The final season of "Cobra Kai" is finally here — or, at least, part of it.
To mark the end of the "Karate Kid" spinoff show, which first premiered in 2018, Season 6 has been extended from 10 episodes to 15. But instead of dropping it all at once, Netflix will release the season in parts, following in the footsteps of hit shows like "Stranger Things" Season 4 and "Bridgerton" Season 3.
Part 1, or the first five episodes of the season, came out on Netflix July 18. Part 2 is set to drop Nov. 15, and Part 3 doesn't have a release date yet, though it is expected in 2025.
Hayden Schlossberg, one of the creators of "Cobra Kai," tells TODAY.com that 10 episodes wouldn't be enough to tie up all of the show's storylines. Season 5 teased both the return of John Kreese and Miyagi-Do going international by competing in the Sekai Taikai karate tournament.
"Fifteen episodes felt like the perfect number, in terms of the real estate of space, to tell the final chapter," Schlossberg says.
But by extending the season, they ran into another problem.
"It's tough to binge all that in one sitting," he says.
The creators considered splitting the season in two. Since 2022, Netflix shows have drifted more and more from a typical all-at-once drop to premiering in installments. "Ozark" Season 4, for example, was divided in half, with Part 1 dropping in January 2022 and Part 2 in April of that year.
But there wasn't a natural break in the story around Episode 7 or 8, Schlossberg says.
"The fact is, every season of the show up until now, we write in five-episode story arcs," he says. "Usually, we start off a season that builds to a midseason climax in Episode 5 that kicks things off to a second half of the season.
"We always think in five-episode chunks, so we're like, why not just separate it into five episodes, have almost three mini-seasons, like an Act 1, Act 2, Act 3," he adds.
Each block of five episodes clocks in at around a three-hour runtime.
"It's enough to sit down and watch everything," he says. "And then a few months later, you get another, and then after that, the same."
The split might frustrate fans at first, however. To avoid spoilers, let's just say Season 6, Episode 5 leaves viewers on quite the cliffhanger, with plenty of questions to be addressed in Part 2.
But the answers to those questions will have to wait until November.
