Chris Sheridan
The following recap contains spoilers for The Righteous Gemstones S4E7, “For Jealousy Is the Rage of a Man” (written by Kevin Barnett, Chris Pappas, & Danny McBride and directed by Jonathan Watson).
Last week’s excellent “Interlude IV” introduced us to Cobb (Michael Rooker), Lori’s alcoholic husband at at the time. Now, in the present day, Lori goes to her ex’s place to confront him about presumably throwing a brick through her window and setting Eli’s SUV on fire. She doesn’t directly mention the event, but simply calls Cobb out for trying to come between her and Eli. Cobb neither assumes responsibility nor denies any action, simply mentioning that Lori keeps coming to see him. She’s rightfully disgusted and storms off, threatening to call the police if this happens again or if he comes near her.
Kelvin (Adam DeVine) got ripped apart by Vance Simkins at the roundtable where they last squared off, and the youngest Gemstone sibling has sequestered himself in his treehouse and removed all means of getting to him. Keefe (Tony Cavalero) makes another attempt to reach out to the man he loves. Kelvin pokes his head out to expresses that he is a defeated coward, not the brave leader that Prism thought he was, and a total failure. Keefe tries to encourage him, mentioning the night’s final Top Christ-Following Man event, the Night of Testimonies, but Kelvin digs his heels in, insists that he’s not going to win the award, and sends Keefe away.
BJ (Tim Baltz) is getting along even better with Dr. Watson, and it’s starting to bug Judy (Edi Patterson). The monkey has progressed to hand-feeding BJ and even kissing him on the lips. Dr. Watson doesn’t appear to be interested in sharing anymore, either: he begins to antagonize Judy, leading her to confront BJ and share that she’s been with him for this entire ordeal and feels like Dr. Watson is taking all of the credit. BJ tells her that’s it not a competition, but Dr. Watson certainly seems to think it is. This, Eli, and Kelvin are all starting to get to Judy, but BJ has some sage advice for one of her problems: she needs to talk to Kelvin.
Baby Billy (Walton Goggins) has been getting increasingly unhinged on the set of Teenjus, angrily tearing apart his teenage actor’s performance during a scene in which the Devil tempts Teenjus in the desert. Baby Billy finally loses it, going onto the set and ripping his star’s wig off and putting it on himself, of course without taking off his ridiculously large glasses (“I have to do everything around here!”). Sola (Kerstin Schulze) and Aunt Tiffany (Valyn Hall) arrive late, and earn more ire from the selfish Baby Billy. Aunt Tiffany rightfully points out that everything seems to be more important than her and their children. Baby Billy, still wearing the Teenjus wig, pulls her aside, where she timidly backs off a bit to tell him her worries about him working too much, and that they don’t need any more money. He pushes back that he doesn’t have enough. For a moment, however, he softens and tells his wife that he isn’t trying to fight, and he loves her. “Let me [do this] and then we’ll have enough…maybe.” True to form, he’s as selfish as ever.
Later, Baby Billy angrily appeals to Jesse and Judy, citing the budget cuts to Teenjus and asking for $2 million for reshoots (as well as some cocaine), which is met with derision from the elder siblings. Noticing that Kelvin is absent from the meeting, Baby Billy asks where he is. The siblings not only dismiss their kid brother as “the wrong choice” for Top Christ-Following Man, but proceed to bicker between themselves over who would have been the better candidate. Baby Billy cuts them off, lecturing them about fighting between themselves and with Eli and hating on Kelvin, asking them what their Mama would think. “You’re supposed to be a family…start acting like one!”
Pontius (Kelton DuMont) has been spending a lot of time with his skater buddies grinding outside the church and inhaling the contents of an air duster can, and Jesse (Danny McBride) and Amber (Cassidy Freeman) have had enough. They confront their son and his friends, and when Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) chimes in, Pontius mocks him for his lack of skill as a preacher and tells him he “used to be cool.” Jesse laments that his sons don’t respect him, and when Amber tries to reassure him that it’s just a teen thing, Jesse denies it. “It’s a me thing.” What’s that, some introspection from Jesse Gemstone?
We continue to get more ominous (foreshadowing?) shots of alligators at Milsap Gator Park, where Cobb is feeding his prized gator Big Gus for an audience. My heart (and those of the crowd) skipped a beat when Big Gus rose from the water to catch some meat Cobb threw his way. Unfazed, however, is Eli (John Goodman), who is in the audience wearing a fedora and sunglasses. After the show, he goes to Cobb to confront him about giving Lori “any more trouble.” Cobb appears confused, but Eli plows forward, telling him that he and Lori are together now. Cobb counters by asking Eli what Aimee-Leigh would think about him dating her best friend. He tells Eli to ask Lori how many men she’s been with since the divorce, and presents him with a newspaper ad featuring Lori as an escort. Now, that’s something that does faze Eli.
Simkins (Stephen Dorff) approaches Jesse at the Cape and Pistol Society to relish in the pain he caused Kelvin at the roundtable, and how much that must hurt Jesse. He also brags that he’s now the sure winner of Top Christ-Following Man after humiliating Kelvin, if Kelvin even shows up to the final festivities. Jesse retorts that he’s currently fighting with Kelvin and doesn’t care, but Simkins’ words clearly get to him.
