Stingray: Party time!
As a result of participating in the school brawl by fighting against the Miyagi-Do students (which didn’t appeal to Principal Lopez), Stingray lost his chance to work as a security guard at West Valley High when he was arrested, placed on probation and proverbially hit with a restraining order saying he was not to come within 500 feet of minors.
(In real life, Paul was unable to appear in Season 3 of Cobra Kai, as he was working on the 2021 Disney film Cruella, where he played Horace Baddun; so, the writers of Cobra Kai explained Stingray’s absence by saying Stingray was on probation.)
Also, besides being arrested and put on probation, Raymond had to relinquish his Cobra Kai membership. This was the last straw for his mother, who kicked him out of her house after finally being fed up with his antics.
Now, when Stingray appears, he’s shown to be staying at his sister’s house while she is out of town (although it’s not revealed how long she’s gone for). He also has to deal with his neighbor Greg Hughes, who is shown to clearly dislike Stingray. At one point, Greg tells him his sister doesn’t want him crashing at her house and says she only took pity on Stingray, while calling him an “unemployed man baby on probation”. Stingray corrects him, saying he’s actually a free man now, as his restraining order has expired and his probation has been served, evidently not doing anything to violate either.
Irony: Had Stingray been thinking clearly, he would’ve realized Kreese demeaning him and forcibly kicking him out of Cobra Kai was actually a much-needed blessing in disguise, and not a secret test of character like he’d thought. Also, Stingray would likely be welcomed with open arms into Eagle Fang, as it was Johnny who originally let Stingray into Cobra Kai because the dojo needed his money.
Today, Johnny’s Eagle Fang remains the dojo most in need of money, while Miyagi-Do has Daniel as a benefactor, and Cobra Kai has since gained Terry Silver as a financier; also, most of the fighters Stingray knew in Season 2’s Cobra Kai have jumped ship to Eagle Fang.
Locked Out of the Loop: Because of his probation and the restraining order, Stingray showed he was out of the loop on everything following the school brawl, as well as unaware his now former teammates — Aisha Robinson, Miguel Diaz and Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz — had since left Cobra Kai (but in different ways).
Aisha’s parents moved her to a private school (although Aisha told Sam it was mostly because her father’s receiving a job offer at UCSB he couldn’t turn down), and Miguel transferred to Eagle Fang Karate after waking from his coma, spending some time in a wheelchair and learning to walk again.
Finally, after switching sides during the LaRusso house fight by saving Demetri from getting his arm re-broken (since he still felt guilty over being pressured by the other Cobras into breaking Demetri’s arm the first time), reconciling with him and fighting alongside him in taking down the other Cobras, Hawk initially joined Eagle Fang, but later switched to Miyagi-Do (thanks to inspiration from Demetri helping him realize being done with karate really wasn’t such a good idea after being jumped by Robby, Tory, Kyler and a few other Cobras at the tattoo parlor and having his Mohawk shaved off for mostly ditching Cobra Kai during the house fight).
Stingray at the after-party held at his sister’s house
