The Righteous Gemstones: I Will Take You by the Hand and Keep You

August 1, 2023 11:18 AM - Season 3, Episode 8

The aftermath of the kidnapping: children rebel against a father, a congregation splits, and a surprising kiss.

Episodes 8 and 9 were released on the same night, ending the third season.

posted by Etrigan (6 comments total)

I guess Kelvin’s sexual orientation was already an open secret? Maybe a flashback to teen Kelvin next season so it’s not all unearned sunshine and rainbows. Good for him and Keefe tbh, the longing looks were starting to strain reality. But his siblings’ attitude, in the context of real world evangelicals, was about as much magical realism as the locusts were.
posted by supercres at 3:17 PM on August 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

I bet we’re going to come back to that next season and the other siblings just sort of glossed it over with how soon the events of Ep9 happened.
posted by Etrigan at 4:02 PM on August 1, 2023

I love this show, but I think they sometimes take a pass on some things that they don't want to have to talk about. They don't want to do a Groomers and Gay Panic episode, so I suspect we're not going to get anything else. I also think everyone is a bit less racist than you would expect in reality. By which I mean, Martin the consigliere is plausible to me but the Erik Andre character's marriage in S2 is not. (In McBride's Vice Principals, he and Walter Goggins played characters who are passed over for becoming school principal in favor of a black woman team up to ruin her life. This is one of the more racially charged premises I can think of for a show set in the 21st century, but the show was basically race blind and when questioned about it, the show creators seemed uncomfortable claiming that any aspect of it was intentionally political.)

Back to the show: what a satisfying end to the season! And it looks like they're already renewed for another. I'm constantly feeling like Skyler Gisondo or John Goodman are going to be written off to pursue other projects, so it's kind of cool that they're being set up as a mentor/mentee relationship next season?
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:14 PM on August 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

Not that I need more of this in my life, but I agree this show sometimes feels too detached from reality in how it deals with some hot button evangelical issues.

Gisondo is a standout - really appealing on screen - and I hope he has a great career of stuff in addition to this good but kind of goofy show.
posted by jeoc at 11:53 AM on August 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Walton Goggins, TV's Favorite Complicated Man

With The Righteous Gemstones' Uncle Baby Billy, Goggins has once again turned a terrible person into someone you want to see win.
posted by Etrigan at 10:43 AM on August 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

I agree that the Gemstones' attitude to Kelvin's romance are unrealistic but still, the whole gang gathering to watch and drive the Redeemer made me choke up. They earned that moment.
posted by Ber at 11:27 AM on August 17, 2023 [2 favorites]