‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Season 1, Episode 2, ‘Is This The Man Who Made The Earth Tremble’ Review: Cleanup

The Righteous Gemstones takes us to a world of a well-known televangelist family running a church while making themselves wealthy. In this chapter, we witness three inexperienced adults get a hint of the world of crime. Sure, they are a bunch of money laundering scumbags, but they do not necessarily know how to do the dirty work. At this point, they try to get back to a blackmailer previously thought dead and alone.

On Sunday’s episode of The Righteous Gemstones, Jesse Gemstone (Danny McBride), Kelvin Gemstone (Adam Devine), and Judy Gemstone (Edi Patterson) go after Jesse’s blackmailers. While cleaning up their trail, Jesse enlists the help of his lackeys. Meanwhile, Scotty (Scott MacArthur) and Lucy (Virginia Gardner) recover from their injuries. At the Gemstone compound, a lost Gemstone makes a surprise return.

Surveillance Cameras

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Jesse’s goons temporarily lost one member, but they remain at his disposal. Matthew (Troy Anthony Hogan), Levi (Jody Hill), and Gregory (J. LaRose) set out to obtain the security camera footage from the tire shop beside the parking lot. These three idiots fail miserably at first, not knowing what to say after plan A fails. Plan B, on the other hand, is when they manage to get the footage. While Matthew carried the PC out of the store, Levi and Gregory, to their standards, beat up the store manager. Throughout the episode, these three ‘goons’ act like robots but somehow get away with their actions, despite their incompetence. No wonder Jesse is friends with them.

The Trail

Ryan Green/HBO

After Jesse’s troops do their jobs, it is now time for the Gemstone siblings to get to work. Thanks to Kelvin’s idea, they tracked the blackmailers at a motel. With Keefe Chambers (Tony Cavalero) working for the DMV, tracking was easy. Once there, however, they get information with the help of a few bribes, but ultimately, it was useless. The blackmailers, whoever they were, checked out just as they got there. It might have been for the best that the Gemstone siblings never meet them, but Jesse begged to differ. He wanted those pricks to suffer his wrath, probably and felt unsafe with them running around knowing what they know.

The Lost Son

Ryan Green/HBO

Remember the blackmailers? Well, it turns out that Gideon Gemstone (Skyler Gisondo) is in bed with them. He is the third man who saved Scotty and Lucy. Reasons for his departure from his family remain unknown. However, we do know that Gideon had Amber Gemstone (Cassidy Freeman) and his siblings believe that he is starting an acting career in California. Unfortunately, he was in no way doing that. Instead, there he was, staying at a motel for a week with thugs who wanted to blackmail his dad.

Jesse began in prayer in Gideon’s room in a parody of old inspirational videos. In that sequence, he narrates a prayer as the rest of the Gemstones goes about their business. Kelvin works out with Keefe (a scene coupled with gay undertones between the two). Meanwhile, Judy tries to get pregnant but B.J. (Tim Baltz) orgasms in his pants. Also, Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) grabs a snake by the head (WTF?). A doorbell interrupts Amber’s piano session (somehow timed along with Jesse’s prayer), and there he was, Gideon, standing at the front door. Jesse did not expect to receive answers to his prayers in that way.

‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Season 1, Episode 2 ‘Final Verdict

The Righteous Gemstones brings us a brand of humor executed by the writer and the producers themselves. It is funny to note that some of the actors also happen to be the show’s producers, such as Danny McBride and Jody Hill. This occurrence dramatically says a lot about how the team crafted the idea of the show in each episode. It is no easy task to have audiences laughing in whatever context. The characters have personalities and traits that often clash with each other. Also, the side characters bring humor in a matter of being substantial comic relief. With the crazy reveal that happens in the ending, one can tell that the Gemstones are in for a shitstorm of problematic traditional Christianity and family issues.

The Righteous Gemstones continues Sunday, September 1st, with ‘They Are Weak, But He is Strong’ at 10/9c on HBO.