Warning. This review contains spoilers about the episode “A Certain Doom”!

The episode “A Certain Doom” was supposed to be the season finale of “The Walking Dead” 10th season. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it became a special episode broadcast on October 4, 2020.

For once, the show’s producers can’t be blamed for a decision that was due to force majeure when a real pandemic forced to stop the production of a show based on the idea that zombies are the product of a disease that spread globally. Given the impossibility to complete post-production of what was supposed to be the season finale, “A Certain Doom” became a special episode that aired about six months after the regular season, basically when the new season normally began.

In recent months, various rumors came out about the possible creation of another spinoff based on Daryl and Carol, so we could be confident that both of them would survive. The wait for Maggie (Lauren Cohan, photo ©Gage Skidmore) to return increased, and in the end I felt it was a bit wasted in the midst of so many moments that formed an episode that in my opinion ended up being a bit fragmentary. We’ll certainly know more about the guy who arrived with her very skilled with blades, but she barely had time to exchange a few glances with Judith while it remains to be seen if there will be problems between her and Negan.

“A Certain Doom” is the kind of episode that perhaps would have turned out better if it had been longer to give a little more time to the characters who have moments that are important for various reasons. For example, we just had time to see Beta’s visions when he got killed along with the other Whisperers because finally, with their backs to the wall, they decided to eliminate what after all was not a huge group of enemies. In short, as enemies were they really that terrible or were they just dealt with the wrong way?

The episode ends with a cliffhanger tied to two different situations, at least one of which is surprising. Eugene, Yumiko, and Ezekiel ending up in some complicated situation was frankly obvious. I assume that we’ll see the consequences in the special episodes scheduled for 2021, pandemic permitting, also regarding the meeting between the revived Connie and Virgil.

Meanwhile, the new spinoff “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” has also begun. It’s impossible to judge it from its first episode, I can only hope they aren’t trying to squeeze the last few drops out of the lemon. The delay accumulated by the production led to the announcement of 6 extra episodes to be broadcast in 2021. It could be an opportunity to avoid fillers and dull plots and think of something better for what’s supposed to be the last season of “The Walking Dead.” For now we’ll do with “A Certain Doom,” which all in all is an average season finale for the show.