Whisperer second-in-command Beta (Ryan Hurst) unleashes Alpha’s (Samantha Morton) walker army inside Alexandria in the preview for The Walking Dead 1015, “The Tower.” Now wearing a new mask made of flesh taken from Alpha’s decapitated and zombified head — she was murdered by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) under orders from Carol (Melissa McBride), who placed Alpha’s head on a spike at the Whisperer border — Beta vows to let the dead finish what they started, leading an ocean of walkers onto Alexandria. Elsewhere, Eugene (Josh McDermitt), King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) encounter a stranger while en route to the rendezvous point where they hope to befriend another civilization.
“The communities prep for final battle of the Whisperer War, while Eugene’s group meets Princess,” reads the synopsis for “The Tower.” What was originally the penultimate episode of Season 10 will now act as the premature end of the season after the finale, “A Certain Doom,” was delayed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Because current events have made it “impossible” to complete post-production work on the Greg Nicotero-directed season finale, “A Certain Doom” will air sometime later this year as a special episode. “Post production for those who are curious involves [visual effects], music, sound mixing and sound FX. This process usually goes up to about 3 weeks from air date,” Nicotero wrote on Instagram, adding the episode “will not disappoint.”
“So disappointed that it came to this but we have to keep our teams protected. When COVID hit many of the studios had to slow down so their employees would be safe. We will deliver a great finale ASAP,” The Walking Dead visual effects supervisor Aaron McLane tweeted last week. “Post production usually goes on for months after filming wraps. That’s editing, VFX, music, sound design, color correction, and delivery. We work on an episode up to a few weeks before air. The finale will be amazing but we had to prioritize safety.”
The Season 10 finale scheduled for April 12 was to be followed by the series premiere of The Walking Dead: World Beyond, similarly pushed back to a later date. AMC has not yet announced the new date these episodes will air.
“Like everyone else, once we’re given the all clear, we’re ready to roar back. Just like with everybody else, it’s this weird moment of pause,” executive producer and Walking Dead chief content officer Scott Gimple previously told The Hollywood Reporter. “There are so many people who work on these shows. Between the three shows, we’re talking about [numbering] in the thousands. We want everyone safe and healthy. That’s the deal. We all have to pull together to make sure everyone is safe and healthy.”
The Walking Dead 1015, “The Tower,” premieres Sunday, April 5 at 9/8c on AMC. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.