‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Just Had John Goodman And Megan Mullally [CENSORED] And It Was Truly A Sight To See

Anytime an episode of television begins with a character water-skiing in the nude, it’s probably a good omen of what is to come. If that show just so happens to be The Righteous Gemstones and that character is Baby Billy Freeman (Walton Goggins), you are in for a treat. But suppose that same episode ends with Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) and Lori Milsap (Megan Mullally) 69-ing to the shock and horror of his children, congratulations, you’ve just witnessed a God-tier installment.

In Sunday night’s episode of HBO and Danny McBride‘s religiously good comedy series, Eli and Lori face heavy opposition to their newfound love from Judy (Edi Patterson), Kelvin (Adam DeVine), and Jesse (McBride), who cannot stand the idea of their father moving on from their late mother. Naturally, because they are 40-something children, the trio hatch a plan to break up the pair, complete with an attempt to seduce Lori, songs specifically crafted to make their father feel bad about moving on, and one of the craziest “dress-em-ups” in the show’s (and possibly HBO’s) history.

The plan hinges on getting Eli, Lori, and their families to Galilee Gulch, the Gemstone family lakehouse, where reminders of Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles) are around every corner. The execution, however? That’s a little muddy. Enter the unbelievable and nonsensical humor of The Righteous Gemstones, which requires the three adult siblings to stop at nothing, including fully cancelable actions like trying to slap Lori’s hand on Judy’s boob so she can tell Eli that Lori is only after money and sexual favors.

That entire scene with Patterson and Mullally is a masterclass in rolling with the punches as Patterson — who is also a writer on the show — told Decider that much of the actions between the two were improvised, including Judy trying to hump Lori’s leg. The lines, too, deserve all the credit in the world as “why don’t you slide right out of that cotton dress and let me snack on that pussy” is delivered with such earnestness, it’s impressive. It only gets funnier as Lori responds, “Come again,” prompting Judy to retort, “Yeah, you will come, Miss Lori.”

In general, Episode 4, “He Goeth Before You Into Galilee,” should be lauded for so many reasons. The name, alone, is incredible as it foreshadows Keefe’s (Tony Cavalero) truly insane plan to try and haunt Lori and Eli into breaking up. The title comes from Matthew 28:7, which teases Jesus’ resurrection after his crucifixion. Seeing how unhappy Kelvin is over the relationship between Eli and Lori, Keefe dresses up in Aimee-Leigh’s clothes and crawls into bed with the couple, singing “Misbehavin’” and telling them to end their relationship.

The Keefe scene could have ended there, but in true Gemstone fashion, it’s always good to kick things up a notch. Waking up in a stupor, Eli kicks Keefe out of the bed and Sola (Kerstin Schulze), Baby Billy and Tiffany’s (Valyn Hall) intense German nanny, steps in and kicks the ever-loving shit out of Keefe. Earlier in the episode, we watched as Sola practiced her kung fu moves down by the lake as Baby Billy watched in horror, also giving us one of my favorite lines of the season: “She got them old-world villain vibes, make me feel like Indiana Jones.”

And just when you think it cannot get any better, the episode ends with Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin agreeing to apologize to Lori and Eli, only to walk in on them going to town on each other. Frankly, I don’t think there’s a prize on this earth that is enough to give to McBride and the writers for having Goodman — the same man who voices Sully in Monsters Inc. and plays Fred in The Flintstones — do the down and dirty with another comedic legend so graphically.

It’s all a testament to the undeniable humor and wit of the series, which has shockingly never been nominated for Best Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards. In labeling Season 4 their best season yet and Episode 4 their funniest to date, I hope that mistake is finally rectified.

The first four episodes of The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 are currently streaming on Max.

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