Courtney Kemp, the creator of Starz’s Power, is fired up. “I want people yelling at the screen! I want them to be pissed, I want them to be excited, I want them to be happy," Kemp told Complex over the phone. "I want them to have a really intense emotional response.” Mission accomplished.

Power, now in its third season, has turned into a huge hit for Starz, breaking the channel’s season premiere record by nearly one million viewers in July when season three began. Ever since, it has stayed within the top five shows watched on Sundays so far this year, according to TV By The Numbers. The 50 Cent-produced and-starring nighttime soap is both a love story and a coming-to-age tale about New York City’s biggest drug dealer. The show thrives on getting a reaction: Mainly, it makes people want to jump through their TV screens. Since they can’t do that, Power’s social media savvy fanbase takes to their Twitter and Facebook to talk through their feelings, guiding a whole new fanbase to the show. The digital word of mouth has acted as a magnet for Power: People notice their timelines blowing up on Sunday nights and feel peer-pressured into finally giving the show a chance. Once they start watching, the addiction begins.

81,000 tweets about the show were fired off during this season’s premiere episode, according to Nielsen statistics; the show has averaged 40,666 tweets an episode since. Power’s ability to be equally satisfying and frustrating, to create moments that bring chaos to the social media water cooler, has made it one of cable’s most thrilling two-screen experiences.