![]() Like most of “The Righteous Gemstones,” that last bit must be seen to be believed. It just underscores them in ever more audacious ways: with monster-truck rallies and racing cars and episode-length flashbacks and a poolside music video starring Walton Goggins’ veneered crooner Baby Billy dressed as a giant oyster. The show isn’t making new points about the hypocrisy of for-profit worship. Last season, too, featured a figure from Eli’s past who exposed the unsavory greed behind the dignified preacher (Eric Roberts’ Junior) that saga also introduced eccentric figures from the wider world of evangelical celebrity (the Lissons, a scammy couple played by Eric André and Jessica Lowe). To fans of “The Righteous Gemstones,” these subplots might sound familiar. government, May May asks Eli to take in her sons Chuck (Lukas Haas) and Carl (Robert Oberst) - igniting old resentments about their different lifestyles and points of view. When Peter’s extremism goes too far and provokes the ire of the U.S. May May’s branch of the family is more radical and much less well-off than her brother’s Eli threads the needle of Christianity and capitalism, but May May and her ex-husband Peter (Steve Zahn) are true believers who handle snakes and prep for the apocalypse. Meanwhile, Eli’s estranged sister May May (Kristen Johnston) comes out of the woodwork to ask for help. Instead, it channels their insights into masculinity, the South and American conservatism, previously honed on “Vice Principals” and “Eastbound & Down.” The straightforward comic tone doesn’t detract from the sharp observations made by creator Danny McBride and longtime collaborators including Jody Hill, John Carcieri and David Gordon Green. They’re buffoons, their idiocy only amplified by the motorcycle chases, musical sequences and megachurch sermons that immerse us in their world. ![]() The Gemstones are not the Roys, forced to confront the emotional poverty beneath their material riches, nor Barry Berkman, scrambling for redemption without real accountability. But unlike either show, “The Righteous Gemstones” resists the impulse to justify its grandeur with dramatic or tragic Jake elements. Like “Succession,” “The Righteous Gemstones” follows a family poisoned by wealth and power at a crucial inflection point like “Barry,” the show has a visual panache that defies our expectations for a half-hour comedy. “ The Righteous Gemstones” remains consistent in its outrageous opulence and crude humor, but its latest chapter is unusually well timed. Fortunately, a show that combines the best of both its erstwhile peers returns June 18 for a third season. Fans - and, one presumes, the network - were left with a vacuum the next seasons of “The White Lotus” and “House of the Dragon” are too far off to fill. Last month, HBO said goodbye to two of its signature series: “Succession,” a tale of three born billionaires vying to replace their aging patriarch and “Barry,” an action comedy that unlocked new levels of ambition in its star-auteur, Bill Hader.
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