It’s amazing how much gets done when the New Generation is locked in a silo. Even more amazing is that people miss them when they’re gone.
The aftershocks of last week’s explosive installment can still be felt as the siblings are given a chance to hash out their issues. Where “For Out Of The Heart Comes Evil Thoughts” saw Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin dealing with the fallout of their actions, this week punishes them for their selfishness. Surprisingly, even without the help of the Montgomerys, the Gemstone three managed to alienate their respective partners, opening them up to attack. All three are sitting ducks for their vengeful, self-righteous relatives. Through a triptych of abductions, the Montgomerys capitalize on their weakened state, Judy buying painkillers for a bloody and beaten B.J.; Kelvin crying to Quiche Heath Keefe after quitting the church; and Jesse, fresh off driving his father to the brink of madness with a hologram of Eli’s dead wife, walking alone to his car when Chuck offers a sibling-free hang sheesh. Jesse gets quite the opposite. No matter. The righteous Gemstones are no stronger together than they are apart.
“Burn For Burn, Wound For Wound, Stripe For Stripe” is an episode-long sibling hang-sesh with at least one scene that could qualify as a breakthrough. Imprisoned on Peter’s farm—the one with “tons of birds”—the Gemstones kids run up against the limitations of their self-image with one final test of their talents. Like Kelvin, they make it approximately six inches off the ground and land flat on their face. Tonight allows the three siblings to face their challenges head-on, prove to their father they can work together, and show the world that there’s nothing more dangerous than a unified Gemstone front. Thankfully, the people who inexplicably love them (or love to throat-punch them) come to their rescue.
That the Gemstones were alone to begin with speaks to their hubris. With all these forces closing in around them, including the Simkins, the Brothers of Tomorrow’s Fires, Stephen, and their own ministry, the Gemstones continue on as if nothing can touch them. But it doesn’t matter how expensive the car, how much training they’ve done with the Gracie brothers, or how white their pistol, a backwater militia outsmarted and captured them. Money can’t protect them. It can only buy them stuff.
Their offense doesn’t alter much as they sweat it out in Peter’s silo. True to their bitter rivalry and deep insecurity, the siblings are immediately hostile and antagonistic with each other. With the bag over their heads, they can’t even see how similar they are, resorting to kicking the air whenever they think the Montgomerys are within striking distance. At every turn, writers John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, and Danny McBride challenge their characters to prove themselves by doing the very things they supposedly do all the time. However, whether leading a basic sermon, singing a single song, or doing an easy-peasy flip off a wall that anyone can do, the Gemstones fail to live up to their self-created hype.
It does make Peter’s plan seem solid. Capture Eli’s idiot kids, blackmail Eli for their return, and torture Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin with tasks they supposedly do all the time. But he underestimated how much the rest of the family would thrive without them around. The house is surprisingly a quieter, warmer place without Judy, allowing the remaining members to realign their faith in each other and their lord. Keefe is the first to realize something’s wrong, smelling the dirt outside Kelvin’s Jeep, mysteriously parked outside his carpentry shop, where he motions to the intergalactic sign for “handsome man” at the baffled locals. Like all the Gemstones partners, Keefe genuinely cares for the idiot in their lives. After all, they are family.
The three partners, who were callously and unceremoniously betrayed by their friends and lovers last week, no longer wait for their spouses to give them entry into the family. Like Baby Billy bursting through the front door, sending Lionel flying into the empty void of the mansion, B.J., Amber, and Keefe are family, and they’re tired of not being treated as such, which is presumably why B.J. was bold enough to call Eli “daddy.” Still, Eli can sympathize with B.J. The Gemstones might not be shit, but B.J. doesn’t deserve the pain of losing a spouse, nor does Amber or Keefe. As a family, they pray for their safe return.
With the Gemstones at home becoming more pious, Peter goes the opposite route, succumbing to the allure of all that money. Zahn bursts with excitement at the terrorism possibilities $15 million can get you. Why, the Brothers of Tomorrow’s Fires will have enough to poison the water supply of a liberal city and blow up a 5G tower. Peter’s enthusiasm and subsequent disappointment over the money only display how little Peter has learned since his botched robbery in 2000. It also shows how similar he is to his sinful kin. It’s evident in McBride’s filmmaking as we see shot after shot of the Redeemer tearing across the grounds as the Brothers fire off rounds, hooting and hollering about their winnings. Spectacle has its place in Peter’s faith, too. Snake handling, Peter explains, is a test of faith, a way for him to show his followers the trust he has in the lord, sort of like trusting in god that the Grave Digger’s driver will make it out of the rally okay.
