With just nine episodes per season, The Righteous Gemstones has grown into quite an easy binge throughout the evenings and nights. With the second season getting out of the way within a week, and it felt as if this third season was over within two or three evenings. I wrote a review on the first season saying it was a little bit slow but felt introductory, and then the review on the second season was a massive leap up, with the narrative improving and the humour really coming out to shine. With season two, it felt like the family was as broken as ever, with everyone pursuing greed and refusing to collaborate with each other. All the insanity in their personalities coming out, as the memories of the past continue to haunt Eli, the father and head of the church. Reminiscing life's simplicities when the family was still mostly dysfunctional, but the mother was around to generally try to keep things in place. There was some backstory regarding Eli that described his troubled past, how he was a broken man that worked for a corrupt boxer that would utilise teenagers to do his bidding for him in the night. The more we see of the Gemstones, the more we realise that none of them have ever been good, but circumstances have led them to this manner of acting, whether it's having grown from those challenges or not.
Despite the characters all being utterly insane, the humour continued to press on with the insanity of their actions, and that's ultimately what has made the show so fun to watch. Especially with the characters that just never learn their lessons. Baby Billy being a great one, constantly appearing out of nowhere, always trying to push his way into something to pursue money and fame, and none of it is ever enough for him. In this season, we see how Baby Billy has been moved to the newly built resort, performing to people there and also having been given a beautiful penthouse by the sea for his family. He doesn't care for it, it's not enough. And this leads to him returning back to the Gemstones with the intent of selling them something yet again. This time with more attention towards Bible Bonkers, his television series that he effectively just copied from an existing one already airing. Baby Billy is a great example of the greed found within The Righteous Gemstones, and probably the worst character there is next to Judy. But none of them ever really learn from their mistakes, none of them are ever truly satisfied with their thirst for more power. In the case of Kelvin, his general antics are stupidity rather than greed. Constantly off doing idiotic things and trying to build his own empire of sorts, no matter how silly it ends up being; like an army of muscle men. Usually referred to as his 'God Squad'.
Season three is more about their progression as people and family though, it's more on the slow shift in their personalities and finding common ground that allows them to slowly start working together, and much of that comes from internal and external factors with the family, even down to the arrival of their cousins of which they despise. Though it shows how the Gemstones have had their fair share of drama in the past, with relatives getting caught up in the money side of things and seeing incredible losses as a result, primarily from the Y2K fears that had the Gemstones selling Y2K survival kits to the public, of which was met with a lot of negativity given the lack of event to use them in; contrary to what the Gemstones had been claiming. Even the two of them admitting that they never really believed anything would happen. This led to the Gemstones deceiving a lot of people, and relatives being stuck with large amounts of stock. Because of this, there's a plan to attack the Gemstones and bring down their empire, this comes from the uncle, who now is creating a militia in the middle of nowhere. His cousins being used to infiltrate the Gemstones and gain their trust again. Even kidnapping the Jesse, Kelvin, and Judy with sudden intent to kill them if Eli doesn't cough up a couple million dollars. He doesn't.
But it's here that the Gemstones start to take a big shift in how they act towards each other. Kidnapped and now facing death, they slowly start to respect each other, talking properly but also still annoying each other as siblings do. Given Eli refused to pay the ransom, assuming their uncle is bluffing about being willing to kill them, this results in the three growing a bond finally. One that is mutual: a strong disapproval of their father. Later on this is something that Eli ends up welcoming, given he accepts tat if he's hated by them, at least it leads to them finally working together and showing that they have what it takes to run the church finally without him. While it was nice to see them finally coming together, it did feel like the show was coming to an end, that finally there was starting to be a bit of closure appearing. The previous two seasons being more on their insanity, and this on being more on how they manage to maintain their general craziness while realising some maturity. With Jesse it was becoming a better father. With Kelvin it was more coming to terms with who he really is. And with Judy it was starting to cool off some of her personality that led to pushing so many people away, especially BJ who had changed his life to be with her. Again, Baby Billy remains the central concept of who not to be. The one that never changes, always trying to take advantage of others for his own gain. Zero development there!
I will say that the show's biggest mistake was making Kelvin gay in the end. Where his friendship with Keefe ended up being something a little more. The whole fun of their relationship throughout the show was that they had this weird friendship that certainly looked like it was implying something more, but was oblivious to them. Removing that and pursuing that very direction of a romantic relationship in the end felt like it missed the mark. Keefe being this gentle idiot that is also oblivious to the world around him but acting like a child despite being a former techno drug abusing goth that worshipped Satan was probably the best part of the show, with his appearances being both wholesome and stupid. That isn't to say I don't still love the character, but the humour throughout was with the implication due to the stupidity of Keefe and Kelvin, rather than actual hints.
Still the best season of the show so far. And it has me very curious as to how the fourth and final season will turn out. This one felt like it had the perfect ending for the characters, where there was genuine closure. I almost feel like there shouldn't be another season from this point on.