The Righteous Gemstones has been referred to as “Southern Succession” since its debut, and it’s very easy to see why. The Danny McBride comedy features an elderly patriarch constantly telling his three children, who are next in line to take over the family business, that they are not serious people.
Swap out the cold halls of the business suites of NYC for the glamorous stages of a southern mega-church and the ridiculous comedic mind of McBride and his collaborators, and you have Gemstones.
Through three seasons, the show has continued to expand the world of the show and the backstory of the Gemstone family by bringing in some serious guest stars that add new variables to an already chaotic mixture of performers. This season adds the likes of Shea Wigam, Stephen Dorff, and Lukas Haas as the show continues to be absurdly hilarious and genuinely heartfelt while pushing out some incredible slices of genre filmmaking.
There’s a logical endpoint when much of the show has to do with the transition of power from kids who aren’t worthy to a patriarch who has been ultra-successful for decades, which on the surface can make things seem repetitive or lack any real dramatic stakes. Gemstones avoids any fatigue by raising its game and taking risks as it goes on.
The first season of Gemstones dealt with Jesse Gemstone (McBride) getting blackmailed for a video of himself, the God-fearing next in line to run his father Eli’s (John Goodman) megachurch, doing drugs and displaying debauched behavior, recruiting his siblings to help him deal with the forces trying to ruin their name.
The second season dove more into the family and why they are the way they are in explaining Eli’s past. Jessie is trying to strike out on his own doing business with a fellow new school preacher while specters from Eli’s past and the dark side of the megachurch industry collide.
Now in its third season, Eli has retired, leaving the family business in the hands of his less-than-capable children, who refuse to truly work together. The third season continues to dive into what makes this family tick while putting them in the craziest situations possible for the proprietors of a televangelist empire.
Gemstones is comfortable in the world they have built with this ridiculous group of characters, and every season it ups the ante in the stories they tell about this dysfunctional family, fleshing out their relationships with one another, exploring why they are the way they are.
It can also be genuinely heartfelt as it shows that the Gemstone family has been broken since their mother died years ago. It can go from an absurd, raunchy comedy to a thrilling crime show effortlessly, with set pieces like car chases and shoot-outs. There is a flashback in the newest season to a very Coen Brothers-esque bank robbery involving Steve Zahn’s new character Peter Montgomery, which is an opportunity for the show and directors like David Gordon Green (Halloween 2018, Halloween Kills) to show their chops and wear some of their film inspirations on their sleeve.
It can have these incredible splashes of genre filmmaking, but then you experience its real strengths, like constructing an entire flashback sequence having Walton Goggins’s character Uncle Baby Billy telling the story of how he and Dusty Daniels (Shea Whigam), a Dale Earnhardt-esque NASCAR driver and major donor to the Gemstone church, celebrated the world not ending during Y2K by partying in Monaco with an old guy who may or may not have been Gene Hackman.
It’s all incredibly creative, and every detail of its characters is meticulously considered by the writers and taken to another level by the cast. From the entire characterization of Baby Billy to how the siblings argue and insult each other, even down to their individual wardrobes, it’s just perfect, and it’s hard to see how everyone isn’t in stitches filming. McBride shows have always had these similar types of explosive comedic moments and abrasive style of dialogue from their main characters, and this series might be the most consistently hilarious of the three he has created for HBO.
Danny McBride has essentially played the same character (with minor tweaks) since The Foot Fist Way, his 2006 debut feature, and it works every time. When you think of Eastbound & Down, it’s Kenny Powers, then everyone else, but in The Righteous Gemstones, everyone shines on an equal playing field. McBride took a back seat this season, letting his costars shine while still having some incredible moments as Jesse. Edi Patterson, as Judy, is the funniest person on screen consistently, and Adam DeVine is great as Kalvin. Everyone has moments, from John Goodman’s Eli to Cassidy Freeman, who plays Jesse’s wife, Amber, to the random guys in Jesse’s church entourage.
Season 3 could have easily been a series finale, but HBO has renewed it for a fourth season, so there are more Gemstones on the horizon. The last episode takes yet another big swing in a season full of them, culminating in a literal act of God that ties everyone’s arcs together. The season has some dark moments, even more than previous seasons, but it comes back into the light in a satisfying way, leaving some hope for the future for these broken, hilarious characters.
The last two episodes feature some massive character developments that have been three seasons in the making, and they all feel earned and right. The Righteous Gemstones is as pleasurable a watch as anything HBO has to offer, and its third season is its best and most ambitious.
The Righteous Gemstones is available to stream on Max.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
