Last Updated: July 26, 2020
When will AMC release The Walking Dead season 10 finale? The final episode of the show's 16-episode tenth season has been delayed indefinitely, but it has been confirmed to air sometime in 2020. So far, that's the only detail officially confirmed by AMC regarding its release.
The coronavirus pandemic has created an unfortunate situation for the film and TV industry. The pandemic has halted production on movies and TV shows globally, leading to numerous release delays. One of the properties heavily affected by it all is The Walking Dead universe. It was announced in late March that AMC had decided to end The Walking Dead season 10 early due to such issues. The new plan was to air episodes 14 and 15 as scheduled, with episode 15 representing the end of the season. The season finale, on the other hand, titled "A Certain Doom," was to serve as a standalone episode that would air on its own at some point in 2020. Originally, it would have aired on the same night as The Walking Dead: World Beyond's series premiere on April 12th, but the coronavirus pandemic has thrown a wrench into that plan as well.
With the release date being pushed back, AMC will have to consider different options for airing the finale, and what the network will ultimately do with the episode will of course depend on certain factors, not the least of which being the length of the production delays. The finale has already been filmed of course, so the problem is that the episode was still in the post-production phase. Showrunner Angela Kang has said that they were only a week and a half away from completing the episode [via ComicBook]. Kang has also said that not everything can be done remotely for The Walking Dead during the pandemic. As soon as everyone involved can get back to work on the episode, it shouldn't take too long for it be ready.
UPDATE: During The Walking Dead's panel at SDCC@Home, producers confirmed that "A Certain Doom," season 10's planned finale, will finally air on October 4, 2020. However, it's no longer technically going to be the finale, as a six-episode extension of season 10 will arrive in early 2021, assuming production on those episodes can commence in a timely fashion.
As Kang has pointed out, it's hard to predict when the social isolation mandates will end and production can continue. The Trump administration currently has social distancing guidelines lasting until April 30, but this could be extended — and many expect that it will. In any case, AMC should be able to air the episode in the summer, or at the earliest, May. But summertime seems like the best option for The Walking Dead to air its season 10 finale.
Where AMC will slot the finale is just one of the problems facing The Walking Dead universe in 2020. AMC had big plans for this year, considering that it's about to have three shows. It's likely that they had a plan to replace one show with another for the remainder of the year, with Fear the Walking Dead likely premiering after World Beyond's conclusion, and The Walking Dead season 11 kicking off in October after Fear the Walking Dead season 6 had wrapped up. AMC would have been able to keep The Walking Dead's Sunday night time slot occupied with a new episode from one of the three shows presumably for the rest of the year, but the coronavirus pandemic has now derailed this plan. It remains to be seen how AMC — along with the rest of the entertainment industry — will ultimately cope with the coronavirus outbreak.