‘Hell on Wheels’ season 4, episode 7 ratings: Numbers solid for Elam Ferguson shocker

Even though “Hell on Wheels” viewers had no real indication as to what was going to be coming up on this past episode “Elam Ferguson,” it still seemed as though many happened to be tuned in for it.

Per TVbythenumbers, this episode drew 2.18 million viewers (a tiny increase over “Bear Man”), and also a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. While there is still little question that the show skews somewhat older, these are solid ratings for the show on a Saturday and once again, an increase over the equivalent episode from last year.

There are little tests that the series has to endure here and there, and next week is going to be a pretty enormous one. After all, there are a few people across the internet claiming that they no longer have interest in the show now that Common is gone, even though the writers did not really have that much else they could do given that the actor wanted to leave the show. We do typically find most of these threats to have little impact on ratings; an actor departing only really impacts ratings if the episodes that follow do not measure up to the ones before. That is what “NCIS” suffered from after Cote de Pablo left, but we’d argue that some other shows (“CSI,” “Breaking Bad”) have been able to move forward well after major deaths you couldn’t see coming.

One other thing to remember this season is that there are more episodes than last year. We’ll have to wait and see if this produces any fatigue near the end, or if viewers are still as excited as ever.

If you want to see some more coverage of Elam’s death and the implications that places on the series, head over to the link here. You can also sign up today for further updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: AMC