Spoilers for Obliterated are ahead! If you haven’t streamed the new addition to the 2023 TV schedule, you can watch every episode with a Netflix subscription.
Typically, when a show comes to an end these days it will close on a cliffhanger. Whether it's the announcement of higher stakes or a surprise twist, it’s commonplace for a series to end one season by setting up another. However, that’s not the case for the Cobra Kai’s creators -- Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald -- new show Obliterated. This tipsy Las Vegas-based action series actually comes to a complete end in its finale. So, when I spoke to the three aforementioned co-creators of the action-comedy I had to ask about their plans for Season 2.
In Obliterated, a special ops team attempts to stop a nuclear bomb from exploding while they’re all, as the title implies, obliterated. After a night of partying and celebration (because they thought they’d defused the bomb), they found out their mission wasn't over yet. After a night of debauchery and wasted problem-solving, the team ultimately succeeds. The bomb gets defused and the Obliterated cast parties one last time before going their separate ways at the end. It’s complete. It’s satisfying.
With that in mind, when I had the chance to chat with the co-creators about the series during their junket in Vegas, I asked them what their plans were for Season 2 if they get renewed. Josh Heald immediately responded, saying one of the best action movies, Die Hard, inspired their goals for the future of the show. In his words:
That goes against every instinct we usually have with our writing where we are used to setting up franchises and sequels and the next episode and the next season. We wanted this to feel more akin to a Die Hard, where you then have a Die Hard 2 and Die Hard 3 in a different location with different stakes but similar suspense.
While the co-creators were able to use their Cobra Kai expertise to their advantage when it came to creating the action for their new series, their philosophy when crafting Obliterated's ending was totally different. And Heald makes a good point, the show really does feel more like an action movie than a typical TV series in a lot of ways, including its conclusion, he said:
That's how we looked at the series from the beginning was to have these missions, that the first one obviously is a crazy mission gone wrong in Vegas, but it is very closed-ended. That's not to say there can't be some open-ended threads to pull going forward. But we want it to feel more like a successive season could be that next sequel to that season versus a direct pickup.
Like many great action films, elements like romantic relationships or friendships could continue in successive seasons, like Ava and McKnight’s budding romance. It’s also possible that the crew could come back together for a new mission in a different city. Speaking to the idea of what Season 2 could entail, Hayden Schlossberg said:
We want all the party cities in the world to buy for the next setting for Obliterated. You know that's something from the very beginning, we thought like, ‘Oh, wouldn't it be great to like, every season, a different kind of fun party city with big action.’ And that's the hope.
When he said this, my mind immediately went to The White Lotus cast, and I thought about how that ensemble changes and shifts with each new city the series goes to. It’s possible a Season 2 could use a new cast and bring back one or two from the OGs when they are assigned to a new city. Personally, I think that’d be the way to go.
Having a new set of characters in a new city dealing with a major national security issue while under the influence sounds like a blast, and I’m 100% here for the creator's plans for Obliterated’s future. If the show is renewed, we’ll be sure to update you about who returns, who the new faces are and where the chaos will be taken next. In the meantime, you can stream the Las Vegas-based Season 1 right now on Netflix.
