We’ve been blessed once again with THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES, but alas, it has aired the first episode of its fourth and final season! All we can do is enjoy the ride of this divine comedy and hope that Danny McBride & Jody Hill plot yet another series to enjoy down the road. Amen!
Let’s look back first. The Righteous Gemstones depicts a family of televangelists and megachurch pastors led by widowed patriarch Eli Gemstone (John Goodman). Eli and his immature adult children, Jesse (McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson), and Kelvin (Adam DeVine), lead opulent lives funded by church donations.
In the first season, Eli’s estranged brother-in-law, Baby Billy Freeman (Walton Goggins), is brought in to lead the Gemstones’ new shopping-mall-based satellite church, which leads to a conflict with Rev. John Wesley Seasons ( Dermot Mulroney), whose smaller, neighboring church is threatened. Concurrently, a trio of masked figures blackmail Jesse with a scandalous video documenting his and his best friend’s lewd behavior.
In the second season, Jesse and his wife Amber (Cassidy Freeman) partner with Texas megachurch leaders Lyle and Lindy Lissons (Eric André and Jessica Lowe) to develop a Christian timeshare resort. The family faces threats, including investigative journalist Thaniel Block (Jason Schwartzman), an old friend from Eli’s criminal past named Junior (Eric Roberts), and a mysterious group of motorcycle-riding assassins.
In the third season, Eli scales back his involvement in the church, handing over greater control to his children. Eli’s impoverished sister, May–May (Kristen Johnston), resurfaces, asking for his assistance in keeping her family safe from her ex-husband, Peter (Steve Zahn), a vengeful militia leader who holds a decades-long grudge against the Gemstones. Meanwhile, betrayals threaten to end the relationships of Judy and BJ (Tim Baltz) and Kelvin and Keefe (Tony Cavalero).
Now, in the fourth season, it is more of the same as we learn that despite constant bickering, Gemstone family ties run deep. The family’s codependence is tested as they attempt to move forward without letting go of their storied past.
The key words there are ‘storied past’ as we learn from the first episode of the season, entitled “Prelude.” We never thought we’d go back in time to gaze upon some of the Gemstone lineage. But a lot of people did check in on the season’s opener. The show enjoyed its strongest season premiere ever by luring 919,000 cross-platform viewers in the U.S. The Season 4 premiere outperformed Season 3 premiere by nearly 30%.
The 43-minute premiere was like a set in 1862 during the bloody Civil War movie with Bradley Cooper playing a Gemstone ancestor. He carries the entire episode, which chronicles his character’s journey from a scheming, unscrupulous crook who would do anything for money, including kill people and pretend to be a pastor and join a Confederate unit as a Chaplain.
But why is the show ending now? Danny McBride had a good little chat with GQ for the answer.
GQ: I think some people will be surprised to hear that you’re wrapping the show up after this season. So talk to me about how this decision was reached.
Danny McBride: God told me it was time. That we had achieved what we needed to do. [laughs]. I don’t know—it felt natural. I wrote the pilot for [Righteous Gemstones] in 2017, so when I finish up post [on Season 4], I’ll have 
been on this show for almost eight years. It doesn’t seem like that, because we had a pandemic in the middle and a strike. But, yeah—the story came to me, and it felt like it was a story that was bringing all these themes and these ideas and these characters to a conclusion, to something that felt like completion.
So I just followed my instincts and approached the season that way as I dove into it, and I’m really happy with what we’ve turned out. There’s a lot of unexpected twists and turns, and some incredible payoffs for the characters, for the growth of some of these people. I’m really excited to see what people think about this thing being all wrapped up.
I like watching a season of something that feels complete and feels like it’s a full story. That was a rule we put upon ourselves when we wrote each of these seasons—that we would never rely on a cliffhanger, that whatever story we started we would complete by the end of that season. I feel so lucky that I’ve been able to work with people like HBO and be given the latitude to make all this crazy shit and to build these worlds out with all these characters, and to do it with friends and trusted collaborators. I’m excited to see where it goes from here.
So are we. But in the meantime, seek out THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES. It airs at 10:00 pm ET on Sundays on HBO and loads to Max. Regrettably, we were not able to line up a reviewer for the final season unless YOU want to review it for us; enjoy it all the same. Can I get an “Hallelujah, Amen?”
