Chris Sheridan
The following recap contains spoilers for The Righteous Gemstones S4E6, “Interlude IV” (written by John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley & Danny McBride and directed by David Gordon Green)
It’s an Interlude episode! I was worried given the existence of “Prelude” that we wouldn’t get one of these, but I was delighted to find that I was wrong. The Interlude episodes have, for each season, been extremely strong chapters in providing thematic connective tissue as well as context and foundation for the current events of the season, and backstory for the characters.
“Interlude IV” opens in 2002 (the same year in which Kelvin’s nightmare is set in from S4E2 “To Grieve Like the Rest of Men Who Have No Hope”), where Eli (John Goodman) stands before a city council proposing an expansion to a Gemstone center by way of a 10-acre parking lot. He’s met with fierce opposition, prompting Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles) to step up to the podium to support her husband and vouch for the jobs the expansion would create. The council pushes back further—clearly, this is not a project anyone besides the Gemstones has interest in. Aimee-Leigh laments that they have fallen out of favor with with city, before Eli promises her a weekend at Galilee Gulch. They exit the building and are met with a huge crowd of protesters, two of which smash whipped cream pies into the Gemstones’ faces.
At Galilee Gulch, the Gemstone children (J. Gaven Wilde as Jesse, Emma Shannon as Judy, and Tristan Borders as Kelvin) as well as young Corey (Sean Ryan Fox) enjoy a slide on a barge while Cobb (Michael Rooker) angrily fails at water skiing. On the barge, we learn that Jesse has already impregnated Amber (Keely Marshall), something he appears to be very sensitive about as he nearly comes to blows with Kelvin after his little brother teases him.
I’ve probably said it across all of the Interlude episodes, but it is frankly astonishing how well the young actors emulate the mannerisms of their adult counterparts. It’s not just an imitation: the kids have clearly put in the work to make sure that they are extremely convincing as the younger versions of the main characters, in particular Wilde as Jesse.
On shore, Aimee-Leigh and Lori (Megan Mullally) visit a very pregnant Amber and send her off for a nap. Here we see the strong bond the best friends have, as they sit on the shore and reminiscence on their past of recording music. Aimee-Leigh floats the idea of recording another album, and her bestie enthusiastically agrees. In the recording studio, the two easily slip back into their cadence of synchrony in singing and lyrics. Later, after a very successful session, the two step out to the garden where Lori confesses to Aimee-Leigh that things with Cobb are very bad, and she intends to divorce him.
The family enjoys lunch following a sermon by Eli and Aimee-Leigh. Here, we get more bickering from the siblings, as well as Jesse’s announcement that his and Amber’s child will be named Stallone, after his favorite actor. Amber is clearly not especially enthusiastic about this, and Jesse’s siblings rightfully rib him over it. Tensions carry over to family dinner (along with Corey and Lori), where Kelvin continues to poke at Jesse having fathered a child at a young age.
The argument is cut short by a very drunk Cobb arriving at the front gate, yelling for Lori to come home with him. The two engage in a screaming argument as the Gemstones and Corey look on. Corey confesses that Cobb is “like that all the time” and confesses that he overheard Lori’s plan for a divorce, and Jesse tries to reassure him that “sometimes couples just say that.” As the argument between Lori and Cobb escalates, Eli tries to intervene, and when Cobb shoves him away, the Gemstone patriarch responds with a punch that sends Cobb to the ground. Cobb forbids Lori to ever come home, and Corey comes out to make sure his drunk father gets home safely.
Aimee-Leigh convinces Eli to go try to patch things up with Cobb at his job at Milsap Gator Farm, and we get a lot of very ominous establishing shots of alligators that had me convinced that Cobb was going to get fed to gators by the end up the episode, which didn’t end up happening. Cobb rejects Eli’s apology and calls Eli out for his extravagant lifestyle, which he claims Lori prefers over his own modest living. The conversation ends with Cobb telling Eli he never wants to see his face again.
Eli, Aimee-Leigh, and Lori take a night out together, leaving the kids, Amber and Corey alone at the house. It doesn’t take long for them to decide to head out themselves for a bite to eat. Kelvin opts to stay at home. At the restaurant, Corey receives a call from his dad. Cobb asks him if they’re at the Gemstone house, to which Corey replies in the negative. Cobb says that his truck has died and needs to get picked up at the bridge, and Corey and the kids set out to help him. Of course, Cobb is not at the bridge: wearing all black, he’s actually outside the Gemstone house, where it is confirmed he is the vandal at the beginning of “To Grieve.” As we saw in Kelvin’s nightmare, Cobb proceeds to smash up the home, urinate on Eli’s desk, and steal as many valuables as he can find, including the gold-plated Bible. Finding Kelvin, Cobb panics and flees. Arriving at the bridge, Corey and the kids fail to find Cobb.
Eli, Aimee-Leigh and Lori return to the house to find the damage. Aimee-Leigh comforts a traumatized Kelvin, and Eli tells the police that he has no idea who could have done this. Lori talks with Corey, who tells his mother that Cobb called him to get picked up. Lori asks him if he saw Cobb, and after a dramatic beat, Corey lies and tells her that they saw him, and gave him a jump. So why did Corey lie? What is he hiding?
The next day, Eli is doing his best to clean up the damage. Jesse walks in, and apologizes that Daddy lost the gold-plated Bible. Eli responds that he’s just glad nobody got hurt. After a moment, Jesse asks Eli if he ever thinks he and Aimee-Leigh could ever get a divorce. Eli strongly affirms that he will be with his wife “until the end of my days.” This conversation definitely has an effect on Jesse: a positive one now, and one that informs his strong resistance to Eli dating again after Aimee-Leigh is gone. Eli also manages to steer Jesse away from the chosen name of his unborn son, and instead suggests Gideon, a Biblical figure who initially doubted God’s word but proceeded to raise an army. When the Israelites wanted to make Gideon king, he turned them down: “There is no king but God.” Jesse is impressed. “That’s pretty tight, actually. Gideon…I’ll run it by the missus.” It’s certainly better than Stallone.
Surveying the damage in the recording studio with Lori, Aimee-Leigh acknowledges that the Gemstones have many enemies, but whoever did this “Had the devil in them.” Lori glances down at a smashed photograph of her and Aimee-Leigh. She looks up, seemingly coming to a realization. Back at his house, Cobb dumps out the pillowcase of his spoils. He rummages through them and fixates on the gold-plated Bible. He opens it, seeing the signatures of each Gemstone the bible has been passed down to, fixating on a photograph of Elijah from “Prelude.” As The HU’s “Wolf Totem” (awesome song, check it out) kicks into gear, the episode ends.
The Interlude episodes never disappoint, and “Interlude IV” was no exception. Introducing Cobb definitely throws a wrench in my theory last week that Corey was behind all of Lori’s boyfriends disappearing, as this week definitely seems to suggest that Cobb is the culprit. It’s also borderline likely that Corey is working with his dad. I’m honestly not sure! But with next week returning us to the present, I’m sure we’ll have some answers.
The Righteous Gemstones airs on Sundays on HBO at 10pm ET, and is streaming on Max.
