The Righteous Gemstones: Better is the End of a Thing Than Its Beginning
October 14, 2019 1:25 AM - Season 1, Episode 9 - Subscribe

Season One Finale. Eli questions his children's future in the Gemstone ministry. Jesse struggles to keep his marriage together. Judy opens up to BJ about her past. A disillusioned Kelvin embraces his dark side.
posted by JimBennett (7 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I know Danny McBride has a three year story arc laid out for this series, but this finale still felt like it was designed to create a satisfying ending should HBO have decided not to renew the show. TBH I expected them to kill off Eli, probably because John Goodman will have other commitments, kind of like his character in Treme. I’m glad he’s still around, and seemingly a better preacher for his recent experiences.

It killed me that Tiffany’s new teeth were just like Baby Billy’s. And Judy’s stalker past was excruciating.
posted by carmicha at 8:38 AM on October 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


I know Danny McBride has a three year story arc laid out for this series, but this finale still felt like it was designed to create a satisfying ending should HBO have decided not to renew the show.

Longer than that:
This one, I’ve set to be longer than anything we’ve done before. If I had my way, when this is done, it’s like this epic, sprawling tale, like the fucking Thorn Birds or something. You’ll know everybody in this family, cousins, great uncles, all these people. In my eyes, this season is chapter one. It’s just setting the table for who all these people are and what’s about to happen. I would like it to go on longer than what Vice Principals was. Vice Principals was us not really ready to commit to another show we wanted to dedicate six years to, so we decided to just do a coordinated strike, do something that we knew what the ending was going to be, and execute it all at once. That gave me time to think about the bigger story I wanted to tell.
I was surprised at how little actually changed over the course of the season. Jesse may have changed (but probably not for long), but Kelvin and Judy are in the same place, if (slightly) more affirmed that they're where they should be. Eli has a better idea of who his kids are, but I get the idea that he always knew; he's still somewhere between a vulture capitalist and a genuine evangelist (and props to John Goodman for walking that line so delicately). Baby Billy is still a huckster.

This whole season now feels like it was just a slightly longer version of the intro scene before the credits that sets up the characters but doesn't seem connected to the rest of the plot.
posted by Etrigan at 10:18 AM on October 14, 2019


Hearing Judy's backstory was possibly the most uncomfortable I have been all year!
posted by grandiloquiet at 3:28 PM on October 15, 2019 [6 favorites]


G'day

I legit start watching the show because YouTube kept recommending a clip (the Misbehaving scene) to me. I ended up binge watching it in a few days, and fortunately the last episode came up at the end of my binge. What a weird ass fucking show. I want more.
posted by littlesq at 7:49 PM on October 16, 2019 [3 favorites]


I miss this show already.
posted by General Malaise at 2:27 PM on October 17, 2019 [2 favorites]


Baby Billy is still a huckster.
He's also the only one who's honest with himself about it.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 5:29 PM on October 18, 2019 [1 favorite]


We finally burned through the last three episodes on DVR. Whew, my hat is off to the writers, they stuck the landing. A six year plan? Yeah, I'm up for that.
posted by Ber at 7:34 PM on October 21, 2019


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