for a while on Facebook Messenger. Johnny very nearly sends Ali a very long Facebook message about all of his goings on from high school to the present; he was up to 1995 when Miguel sees it and begs Johnny not to send it.
When Ali travels to Los Angeles for the holidays, she and Johnny agree to meet. They first meet up for lunch, where they have some deep heart-to-hearts about what happened to them since high school. Ali confides in Johnny that her own life has not been perfect either. They later relive their old date at Golf N’ Stuff, where Ali reveals that she is in the process of divorcing her husband. Johnny and Ali nearly share a kiss on the Ferris wheel but are interrupted when her phone rings. Ali remembers she has to go to a Christmas party at the Encino Oaks Country Club with her parents. Both of them reconcile and Johnny apologizes for being a jerk to her.
Ali brings Johnny along to the club as her guest, where they run into Daniel and Amanda. While things tense up between Daniel and Johnny, Amanda and Ali begin talking, and the tension is alleviated. Ali also gives her version of the events that led to her breakup with Daniel: she reconnected with an old friend of hers at prom and Daniel overreacted to what he saw, though Ali admits she egged on the situation in the heat of the moment. Ali also explains that she was worried about the faulty brake pads in the car and hopes out loud that Daniel did not tell Mr. Miyagi that she crashed the car intentionally. Daniel, though initially skeptical, does not deny Ali's version of the events, but claims that he did not lie to Mr. Miyagi. At the end of their night together, Daniel apologizes to Ali for how things ended between them, to which she assures him the good times outweighed the bad. As Johnny leaves, Ali walks him out and asks him about Carmen. Johnny tells her how he feels about Carmen, which Ali encourages, saying it is good to look back on the past, but not live in it. She then goes back into the country club to meet with her parents.
Season 4[]
Ali did not return during the fourth season. However, Miguel mentioned Johnny and Ali's date in the first episode. It was also mentioned that she and Johnny went to junior prom together, which was quoted by Johnny as "an absolute shit-show."
Appearance[]
In The Karate Kid, Ali has dirty-blonde hair that is long, curly and usually with bangs; she also has a pretty face with hazel eyes and a dazzling smile; and for her age she has a curvy figure but of average height.
Ali has aged well in the 35 years since high school. In her Season 3 appearance, Ali's blonde hair is shown to be lighter, longer, straighter and worn parted. Ali also fully developed into an hourglass figure but also stands 5 feet and 2.6 inches short.
Personality[]
Ali cared a lot for Daniel, as she stood by him when many of her own friends openly questioned what she saw in Daniel. At several points, Ali was ready to step in against Johnny and his allies when she saw some of the physical damage that they are doing to Daniel. Ali was also very supportive of Daniel at the tournament.
After meeting Johnny and Daniel over three decades later, she is shown to be very nice and friendly to them, and Ali even gets the two to get along and understand that they have more in common than they want to believe. She also encourages Johnny to tell Carmen how he really feels.
At times, Ali seems to get touchy and defensive if she or someone she cares about is antagonized. For instance, Ali got angry and vocal towards Johnny when he beat up Daniel at the beach, as well as when Johnny forced a kiss on her at the country club without her consent. Ali was also openly hurt when Daniel questioned Ali's intentions at Golf-N-Stuff about her commitment to him.
Relationships[]
Johnny Lawrence[]
Ali and Johnny have a complicated history. In The Karate Kid, Daniel finds out that Johnny was Ali's ex-boyfriend. After the beach fight, she refused to speak to Johnny as he was bullying Daniel, and after The All-Valley Tournament in 1984, Ali had no contact with Johnny.
In 2018, Johnny tells the story to Miguel of the All-Valley Tournament and about Ali. He expresses that he was in truly in love with her. In Different but Same, Daniel brings up Ali to Johnny on Facebook while drinking at a bar. Johnny makes fun of Ali's husband and his last name. Later that year, Ali friend requested Johnny on Facebook as he threw his phone at the beach. Johnny and Ali start texting on Facebook, and she tells him that she is coming to the valley for the holidays. They meet up for lunch and start talking about what has happened in their lives over the past 34 years.
Later, Ali and Johnny go to Golf 'N stuff and rekindle their old friendship and relationship. They sit done and start talking about their kids. Ali is supportive when Johnny opens up about Robby. After that, the two almost kiss but are interrupted by Ali's phone when she remembers she has to go to a party and invites Johnny to come with her.
Before leaving the party Ali asks Johnny about Carmen. Ali asks him if he likes her and how he feels. Johnny replies with he has not figured it out yet. Ali replies and says, "Well if she is cool enough to make Johnny Lawrence speechless should figure it out quick." When Johnny leaves the party, Ali says she knows he will be happy and that she will support him.