Why Cobra Kai Fans Are Puzzled About This Sam And Tory Moment
With its surprisingly complex themes and deliciously straightforward karate battles, Netflix's martial arts comedy-drama Cobra Kai has been enticing viewers left and right.
The show makes a point of keeping its characters complex and nuanced, yet sets them on constant collision course to make sure that everyone has a nemesis to struggle against. The most prominent conflict is between Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), and their lingering animosity from The Karate Kid days of the 1980s trickles down to the next generation. In fact, Johnny's star student Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and Daniel's pupil Robby (Tanner Buchanan) — who's also Johnny's son — soon manage to develop an equally complex rivalry.
Not everything on the show is complicated, though. Daniel's daughter Sam (Mary Mouser) and season 2 newcomer Tory (Peyton List) dislike each other pretty much instantly. Though the bad blood between the two is partially based on misunderstandings, it eventually boils over, and kick-starts a school-wide karate brawl that will leave a lasting impact on Cobra Kai season 3.
However, some viewers have pointed out that a certain, pivotal scene in the pair's season 2 arc is downright strange. Here's why Cobra Kai fans are puzzled about this Sam and Tory moment.
Some fans wonder why Sam's teacher didn't act when Tory threatened her over the school's PA system
Some viewers are asking a straightforward question: Why Sam's teacher didn't do anything to save her after Tory's hijack of the school's PA system on the Cobra Kai season 2 finale? After all, they had plenty of chances to act, because Tory quite literally broadcast her intentions to go after Sam to the whole school.
In a Reddit thread about this potential plot hole, user MBmondongo questions the teachers' actions — or rather, the complete lack thereof — after hearing Tory's threat. "Is it really just me thinking teachers could have stopped the brawl before it started?" they ask. "Like you hear a person threatening your student for the whole school to hear and you don't at least: A) grab her and go to the admin or to the closest security guard; B) lock your classroom and call the principal or security, 911 or something?"
That seems like a fairly valid point, because after Tory's announcement, it's pretty clear that a student's well-being is under jeopardy. Then again, others think there simply weren't any real chances for a teacher to act before Tory and Sam faced off and things went out of control. "I believe this was before the classes started and while the announcements was still going on. There were no teachers in the classrooms just yet," Redditor genkaus theorizes.
The reason behind the teachers' inaction might be pretty depressing
Some viewers think that the teachers can't really intervene in the conflict between Tory and Sam, for fear of getting into trouble themselves.
"[...] in most public schools, teachers are told not to put their hands on a student — not even to break up a fight," mentions user enchantedlife13, and notes that the show might even have addressed this by specifically showing a security guard carrying the two smallest fighters away instead of, say, a burly teacher. "Teachers can actually be sued if they put their hands on students in some way, so that is my guess," enchantedlife13 continues. They also point out that the teachers might simply opt to steer clear of the situation because it's above their pay grade. After all, when one teacher actually tries to intervene and gets promptly knocked down, another one immediately notes that he doesn't get paid enough for this kind of thing, and leaves.
Still, regardless of the in-universe reason behind the teachers' lack of initiative, it's hard to be too sorry about it as a viewer — even though the ensuing brawl had tragic results for Miguel and pretty much everyone else. After all, Cobra Kai is still a show about karate and drama, and boy, did the episode deliver on both fronts.