Another season of The Righteous Gemstones means fresh shenanigans for the evangelical family brought to TV screens through comedy whisperer Danny McBride.
The series creator, writer, occasional director, and star brings the Gemstone kids into a new chapter of their lives as dad Eli (John Goodman) steps back, leaving Jesse (McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson), and Kelvin (Adam DeVine) with more responsibilities. But are they up to the task of taking on the family empire? Fans of the series may know the answer to that question without giving it too much thought, but we can’t help but give this immature trio the benefit of the doubt.
As they work to maintain their family’s legacy, each of the Gemstone kids faces their own challenges, with Jesse taking on the heavy burden of trying to fill Eli’s shoes. Taking it upon himself, Jesse puts his focus into the work, but there’s always another twist to pull your attention. “Every season we’re sort of always telling two stories,” McBride says. “There’s the story that sort of happened in the past and how that’s affected things in the future.”
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“That story in the past is filling in the blanks of how this family got to this place. Sometimes it might be about a simple decision or crossing someone, but it all has repercussions, and it always moves things forward,” he adds. In this instance, that past story relies on family history with a side of the family viewers have yet to meet.
“If you just open up the family and start exploring the different avenues of it, there is a lot of meat there, and there’s a lot of fun,” McBride teases. ”
As for Judy, her ego’s through the roof, but there’s also a sense of underlying guilt plaguing her actions, but for what? The season will reveal in time what that centers around, but for now, Patterson is teasing that Judy is returning fresh from a multi-state tour “rocking it.” According to the star, “She is kind of feeling herself for this, her place in the world, and feeling like she’s hot sh*t.” As expected, confidence and Judy Gemstone aren’t the most stable combination.
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“She thinks that it’s part of being a rockstar. If people wanna get with you, you’re supposed to let them fall in love with you. You’re a rockstar; what else are you supposed to do?” Meanwhile, her dutiful husband BJ (Tim Baltz) has been tending to church duties at home, placing them on different paths when the season opens.
And Kelvin has found his next calling by heading up “Smut Busters,” a youth group determined to rid the world of pornography and sex toys. “Kelvin always needs to have something. He’s really trying to find his way at the church to differentiate himself from his siblings,” DeVine notes.
“Jesse seems like he’s the main pastor who’s trying to basically be our father. Judy has this song and dance thing, so she’s trying to be mom, and I’m trying to do my own thing. And this season, I’m trying to bust some smut,” the actor clarifies. In DeVine’s words, smut busting involves taking Kelvins’ “homeboy Keefe (Tony Cavalero)” and teens to porno shops in an attempt to shut them down.
“So other people can’t get their hands on these deviant things,” DeVine says. A little more grassroots than last season’s “God Squad,” Kelvin’s biggest flex in this venture is his Smut Busters van and shirts, which have a funny backstory according to Cavalero, who recalls an Instagram account that “posts ludicrous Christian things and somebody took a photo of the Smut Busters van in a garage. People thought it was like a real church thing.”
We can’t blame them. When it comes to the world of Gemstones, the lines between their comedic reality and our own get blurrier every day. Don’t miss what else they’re up to when The Righteous Gemstones returns to HBO.
The Righteous Gemstones, Season 3 Premiere, Sunday, June 18, 10/9c, HBO and Max
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
