Johnny did show growth, very true the show is basically about him firstly...
What growth did Daniel need to show? He did what he was supposed to do, help took care of Miyagi until the end, built an empires out of nothing, raised his ungrateful ass kids and had a down ass wife.
He also took in a kid that he didn’t even know nothing about and changed his life... what else was he supposed to be doing?
In fact, he showed his darker side by trying to sabatoge Johnny multiple times but that was only after dude was drawing dikks on shyt and Daniel found out. And after his wife checked him on it he fell back but his hatred for Cobra Kai isn’t going anywhere.
His hatred for Cobra Kai had his daughter hide shyt, not his “holier than thou” attitude. His holy attitude came from Miyagi who taught him completely different method of Karate that centered more on peace, defense, and balance.
But nikkas act like his hatred came from nowhere lmao. Imo, it wasn’t necessary but at the same time all he was doing is what Cobra Kai teaches and showing “No Mercy” in trying to bury dude (when honestly, he actually let it go after they entered the tournament).
But Daniels more vicious side was his character arc this season and I thought it was dope.