Revolution TV Show Finale: Giancarlo Esposito and JJ Abrams Make The NBC Drama a Ratings Hit

Revolution started with a bang. Back in September the premiere episode raked in an astounding 11.7 million viewers, making it the highest rated drama premiere in three years. Since then, Revolution has continued its success, albeit with slightly lower numbers. Revolution's fall finale airs Monday night, and with the close of this first part of the season there remain some questions. Notably, what is it about Revolution that draws in the crowds? And, why did a show about the power going out become the darling of the year? 

The answer to that questions is multifaceted. For one, the premise is as unique as it is easily digestible. We learned with Lost that TV viewers like to be transported to a world that looks a lot like the one they know ... if everything went spectacularly wrong. Revolution supplies just that. The premiere episode introduced us to a world that looks a lot like ours, and quickly it flipped that world on its head. The beauty of Revolution though, is that if you tune into episode one or episode seven the same crucial information is the same: the power went out. That's what you need to know. That's what runs this show. 

Giancarlo Esposito is another reason this shows ratings remain so high. Esposito has become an unlikely favorite amongst millennial audiences, (mostly due to his turn on Breaking Bad,) and his name is a Twitter trend we see week in and week out. For whatever reason, people love to watch Esposito; and with him on Revolution, there's a very solid reason to tune in. Then there is, of course, the producing mastermind behind the program, J.J. Abrams. There are few producers that everyone has heard of but Abrams (of Lost glory) seems to be on that elite list. 

Since it's early numbers of 11.7 million the Revolution ratings numbers have leveled off at about 7 million, still not a number to sneeze at. That said, it's worth noting that to balance the ratings love Revolution does face criticism for one very central thing: viewers are beginning to get frustrated that their questions are not being answered. As one CNN article stated while quoting Yahoo's Dave Nemetz, "People have been burned with shows like Lost and Heroes. They get invested in them, and seasons later they still don't have answers to the questions they tuned in for, so they get a little disillusioned and give up. That might be happening earlier than usual (with Revolution)." 

Audiences will have a few months to gather their thoughts about the series. After tonight's episode, which is sure to be a mega cliffhanger, we have until March 25, 2013, to wait for the next episode. If Revolution manages to hit the right notes tonight, they will be in for another ratings sensation come March.

The fall finale of Revolution airs Monday Nov. 26 on NBC at 10/9 central.