Jesse’s day doesn’t get any better at Gideon’s sermon, where his son continues to flounder at holding the attention of a small room. Afterwards, Jesse offers criticism of Gideon’s sermon, then sarcastically cites the advice as “not being from someone you see as a mentor figure.” Amber’s a little more helpful, asking Gideon what’s going on between him and Pontius. When Gideon tells them that Pontius is an a**hole and he keeps his distance from him, Jesse reminds him that they’re brothers, and as the eldest brother, Gideon needs to keep the peace (sound like Jesse, maybe?). He complains about Kelvin, and Amber gently steers him towards appealing to his brother, “as a mentor figure would.”
Jesse attempts to visit Kelvin at his house, but finds only Judy, claiming to have been there to “take a sh*t” and asking him what he’s doing there. Jesse says he’s trying to check in on Kelvin, and Judy worriedly concedes that she’s there for the same reason. “I can’t stop thinking about how scared he looked on TV,” she says. While they agree that Kelvin can be an annoying, entitled little b*tch, they admit that he’s family, and they should help him. Keefe takes them to the treehouse, and tells them that there is no way up to him. Jesse glances at his sister. “I think I might know a way.”
A miserable Kelvin is laying in bed in the treehouse, doing that thing we all did with Bugles (you know) before his siblings arrive at his door wearing the jetpacks. Kelvin tells Jesse that he was right about him being a “token” nominee and calls himself a coward. In their own insulting but supportive way, Jesse and Judy tell him to pick himself up and face off against Simkins. Jesse still appears to be self-serving (defeating Simkins, making himself look good for Gideon), but Judy seems genuinely supportive of her kid brother. Either way, they’ve come together to get Kelvin back in the game.
Gideon, likewise, goes to visit his own brother, awkwardly dodging the skaters around the rink to talk to Pontius and the gang. Gideon makes an admirable attempt (with notecards) at inviting the skaters to one of his Sunday sermons, which is met with jeers and insults. Gideon starts to turn and leave, but suddenly turns back around, rips up his notecards, and demands a skateboard. Briefly mocking another skater and snatching his sunglasses, Gideon takes the skateboard, dons the sunglasses…and proceeds to shred the absolute f*ck out of the skate park, landing insane tricks to embarrass his younger brother and earn the admiration of the gang. “God has a whole lot more to offer than meets the eye…come by Sundays at 10:00.” Even more surprisingly, Pontius relents and does his secret handshake with his brother with a smile on his face.
Cobb had called Eli Lori’s “latest meal ticket,” and Eli’s prepared to confront her over lunch. He asks her about the call girl ad, and informs her about a credit check he ran on her, finding out about her bankruptcy. Lori counters that the ads are fake and made at the behest of Cobb. She’s never asked Eli for any money, and remembers how Aimee-Leigh always told her how much money mattered to Eli. Eli tells her that she’s crossing a line, and she says he crossed it first. “Maybe I wanted something so bad I couldn’t see straight,” he says with sorrow. “I’m having the exact same g*ddamn realization,” she says, before throwing some money on the table and leaving as Eli hangs his head. Either Lori or Cobb as lying here. And honestly? I think it might be Lori. I had softened on her after a few episodes, but at this point, I’m not necessarily pardoning Cobb (he’s still a very bad person), but I believe, in this moment, that he might be right. Or maybe they, and even Corey, are all just bad in their own ways.
It’s the final night of the Top Christ-Following Man competition, and Simkins is confidently applying his makeup, ready to win the award, and pleased that Kelvin won’t be there…until Kelvin shows up himself wearing a spectacular sequined suit and makeup already applied. As the event begins, we get the other competitors delivering self-flagellating testimonies, but they all feel completely hollow and designed to appeal to the audience and those calling in to vote. But when Kelvin takes the stage, he talks about how he always felt different; trying not to be different, until he realized that God not only sees him as he really is, but God made him that way. Different is awesome, and it’s the proof of the range of God’s talents. He finishes that he’s there not for the accolades, and then, after an encouraging, teary-eyed nod from Keefe in the audience, he publicly comes out as gay: a Gay, Top Christ-Following Man! If that’s not good enough for the award, he says, then he doesn’t need it. He turns and exits the venue. I’ll admit I myself got a little emotional during Kelvin’s excellent speech.
In the room outside the auditorium, Keefe is supportive, Judy and Jesse are surprised but impressed (although the latter is more than a little disappointed that this means “Chuckle F*ck” Simkins will win), but Kelvin doesn’t care. However, he’s summoned back into the auditorium with the news that he has won the award! Maybe it didn’t matter if he lost, but Kelvin is overjoyed that he’s won. As the ecstatic Kelvin accepts his award, the shocked and defeated Simkins glances offstage to see Jesse satisfyingly flipping him the bird.
We’ve now got just two episodes until the end of the season and the series proper, and a lot happened this week. I particularly loved that Kelvin finally came out to the world. While I wouldn’t have minded much if someone else got it over him, I’m just happy that Simkins didn’t get it. It remains to be seen what that smug little rival preacher will get up to next week, but I’m particularly interested in what’s going to happen with Eli, Lori, Cobb, and Lori. I’m sticking to my guns on Corey being a secret antagonist and I think Cobb is a red herring. But I’m also famously wrong on predicting TV show plot twists. Whatever happens, I’m looking forward to it.
The Righteous Gemstones airs on Sundays on HBO at 10pm ET, and is streaming on Max.