The Brothers of Tomorrow’s Fires got their shit together quickly after the raid in episode two. Having regrouped on his new farm, Peter breaks the Gemstones psychologically before deciding on the rest. When we met Peter this season, the Gemstones begged to jump on the altar for the Brothers of Tomorrow’s Fires. The Gemstones have spent every Sunday at church, and for the last few years, they’ve led services. Tonight, their skills come up short.
In typical fashion, Jesse concocts a Silence Of The Lambs-style escape, using a tin bowl to cut the face off a guard and walk out the front door to safety. Jesse’s image of himself as the head of the family and the man with the plan bumps up with reality, and when faced with that reality, he turns to name-calling. He resents everyone shutting down and poking holes in his ideas and seemingly relishing in doing so. He wants his captors to see him as the biggest and most present threat to the operation. Unfortunately, that’s not who he is. He’s a pastor who can’t think of a sermon to save his life.
The real failure of the night is when Peter forces Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin to lead services. The results are laughable. Judy can’t think of a single song to lead the congregation in—despite just getting back from a national tour—and while Kelvin succeeds in doing a flip off a wall, it’s woefully too close to the ground. Peter gave them too much credit when he accused them of being “entertainers, performers, charlatans.”
In the silo, their masks fall away like so much dye from Jesse’s sideburns. Faced with the possibility that they may die, the three siblings come to an understanding. They’ll avenge each other’s deaths and will check their schedules regarding looking after Jesse’s “real” family. It’s a small token, but hey, progress is progress.
However, their escape is not the result of the New Generation’s actions. If anything, nothing they did in this episode changed the outcome. Instead, it was May-May observing the family pray as a unit that turned their fortunes. As the partners did last week, they found a positive community through religion. And it’s a partnership of faith and spectacle that brings salvation. The Redeemer extinguishes the Brothers of Tomorrow’s Fires as Gideon proved that giving your kids money and allowing them to figure out the rest still puts you at an advantage. The Gemstones have been freed and redeemed, but with two episodes left, we know they’re not out of the woods just yet.
Stray observations
- Walton Goggins’ entrance into the Gemstone mansion, sending Baby Lionel gliding out of the frame, was simply masterful
- Jesse’s excitement for a sibling-free hang sesh felt so genuine. I thought he was ready to have a great time with Chuck.
- There was some incredible physical comedy from Tony Cavalero tonight. His “handsome man” investigation was hilarious, but watching him walk through a hedge and pledge allegiance to the family was masterful.
- Speaking of which, Cassidy Freeman’s polite “thank yous” to Keefe’s pledge and Aunt Tiffany’s horrific dolls offer such a different energy from the rest of the family. I love how her apparent “normalcy” bounces off them. It’s good to have someone on the show that at least somewhat resembles the real world.
- Third thing, as long as I’m handing out compliments; The Righteous Gemstones has the single best ensemble of any comedy—a true embarrassment of riches.
- Hey, we learned that Peter’s bank robbery was not a family secret, but rather, so well known that no one bothered to talk about it when he re-entered all their lives.
- Also, for the record, Peter was not speared through the cheek.
- It’s worth noting that Peter still has those explosives. It wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to blow up the church.
- The pride in Jesse’s voice when he sees Gideon behind the wheel of the redeemer and May-May throwing double middle fingers were such unexpected moments of joy in this episode. The whole show has such a unique atmosphere with pockets of exuberance like this.
- “Look, my husband got the shit kicked out of him, and it’s all my fault. Help me take his pain away, pronto! Grrrrrrr!” [Judy grabs the first medication in front of her.]
- This might be the most astute police work in television history: “Might be cold comfort, but I guarantee you he has a headache now that he has your three kids on his hands. Maybe he’ll get worn down and just let them go.”
- I’m such a mark for anytime a character is confronted with a subplot that’s been around for weeks but they’re still ignorant to. For example:
“Good job with the voodoo dolls, Tiff. Hey, Eli, you might not have known this, but Jesse and I had an agreement, so I just want to make sure, now, if something were to happen to him, are you still going to honor the series pickup of Bible Bonkers, now?”
“Bible what?” - There was at least one reference to the Slick Bandit tonight, and it reminded me of how much of a tease that character has been. Bring back Shea Whigam!
- To that same token, I feel like The Righteous Gemstones rarely gives Skyler Gisondo much to do. He’s a fine straight man and a wonderful physical performer, but it always feels like they’re leaving so much on the table with him.
- Danny McBride clearly had a blast with the Redeemer and was finally able to open that baby up tonight. The camera loves The Redeemer.
- Programming note: The final two episodes of Gemstones air next week. I’ll review both in one recap.
