YMMV / Cobra Kai S3E2 "Nature Vs. Nurture"

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Kreese helping out Tory with her landlord issues a genuine Pet the Dog moment? Or was it just because he considered her a talented fighter and wanted the problem solved so she could continue training at Cobra Kai? Or, worse still, did Kreese only intervene because he resented the landlord interfering with his own control over Tory?
  • As lampshaded by Daniel and Johnny themselves, how much of Robby's behavior was due to Daniel not teaching him patience and forgiveness better, and how much Johnny's genes?
• Cry for the Devil: The flashbacks show that Kreese had a pretty rough life and Used to Be a Sweet Kid.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Sam said twice that Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse when it comes to Tory’s background. However in this episode, we see an afternoon of what Tory’s background is really like. While it doesn’t justify Tory’s behavior, her words now comes off as unsympathetic because she couldn't know the few breaks Tory ever gets.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Tory is supposed to come off as sympathetic when the full extent of her home and family life is revealed, namely that her mother is bedridden from dialysis and her brother is too young to work, leaving Tory as her family's sole breadwinner. However, it winds up making her actions come across as worse because it means she did all her antics fully knowing how much it could put her family at risk. Despite knowing she would need to graduate high school to secure better employment to provide for her mother and brother, she still chose to instigate the school brawl that got her expelled and almost arrested (she ultimately wasn't arrested due to being the caregiver of her mom which made the people responsible for her arrest sympathize with her even though it doesn't excuse any of her actions). Tory's life may suck, but it's at this point that the viewer could be forgiven for thinking that Tory's made her own bed and now she deserves to lay in it.