Thank Heavens The Funniest and Most Ambitious Show on TV Is Back

Let’s get the important stuff out of the way: that was not Walton Goggin’s actual penis being dangled around like a wayward clock pendulum. Call it a testament to the combined power of clever CGI and The Righteous Gemstones creator/writer/actor Danny McBride’s commitment to excelling at bawdy humor—the fact that I’ve previously written about McBride’s prolific use of phalli to evoke laughs is its own testament to the multihyphenate’s brand of comedy. Where else could viewers witness an enraged husband engage in a lengthy brawl with the naked man who cuckolded him? Okay, maybe The White Lotus, but it wouldn’t have anywhere near the same emotional resonance.

Literal dick-swinging aside, however, what sets The Righteous Gemstones apart from other comedies is its awe-inspiring ambition when it comes to incorporating action into its narrative (many would reasonably argue for HBO’s other notable dark comedy, Barry, to hold that crown, but I maintain that Gemstones’ bombast edges it out), as we saw in that incredible Civil War-era season opener. Along with an epic saga compressed down to a lone hour, it gave us insight into the Gemstone family’s twisted origins, even if it’s yet to be revealed how it may come back to plague the present-day family members. But as seen in previous seasons, the past is always their greatest foe, and it takes no less than the unlikeliest of miracles to save their high-minded bacon.

Last season ended on a hopeful moment, a wholesomeness that belies the raucous, foul-mouthed antics that preceded it, though in true tacky uber-rich evangelist style, the monster truck served as a reminder of their over-the-top style of presentation. A season later and nothing’s changed, only the set of wheels has been momentarily set aside for a trio of jet packs designed to lead their faithful flock into a pious money-generating fervor in honor of the late Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles), whose loss has always remained in the series’ foreground. But when Gemstone patriarch Eli (John Goodman) has to be coerced back from his tomcatting Florida sojourn by numbskull offspring, Judy, Kelvin, and Jesse (Edi Patterson, Adam DeVine, and McBride, respectively), he’s unexpectedly granted what may very well be a second chance at love with old friend Lori Milsap (Megan Mullaly as a perfect cast addition).

Where the danger will come this season, the show’s last, alas (all good things must come to an end), isn’t entirely clear at the moment. Right now the biggest worry stems from when, not if, the Gemstone siblings discover that their widowed father is not only seeing someone—even the mere possibility of Eli being intimate with another woman years after their mother’s death is unbearable to them (Judy, holding a bra: “Is this proof of your sex, Daddy?!”)—but that someone being Aimee-Leigh’s lifelong friend, it’ll be a discovery that will certainly result in the Gemstone empire being at risk. Again. Hopefully BJ’s (Tim Baltz) ready to take his pole skills to the big time, because the Gemstone lifestyle is as luxurious as it is hilarious.

The Righteous Gemstones airs every Sunday night on HBO, streaming on Max.

Kaleena Rivera is the TV Editor for Pajiba. She can be found on Bluesky here.