There's a lot riding on tonight's season finale of Watchmen, which has already solved most of its earliest mysteries, from the true identity of Will Reeves to the whereabouts of Adrian Veidt to the source of the "squid showers." However, the HBO drama still needs to provide plenty of other answers to deliver a satisfying conclusion of the story -- not the least of which is whether it will continue for a second season.

Despite early skepticism about a television sequel to the seminal 1986-1987 comic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen has earned widespread critical acclaim, and generated enough buzz to turn the series into a hit for the cable network; the first seven episodes reportedly averaged 7.1 million viewers, across all platforms. That makes Watchmen HBO's most successful new series since Big Little Lies, and the biggest series debut this year on any premium cable network.

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Therefore, it might be reasonable to expect HBO to announce the series' renewal ahead of the season finale. However, mere hours before the episode's air time, there's been no word of a green light.

That's in keeping with the approach taken by series creator Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) from the very beginning. He promised in October at New York Comic Con, where the series pilot was screened, that this would be a nine-episode, self-contained story.

"One of the things that makes the original perfect is that those 12 issues were well thought-out," he told journalists. "There was a beginning, middle and end planned out. We had to do the same thing. We plotted these nine episodes with every mystery and question being resolved. We didn’t want this season to end with a [cliffhanger]. Our job was to deliver nine episodes that delivered a complete story."

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It was easy to view such an assurance as Lindelof's attempt to soothe viewers still stinging from the 2010 series finale of Lost, or fans of Watchmen who resist any effort to adapt, or continue, that story. But -- spoiler alert! -- Lindelof delivers on his promise, with a complete, and satisfying, story.

But that doesn't necessarily mean Watchmen will be one season and done. Although Lindelof & Co. may be finished with this story, and these characters, it's difficult to imagine HBO will simply want to walk away from this world, so brimming with potential. Lindelof himself seemed to acknowledge as much in October.

"We want to see how it’s received by you guys," he said. "If the show comes out and the conversation seems to suggest you’re hungry for more, we’ll take that into consideration."

Developed by Damon Lindelof, HBO's Watchmen stars Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Jean Smart, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, James Wolk, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon. The season finale airs tonight at 9 ET/PT.

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