Danny McBride has a specific gift for making us care about absolute monsters. It’s a trick he perfected in Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals, but it reached a fever pitch during the Righteous Gemstones season finale for the third installment. We spent weeks watching the Gemstone siblings—Jesse, Kelvin, and Judy—squabble like toddlers over a billion-dollar empire. Then, suddenly, we’re staring down a literal plague of locusts. It was biblical. It was gross. Honestly, it was the most honest moment the show has ever had.
Most comedies would have played that for a quick gag, but McBride and his team used the chaos to force a family of narcissists to actually look at each other. You’ve seen this trope before, right? The "big disaster brings everyone together" bit. Usually, it feels cheap. Here, because the characters are so deeply flawed and the stakes are rooted in genuine daddy issues, it worked. The finale, titled "Wonders That Cannot Be Fathomed, Miracles That Cannot Be Counted," didn’t just close a chapter; it re-centered what the show is actually about. It isn’t just about the money. It’s about the desperate, clawing need for a father’s approval that never quite comes.
The Chaos of the Righteous Gemstones Season Finale Explained
Let’s talk about the locusts. Because if you watched the Righteous Gemstones season finale, you’re still thinking about the bugs. It was a bold move. The show has always flirted with the supernatural or the "divine," but seeing the cousins’ brawl interrupted by a swarm of Biblical proportions was a masterstroke of tone.
The Montgomery family—the gritty, "poor" foil to the Gemstones’ opulence—finally hit their breaking point. Steve Zahn’s Peter Montgomery is a fascinating antagonist because he isn't a cartoon. He’s a man driven by a different kind of righteousness, one fueled by resentment and survivalist paranoia. When the bomb threat at the church resort converged with the locust swarm, the show pivoted. It stopped being a satire of mega-churches for a second and became a survival horror story. Briefly. Then Jesse Gemstone started screaming, and we remembered it’s still a comedy.
What’s wild is how the show handles the redemption of the Montgomerys. Karl and Chuck aren't just villains; they’re victims of their father’s radicalization. Seeing them integrated into the Gemstone fold by the end of the episode felt earned. It wasn't some Hallmark movie ending. It was messy. It involved a lot of screaming and some questionable fashion choices. But that’s the Gemstone way.
Why the "Succession with Jokes" Comparison is Half-Right
People love to call this show "Succession in the South." I get it. Both shows feature a powerful patriarch and three children who are varying degrees of incompetent. But that comparison misses the heart of the Righteous Gemstones season finale.
In Succession, the characters are cold. They are surgical. In the Gemstone world, everything is loud and wet and emotional. Jesse, Kelvin, and Judy don't want to run the company because they're geniuses; they want to run it because they want Eli to tell them "good job, son" or "I love you, honey." The finale highlighted this when they finally stepped up to save the day (in their own idiotic way). They didn't use a boardroom maneuver. They used a monster truck and a lot of luck.
The Fate of Eli Gemstone and the Legacy of the Church
John Goodman is the anchor. Without him, the show drifts into pure absurdity. Throughout the third season, we saw Eli trying to retire, trying to hand over the reins, and failing miserably because his children are, well, themselves.
In the Righteous Gemstones season finale, we saw a shift in Eli. He’s no longer just the frustrated dad; he’s a man looking at his legacy and realizing it’s built on sand. The scene where he finally embraces his sister, May-May, is arguably the most moving moment in the entire series. It stripped away the gold leaf and the stadium seating. It was just two old people who had hurt each other deeply, finally choosing to stop.
- The church is still a business, make no mistake.
- The "Redeemer" monster truck isn't just a prop; it’s a symbol of how they package faith.
- The siblings haven't magically become "good" people. They’ve just become more unified in their chaos.
Honestly, the way the show balances the genuine faith of some characters with the blatant grift of others is why it stays relevant. It doesn't hate religion. It hates the people who use it as a cudgel or a credit card.
What Most People Miss About Judy and BJ
We have to talk about BJ. Edi Patterson’s Judy is a hurricane of a character, but Tim Simons plays BJ with such a bizarre, quiet dignity that it creates the best dynamic on the show. In the Righteous Gemstones season finale, their relationship remains the weirdest, yet most stable, part of the family.
Despite the kidnapping, the "hush money" scandals, and Judy’s general insanity, BJ stays. Why? Because in a family of people who constantly perform, BJ is the only one who is exactly who he says he is. Even when he’s wearing a ridiculous romper or trying to be a "tough guy," his devotion to Judy is the only pure thing in the show. Watching them navigate the aftermath of the season's violence was a reminder that McBride isn't just writing jokes; he's writing a weirdly functional romance.
What Happens Next? Looking Toward Season 4
The Righteous Gemstones season finale left us in a strange place. The "monsters" have been defeated. The Montgomerys are reconciled. The siblings are, for once, not at each other's throats.
But peace doesn't last in this universe.
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Season 4 has already been confirmed, and the writers have a tall task. How do you top a locust plague? You don't. You go smaller. You go back to the internal rot. Now that they’ve "saved" the church, the siblings have to actually run it. And as we’ve seen, they are terrible at the day-to-day stuff.
Expect the power vacuum left by the various "enemies" of the season to be filled by something internal. The siblings are their own worst enemies. Always have been. Always will be.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Critics
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the themes of the show or prep for the next chapter, here is what you should actually pay attention to:
- Watch the backgrounds. The production design in the Gemstone compounds tells you more about their insecurities than the dialogue does. Every gold-plated faucet is a cry for help.
- Re-examine the "Baby Billy" factor. Walton Goggins is the wildcard. His "Bible Bonkers" game show isn't just a side plot; it’s a commentary on how the Gemstones have commodified the very idea of salvation.
- Track the music. The original songs like "Misbehaving" or "There Will Come a Payday" aren't just funny. They are period-accurate reflections of the Southern Gospel industry that the show parodies so effectively.
The Righteous Gemstones season finale succeeded because it didn't try to be "preachy" about the church’s failings. It focused on the family’s failings. By the time the credits rolled, you weren't thinking about the theology; you were thinking about whether or not these people could ever truly change. Probably not. But watching them try—and fail—is the best thing on television right now.
To get the most out of the wait for Season 4, go back and watch the pilot episode again. Compare the way Eli looks at his children then versus how he looks at them in the final moments of the latest season. The growth is there, hidden under layers of hairspray and ego. That’s the real miracle.
Next Steps for the Gemstone Faithful:
- Analyze the Montgomery Arc: Re-watch the scenes between Eli and May-May to see the breadcrumbs of their reconciliation.
- Study the Satire: Look into real-world mega-church scandals that mirror the "Redeemer" plotline to understand the writers' inspirations.
- Contextualize the Violence: Notice how the show uses physical comedy/violence as a substitute for the siblings' inability to express actual emotions.
The wait for the next season will be long, but the foundation laid by this finale suggests the show has plenty of road left. The Gemstones are staying in power, for better or worse. Mostly worse. But that's why we watch.