When Does Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 Return With New Episodes?

When does Fear the Walking Dead return? The sixth season of the Walking Dead spinoff won't return to AMC with new episodes until 2021, where the expectation is Fear will air in Q2 following the February 28 start of the six new episodes extending The Walking Dead's season 10. Because AMC in March paused production on the remaining half-season due to the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic, this will be the first time a season of Fear does not air all of its episodes in the same year. Since its 15-episode second season in 2016, Fear traditionally takes an eight-week hiatus, typically in mid-to-late summer, before resuming.

Fear first broke that tradition when its fifth season in 2019 took its shortest-ever hiatus with a three-week break, allowing the season to finish the week before the season 10 premiere of The Walking Dead. Now Fear looks to take its longest break between half seasons after airing its premature midseason finale with episode 607, "Damage From the Inside," on Sunday, November 22.

Because Fear airs when The Walking Dead is off the air and vice versa — except for TWD's season 8 finale and Fear's season 4 premiere, which aired back-to-back when Morgan Jones (Lennie James) crossed from one show to the other — it's expected Fear season 6 will return on or after April 4, 2021.

That date is when The Walking Dead airs "Here's Negan," the sixth and final bonus episode of the extended season 10.

When Fear returns in 2021, it will be for an uninterrupted nine-week stretch launched by the untitled episode 608. Should Fear 6B begin just as The Walking Dead 10C ends on April 4, season 6 would come to an end on May 30.

The front half of the season, which so far has aired just six episodes, is already making Fear season 6 the best-rated season with audiences and critics.

Series stars Lennie James (Morgan), Danay Garcia (Luciana), and Jenna Elfman (June) told ComicBook.com about the health and safety protocols allowing Fear to resume production amid the pandemic, including thrice-weekly COVID testing and on-set social distancing.

"Everybody's gotta be wearing masks and different degrees of PPE. And it's just not being able to see people's faces, not to be able to hug people 'hello' is going to be a flake, particularly when we all get back together," James told us in an October interview. "That's going to be kind of difficult."

Season 6 sees Morgan's group of zombie apocalypse survivors split up and dispersed across western settlements by Virginia (Colby Minifie), the Pioneer leader who is under attack from the ongoing season's as-yet-revealed big bad.

Fear the Walking Dead airs its midseason 6 finale on Sunday, November 22, at 9 pm ET / 8c on AMC. Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD.