Plot: The fourth and final season tells the story of a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed, and charitable work. Despite constant bickering, Gemstone family ties run deep, and this season, the family’s codependence is tested as they attempt to move forward without letting go of their storied past.
Review: Danny McBride has had a fantastic run on HBO. From Eastbound & Down to Vice Principals, McBride has partnered with Jody Hill and David Gordon Green to tell bizarrely American stories centered on professional sports and the education system. The Righteous Gemstones, the first of the series to be solely created by McBride, is also the longest-running but is ending with the fourth season. Chronicling the behind-the-scenes antics of a family of televangelists and the enemies they have amassed over the decades, The Righteous Gemstones spent its first three seasons putting the wealthy clan in the crosshairs for blackmail, extortion, and various other crimes. Through each season, the adult children of Dr. Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) acted like idiots before luckily redeeming themselves at the last minute. A twisted variation on the same formula as Succession, The Righteous Gemstones takes the family on one last crazy journey together, but one that is much different than the first three. What remains the same is this is one of the funniest series on television.
Season four of The Righteous Gemstones finds Eli retired from running his megachurch empire, leaving it to Jesse (Danny McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson), and Kelvin (Adam DeVine). With help from Baby Billy (Walton Goggins), the Gemstone kids are experiencing varying degrees of success. Kelvin leads the pack with his new modernized program, PRISM, which he runs with Keefe (Tony Cavalero). As the family prepares for the annual fundraiser that honors their late mother, Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles), they bring Eli back along with Aimee-Leigh’s best friend, Lori Milsap (Megan Mullally). When the kids feel threatened by Lori’s closeness to their family, they do what they always do and overcomplicate matters. What follows is a season full of jetpacks, monkeys, stripper poles, skateboards, golden bibles, and alligators. You know, typical Gemstones fare. There is more to the story, which becomes clear as the season pushes towards the series finale.
Like Succession, The Righteous Gemstones is about the filthy rich acting like spoiled brats. Danny McBride’s series takes away any sense of professionalism or culture and shows us the unabashed vanity and stupidity that the Gemstone children embody. That is part of what makes this series so fun to watch as we root for Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin to rip each other apart while also wanting them to persevere against those who try to tear them down. This season does away with an overarching nemesis that anchored the first three seasons, instead giving us a glimpse at how the Gemstones operate without Eli running the show and whether they can help each other or block themselves from ever being truly content. There is deeper material for Judy and Kelvin this season, with Jesse taking a bit of a backseat compared to his siblings. We also get more time with Jesse’s sons Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) and Pontius (Kelton DuMont), as well as Judy’s husband, BJ (Tim Baltz). Baby Billy’s subplot is not as consequential as in past seasons but still gives us some great quotable moments that will live on long after the series wraps.
The season boasts the same formula that worked to date for The Righteous Gemstones, including a great soundtrack, some surprise guest stars, a mid-season flashback episode when Aimee-Leigh was still alive, and a satisfying conclusion that pulls together the whole story. The heavy mystery elements in the first two seasons led the series to endings that felt like they owed the audience a big payoff twist. This season does not need to rely on big reveals as the story peppers them throughout the season, letting the series finale work as a calmer wrap to the thirty-five episodes that came before it. There is a feeling throughout this final season that there could be more stories to tell involving the Gemstone family. Until the final episode, it never feels like this is the end of the series, but after watching the entire run, I love how Danny McBride and his creative team bring this story to a close.
Danny McBride co-wrote the final nine episodes of The Righteous Gemstones alongside John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, Edi Patterson, Kevin Barnett, and Chris Pappas. Danny McBride directed three episodes, including the premiere and series finale, with Jody Hill, David Gordon Green, and Jonathan Watson on the other six episodes. It would be unfair to divulge any of the surprises in store for audiences as they experience this season. Still, I will say that the premiere episode may be one of the best single episodes of television that Danny McBride has created. There are so many funny moments throughout this season, coupled with heartfelt ones, that continue to show us why we love to hate the Gemstones as much as we love to love them. The writing is so good you would imagine there was more improvisation involved than there is, but it is very funny performers delivering hilariously crafted lines.
With just these final nine episodes left, The Righteous Gemstones has cemented itself as Danny McBride’s best series. While Eastbound & Down is considered classic, it was the roughest and loosest project McBride co-created, with Vice Principals taking things down a more structured route. The Righteous Gemstones blends the comedic craft of both series with an indie sensibility boosted by HBO’s deep pockets to give us a hilarious story that is timely and timeless, satirical and sacrilegious, and altogether entertaining in ways few shows can be consistently season after season. Any series that can offer multiple instances of full-frontal male nudity and not seem shocking while still managing to be funny in ways no other show on the air can deserves to be recognized. Praise be to The Righteous Gemstones, may their legacy live forever. Amen.
The final season of The Righteous Gemstones premieres on March 9th on HBO.
